CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2002 Colorado State

10–⁠4 (6–⁠1 Mountain West Conference), coached by Sonny Lubick.

Schedule and results

Colorado State in 2002, game by game: won at Virginia 35–29; won vs. No. 7 Colorado 19–14; lost at UCLA 19–30; won vs. Louisville 36–33; won at Nevada 32–28; lost at Fresno State 30–32; won vs. Wyoming 44–36; won at Utah 28–20; won vs. BYU 37–10; won at Air Force 31–12; won at San Diego State 49–21; won vs. New Mexico 22–14; lost vs. UNLV 33–36; lost vs. TCU 3–17+28−14Won 35–29 at Virginia+6VirginiaWon 19–14 vs. No. 7 Colorado+5No. 7 ColoradoLost 19–30 at UCLA-11UCLAWon 36–33 vs. Louisville+3LouisvilleWon 32–28 at Nevada+4NevadaLost 30–32 at Fresno State-2Fresno StateWon 44–36 vs. Wyoming+8WyomingWon 28–20 at Utah+8UtahWon 37–10 vs. BYU+27BYUWon 31–12 at Air Force+19Air ForceWon 49–21 at San Diego State+28San Diego StateWon 22–14 vs. New Mexico+8New MexicoLost 33–36 vs. UNLV-3UNLVLost 3–17 vs. TCU-14TCU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 22atVirginiaW 35–⁠2956%
Aug 31vs7ColoradoW 19–⁠1445%
Sep 7atUCLAL 19–⁠3048%
Sep 14vsLouisvilleW 36–⁠3354%
Sep 28atNevadaW 32–⁠2866%
Oct 4atFresno StateL 30–⁠3248%
Oct 12vsWyomingW 44–⁠3687%
Oct 19atUtahW 28–⁠2055%
Oct 24vsBYUW 37–⁠1072%
Oct 31atAir ForceW 31–⁠1256%
Nov 16atSan Diego StateW 49–⁠2177%
Nov 23vsNew MexicoW 22–⁠1478%
Nov 30vsUNLVL 33–⁠3687%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsTCULiberty BowlL 3–⁠1753%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to TCU 17–⁠3 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; Mountain West Conference champions.

In program history: The 9th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 19
  2. Wk 4: 24
  3. Wk 6: 25
  4. Wk 7: 25
  5. Wk 11: 24
  6. Wk 12: 24
  7. Wk 13: 21
  8. Wk 14: 20
  9. Wk 15: 16
  10. Wk 16: 24

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 2002.

Mountain West Conference champions6–⁠1 in the conference

Record
10–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠1 first in Mountain West Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 16
Points
418–⁠332
Coach
Sonny Lubick
Elo
1622 +59 this season
SP+ rating
10.2 No. 39 of 117; offense No. 34, defense No. 41
SRS
5.7 No. 44 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 68
Offensive coordinators
John Benton and Dan Hammerschmidt
Defensive coordinator
Larry Kerr

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 34— allowed
Defense0.0own 29— caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2002 class

Ryan Parks OG★★★No. 670
Marshall Tharpe PRO★★★No. 670
Danny Foster CB★★★No. 670
Ben Stratton PRO★★No. 898
Luke Davis S★★No. 898

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2002 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks22.50.783
Running backs12.00.767
Receivers62.00.767
Offensive line32.30.778
Defensive line32.00.767
Linebackers22.00.767
Defensive backs52.20.773
Athletes and specialists12.00.767
Whole class232.10.771

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

2002 Mountain West Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Colorado State6–⁠110–⁠4
New Mexico5–⁠27–⁠7
Air Force4–⁠38–⁠5
San Diego State4–⁠34–⁠9
Utah3–⁠45–⁠6
UNLV3–⁠45–⁠7
BYU2–⁠55–⁠7
Wyoming1–⁠62–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.