Colorado State redshirt junior defensive back Jace Bellah didn’t even play in the Rams’ first two games of the season.
But as injuries to the team’s defense began to pile up, he began to get more opportunities. In the past four games, he has certainly made the most of them.
Bellah has four interceptions in the Rams’ past four games, including a pair in CSU’s lone Mountain West Conference victory over Fresno State on Oct. 10. He had one the next week against Hawaii and one last week against UNLV.
He has gone from a backup to one of the Rams’ top playmakers on defense in just a little more than a month’s time.
“He didn’t play the first two meetings of the year, and then his role has continued to increase,” CSU interim head coach Tyson Summers said. “I think he’s just a great example of a guy that’s gotten an opportunity. That was due to the injuries and some of them due to some other things. He’s gotten an opportunity and run with it.”
A four-sport letterman at Pueblo South High School, Bellah walked onto the team in 2022 and redshirted that season. As a redshirt freshman in 2023, he saw his first action on the field in the Rams’ season opener against Washington State. He finished the season with two tackles.
As a redshirt sophomore last season, he played in nine games, mostly on special teams. He scored his first career touchdown when he recovered a fumble for a touchdown on a kickoff against Nevada.
He began this season as a backup, but as the Rams continued to lose defensive players to injury, his role became more prominent. On Oct. 3 at San Diego State, he had a then-career-high four tackles. A week later against Fresno State, he set another career high with six takedowns.
That was also the game he had the first, and second, interceptions of his career.
The first came in the opening period and ended a Fresno drive when he intercepted a pass at the Rams’ 20-yard line and returned it 20 yards to the CSU 47. CSU capitalized on the turnover, scoring a touchdown on the ensuing drive.
“His very first interception of the year, four games ago, he was playing boundary safety, and he had never once run that technique,” Summers said. “He walked through it. He had been in meetings, but he had been playing strong safety all year and because of the injuries, he went over there. He played the technique perfectly, had taken his coaching through the meetings and the walkthroughs and applied it.”
His second interception of that game came with a 26-yard return that set up a touchdown in the fourth quarter, which to date is the Rams’ highlight win of the season.
He became the first CSU player since Trent Matthews in 2013 to have at least four interceptions in a season, and the Rams still have three games remaining.
CSU is on a three-game losing streak since that victory over Fresno State. The Rams plan to continue fighting and continue to try to fix their mistakes. Despite his recent accomplishments, Bellah and his teammates on both sides of the ball know there is still work to do and they would like to end the season on a positive note.
“I believe sometimes we get in our own heads, and we start snowballing,” Bellah said. “We’ve just got to keep continuing what coach Summers is preaching to us to stay together, play by play, and keep getting better.”
CSU will begin its final three-game stretch Saturday at New Mexico. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Scouting the Lobos
New Mexico enters Saturday’s game with a 6-3 overall record and a 3-2 mark in the Mountain West. The Lobos have won their past three games — against Nevada, Utah State and UNLV. They are coming off a bye week.
Offensively, the Lobos are led by quarterback Jack Layne, who has passed for 1,940 yards and 12 touchdowns. Running back Damon Bankston leads the ground attack with 418 yards and four touchdowns, while Keegan Johnson is the team’s leading receiver with 573 yards and three touchdowns.
Jaxton Eck leads the defense with 95 tackles, four tackles for loss and a sack. Keyshawn James-Newby has 7.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. The Lobos have four players with one interception each.
CSU leads the all-time series between the two teams, 45-25. The Rams have won the past 13 meetings. The last time CSU lost to New Mexico was in 2009. The Rams won last year’s contest 17-6 at Canvas Stadium.
Injury report
Per the Rams’ first availability report prior to Saturday’s game, seven CSU players are listed as out for the contest.
The list includes: offensive linemen Chandler Brown, Alex Foster and John Holthaus; wide receivers Jordan Ross, Petey Tucker and Kory Hall; and running back Keegan Holles.
New to the list of players out for the season this week are: defensive back AJ Noland; running back Jalen Dupree who publicly announced his intention to enter the transfer portal Thursday; and Jaxxon Warren, who had been listed as out for a single game for several weeks.
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