Earning One Job, Pushing for Another

FORT COLLINS – Matt Mumme knew who would start. What he craved coming out of fall camp was identifying Clay Millen's backup.

The team never had the luxury last year, for good reason. The room was the youngest in the nation, none of them older than redshirt freshmen. With that in mind, the Colorado State quarterbacks coach wanted to give them all a bit of game action, just to test them.

Not by design, but rather due to injury to Millen, the Rams started three different quarterbacks and four took game snaps. Through the season, and then after spring camp, the team didn't have a clear backup to their starter.

Now they do -- Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi.

"Brayden earned it," Mumme said. "He's been the best in camp. His completion percentage was good, and his execution with the offense was really good. There are a few things here and there he needs to work on and clean up. Each day for him it's one big mistake that's detrimental to the drive or us scoring or not scoring. If he can get rid of those … We know it's not going to be perfect, but not anything that kills a drive. Other than that, he's had a really good camp. I've been really impressed by his performance."

Mentally, Fowler-Nicolosi, who played in three games last year (starting against Nevada) and completed 17-of-37 passes for 194 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, approached the competition like any player should – not to be the backup, but become the starter.

It started in the offseason by focusing on the nuances of his game, getting his technique polished and his footwork set, then continued with building timing with not only the returning wideouts but the new targets on the roster.

"I mean, you're here for the wrong reasons if you're not trying to earn the starting job," said the product of Aledo, Texas. "I feel like we're all doing a great job pushing Clay, and hopefully we continue to do that.

"In the offseason we talked a lot about that, preparing like you're a starter every day. You have to go in with that mentality. Knock on wood it doesn't happen, but Clay could go down and we all have to be ready. I'm up, I go down, (Jackson Brousseau) has to be ready. It's understanding any play could be the last play for the person ahead of you."

As for those mental hiccups, he says it's reps. Not just getting them but using them to full advantage. He takes what he can mentally in the meetings, watching mistakes over and over and carrying the information to the field. Now, a year into the system, he's grown more comfortable with the offense and how to read defenses to make better decisions.

The room is still young, and the addition of Brousseau, a true freshman from Lehi, Utah, has only aided the room. The newcomer's progress through camp has been impressive, with Mumme saying he's only improved the competition level in the room. While the offense is what he ran as a prep, the vocabulary was an early stumbling block.

"Brousseau has definitely been a surprise to everybody. At his young age, to come in here and be as accurate – he's the second most accurate in the room – it's been a pleasant surprise," Mumme said. "The verbiage is different. We have something that's called one thing and it was different for him at Lehi. He understood the concepts, but the verbiage hung him up a few times. But man, he's come a long way. He's really a smart, mature young man. To see some of the throws he made and simply running the offense off very little reps has been impressive in camp.

"He's challenged them. Even for Clay, there's some throws Brousseau made this camp that even Clay was like, 'wow.' We're doing what we're supposed to do. We're going out and finding the right guys who fit our identity and bringing them in, and they're coming in and pushing. That's what they're brought in to do, to make the room in its entirety, better."

Which is all Brousseau wanted to do in his first camp. He looked at the reality of being a true freshman starter, then he pushed it aside.

It's really what Mumme expected from a player who won four state championships across two sports in his high school career.

"Just make the team better. Just push all the kids in the quarterback room, to make sure whoever plays the quarterback position is ready for the game," he said. "I want to win. That's most important to me. Obviously, I want to play, but I'm a true freshman so I have guys in front of me who can all play, who are all very good. I just wanted to push them, help them learn things I've learned, mistakes I've made and learn from them, just build as a group and grow.

"If you're not here to play, you're here for the wrong reasons. That's the goal, but it's also important to be a good teammate, to push each other and get the best quarterback out of this room to play to win. That's what we're here for. We want to win. We want to go to a bowl game. We want to win the Mountain West."

He feels the group is the ideal setting for learning, as all have been helpful, not just to him, but each other. Not a rude one in the group, he said.

Well, maybe him. As the new kid, keep them on their toes.

"I've got to put them in their place," he quipped.

The entirety of the room, and with a pecking order in place, Mumme likes the place they are at currently, but by the end of the year, he wants to see them all challenging Millen a bit more. The group is still young, just with a touch more grizzle. They've been tested, and he liked how they all approached the competition of camp.

In turn, he likes where his quarterbacks can take the offense.

"I feel great. I'm biased, and I'm arrogant and I think we have one of the best rooms in the Mountain West," Mumme said. "Nobody sees it as that yet, but we're going to show it by the end of the season."

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