Monday Presser: Youth Growing Up

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – This isn't the Air Raid people expected, but at Colorado State, this isn't the roster Jay Norvell has been used to working with, most notably in terms of experience.

There's been a lot of youth involved and it's taken a bit more time to season the lineup at key spots, especially due to the injury concerns which have hit this season. The Rams have played three quarterbacks – all freshmen – and have used four different centers in the seven games, two of whom had never played.

"Offensively, it's a crazy mix because we've been playing three and four freshmen on the field at the same time at critical positions," Norvell said Monday at his weekly press conference.

At wideout, the team is now starting two true freshmen, and Norvell is starting to see some growth patterns start to develop.

The past two weeks, with Tory Horton drawing so much attention, it's been Justus Ross-Simmons and Louis Brown who have been the leading receivers. Brown has eight catches the past two weeks, while Ross-Simmons had four in the win over Hawaii. The increased playing time is giving them the opportunity to grow more accustomed to the college game.

"Just coming in as a freshman playing college football, it's a different level than high school football," Brown said. "I just have to have that mindset, go out as soon as my number gets called, just dominate and play at a high level."

It's practice, he said, where they have to start to build up their confidence. In games, it's going out on the field and not being nervous to do what's asked, which can be easier said than done. It never hurts to have teammates in your ear serving as a hype committee, either.

During the game-winning drive in the fourth quarter, Brown made a couple of key plays to pick up first downs, making defenders miss in each instance. The second, a reverse, was a play which will definitely boost his confidence as it was well defended by Hawaii but resulted in the Rams moving the chains.

"As soon as I got it, I saw the D-end for them, and I was like, I can't let him get me," Brown said. "I have to beat him outside, and I see another dude coming from the right, tried to stiff arm him and get as many yards as I can and just make a big play for our team."

Clay Millen was sharp in his return after missing two games with a shoulder injury, completing 17-of-24 passes for 177 yards. Most importantly, it was his first game without a turnover, and he used his legs to avoid sacks completely and produce 53 yards on the ground on nine attempts.

He's completing 73.3 percent of his passes, and against Hawaii, he made better decisions, throwing the ball away when he needed to and tucking and running on other occasions. On top of that, Norvell said he was having fun out there, smiling during the crucial drive.

"He's throwing for 70-plus percent, and that's what Carson Strong was throwing for (at Nevada), and that was his junior and senior year," Norvell said. "For him to show the kind of understanding and decision making at this stage of his career is really exciting to us."

The goal will be to get Horton and his big-play ability more involved in the coming weeks, even with the added attention he's receiving. But the development of the young wideouts and the person throwing them the ball is just as paramount.

As they mix it all together, they anticipate the Air Raid will start to look a bit more as expected.

First Time Revisited

As all CSU fans know, the Rams have yet to beat Boise State (0-11), the only Mountain West team without a win over the Broncos. It's a streak Norvell inherited, and it doesn't have any real impact to him heading into the game.

"I don't put a whole lot of stock in it really, to be honest. I understand what the record it," Norvell said. "The bottom line is you just have to play good enough to win and you have to develop a team that can win. I was part of a program last year at Nevada that hadn't beaten Boise in Boise; they beat them in Reno but had never beat them in Boise. We went up there last year and beat them, but we had a bunch of guys who were determined and made their mind up they wanted to go with there."

There's a lot he's been tasked to change about the program, which is always the case when a coach is replaced. The team took a step last week, overcoming the first double-digit halftime deficit snice 2016 to post a win.

Here and There

Jack Howell leads the conference in tackles per game at 11.1 and is one of only two defensive backs in the top 10 … Mohamed Kamara leads in tackles for loss at 1.5 per with 10.5 overall … In conference only games, Avery Morrow leads the league in rushing with 431 yards overall and 143.7 per contest … Boise State has won three consecutive games since naming Dirk Koetter the offensive coordinator … Having played two consecutive games at home, the Rams now face to road games in a row – San Jose State follows -- against teams currently atop their divisions in the Mountain West. San Jose is in a three-way tie with San Diego State and Fresno State. The Spartans lost to Fresno State and have yet to play the Aztecs.

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Louis Brown IV

Tory Horton

Jack Howell

Mohamed Kamara

Clay Millen

Avery Morrow

Justus Ross-Simmons

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