FRESNO, Calif. – Hey, Nevada, Colorado State football has a favor to ask. 

Just about everything went wrong for CSU in its chase for the Mountain West title. With the 28-22 loss to Fresno State, the only way for CSU to reach the title game is to beat Utah State and hope Nevada can beat UNLV.  

Throughout the entirety of conference play the Rams have made their living by slowing the game down, trusting their defense and running the ball. 

FSU needed just one half of football to amass nearly 300 yards of offense, 143 of which came on the ground from Bryson Donelson. Allowing the 10th ranked rushing team in the MW to gash the middle of the defense like Donelson did is plain and simply inexcusable.

With everything going wrong for CSU, Henry Blackburn gave the Rams one last chance. 

On fourth-and-goal at the 1 yard line with 6:32 left to go in the half, FSU quarterback Mikey Keene tried to jump the pile, looking to extend FSU’s lead to 14, only to be met by Blackburn at the peak. Keene fumbled the football and CSU had an opportunity to tie things up on the other end. 

But the offense couldn’t answer and instead went three-and-out. After CSU punted again, the Bulldogs drove the field 54 yards to go up 14. 

After another 4-play drive from CSU, FSU scored again and a 21 point lead at half was the final nail in the coffin for CSU.

For so long, games with as much hanging on the line as there was Saturday night have haunted CSU faithful. The loss is another one that can be thrown onto the pile. 

Coach Jay Norvell recently talked about how his team has won on offense, defense and special teams. None of those units could be found in Valley Children’s Stadium Saturday night. 

With just 144 yards offensively for CSU to match FSU’s production, the Rams went into the half down 21 points, the largest halftime deficit they’ve had since week one. 

While things did get a little bit interesting in the second half, CSU couldn’t put the comeback together.

The Rams defense returned to form in the third quarter, holding Fresno State scoreless. Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi scampered in from nine yards out with 3:25 remaining in the quarter.

That could have been the second touchdown of the third quarter had the Rams converted on fourth down just six yards from pay dirt. That failed conversion was just one of the two prime opportunities CSU had to make things a lot more interesting. The second came in the fourth quarter with 10:49 left on the clock. Tommy Maher was streaking down the middle of the field wide open, but Fowler-Nicolosi just overthrew him, in what likely would have been a touchdown.

From that point, it was just about Fresno State hanging on and running the clock. A task they completed to perfection.

The Saturday night loss is one of the most haunting ones in recent memories, on par with the one last season against Hawaii. The Rams likely won’t be traveling to Boise State for their first ever MW Championship game.

Now its time to wait and see which bowl the Rams get to be a part of. While the 2024 season will almost certainly end with a ton of what-ifs, it’s also the best season CSU has had in six years. There is a lot of young talent on this roster and Norvell has done a great job recruiting, so there is a solid foundation from this year to build on.

Reach Damon Cook at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @dwcook2001.