Colorado State University Athletics
Setting the Stage: Hawaii
10/21/2022 2:00:00 PM | Football
Millen set to return a team gaining an identity
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – What the roster has lost in numbers, the program has gained in personality.
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With the second half of the season approaching, Colorado State head coach Jay Norvell believes he's starting to see the character and identity of the team develop.
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"I just think it's not easy to play college football. It's not easy when you're sore and you're beat up and you've had players who have left the team and you haven't won and there's a lot of criticism, it's tough," Norvell said this week as his team prepared for Saturday's game with Hawaii. "But they've got to find the resolve, and now they're getting the camaraderie of their teammates who are in the same situation as them, but they also have the same goals. They also have the same aspirations as a team, and we're starting to see the personality of the players and the personality of our team step up.
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"I really love the support the older players are giving the younger players and the leadership they're giving them. I think in the long run that's going to pay off."
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Norvell has given a lot of credit to the veterans in the locker room, those who were added and those who have been around. Not just for sticking through everything, but their efforts for trying to make the results better.
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What they're doing will have a lasting effect beyond the remaining six games on the schedule.
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"I grabbed Mohamed Kamara and Dequan Jackson and just told them how proud I was of them for how hard they've worked," Norvell said. "Cam'ron Carter, too, really paying attention to the details the coaches have asked them to do and the example they're setting for the other players. I think the way they're practicing is going to leave an example to the younger players, and it's going to set a precedent for us moving forward. That's the most important thing is that we want to function and operate the way this program needs to function and operate moving forward to win and get to where we want to be."
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Upon His Return
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Clay Millen is expected to start this week after missing the past two games with a shoulder injury, sustained when he was sacked for the 24th time this season in the Sacramento State contest.
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Norvell said then the time away may do him some good, allowing him to sit back and see things from a different perspective. Millen said he was correct.
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"I think it just kind of lets you calm your mind. You realize watching the game it's a lot slower than you think," Millen said. "I think being on the sideline you can see stuff that you can't sometimes see maybe in the pocket. The game just kind of slows down for you and you kind of realize in practice in games, being on the sideline it's not a big deal. You want to be competitive and go in there with your mind you want to go win and have it be a big deal in your head but not have it be too much of a big deal in your head.
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"I think the game slowed down a little bit. I'm a little rusty right now I feel like taking three weeks off, but I think there's some stuff which slows down when you just watch from the sideline. You get to see some concepts from a different perspective, and I think that helps you."
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When last we saw Millen taking snaps, he was 7-of-7 passing against Sacramento State for 62 yards. He'll actually returning having competed eight consecutive throws, connecting for his last one at Washington State, a 14-yard scoring strike to Justus Ross-Simmons. Earlier in that game, he'd hit on 12 consecutive throws, the fourth-best streak in program history.
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In summary, the redshirt freshman has been accurate, hitting on 68-of-92 throws (73.9 percent) for 667 yard with five touchdowns and four interceptions.
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Taking a Stand
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Home is where Norvell wants his team to start to develop a heartbeat, and Canvas Stadium hasn't been user friendly of late. In the past five seasons, the Rams are just 9-17 all-time at the facility having gone 1-5 in 2021. They've had two winning seasons at Canvas – 1-0 in the pandemic year of 2020, and 4-2 the inaugural season of 2017.
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"We have preseason goals, and we want to win at home. That's always a goal for us every year is to create that great homefield advantage," Norvell said. "We've been close; the last two weeks we've played much better, but we've really got to want to establish that. The second half of the season we've kind of challenged our players to really play at the level we've been trying to push for all year, and part of that is playing really well at home and winning."
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It ties into his overall plan to reverse some ugly trends. The Rams are just 8-21 in the second half of the past five seasons overall and have trailed at halftime in 17 of those games, six times by at least two touchdowns.
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The Rams are 9-3 at home against Hawaii, but lost 42-34 the last meeting in 2018, which snapped a six-game run of wins.
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With the second half of the season approaching, Colorado State head coach Jay Norvell believes he's starting to see the character and identity of the team develop.
Â
"I just think it's not easy to play college football. It's not easy when you're sore and you're beat up and you've had players who have left the team and you haven't won and there's a lot of criticism, it's tough," Norvell said this week as his team prepared for Saturday's game with Hawaii. "But they've got to find the resolve, and now they're getting the camaraderie of their teammates who are in the same situation as them, but they also have the same goals. They also have the same aspirations as a team, and we're starting to see the personality of the players and the personality of our team step up.
Â
"I really love the support the older players are giving the younger players and the leadership they're giving them. I think in the long run that's going to pay off."
Â
Norvell has given a lot of credit to the veterans in the locker room, those who were added and those who have been around. Not just for sticking through everything, but their efforts for trying to make the results better.
Â
What they're doing will have a lasting effect beyond the remaining six games on the schedule.
Â
"I grabbed Mohamed Kamara and Dequan Jackson and just told them how proud I was of them for how hard they've worked," Norvell said. "Cam'ron Carter, too, really paying attention to the details the coaches have asked them to do and the example they're setting for the other players. I think the way they're practicing is going to leave an example to the younger players, and it's going to set a precedent for us moving forward. That's the most important thing is that we want to function and operate the way this program needs to function and operate moving forward to win and get to where we want to be."
Â
Upon His Return
Â
Clay Millen is expected to start this week after missing the past two games with a shoulder injury, sustained when he was sacked for the 24th time this season in the Sacramento State contest.
Â
Norvell said then the time away may do him some good, allowing him to sit back and see things from a different perspective. Millen said he was correct.
Â
"I think it just kind of lets you calm your mind. You realize watching the game it's a lot slower than you think," Millen said. "I think being on the sideline you can see stuff that you can't sometimes see maybe in the pocket. The game just kind of slows down for you and you kind of realize in practice in games, being on the sideline it's not a big deal. You want to be competitive and go in there with your mind you want to go win and have it be a big deal in your head but not have it be too much of a big deal in your head.
Â
"I think the game slowed down a little bit. I'm a little rusty right now I feel like taking three weeks off, but I think there's some stuff which slows down when you just watch from the sideline. You get to see some concepts from a different perspective, and I think that helps you."
Â
When last we saw Millen taking snaps, he was 7-of-7 passing against Sacramento State for 62 yards. He'll actually returning having competed eight consecutive throws, connecting for his last one at Washington State, a 14-yard scoring strike to Justus Ross-Simmons. Earlier in that game, he'd hit on 12 consecutive throws, the fourth-best streak in program history.
Â
In summary, the redshirt freshman has been accurate, hitting on 68-of-92 throws (73.9 percent) for 667 yard with five touchdowns and four interceptions.
Â
Taking a Stand
Â
Home is where Norvell wants his team to start to develop a heartbeat, and Canvas Stadium hasn't been user friendly of late. In the past five seasons, the Rams are just 9-17 all-time at the facility having gone 1-5 in 2021. They've had two winning seasons at Canvas – 1-0 in the pandemic year of 2020, and 4-2 the inaugural season of 2017.
Â
"We have preseason goals, and we want to win at home. That's always a goal for us every year is to create that great homefield advantage," Norvell said. "We've been close; the last two weeks we've played much better, but we've really got to want to establish that. The second half of the season we've kind of challenged our players to really play at the level we've been trying to push for all year, and part of that is playing really well at home and winning."
Â
It ties into his overall plan to reverse some ugly trends. The Rams are just 8-21 in the second half of the past five seasons overall and have trailed at halftime in 17 of those games, six times by at least two touchdowns.
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The Rams are 9-3 at home against Hawaii, but lost 42-34 the last meeting in 2018, which snapped a six-game run of wins.
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