As CSU embarks on 500th win, these are the top 10

Win No. 1 came in 1893 over Longmont Academy, and win No. 500 should come Saturday against Savannah State in the 2015 season opener.

But what wins were the most significant in the history of CSU’s football program? After consulting with John Hirn, the volunteer historian for the Colorado State University athletic program, and former Coloradoan sports writer Tony Phifer, here’s my list of the 10 greatest victories in school history:

1. 1994 at Arizona. Quarterback Anthoney Hill and receiver Justin Shull hooked up on two touchdown passes, and defensive end Sean Moran returned a fumble 77 yards for a touchdown to lead the Rams to a 21-16 win over Arizona in an Oct. 8 battle of unbeaten. CSU was 5-0 coming into the game, and Arizona was 4-0, ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press poll and Sports Illustrated’s preseason pick to win the national championship. The Rams sealed the victory with a late interception by safety Greg Myers, who won the Jim Thorpe Award the following year as the nation’s outstanding defensive back, on a pass that was tipped away from the intended receiver by cornerback Ray Jackson. CSU climbed as high as No. 10 in the national rankings, still a program best, and finished No. 16, also a program best, after going 10-2, winning the Western Athletic Conference title and losing to Michigan in the Holiday Bowl.

2. 2002 vs. Colorado in Denver. The famous helmet-spike game gave CSU back-to-back wins over Top 25 teams to open the season. CSU quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt spiked the ball off the helmet of CU defender Roderick Steed after crossing the goal-line to score the winning touchdown on a 23-yard run late in the game to give the Rams a 19-14 win over the seventh-ranked Buffaloes before a sellout crowd of 75,531 at Mile High Stadium on Aug. 31. Cecil Sapp ran for 80 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries for the Rams, who had defeated then-No. 22 Virginia in their season-opener nine days earlier.

3. 1955 vs. Colorado. The Rams beat the Buffs 10-0 at Colorado Field in Fort Collins in the final game of the season Nov. 26 to clinch the Mountain States Conference title. Gary Glick, the first player selected in the 1956 NFL draft, scored all 10 CSU points, running for a 1-yard touchdown and kicking the extra point and also kicking a field goal. CSU finished 8-2 to earn its first conference championship since 1934, when the then-Aggies of Colorado A&M won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. It was just the 12th win for CSU over CU in the 55 games the schools had played since first squaring off in 1893.

4. 2002 at Virginia. Cecil Sapp ran for 178 yards and two touchdowns and Bradlee Van Pelt threw for 229 yards and one TD as CSU stunned the Cavaliers in the first college football game of the season, the Jim Thorpe Association Classic before a Thursday night national television audience on Aug. 22 on Fox Sports. Jeff Babcock kicked five field goals, the last two in the final 4:07 to break a 29-29 tie, to kick-start a 10-4 season that included a Mountain West championship and ended with a disappointing 31-7 loss to TCU in the Liberty Bowl.

5. 1912 vs. Colorado. The Aggies of Colorado Agricultural College, as CSU was known at the time, hadn’t won a game the previous two seasons. And CU, the defending Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champion under legendary coach Fred Folsom, hadn’t lost since 1908. The Aggies, who snapped a 13-game winning streak a week earlier by beating Denver 14-13 in the first game ever played at Colorado Field, won 21-0 in a stunning upset Oct. 12 in Fort Collins. CSU went on to finish 3-2 in Harry Hughes’ second season as coach.

6. 1994 at Brigham Young. Quarterback Anthoney Hill and running backs E.J. Watson and Leonice Brown each ran for touchdowns, and Greg Myers returned an early interception 30 yards for a score to give CSU a 28-21 win over a BYU team that was ranked No. 22 in the nation coming into the Sept. 17 game. CSU improved to 3-0 under second-year coach Sonny Lubick and went on to win beat then-No. 6 Arizona three weeks later, win the Western Athletic Conference title and finish 10-2 and No. 16 in the nation.

7. 1986 at Colorado. Steve Bartalo ran for 145 yards and a touchdown, and Steve DeLine, whose brother Dave was CU’s kicker at the time, booted two field goals to give the Rams a 23-7 win at Folsom Field. The victory was CSU’s first in Boulder since 1958 and rekindled a rivalry between the state’s two largest universities that required intervention from the state legislature to resume four years earlier after a 25-year hiatus.

8. 1915 at Colorado College. The Colorado Agricultural College Aggies defeated Colorado College 24-13 on a cold, windy day in Colorado Springs to claim their first conference title, winning the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. CAC, which later became Colorado A&M and eventually CSU, went on to beat Denver 33-3 the following week to complete the only unbeaten season in school history with a 7-0 record.

9. 1966 vs. Wyoming. CSU used a lateral from quarterback Bob Wolfe to tailback Larry Jackson that bounced off the ground for what defenders thought was an incomplete pass before Jackson passed receiver Tom Pack to score the go-ahead touchdown and went on to beat the 10th-ranked Cowboys 12-10. The win, on Oct. 29 at Colorado Field, was CSU’s first over Wyoming since 1955 and the only blemish in a 10-1 season for the Cowboys, who went on to beat Florida State in the Sun Bowl. CSU finished 7-3 for its only winning record in Mike Lude’s eight seasons as coach.

10. 1996 at Air Force. Seemingly finished after allowing quarterback Beau Morgan to run for four touchdowns while Air Force built a 41-14 lead in the third quarter, the Rams rallied for a 42-41 win Nov. 2 at Falcon Stadium. The largest comeback in NCAA history at the time was capped with an improbable 21-yard touchdown pass on fourth down from Moses Moreno to a diving Jeremy Calhoun with 45 seconds remaining. Matt McDougal’s point-after touchdown kick provided the winning margin. Moreno threw for 358 yards and three touchdowns.

Follow reporter Kelly Lyell at twitter.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news.

CSU’s milestone wins

No. 1. Colorado Agricultural Aggies defeat Longmont Academy 24-16 in second game ever on Jan. 28, 1893, in Fort Collins

No. 50. CAC defeats Colorado Mines 27-0 on Oct. 23, 1920, at Colorado Field in Fort Collins

No. 100. CAC wins 12-0 at Colorado Mines on Oct. 19, 1929

No. 150. Colorado A&M wins 25-0 at Fort Warren in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on Sept. 21 in the 1946 season opener

No. 200. Colorado A&M wins 14-13 at Wyoming on Oct. 8, 1955

No. 250. CSU’s Rams beat Wichita State 50-21 on Sept 27, 1969, at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins

No. 300. CSU defeats Air Force 20-6 on Oct. 27, 1979, at Hughes

No. 350. CSU beats Texas-El Paso 42-24 on Oct. 10, 1992, at Hughes

No. 400. CSU wins 47-28 at New Mexico State on Oct. 17, 1998

No. 450. CSU defeats Air Force 41-23 on Sept. 29, 2005, at Hughes