Monday Presser: Quarterback Play Up in the Air for Both Teams

Colorado State has had a plan the past few weeks to play both Jackson Brousseau and Darius Curry at quarterback. It is a plan which will extend into Saturday's game at Boise State, as long as Brousseau's health will allow.

In the CSU defensive meeting rooms, they will prepare to face two Boise State quarterbacks. Max Cutforth started last week in place of Maddux Madsen – the preseason Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year – who was out with an injury. Madsen sat with an injury after starting the nine games prior, throwing for 1,994 yards and 15 scores against seven interceptions. He's also mobile enough to be a threat with his legs, rushing for a trio of scores.

"They've got tendencies for each one of them. You'll try to take the tendencies from both and see what their strengths are, try to minimize those, try to explore weaknesses," CSU interim coach Tyson Summers said at his Monday press conference. "I think both really do a good job. Obviously, trying to be able to figure out what that kind of balance is and how we're able to practice those things is gonna be a real challenge."

Better to be prepared, either way you look at it.

When it comes to Brousseau, who has started the past seven games for the Rams, Summers was uncertain what his availability will be on Saturday after getting dinged up at New Mexico. Curry came in and became the first CSU quarterback to throw for 200 yards in a game, finishing at 248 ono 26-of-34 passing with two touchdowns and three interceptions, the final two coming off tipped balls.

Oddly enough, Colorado State threw for more yards in the game (286) than any other conference team this week.

Summers said it's been a challenge for those still in the quarterback room. Three quarterbacks have played – four if one counts Tahj Bullock in his limited packages – with three different player callers. Then there are the challenges up front, with injuries impacting the offensive line. Phillip Ocon started at center for the first time, with Aitor Urionabarrenechea sliding to guard.

"I think they've just done a good job of being able to control what they can control in front of them, and keeping the group together, and still being able to give us a chance," Summers said. "At the end of the day, their effort, their fight, and their ability to execute at some critical times in the second half is what gives us a chance to win the game. And so, I think that the quarterbacks are a huge, huge piece of that.

"I think that JB's really done a nice job of that. I think DC's done a great job of being prepared and being ready."

Brousseau has thrown for 1,031 yards this season, completing 61 percent of his passes. He has seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Curry has now thrown 61 passes, all in relief, good for 447 yards with three scores and four interceptions.

Taking an Additional Step

One thing can be true without the other.

Colorado State interim coach Tyson Summers has been focused on seeing the team improve as the season winds down. He would prefer it to mean the Rams are winning games, which they could not pull off Saturday at New Mexico.

Nowhere on his list is participation ribbons.

"We won the second half; we didn't win the football game. I hate to sound cliche, we're not looking for second place trophies or anything like that," he said. "But I do think that when we start talking about progress and process, I'm as excited as I can be.

"I think, again, what you're starting to see is some of our changes and habits, and some of our attention to detail things, and some of the changes and adjustments that we've made over the course of the last three weeks. I think it's beginning to start to translate into the game. I think we're seeing that with individual players. I think you can see the trajectory that we're on. That's where we've got to be able to figure out how to go 1-0 this week. And we've got to try to figure out how to win both halves. If we do that, we'll be where we want to be."

Down 10-0 at halftime, the Rams crawled back to even, only to see the deficit grow to 10 again. Creating turnovers gave them a chance, yielding turnovers made it an uphill climb.

Paying His Way

When Summers watched film, he felt Jace Bellah should have been credited with two fumbles forced, which would put him at six turnovers created in the past five games, four of them interceptions.

In the game stats, Bellah was credited with one fumble forced, but game film can be viewed and numbers altered at a later date. As it stands, five different Rams forced fumbles in the game, of which four were recovered by CSU, three by Andrew Laurich to set a school and Mountain West record for a game.

Bellah received a bigger payoff Monday.

"I was excited for Jace. Jace has been a walk on here throughout his career," Summers said of the redshirt junior safety from Pueblo. "I put him on scholarship this morning. I had a great opportunity to do that in a team meeting. He's more than earned that and deserves that for the play that he's had."

Bellah leads the team with four interceptions and sits fifth in tackles with 33.

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