Rams Rally Big on Senior Night

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Afterward, they said they didn't play to the scoreboard. Makes sense.

The view was ugly most of Senior Night for Colorado State's football team. Down 13 at the start. Down 17 to open the fourth quarter.

Game over? No. Game on.

"It sums up who these guys are, and who that class was and really who this team is," said safety Jack Howell, who with 14 tackles moved into seventh all time with 360 in his career. "Everything is not perfect.

"They've got heart. They just fight and find a way not to give up. For four quarters we're just going to play football, and that's the love we have for each other. In the third quarter I looked at the team and I said it doesn't matter what the scoreboard is, just play for each other, play for the love of the game, play for the love of your brother. Just keep fighting, and that's what they did."

With one unit feeding off the other, the Rams scored 29 consecutive points – the fourth most in a quarter in program history -- to turn despair into disbelief Friday night with a 42-37 victory at Canvas Stadium, finishing the regular season with an 8-4 mark, 6-1 in Mountain West play. It is the most wins in a season since 10 were posted in 2014.

To put together such a rally takes some moxie, something no more apparent than with the closing blow.

On fourth-and-2 from the USU 26 and just 1:43 on the clock, the Rams could have attempted a field goal to increase their lead to eight. Quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi had other plans.

"We had a lot of conversation about that play. There was a lot of conversation about what we wanted to do," CSU coach Jay Norvell said. "We've been in those situations before, 4-minute drill where we've given the ball back to the other team and it hasn't ended well for us. We wanted to run it, and Brayden (Fowler-Nicolosi) was convicted that play was going to work or going to be a good one.

"We went back and forth, and he actually convinced me to run it. I have to tip my hat to Brayden on that. He made it work. This is what I've learned about players a long time ago. If a player really wants a play, he's going to make it work more times than not. So, I kind of leaned on that."

The quarterback was right. He flipped the ball over a defender's hand to Vince Brown II, who covered 26 yards for the touchdown, his second of the rally, to give the Rams a 42-30 edge.

Fowler-Nicolosi had lobbied for plays before, but he said it was the first time he's won the discussion with his coach.

"I liked the way they were lining up. I knew we were going to get the look we wanted," Fowler-Nicolosi said. "So, it took a little bit of convincing, you could say."

Nobody saw it coming after Utah State went up 30-13 when Jamari Person was drilled trying to catch a ball, only to have it pop up and land into the hands of Jaiden Francois, who returned the gift 40 yards for a score and only 15:49 remaining in the game.

Nothing to that point suggested the Rams' offense could sustain enough drives to make up the margin, or that the defense would keep the Aggies off the board the remainder of the game. Funny how that worked out.

Colorado State scored, then created a fumble to stop a promising Aggie drive. Score again. Get an interception. Score again. Get a stop on downs. Score again.

Easy enough.

The Rams had two important scoring spurts, the later one was more dramatic, but the initial one at the end of the first half kept them close.

Down 16-3, Colorado State used Jordon Noyes' second field goal of the game inside of two minutes until halftime. When the defense produced a three-and-out – capped by a sack – they had time and timeouts to move the ball again.

Penalties didn't make it easy, but a personal foul on Utah State made it possible. Then, with what became a bit of a theme on the night, a player who made a mistake came back would come back and make a difference.

Dane Olson dropped a first-down pass which would have put the team in the red zone. No problem. The next play, Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi went back to him with a short hitch, one which Olson turned into a 28-yard touchdown, the first of his career and one which closed the gap to 16-13 at half.

"I would say it's rare for me, so I get frustrated when I do drop the ball. Just next play mentality and take advantage of that," Olson said. "We never had a doubt; always believing we were going to win. I'm super proud of this team for what we did."

Olson would catch five ball for a career-best 140 yards, his last maybe the biggest, a 29-yard gain on a fourth-down play.

The comeback started with a 12-yard score to Brown II early in the fourth, but when Utah State started driving, led by quarterback Bryson Barnes, who earned the praise of Colorado State after throwing for 189 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 185 and another score. The anxiety started to rise until Ayden Hector forced a fumble Buom Jock pounced on.

That resulted in the first career touchdown for Jordon Ross, who took a screen, slipped a tackle and scored from 22-yards out. Now 30-28, the Aggies felt the heat.

Moreso when Dom Morris stepped in front of his next pass and returned it to the USU 19.

Defense feeding offense.

"I recognized it pretty early. Coach (Freddie) Banks (the defensive coordinator) coaches us up real well; we've been through all those kinds of scenarios from those different alignments," Morris said. "Credit to him for putting me in that position, and credit to my teammates for trusting me to make that play.

"It's really fulfilling. Momentum is a real thing, and it really uplifts the whole team when the offense is able to capitalize and go out there and make the most of the opportunities."

Despite not being able to effectively run most of the game, the Rams did off the play, with Fowler-Nicolosi keeping it for a 3-yard score and the lead. The sophomore finished 31-of-46 passing for 370 yards and four scores.

It might have been nice if the game finished nice and clean, but Utah State would come back with a touchdown with less than 30 seconds, then naturally recovered the onside kick at 50. The drama ended quickly when Dom Jones intercepted Barnes to effectively end the game.

"Yeah. I was (ticked) off. I know Vince had no idea, but if he would have went down, we probably would have won that game there," Howell said, laughing. "After they get that onside, it's not looking good. We were a little heated, but they still have to drive 50 yards to get in the end zone, and we knew they weren't going to do that."

It allowed the Rams go to into victory formation – with Tory Horton getting one final snap in his career as the back man – a formation Norvell said he's been waiting to see all year.

He looks at ducks flying in the skies in a V – the Rams call it a spearhead, representing the team working together. All fall he has looked for one but had only seen ducks out of formation.

Until this week.

"I saw three perfect Vs this week, spearheads flying right over our practice field, and I showed the players," Norvell said. "It's an image of our team coming together, and it was a sign. Our team has come together."

And did so at the most opportune time and a most harmonious way.

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Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi

Armani Winfield

Players Mentioned

Vince Brown II

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi

Ayden Hector

Tory Horton

Jack Howell

Buom Jock

Dom Jones

Dane Olson

Jamari Person

Players Mentioned

Vince Brown II

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi

Ayden Hector

Tory Horton

Jack Howell

Buom Jock

Dom Jones

Dane Olson

Jamari Person

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