The win column went up by one, but it didn’t quite have the same feeling.
Colorado State football may have used one of their nine lives, winning in a controversial fashion against Northern Colorado 21-17 Saturday. While a second-half surge set up a 50/50 finish, the first half was forgettable. Plagued with five turnovers and 10 penalties, it was a wonder the game was one possession in the fourth quarter. Following a commendable performance in Seattle, the Rams head into a bye week with even more uncertainty.
A portion of that comes from the thrilling final minutes of the game after Jordan Ross appeared to win the game on an improbable toe-drag reception in the back of the end zone. But Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi took matters into his own hands and dove to the pylon shortly after with less than 30 seconds left.
With eight seconds remaining, it then looked like UNC’s Carver Cheeks went up high and came down with an unlikely ball over a defender in the endzone to stomp CSU’s comeback hopes.
The call was controversial, but it was ultimately no good. And head coach Jay Norvell knows it wasn’t something to take for granted.
“We were very fortunate to win the game,” Norvell said. “It’s been a long time where everything that could go wrong went wrong. You know, we had five turnovers — (we are) very fortunate to win with five turnovers. I can’t recall ever winning a game with five turnovers.”
Both sides of the ball gave up critical situations due to penalties, and that trend continued throughout the whole contest. Along with the turnovers, it was unlikely the Rams had a chance, but they fought back anyways. A cleaner gameplan and execution are needed for CSU to have a chance in competitive games.
An extra week to do so came at a great time, and while the blame can’t solely be placed on one player, Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi had one of the rougher nights of his career against the Bears, going 13-for-25 with 132 passing yards and an interception that could have easily expanded to two.
“You know, Brayden was not sharp in this game early on, and made several mistakes early, missed some throws, missed some reads,” Norvell said. “So, we have to go back and and really look at his play as well. But he wasn’t the only one, and so not a great performance offensively.”
Fowler-Nicolosi contributed an early fumble along with a few sketchy throws and an interception which were drive and momentum killers. He just couldn’t quite get on the same page with his receivers, and he wasn’t effectively playing the part of a third-year starter.
Notably, Norvell stuck with his guy until the end.
“He missed some throws early in the game,” Norvell said. “You know, he didn’t have a good night — that’s for sure. So, we (have) got to look at that. He knows he’s accountable. He’s got to play better. He’s got to prepare better and be ready to play better. And so, you know, that’s something that that we got to find out about, and we (have) got to make sure that we are putting him in the right situations.”
The quarterback admitted there was some miscommunication between players on the field, and — considering the the Rams doubled their penalties from last week — the bright orange sellout crowd of an Ag Day home opener possibly hurt CSU’s chances.
Linebacker Jacob Ellis felt the negative effect as one of the leaders on the defense.
“On third down, (you are) trying to communicate, and it’s like you can’t even hear your teammate who’s five yards away from you,” Ellis said. “So, it’s like we have to go up to each other, and we’re yelling.”
Considering how packed the student section was, UNC quarterback Eric Gibson Jr. handled the pressure incredibly well. In just his first start of the season, after the Bears’ starter went down in week one, the walk-on field general managed the game to two possessions by half with a little help from a fumble and a missed field goal by the Rams.
His defense certainly did its job by skunking the Rams before halftime.
“I thought (Gibson Jr.) did a good job,” Norvell said. “He played pretty clean; he played hard; he gave his guys a chance. You know, they went all the way down to the last play of the game, and they had a chance to win. So, that’s what a quarterback’s job is. So, I thought he did a really nice job. Those kids played hard. They played their hearts off.”
Gibson Jr. actually outpaced Fowler-Nicolosi in passing yards and completion percentage with three more attempts. But in the first half, he accomplished the same feat with fewer passes despite his first game under center with the Bears. He also facilitated an option rushing attack well enough early on to take the lead.
In contrast to CSU’s gameplan to pass right out of the gates, UNC controlled the game in the first half. In the second, CSU did a better job of both getting off the field on defense and sustaining drives on offense.
That credit largely goes to the running back room, namely Lloyd Avant and Jalen Dupree, and the offensive line.
Though after almost exclusively running week one’s rushing attack through Dupree, CSU opened things up early as Javion Kinnard took the first touch out of the backfield. The Rams liked what they got out of Tahj Bullock in week one, and they continued to run two-back sets with Bullock occasionally subbing in for Fowler-Nicolosi.
In total, six players ended up with rush attempts out of the backfield.
“Yeah, we wanted to get (Javion Kinnard) in the game early, and we did.” Norvell said. “Jalen has been running the ball hard. (We) wanted to get Justin in there, and Lloyd in there. So, they’re all capable of making really good plays running the ball, you know, I think that’s probably strongest position on our team as far as depth is concerned.”
Beside a strong group of running backs, the linebackers rallied to eventually slow down UNC and allow the offense a chance to come back.
Along with Ellis, CSU fans are starting to realize why Owen Long, just a second-year linebacker, was awarded a captain spot among veterans. He was everywhere on the field in week one, tallying a team-high 13 total tackles. And he stepped up again to lead in tackles with 11 and recovered a crucial forced fumble from Ellis. He’s turning out to be a reliable presence in the middle of the field all while closing gaps quickly, fighting through blocks, keeping an eye on the ball and playing intelligently.
That play between Ellis and Long sparked the second half in a way that nothing else really could.
The Rams didn’t stop kicking themselves, though, as the Bears cashed in on an offsides call by bombing a 30-yard completion to UNC’s Cheeks shortly before benefitting from a facemask penalty to end up in the endzone early in the second half. While it was certainly cleaner coming out of halftime, it would have been hard to follow up with anything worse. Not to mention a fumble from Avant with just six minutes to go.
So, with a week to try and get things right, it’ll be all about cleaning up what went wrong and trying to retain those that gave CSU hope on a day where a sea of orange shirts were often silenced.
Reach Michael Hovey at sports@collegian.com or on social media @michaelfhovey.
