Offense Taking on a Truer Air Raid Distribution

Last year, the passing attack was Tory Horton or bust.

Every quarterback has a go-to guy, but last year it wasn't even close to who stood atop the pedestal for Colorado State as the wideout had 71 catches for 1,131 yards and eight scores. Somebody had to be behind him, but you had to look really hard to find Justus Ross-Simmons and his 26 receptions.

A great year for Horton, who collected a host of highlights and All-Mountain West distinction. It's just not a peak distribution pattern for an Air Raid offense.

A year later, the output looks more like the blueprint.

Horton has more catches – 87 entering Saturday's game – but so does everybody else. The addition of tight end Dallin Holker has been a boon, as he has 59 receptions for 739 yards. Ross-Simmons and Louis Brown IV, both thrust into the mix as true freshmen a season ago, both have 42 catches entering the contest, and the Rams' fourth wideout, slot Dylan Goffney, has 21.

All of them have explosive catches of at least 40 yards, and each one of them has scored at least two touchdowns.

"The ball should be spread around quite a bit, really," quarterbacks coach Matt Mumme said. "If you really looked at the ideal Air Raid, it would probably be your outside receivers on both sides in the 70s and 80s, inside guys anywhere from 50-70, and the other one that's kind of missing right now for us is the running back; we don't have a lot of throws to the backs. We need to see that kind of improve in this game and moving forward next year."

Part of it has to do with experience at those spots. For the second consecutive year, the offense has had some growing pains with a redshirt freshman starting at quarterback, but Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi has used the weapons he's had on hand. The difference is Ross-Simmons and Brown are no longer in the flames, they have a better idea of how to create them.

Ross-Simmons leads the team with an average of 16.5 per catch, and he and Horton both have touchdown receptions of 75 yards or longer. Even when they are not heavily involved, they're staying in the game.

Case in point: Last week Brown had one catch, but it was good for a 38-yard touchdown late which sealed the win over Nevada.

"Justus made some big plays Saturday, and Louis had the big touchdown catch. We need to spread the ball around to everybody, and I think in the last couple of weeks those guys and Justin Marshall have been great," CSU coach Jay Norvell said. "The running game has given us a shot in the arm to compliment Tory and Dallin. People are going to try to take them away, and we have to be able to counterpunch and use other players to make plays. I think you're seeing that."

Fowler-Nicolosi speaks as if he's walking down a buffet line. There's plenty to choose from, and he can make multiple trips back up and down to cleanse the palate.

Horton is Horton for good reason. He's explosive and can stretch the field. But his quarterback doesn't see him as the end-all, be-all for the offense.

"It's a priceless tool to have. When you can look out across the field and see every single one of your receivers is a playmaker and you trust every single one of them in a critical situation, it provides a lot of comfort," Fowler-Nicolosi said. "Even when you're in empty and you see a pressure look, you think, 'OK, this might suck, but I can trust my receivers, I can get this ball out and know they can make a play.' It's a really comforting feeling looking out and seeing all those guys.

"I think we've developed a lot as a team as the year has gone on. I think we're finding our place, starting to hit a rhythm and understand the offense more, rather than just running what they tell us to run. Receivers are starting to find open grass and understand they have freedom to get there. It's not all exactly by the book. I think that development has been critical, and why when we're running all the empty stuff and going fast it's looking smooth."

Harder to defend, too, when a quarterback isn't looking to just one receiver or one side of the field. Even still, there are steps forward Mumme wants to see.

As a team, the Rams rank in the middle of the country when it comes to passing plays of 10 yards or longer. A 20-yard pass is considered explosive, and the longer the pass, the better the Rams rank – 31^st when it's 30 or more yards, 16^th at 40-plus.

Mumme believes they can do more in the regard of being explosive. He'd like to see them gradually get up to four or five plays per outing, then push the limit even further. To do so, he feels the coaches can do a better job of getting the ball to the playmakers with more regularity. His example is Holker, who had six scoring catches early, but none since the Hail Mary reception against Boise State.

"I think we're just scratching the surface on what we really are going to be able to be. We're getting closer to where we want to be, we're not there yet," Mumme said. "The challenge for Brayden and those guys was let's put a whole game together this weekend with a win.

"Naturally, Tory's your most explosive player, so that makes sense. Dallin, he was really good through the first half of the season, and we need to find games to get him the ball more. He hasn't touched it enough. That's on us as coaches."

But on any given play, Fowler-Nicolosi sees a wealth of riches at his disposal, a group of guys who can make a play for him. He doesn't have to choose; the play and defense will dictate some of his decision making.
The best part is, he doesn't see a bad one in the bunch.

"I think I have five playmakers. I have all five of them," he said. "In empty, I really do look out there and think every single dude is a go-to guy."

Which the Air Raid prefers, by design.

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