Navy Runs Past Colorado St.

SAN DIEGO — The inaugural Poinsettia Bowl acted like its parent Thursday night.

Spawned by the same civic boosters who run the Holiday Bowl, a game known for high scores and wide-open offense, the bowl’s maiden effort saw Navy (7-4 during the season) beat Colorado State (6-5), 51-30, to the delight of a Navy-leaning crowd of 36,842 at Qualcomm Stadium.

Five touchdowns by Navy sophomore running back Reggie Campbell -- two from passes, three running -- tied an NCAA bowl record held by, among others, Barry Sanders at the 1988 Holiday Bowl.

The Rams had struck first on a 10-play, 77-yard drive topped by a one-yard touchdown by Kyle Bell.

But the Midshipmen came back immediately with a 55-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Lamar Owens to a streaking Campbell.

A 34-yard field goal by Jason Smith gave Colorado State a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

But Navy pulled away with three second-quarter touchdowns: a 22-yard run by Marco Nelson and runs of 22 and two yards by Campbell. A blocked point-after attempt put the score at 27-10.

Ram Coach Sonny Lubick had worried before the game that his team would barely touch the ball, given the potency of Navy’s triple-option offense.

Touching it proved not a problem -- the Rams had nearly twice the possession time in the first half -- but stopping the Navy attack proved nearly insurmountable.

Campbell scored from 24 yards on the opening drive of the second half.

Colorado State made it 34-24 on two touchdown passes from quarterback Justin Holland to wide receiver Dustin Osborn, of 10 and 20 yards.

Campbell’s fourth touchdown came on Navy’s final drive of the third quarter.

From a civic perspective, the Poinsettia Bowl is an effort to get additional mileage -- and tourist dollars -- from the experience in marketing and public relations accumulated during 28 years of the Holiday Bowl.

The game is designed to match a Mountain West Conference team against an at-large team. Given the large Navy presence in San Diego, the selection of Navy was a natural.

So natural that Navy has already been given the option to return in coming years. .