Colorado State University Athletics
What We Saw: Another Wild Ride
10/22/2023 2:00:00 PM | Football
High and lows continue for Rams
Before the season began, Jay Norvell predicted a slew of close games on the horizon, especially in conference play.
Â
The Colorado State coach wasn't wrong. His team has been able to close out a few, but the Rams have also dropped a couple, including Saturday's 25-23 loss to UNLV at the final horn. That came a week after the Rams produced a win out of thin air against Boise State.
Â
Saturday's game somewhat explains Colorado State's season. It was the first time the team had a double-digit lead at half in two years (2019, UNLV). It was the first time it lost a game it led by 10 or more at half in six seasons (2017, Boise State).
Â
The Rams (3-4, 1-2 Mountain West) had a chance. The lead exchanged hands four times in the final 3:19 of the game.
Â
"We've just got to find a way to play better in those situations," Norvell said. "We spend a lot of time in those situations. A lot of games are going to come down to those situations this year because a lot of the teams are really quality teams in this league. We have to find a way to be on the right side of it. There's just too many errors, mistakes in those situations to be on the right side.
Â
"We have to keep working at. We had a lot of kids who played their hearts out. I'm not concerned about that part of it. We just have to play better and play error free."
Â
Colorado State's next two games are trophy games – home against Air Force, on the road six nights later on a Friday at Wyoming. Those two teams are 12-2 combined, 6-1 in the Mountain West with the Cowboys losing to the Falcons.
Â
The final three weeks, the Rams' opponents (San Diego State, Nevada and Hawaii) are a combined 6-17 and 2-8 in the MW.
Â
"We just get back to work. We've lost a couple of tough games this year; we've won some crazy games this year," safety Henry Blackburn said. "At the end of the day, 24-hour rule, watch the film, get it fixed and then move on to the next week. That's what we're doing to do now."
Â
Third Phase
Â
Colorado State's special teams took a step back, particularly the coverage units, allowing UNLV to win the battle of field position.
Â
The Rebels averaged 25 yards per kick return, with two different returners reeling off at least one of 30 yards. Jacob De Jesus had two punt returns, one for 28 yards, the other for 12. On the other side of the ledger, the Rams averaged just 8.0 per punt return and 21.0 on kick returns.
Â
Paddy Turner's average took a dip, though he did pin UNLV deep twice.
Â
"We didn't play as well on special teams as we needed to with the field position," Norvell said.
Â
The one bonus was kicker Jordan Noyes, who made all three of his field goals, including a career-best 55-yarder which put the Rams in front with 43 seconds remaining. That kick was the third longest on the road by a Ram.
Â
Here and There
Â
In only one game this year (Colorado) have the Rams led in time of possession. UNLV had the ball for 33:55 of the game. CSU ranks 122nd in time of possession. Air Force ranks third in time of possession at 34:19, one second behind co-leaders Utah and Liberty. … CSU's defense is tied with Utah State atop the conference in turnovers created with 16. That ranks fourth nationally. … Mohamed Kamara continues to lead the country in sacks at 1.5 per game, with 10.5 overall. His 1.9 TFLs per game rank fourth.
Â
Â
The Colorado State coach wasn't wrong. His team has been able to close out a few, but the Rams have also dropped a couple, including Saturday's 25-23 loss to UNLV at the final horn. That came a week after the Rams produced a win out of thin air against Boise State.
Â
Saturday's game somewhat explains Colorado State's season. It was the first time the team had a double-digit lead at half in two years (2019, UNLV). It was the first time it lost a game it led by 10 or more at half in six seasons (2017, Boise State).
Â
The Rams (3-4, 1-2 Mountain West) had a chance. The lead exchanged hands four times in the final 3:19 of the game.
Â
"We've just got to find a way to play better in those situations," Norvell said. "We spend a lot of time in those situations. A lot of games are going to come down to those situations this year because a lot of the teams are really quality teams in this league. We have to find a way to be on the right side of it. There's just too many errors, mistakes in those situations to be on the right side.
Â
"We have to keep working at. We had a lot of kids who played their hearts out. I'm not concerned about that part of it. We just have to play better and play error free."
Â
Colorado State's next two games are trophy games – home against Air Force, on the road six nights later on a Friday at Wyoming. Those two teams are 12-2 combined, 6-1 in the Mountain West with the Cowboys losing to the Falcons.
Â
The final three weeks, the Rams' opponents (San Diego State, Nevada and Hawaii) are a combined 6-17 and 2-8 in the MW.
Â
"We just get back to work. We've lost a couple of tough games this year; we've won some crazy games this year," safety Henry Blackburn said. "At the end of the day, 24-hour rule, watch the film, get it fixed and then move on to the next week. That's what we're doing to do now."
Â
Third Phase
Â
Colorado State's special teams took a step back, particularly the coverage units, allowing UNLV to win the battle of field position.
Â
The Rebels averaged 25 yards per kick return, with two different returners reeling off at least one of 30 yards. Jacob De Jesus had two punt returns, one for 28 yards, the other for 12. On the other side of the ledger, the Rams averaged just 8.0 per punt return and 21.0 on kick returns.
Â
Paddy Turner's average took a dip, though he did pin UNLV deep twice.
Â
"We didn't play as well on special teams as we needed to with the field position," Norvell said.
Â
The one bonus was kicker Jordan Noyes, who made all three of his field goals, including a career-best 55-yarder which put the Rams in front with 43 seconds remaining. That kick was the third longest on the road by a Ram.
Â
Here and There
Â
In only one game this year (Colorado) have the Rams led in time of possession. UNLV had the ball for 33:55 of the game. CSU ranks 122nd in time of possession. Air Force ranks third in time of possession at 34:19, one second behind co-leaders Utah and Liberty. … CSU's defense is tied with Utah State atop the conference in turnovers created with 16. That ranks fourth nationally. … Mohamed Kamara continues to lead the country in sacks at 1.5 per game, with 10.5 overall. His 1.9 TFLs per game rank fourth.
Â
Players Mentioned
Thursday, May 14
Monday, May 11
Friday, May 08
Tuesday, April 28