Hauss Hejny returned from injury, delivered five total touchdowns and a win.
It was a stirring return for the star Colorado State quarterback as he helped the Rams beat San Diego State 56-49 in a wild shootout Oct. 24 at Canvas Stadium.
The win snaps a four-game losing streak and gives CSU its first Pac-12 win.
Here are takeaways from the victory.
Hauss Hejny changes CSU’s ceiling
Hejny is a gamechanger.
Bar none. He simply raises the ceiling of what CSU (3-4, 1-2 Pac-12) can do.
Part of it is his obvious skillset. He’s a dynamic rusher but also a very good thrower who can deliver the short and long passes.
Of his first 14 passes in this game, the only two incompletions were drops.
Hejny finished with five total touchdowns.
He completed 24 of 31 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns. He ran 11 times for 85 yards and two more touchdowns.
Hejny has now played just over 12 total quarters and has thrown or rushed for 13 total touchdowns.
He did have a pick and a costly fumble in the fourth at the goal line that kept San Diego State (3-5, 2-2 Pac-12) in the game, but he also was CSU’s best player.
Hejny raises CSU’s ceiling.
He’s now started 37 drives for CSU (not counting end-of-half kneels) and 20 of them have ended in touchdowns.
He rushed on a third down on the final drive to seal the win.
Defense does just enough to help offense
It was not a sterling performance from the defense by any means.
The numbers are once again ugly.
San Diego State was in the 100s (out of 138 teams) in all key offensive stats, but the Aztecs still moved the ball with frequency.
San Diego State ended well over 500 yards of total offense, including nearly 400 passing with a backup QB playing.
But the defense did make a few key plays. A sequence late in the first half saw the Rams force two punts and Tre’Shawn Moore grabbed a pick-six.
That pick-six was CSU’s first since 2022. It helped swing the game.
D’Mon Brinson added an interception in the fourth he returned to the 3 yard line. It should have sealed the game if not for the Hejny fumble.
It’s still a long way to go for the defense to become respectable but it did make a few key plays to help win the game. That alone is improvement.
Excellent response from Colorado State
Jim Mora has been adamant, arguably stubborn, in saying this team continues to work and want to learn and grow.
He has said it’s a group that’s not going to run from hard times.
This is just one game but it’s a strong response from the Rams. After four losses in a row, all of them increasingly ugly, CSU put in a fighting effort.
Again, there’s plenty to fix and improve but the Rams are now on the board with a Pac-12 win and have seemingly winnable games ahead (at Utah State, at Washington State come to mind).
Sports reporter Kevin Lytle can be found on social media on X, Instagram and Threads @Kevin_Lytle and on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Hauss Hejny returns to spark CSU to first Pac-12 win | Takeaways