Rams Drop Showdown in Double OT

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BOULDER – A team given zero chance had one.

With 11:22 remaining on a Saturday night in Boulder, it was Colorado State – not 18^th-ranked Colorado – which held an 11-point lead. The Rams just couldn't hold on long enough, falling to the Buffs in double overtime of the Rocky Mountain Showdown, 43-35.

There will be plenty for the Rams (0-2) to lament for the next 24 hours they're allowed to look back. A 10-point swing in the first quarter, when they accepted a flag and took a 50-yard field goal off the board, only to have Colorado's Shilo Sanders respond moments later with an 80-yard pick six.

There was the school-record 17 penalties which accounted for 187 yards, but in some cases, the biggest damage was taking away yards gained.

There was a lot to consider, much of a good, but in the end, it felt like a pit where the heart was supposed to be found.

"I don't think you can ask any competitor if they like to lose and they'll say yes," CSU quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi said. "I think every loss hurts, but this one does hurt a little bit more, just the way we lost it. This game means so much to so many people, specifically in Colorado and outside also … it's hard. It's brutal."

Fowler-Nicolosi made the second start of his career, and for the second time it was on the road with a crowd holding hostile feelings. He made mistakes – he threw three interceptions – but he showed a ton of moxie in the performance, hitting 34-of-47 passes for 367 yards and three scores. When he made an error, he bounced back up until the time he couldn't – a last-chance pass in the final overtime on a fourth-and-goal play from the 23.

He also hit some very tight passes and had some receivers help him out, but most of all, he distributed the ball aggressively to his playmakers, leading to the first time a trio of Colorado State receivers finished with 100 yards in a game.

"He played in a tough environment. He made some mistakes, but he also came back and made some plays," Norvell said of Fowler-Nicolosi. "We've got some good kids, some good players. Dallin Holker's an excellent tight end, Tory played hard, Justus (Ross-Simmons) played hard, LB played hard. We had a lot of guys who made plays."

After Colorado jumped in front with the pick-six, it was Tory Horton who evened the score by throwing the ball, a perfect strike to tight end Dallin Holker over the shoulder in the end zone from 30 yards out. The defense came back and added to the total as Henry Blackburn – who intercepted Shadeur Sanders' first pass of the game – stripped the ball from Travis Henry and Rod Hardge IV scooped it up and scooted 30 yards for a 14-7 lead.

It was a Fowler-Nicolosi bullet to Louis Brown IV for a 15-yard touchdown which put the Rams in front at half, a margin they'd extend to 28-17 when Holker snared a low pass and went 35 yards for a touchdown.
Horton had 16 catches for 133 yards, Brown collected 10 for 131 and Holker had six for 109.

"I think we did a great job on offense tonight," Fowler-Nicolosi said after the Rams generated 499 yards of total offense. "There were a couple of mistakes I made that I simply can't have. The turnovers can't happen. You can't have that amount of situations. Credit to my receivers; they're all crazy."

The Buffs cut the lead on a 41-yard field goal by Alejandro Mata with 7:33 remaining in regulation. Colorado State took five minutes off the clock with a drive, one that ended with a Paddy Turner punt down to the 2.

With just 2:06 remaining, Shedeur Sanders guided the Buffs on a 98-yard drive in seven plays, taking 1:30 to do so and capped by a 45-yard pass to Jimmy Horn Jr., who found space on the sideline and evaded the Rams' defense to find the end zone. Michael Harrison corralled the 2-point try to tie the game.

Up until that point, Colorado State's defense has put forth a rebound effort from the opener, tackling well in space for the majority of the game.

"We showed that we need to be on this stage," Hardge said. "I know teams coming in underestimate us. We kind of slipped up and fell short, but if we keep playing like this, the sky's the limit for us. I'm proud of the way we played up front and the back end. We just need to execute a little better."

The teams exchanged touchdowns in the first OT, CSU scoring on an 8-yard pass to Horton, and at the time, Norvell considered going for 2 but felt the time wasn't right. Shedeur connected on a pair of scores in overtime, finishing 38-of-47 for 348 yards.

Gallant in effort, but disappointed in the result.

"It's something we're disappointed about for sure," Norvell said. "I think we can take this season and move forward as a team and a program and build on this performance.

"I just think we can move forward from this and build on it as a football team."

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Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi

Tory Horton

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Henry Blackburn

Louis Brown IV

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi

Dallin Holker

Tory Horton

Paddy Turner

Players Mentioned

Henry Blackburn

Louis Brown IV

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi

Dallin Holker

Tory Horton

Paddy Turner

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