Rams Roundup: The Nevada Game

IT'S GAME DAY!
The Rams open Mountain West play, and we've got everything you need to know for game day in the Rams Roundup!

GAME DAY DETAILS

Colorado State (0-4) at Nevada (2-3)
Friday, October 7 - 8:30 p.m. MT
Mackay Stadium - Reno, Nevada

How to Track the Game:
📺 Television » FS1
(Alex Faust, Petros Papadakis - from Los Angeles)
📻 Radio Tuning » CSU Sports Network
📻 Radio Stream » The Varsity Network App
📊 Live Stats » Sidearm Stats Feed

GAME DAY PRIMER

Jay Norvell Weekly Press Conference
    » Watch | Read
Weekly Game Notes
    » Read
CSU Insider Podcast
    » Listen

ESSENTIAL READING

BYE WEEK IS ALL ABOUT THE TEAM
» This is the week to be selfish.

MIKI-HAN SETS FOUNDATION TO BUILD UPON
» As a young player making a first start, it's always nice when there is something they can hang their hat on moving forward.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS: WIN IN 1997 PART OF MAGICAL SEASON
» Presented by OCR

SETTING THE STAGE: THE NEVADA GAME
» The first four weeks were not what Jay Norvell expected.

GAME NOTES

The Rams begin year one under head coach Jay Norvell who was named the program's 24th head coach on Dec. 6, 2021. Norvell led his Wolf Pack team onto Sonny Lubick Field in the season finale on Nov. 27 and was the final head coach to walk off the turf. He returned to Fort Collins nine days later as the Rams new head coach.
Over his five years in Reno, (2017-21) he compiled four-straight seven-plus win seasons and led the Wolf Pack to four bowl games. Colorado State last won seven games in a season in 2017.
Norvell is the fourth Colorado State head coach in the last nine seasons, dating back to Jim McElwain's final season in 2014.
Norvell brought over a number of FBS transfers to bolster the Colorado State roster and even more newcomers. All totaled, there are 15 scholarship transfers from FBS programs on the roster and 54 newcomers overall.
Colorado State's redshirt freshman quarterback Clay Millen became the first freshman quarterback to start a season opener for the Rams since true freshman Pete Thomas - now the QB coach at Louisville - in 2010 when he took the first snap at Michigan in Week 1. That season, Thomas set the freshman passing record with 2,662 yards in 12 starts.
Colorado State last won a conference championship 20 seasons ago this year. That 2002 team won the third title in four seasons under coach Sonny Lubick, a four-year run that included a combined record of 35-15. However, since then, the program has not been able to replicate that level of sustained success. Over the past 20 seasons, including the first four games of this season, CSU has posted a record of 94-134 (.410) with 12 non-winning seasons out of the 19 complete ones played, a pattern first-year head coach Jay Norvell is aiming to break.
The Rams entered the season with promise on the offensive line with the five starters at Michigan combining for 92 starts entering the season. That total ranked as the 14th-most combined starts by an offensive line unit in the nation though none of those starts came together as a unit. Injuries, however, have resulted in different combinations through each of the first four games.
Entering the season, Colorado State's roster featured 15 players with 10 or more starts at the FBS level but just six offensive and defensive starters overall. However, with the four-game redshirt rule and mid-season transfers, those numbers have been whittled down to just three on defense. Only Devin Phillips, Dequan Jackson, and Cam'Ron Carter eclipsed eight starts in 2021.
The Portal Giveth, The Portal Taketh: In Jay Norvell's first signing class, the Rams brought in 16 scholarship players from Division 1 programs via the Transfer Portal - a powerful tool to begin building a roster for his program. However, the portal works both ways. Since the end of spring practices, 14 scholarship players have gone into the portal or will enter the portal once the window opens in December. As a result, the Rams enter the Nevada contest with 65 scholarship players overall including five not expected to participate this season.

On the Game...

Ignoring the obvious top note for the sake of space, the Rams begin conference play this week at Nevada, riding a two-game losing streak to the Wolf Pack.
The Rams are aiming to start 1-0 in conference play in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2005-06. Over the past 10 seasons, CSU is just 2-8 in conference openers.
Dating back to the 2021 season, as a program, the Rams are on a 10-game slide over two different coaching staffs since defeating New Mexico on Oct. 16, 2021. The Rams have not started 0-5 since going 0-6 to open the 2007 season, the final season for coach Sonny Lubick. It is the longest such losing streak since a 12-game span between 2009-10. There was also a 13-game span from 2006-07.

NEXT UP

Colorado State vs. Utah State (Homecoming)
Saturday, Oct. 15 - 5 p.m.
Canvas Stadium - Fort Collins, Colo.
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Cam'Ron Carter

Dequan Jackson

Clay Millen

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