Rams Open Conference With Road Loss

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LOGAN, Utah – Finally invited to the Mountain West party, Colorado State came strutting in through the door at Maverick Stadium on Saturday night.

But before long, the Rams were tripping on the red carpet, misbehaving offensively and found themselves standing in the corner as a 17-0 lead in the first quarter turned into a 44-24 loss.

"I'm just disappointed about our second-half response," CSU head coach Jay Norvell said. "We had too many big plays we gave up on defense and we turned the ball over too much offensively. We have to own that. As a staff, we have to own that. Those are very disturbing things that happened to us in the second half."

What the Rams (2-3, 0-1) came out and built on the strength of their defense and special teams, they eventually gave away with five turnovers on offense and very little production from a unit which had been catching a rhythm the past three games with Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi behind center.

However, the redshirt freshman was off target most of the game and showed his youth with a few bad decisions which led to interceptions. Another turnover came at the end of the third quarter, when the Rams finally put together a drive, only to have Dallin Holker fumble the ball after a reception which would have put the Rams on the USU 8.

"They responded after that first quarter, and it's just something we have to learn and bear down on," center Jacob Gardner said. "We have to learn to be more focused and consistent in those moments when the other team starts making plays. It's going to happen."

The start couldn't have been better scripted.

The defense showed up early, with a pair of first-half interceptions and four sacks. The special teams contributed with a botched-punt recovery and then Tory Horton and his sparkly green cleats returned a punt 79-yards for a touchdown as Colorado State burst out to a 17-0 lead.

It was a turnover created on T.J. Crandall's first career interception which set up the offense's only contribution to the start, a 22-yard burst up the gut by Vann Schield with 9:34 remaining the first quarter.

The rest of the game belonged to Utah State, which turned to big plays to engineer the comeback as Coopeer Legas shook off two early interceptions to fire a career-best four touchdown passes on the night.

"For us to give up three 100-yard receivers to this team; it's just not acceptable," Norvell said. "We have to figure out those areas where we have to do better, and we have to play much more competitive pass defense."

Legas had scoring passes of 24 and 51 yards to Jaylen Royals, a 76-yarder to Terrell Vaughn and connected with Micah Davis for 19. The comeback started with a 43-yard field goal by Elliott Nimrod, followed by a 22-yard scoring run by Davon Booth.

Utah State (3-3, 1-1), which had just 46 yards of offense in the first quarter, finished the game with more than 600, throwing for more than 300 and rushing for better than 200. The production in the passing game wasn't hidden, as only three Aggies caught passes, with both Vaughn and Royals surpassing 140 yards.

All the fireworks came on a night when the Rams' defense generated some pressure, collecting six sacks in the game, three by Mohamed Kamara. But on his third, he was injured and helped off the field and into the locker room.

"It's confusing because you've got the good and the bad, and we have to do a better job of eliminating the bad," safety Jack Howell said. "We have to play more fundamentally sound. We've got to win our one-on-ones, we have to tackle better. At the end of the day, it's up to us. It doesn't matter where our opponent gets the ball. We need to do better out there."

The Rams also played the second half without the country's leading receiver, as Horton exited with an injury after catching three passes for 20 yards. Fowler-Nicolosi, who was averaging nearly 340 yards a game passing finished just 26-57 for 225 yards with the three interceptions and a fumble lost late in the game.

Kobe Johnson, back in the starting lineup, added a fourth-quarter touchdown run of 10 yards with 8:55 remaining. The Rams had a chance to get the ball back, but a roughing the punter flag continued the Aggies' drive, and on the next play Booth went 48 yards for a touchdown to seal the deal.

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Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi

Players Mentioned

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi

Jacob Gardner

Dallin Holker

Tory Horton

Jack Howell

Kobe Johnson

Mohamed Kamara

Vann Schield

Players Mentioned

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi

Jacob Gardner

Dallin Holker

Tory Horton

Jack Howell

Kobe Johnson

Mohamed Kamara

Vann Schield

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