Rams Hold Off Blue Raiders for First Win

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The fire and the passion wasn't the same. Not even close.

Coming off an overtime loss, Colorado State was looking to turn the near upset at Colorado into a momentum boost hitting the road to Middle Tennessee State. However, the effort out of the gate was flat.

"I just think we played a good team. It was a long week, I'll just say that," CSU head coach Jay Norvell said. "We had a lot of distractions off the field we were dealing with, and I'm just proud of the way our kids kept coming. It's a challenging couple of weeks we've had. We played a very good team; they're a veteran team that knows how to win, and we knew it was going to be a huge challenge."

For much of the week, all three of Colorado State's starting wideouts were out of practice with an illness, then there was the continuing swirl stemming from the Colorado game.

The first quarter had its moments, the second quarter none for Colorado State, particularly offensively, when the Rams had just 35 yards. They missed interceptions, dropped a deep pass that became an interception and were consistently frustrated by the mobility of quarterback Nick Vattiato, who extended drives with his feet.

Then after a poor start to the second half – CSU's opening drive lost a yard – something clicked. Two successive scoring drives put the Rams in front, and the defense not only clamped down but pitched in as Colorado State posted its first victory of the season 31-23.

If a team wants to show it has learned a lesson, put it in the same situation a week later and see what happens.

"I think it's a testament to hard work and the dedication we put in every single day, no matter if it was before last week or this week," CSU quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi said after throwing for 306 yards. "We're well aware of how hard we are willing to fight for each other now."

Both scoring drives ended with 7-yard touchdown passes to Tory Horton.

The first lasted seven plays and covered 80 yards, capped when Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi found Horton, his second option short of the goal line, but the junior receiver weaved his way in for the score. After a stop, the Rams went back to work, going 76 yards in 12 plays, with Fowler-Nicolosi again finding Horton with a perfect over-the-shoulder throw.

"I thought we started playing better as an offensive collectively," tight end Dallin Holker said after his second consecutive 100-yard game. "The receivers started doing good, the offensive line and running backs did an amazing job, and Brayden was doing a great job back there. When we're playing together out there, we're a tough team to stop."

Back in front, the defense extended the lead when Nuer Gatkouth forced a fumble on a reverse play, with Mohamed Kamara scooping up the loose ball at the 5 and running it in, his second career fumble recovery for a touchdown.

When Middle Tennessee State responded with an immediate touchdown drive – Vattiato throwing his third touchdown pass of the game – the Rams were back in a familiar setting.

On the road, just more than six minutes on the clock and needing to finish out a game to protect an eight-point edge. This time, the Blue Raiders had 2:29 on the clock to work with and were starting on their own 14.

This time the Rams closed it out

"Almost the same exact situation what we had last week," Holker said. "I knew without a doubt though, I knew this week it wasn't going to happen again. I knew we were going to get that stop. I knew the defense was going to stop them and we were going to win that game."

MTSU drove down to the CSU 32 with 7 seconds remaining, with Henry Blackburn deflecting a pass in the end zone. Of course, there was 1 second remaining, and Kamara had a strip-sack for his second sack of the game and linebacker Chase Wilson recovered to seal the win.

""I think we learned from our mistakes," Kamara said. "We could have won that game, but we didn't. That's the whole thing, but we learned from our mistakes."

After an entertaining first quarter which produced a 10-all tie, the game went defensive in the second quarter, but as it turned out, advantage Middle Tennessee State.

While neither offense was going anywhere, the Rams were doing so from deep in their own end. Their inability to generate a first down led to MTSU holding the better field position which created a last opportunity.

Vattiato tossed up a 50-50 ball deep down the sideline which Holden Willis snared at the 4-yard line, and a play later, Vattiato rushed in untouched for the 17-10 halftime lead.

The Rams' offense produced two scoring drives, the first ending with a 32-yard Jordan Noyes field goal. Down 10-3 after Vattiato threw a 49-yard TD pass to Willis and Zeke Rankin hit a 31-yarder. Colorado State went into it's bag of tricks to find a touchdown, with Giles Pooler coming in to hold for a 42-yard field goal but pulled the ball off the turf and found Dallin Holker for a 24-yard touchdown.

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Team Stats

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi

Giles Pooler

Players Mentioned

Henry Blackburn

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi

Dallin Holker

Tory Horton

Mohamed Kamara

Jordan Noyes

Giles Pooler

Chase Wilson

Players Mentioned

Henry Blackburn

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi

Dallin Holker

Tory Horton

Mohamed Kamara

Jordan Noyes

Giles Pooler

Chase Wilson

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Colorado State University Athletics