Mister Holland’s opus doomed Rebels

Monday, Nov. 24, 2003 | 11 a.m.

He's probably the most versatlie player since that triple threat specialist in your old electric fotball game. So when Bradlee Van Pelt left Saturday's game against UNLV in the third quarter with a broken hand, the Rebels felt they had pulled the plug on Colorado State's comeback.

But with strong-armed Justin Holland waiting in reserve, the Rams still had plenty of good vibrations on a chilly evening at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Holland came out of the cold to complete 7 of 10 passes for 80 yards and lead CSU to 10 fourth-quarter points. His 3-yard touchdown pass to H back Joel Dreesen with 53 seconds left capped a 9-play, 80-yard drive that gave CSU an improbable 24-23 victory and the inside track on a San Francisco Bowl berth, which it accepted today.

"He stayed poised," said Jamaal Brimmer, UNLV's secretary of defense, in a subdued Rebels dressing room following yet another crushing home defeat in the final seconds. "I think that was the whole thing.

"In the beginning he seemed kind of rattled but then he got some first downs and settled down. When you come in like that, that's about all you can ask for."

Van Pelt versus Brimmer was billed as one of game's kep matchups and it lived up to it, at least until the Rams' warrior in shoulder pads cracked his hand while throwing an interception midway through the third quarter with UNLV leading 20-14.

His first and last passes were intercepted, as Brimmer made an outstanding read and stepped in front of David Anderson, Van Pelt's favorite receiver, to intercept a long pass on CSU's first possession of the game.

Brimmer returned his sixth interception of the season 25 yards, setting up Dillon Pieffer's 35-yard field goal that gave UNLV a 10-0 head start.

Between interceptions, it was vintage Van Pelt, as he ran and passed CSU back into the game. His weaving 27-yard touchdown run, reminiscent of a Steve Young scramble, got the Rams on the board late in the first quarter, and his 36-yard pass to Eric Hill set up Jimmy Green's 3-yard scoring plunge that put CSU ahead 14-13 late in the second.

Van Pelt completed 10 of 16 passes for 134 yards and rushed 9 times for 85 more before he was injured.

"I think it was the blitz. The blitzer landed on my hand. This is a sport of bangs, bruises, and breaks," said Van Pelt, who promised he would be ready for the San Francisco Bowl, should 7-5 CSU receive the bid.

It wasn't as if the UNLV backed off when he went out, although Brimmer said the Rebels might have breathed a little easier at least on third down, with the threat of the quarterback draw gone.

"It didn't change much of the game plan," he said. "Maybe it helped a little from a confidence standpoint, in that we felt (with Van Pelt in the game) on a certain down we had to come and out prevent them from scoring with a big play."

But Holland, a sophomore who was highly recruited out of Bear Creek High School in Lakewood, Colo., made all the small and medium-sized plays that counted toward the end. He showed CSU coach Sonny Lubick that the Rams' offense will be in good hands the next two years and perhaps even sooner, should CSU need him in San Francisco.

Lubick said he was splanning to insert Holland into the game even before he learned Van Pelt had been injured.

"I didn't know he had a broken hand," Lubick said. "We put Justin in to settle him (Van Pelt) down and give (Holland) a shot. He had deserved it, the way he played."

It was a routine CSU used often last year, when Holland probably was a better passer than Van Pelt. But Van Pelt's passing touch improved so dramatically during the off-season that Holland seldom had a chance to put the clipboard down during the Rams' snakebit season. Three of CSU's five losses were decided in the final two minutes.

"I never doubted (myself)," Holland said. "I played a lot more last year than this year, but you prepare yourself the best you can."

On a chilly Las Vegas evening, it turned out he was more than ready.