There might not be any more perfect weather to play a football game than in 26 degrees with steady snowfall.
Both teams showed their mental fortitude and competitiveness, but despite their effort, Colorado State fell to No. 19 Air Force 30-13. It is now CSU’s seventh loss in a row against the Falcons.
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The sky wasn’t the only place snow was falling from, as fans would be penalized for throwing snowballs during a CSU offensive drive in the third quarter.
“I couldn’t even figure out what they were talking about when they came over and started talking,” head coach Jay Norvell said. “You have to ask Mike Defee about that and the conference.”
CSU was moving the ball and would ultimately be forced to punt after the flag stunted their drive.
For the third time in four weeks, CSU put on a well-played first half but failed to capitalize, now losing their fifth game of the season.
The Air Force rushing attack is the perfect style of offense when the snow comes down as hard as it did.
While the CSU defense stood stout in the first half, allowing just 82 yards on 25 attempts, the Falcons would eventually get their ground game going, ending the game with 259 yards on 56 attempts. Emmanuel Michel led the way for the Falcons rushing for 130 yards on 20 carries, continuing his stellar season.
The thing about playing Air Force is that a lot of times your offense isn’t on the field because of how much Air Force runs the clock. The first half, the CSU offense saw six drives, scoring on three of them. The second half they saw just four, which made it hard to get into rhythm.
“I thought our defense was really dialed in,” Norvell said. “We gave them a short drive, and we missed the fourth down, and that’s just something that you’ve got to make a decision to do against these guys because of the lack of possessions.”
Part of the Rams’ first half success came because Nuer Gatkuoth recorded a a season-high 15 tackles. Normally lined up on the defensive line, Gatkuoth played off the line and more as a linebacker to try and mitigate the AFA run game.
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“It was kind of funny because a couple of weeks ago I was arguing with a linebacker, and I said, ‘If I play linebacker, I would have 15 tackles,'” Gatkuoth said. “My whole high school career I played linebacker, so it was like being at home for me.”
The Rams offense had its struggles against a tough Air Force defense. Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi struggled at times, especially in some clutch situations, where he sailed the ball over a few of his receivers’ heads.
“(The weather) affects the ball handling sometimes and his feel,” Norvell said. “A couple of throws that he overthrew he would normally make, and the ball is just kind of coming out of his hand funny late in the game, … and I think Brayden will learn from that.”
Outside of those throws, Fowler-Nicolosi played fairly decently. He completed 28 of his 45 pass attempts, including a touchdown where he connected with Justus Ross-Simmons on a gorgeous 61-yard bomb. Ross-Simmons said that he knew that the ball was coming to him on that play.
“Definitely, especially when we came out of the huddle,” Ross-Simmons said. “We 100% knew that I was getting the ball, so they threw it up and let me do what I do.”
Ross-Simmons led the receiving room with eight receptions for 128 yards. One of the big story lines to come out of this game will be the health of Tory Horton, who was on and off the field before eventually exiting the game for good in the third quarter after a hard hit.
A healthy Horton will be crucial as the Rams continue to fight toward the six win threshold.
The Rams will continue their quest for six wins against Wyoming under the Friday night lights 6 p.m. Nov. 3. Wyoming has looked incredible at times this season, including beating Texas Tech and going into overtime against Air Force but are now coming off of a blowout 32-7 loss against Boise State.
Reach Damon Cook at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @dwcook2001.
