Colorado State’s loss to Boise State was ugly on the scoreboard, but the sideline confrontation may have been the day’s most jarring moment.
During Saturday’s game, fifth-year offensive lineman Toriyan Johnson and strength and conditioning coach Shelton Bynum got into a heated exchange that spilled into a scene caught on video. The footage showed Bynum charging toward Johnson, grabbing his jersey and yelling in his face. Johnson immediately pushed back verbally before teammates and coaches rushed in to separate the two.
The Rams were already in a rough spot by then. Boise State rolled to a 64-38 win, scoring 22 points in the first quarter and taking control early. The loss dropped Colorado State to 3-6 on the season.
Local sports anchor Jon Tritsch shared the footage, which showed Bynum approaching Johnson from behind and grabbing his jersey. The video did not show what sparked the argument, and Colorado State has not offered any further explanation for the exchange.
Jim Mora addressed the incident at the start of his postgame press conference and said the program would deal with it internally. He also said he had not seen the video before speaking.
“Let me address the video that’s out there. I’ve not seen it, of Toriyan and our strength coach, getting into it.
It’s a passionate game played by passionate people that are all alpha dogs, but there’s no place for that. Once I see it, we’ll address it and we’ll go from there,” Mora said.
The confrontation adds another messy chapter to Mora’s first season in Fort Collins. He came in after back-to-back nine-win seasons at UConn, but Colorado State has not come close to that kind of form. The Rams have had multiple rough outings this year, and Mora even fired defensive coordinator Tyson Summers in the middle of their Week 4 game against Oregon State.
Now the program has a blowout loss, a sideline fight, and a lot more heat around it than it wanted on Saturday night.
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