Horton Prepared Well To Take Lead Role

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – He had to bide his time. Pay his dues. Work his way up the ladder.

Never before had Tory Horton been a lead dog in a passing attack. His first two years at Nevada, he played behind Romeo Doubs and was never one of the top three receivers for the Wolf Pack in terms of catches, but other measures were showing his potential.

He made big plays. He was explosive, highlighted by his yards per catch. He was auditioning for his moment, which has come this season at Colorado State.

New place, same offense and an improved Tory Horton. In his first two games with the Rams, he's been a one-man highlight reel, producing all four touchdowns on the season. He's won 50-50 balls and run by defenders. He's been crisp with his routes and his effort.

His time is now, and he's proven to be more than ready.

"I think we saw it last year when I first enrolled. He's a really young guy, played as a true freshman and caught a lot of touchdowns as a true freshman," quarterback Clay Millen said. "The same thing last year. We kinda had some older guys who put him in the back, didn't make him the star of the show because we had guys like Romeo Doubs, Cole Turner, and those older guys made Tory's involvement in the offense a little bit less, but I always saw his talent. He's super young, and the good thing about him is he's young. He's going to keep getting better. I always knew Tory was a baller; he could run by guys and he's always open. He's a great receiver to have."

Horton has 15 catches this season, good for 255 yards and four touchdowns. He's averaging 17.0 yards per catch and 127.5 yards per game, leading the Mountain West in yardage per game and scoring catches, tied for receptions per game. The numbers rank him in the top 10 nationally.

His first two touchdown catches are a glimpse of what Colorado State coaches have always seen in him. Against both Michigan and Middle Tennessee, he had to win the ball in the end zone, neither an easy catch.

"He's just so competitive. He loves to play, and you can kind of see that in him," CSU head coach Jay Norvell said. "He was a little frustrated at Michigan because he felt like he was running open, and we just couldn't get him the ball. But he's just a competitive guy and loves to play, loves to compete. I think he's just going to continue to get better.

"I can't say enough about Clay. Clay is a tough kid, he's been put in some tough situations his first two starts, but Clay and Tory, that combination should continue to get better and the other guys who are playing with them, their chemistry should improve as we continue to play, too."

CSU receivers coach Chad Savage was a graduate assistant on the Nevada staff and involved in Horton's recruiting process. Horton is young – younger than his quarterback who is a class behind him – but even in high school Savage and company could see the drive he possessed and his willingness to work.

What he found at Nevada was a mentor in Doubs, not unlike the changing of the guard in previous years at Colorado State, when Michael Gallup led the way for a Preston Williams then a Warren Jackson.

"Romeo really paved the way in terms of his practice habits, his study habits, how he was in the film room," Savage said. "He groomed Tory, but at the end of the day, Tory just has God-gifted ability that he's got everything we need in a receiver. He's got length, he's got a big catch radius, he's twitchy, he can stretch the field, he can run through the catch and he can win the contested catch too. He's really got everything were looking for. We just have to keep polishing his game."

Horton played in 21 games at Nevada, every one of them in 2021 and nine as a true freshman the year prior. He has 72 catches to his credit, 52 of which came last year when he was still the fourth-leading receiver on the team, but he's produced 10 touchdowns – five in each of his first two campaigns. He's almost there now.

From the jump, Horton seemed destined for the role and why he would get there.

"He started his first game as a freshman and he scored the first touchdown against Wyoming," Norvell said. "I grabbed our receivers coach and said, 'is he alright on this play?, and he said let him go coach, he's good.'

"He's just prepared. Some kids are football kids, and they prepare for the game, and they look for their opportunity, and Tory has always been one to take advantage of his opportunities. I never worry about him being ready to go, and we trust him."

Millen's trust for Horton's ability has already shown. If Horton has one-on-one coverage, he's going to give him a chance. His second interception against Middle Tennessee was as good as a punt at the time of the game on a third-and-long play. But flushed from the pocket, his best bet was still to give Horton a chance.

But just as much as Millen knows he has the talent to win a majority of those battles, it's the teammate Horton is who only deepens the trust.

"First off, it's his work ethic; he's a really hard worker," Millen said. "He's competitive too. He cares about winning. He's smart too, and in our offense, we want smart receivers. I'd say all of our receivers who play are really smart and know the offense. And obviously, he's explosive. He's tall, he's got length and he runs routes really well, so it makes it easy for a quarterback."

Eventually, Norvell wants to see a postgame stat sheet with five to eight receivers all catching passes. Thus far, Horton, Melquan Stovall (eight catches, 75 yards) and Ty McCullouch (seven, 43) have been most involved after Horton, yet for the offense to really show it's variable explosiveness, the tight ends, running backs and other receivers will need to be utilized.

Even still, Horton can be himself. Especially if he continues to get one-on-one coverage as he has been. Because the player everybody is seeing at Colorado State is not the same kid who showed up at Nevada. He's better, and Norvell knows there's more in the tank as he becomes the prototypical receiver in the system.

"Just his route running. I think he's got an incredibly long stride, so he can eat up a lot of grass on long routes," Norvell said. "When you talk about the great sprinters, they talk about stride length and how much grass they can eat up, and Tory's that way. He can get up on a DB before they know it. We love that in our offense. We love to stretch the field. We think if we can stretch the field vertically it opens up things horizontally for us and also in the running game."

He has the ability to open a lot of things up. Because he waited, he learned and when it became his time, he was ready for the moment.

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