CSU football finds progress after bye week, still falls short to UNLV

Progress is there but perfection is still far.

Colorado State football demonstrated that it still has a long way to go to before becoming the top in its conference after tallying its seventh loss 42-10 against UNLV Saturday.

As the Rams exited Canvas Stadium, they not only left behind their home win-streak against the Rebels — CSU hadn’t lost at home to UNLV since 2002 — but also their bowl-game eligibility.

“I did see progress,” interim head coach Tyson Summers said. “I did see us be able to take a lot of the things that we’ve worked on and continue to try to build off of, and I thought we were able to do that, but we’ve got to do a better job of playing disciplined and being able to sustain those things.”

Although all sides of the field needed sharpening, Summers did what he could to shift the momentum late in the game and benched starting quarterback Jackson Brousseau once again, bringing in Darius Curry.

“I think (Curry) has done really well, I like (Curry) a lot,” Summers said. “He brings a spark to us, for sure. I thought (Brousseau) played better tonight than he did the week before, and we’ll continue to work with both of those guys and build packages around that we feel like, give us the best chance to be successful.”

In both games with Summers as interim head coach, Brousseau’s been pulled, highlighting CSU’s inconsistency with stability for the quarterback position — an obstacle that has come into play time and time again.

“We’ve talked a lot about what doubt looks like and feels like, and it’s been a tough season; it has,” Summers said. “We try to go through each day and and try to be the same person each day, and that’s what I talked to them about tonight.”

But the Rams have had a far from average season, especially within the past month.

After a hectic turn of events with the departure of former head coach Jay Norvell and Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi — resulting in Summers stepping up as interim head coach and the promotion of Grant Chestnut to play-caller — the Rams had less than a week to come together and play their Border War game.

It evidently proved to be too much, resulting in CSU’s first shutout game of the season.

Yet after a defeating rivalry loss, the Rams took the time to return to their family, reflect and practice through the bye week to take on UNLV. Despite a solid start from CSU, the Rebels quickly took over.

“I was really proud of our guys; I thought they did a nice job being able to come out of the gate and, again, score some early opportunities,” Summers said. “I did make some of those decisions in the second quarter, and, you know, they didn’t work out. And that’s part of what it is, and what I’ve got to do a better job with.”

After a few failed attempts from UNLV, Jai’Den Thomas found the hole in the Rams’ defense and took off. He provided two of the Rebels’ three early-game explosive drives, each over 50 yards.

Even defensive leader Owen Long somewhat struggled compared to his usual production, tallying seven tackles, this being only his second game of the season in which he didn’t rack up double digits in tackles.

“Sometimes we get in our own heads and we start snowballing,” defensive back Jace Bellah said. “And we just (have) got to keep continuing (to do) what Summers is preaching to us, to stay together play-by-play and keep getting after it.”

Bellah led the defense with grabbing CSU’s singular interception by cutting off the Rebels in the end zone, and was second for the team in tackles behind Jaseim Mitchell with nine.

But ultimately, the cracks in the defense and offense broke.

“I feel like, as an (offensive player), when defense makes a play like that, we just have to execute,” running back Jalen Dupree said. “There’s no other way of saying it, but we just (have) got to step up, just can’t leave him hanging out there.”

Specifically within the offense, the quarterback room wasn’t the only struggle. UNLV practically doubled in total yards with 571 compared to CSU’s 292.

The biggest rushing highlight of the night for the Rams came on a 56-yard run from Dupree. But that happened early in the first, with CSU struggling to replicate its early success for the rest of the game.

“We’ve got to be able to find ways to sustain those things, and, like I said, I’ve got to do a better job as the head coach and making some decisions there,” Summers said. “And I’ve got to do a better job, obviously, trying to get our defense ready to play, but ultimately, both of those things fall on me.”

Within the second half, the Rams only had two first downs, and as a unit, were only able to convert once on third down, ending the night 1-13.

“The truth is I’ve got to do a good job each day of being able to go through and help those guys,” Summers said. “So, as long as I can continue to get the guys to believe and continue to have see progress and see growth, and … continue to trust me and what I’m trying to do as a leader … then they know I care about them, then I think all those things will work themselves out.”

Although CSU lost its chance at a bowl game for the 2025 season, the Rams still have three games left, the next being an away game Nov. 15 against New Mexico at 1:00 p.m.

“I still want to play aggressive,” Summers said. “I still want to be able to give our guys the best chance to win. I still want to figure out ways that we can create rhythm early in the game and continue to try to sustain it. … And if we can do those things and put those things together, we’ll give ourselves an opportunity to (succeed).”

Reach Sophie Webb at sports@collegian.com or on social media @sophgwebb.

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