It’s a new chapter, a fresh start.
Colorado State football battled its share of good teams in the non-conference season, like Washington, and went head-to-head with NFL prodigies such as running back Robert Henry Jr.
But just five weeks in, the Rams have already made several changes to their game. Against UTSA, head coach Jay Norvell benched starting quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi after he had been making the same mistakes since his first year with the team, showing little improvement.
“There’s no goal too big for us. I feel like (the) national championship might be a little adventurous, but I think Mountain West championship, just even making it to that game, would be a huge accomplishment,” –Tyler Bowne, SDSU’s The Daily Aztec football beat reporter
Then, when the new quarterback, Jackson Brousseau, performed as best as he could with the plays given, Norvell removed himself as the play-caller, promoting associate head coach and pass-game coordinator Matt Mumme.
Moving into conference season, CSU is looking for a clean start, meanwhile, the Rams’ opponent, San Diego State, aims to continue building its momentum.
“I mean, you know, (in) conference play, everybody’s 0-0, this is the season that matters the most… this is what you play for,” beat reporter Connor Larson said. “You (have) got to start out 1-0 in conference play; you don’t want to be behind the rest of the pack going forward.”
Larson is one of four beat reporters that The Daily Aztec — SDSU’s independent student paper — has for football. And to get the full perspective before Friday’s game, The Rocky Mountain Collegian interviewed three of the beat reporters, including Larson, Tyler Bowne and Iain Henderson.
The Aztecs are approaching the upcoming game confidently, as they enter the conference season 3-1 — one of the teams they beat being California — and in two of the wins, the opposing team didn’t score anything.
“That (UC) win is huge,” Henderson said. “So just securing that is massive. … I think the highlight of this team is the defense. I mean, holding a team to three points overall last week, holding Cal to a shutout back-to-back weeks, that’s ridiculous. So that front seven is deadly.”
With a team like CSU lacking an offensive identity, it’s unsettling to have the first game in the conference season against a team like SDSU that’s already expected to go far within the Mountain West.
The beat reporters for The Daily Aztec see this as a potentially low-scoring game and for it to be a defensive slugfest with SDSU emerging victorious, but this team’s confidence could be what hurts them.
“This is almost the perfect storm for us, in almost a negative sense,” Bowne said. “I think when you have a big win, it’s easy for a team that’s undisciplined — not to say we’re undisciplined — but if a team is going to lose discipline, it’s very easy to (get a) big win in the season, (and then) you go ahead and lose the next one.”
SDSU’s head coach Sean Lewis consistently reinforces the idea that a team is only as good as their last performance. Meaning, despite all the wins the Aztecs have under their belt, this coming game against the Rams is the most important.
But if CSU wants that upset, it needs to have that strong defense lined up even though multiple key players — especially on defense — are out on injury. SDSU relies heavily on running the ball, which the Rams have struggled with preventing in the past.
“If we can establish a solid run game, I don’t really see Colorado State being able to stop it,” Bowne said. “Because I would say every team (the Rams) have played, really — except for Washington State — kind of ran the ball down Colorado State’s throat.”
But even a team that feels strong in every front, whether it is the offense, defense or special teams, has its weaknesses. And for the Aztecs, it’s the lack of a passing attack.
“Our yards after catch when we run those screens and those hitches… could definitely be improved on, because our primary attack on offense is rushing,” Henderson said. “So if we can maintain the passing efficiency and turn it into more yardage, that would be huge. That would make us a pretty fully-fledged complete team.”
Although SDSU’s offensive scheme is simple, it’s effective. But for now, SDSU has yet to unleash that high-passing side through its quarterback, Jayden Denegal, which is something the Rams could take advantage of if they play their defense right.
And compared to last year, the Aztecs are a completely different team. They finished the 2024 season ranked 10th in the MW after going 3-9, losing the last six games of the season.
“We’ve already reached our win total from last year,” Henderson said. “So now, and after ripping off like that huge Cal win… it’s like, wait. And the Mountain West is pretty wide open this year, where Boise (State) doesn’t look as dominant as they were last year. … We might actually be able (to win) with how well-coached we are.”
But now, SDSU is already halfway to being bowl-eligible, and The Daily Aztec’s beat reporters are confident that the Aztecs have the power to go much farther in the season and could see a championship game in their future.
At a time when the Rams are scrambling to rebuild themselves, SDSU could continue on its hot streak, starting the conference season right. Yet there is still optimism for CSU that Mumme will finally give its offense the push it needs.
“The coaches that are higher up, they’ve all kind of been there,” Bowne said. “They all know what it takes to win, how to stay down till you come up. There’s no goal too big for us. I feel like (the) national championship might be a little adventurous, but I think Mountain West championship, just even making it to that game, would be a huge accomplishment.”
Reach Sophie Webb at sports@collegian.com or on social media @sophgwebb.
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