Rams Retain Conviction After Loss

Nobody was more disappointed, more shocked than Jim Mora, with the possible exception he said of his team.

Mora also remains the most confident guy in the room, and he knows there are people who don't share his enthusiasm. Outside noise will never matter to him, just what he sees from his team, even after three consecutive losses, the latest a 56-26 defeat in front of a record crowd of 41,000 fans at Canvas Stadium for homecoming.

"You know, these words like this, I think they ring empty in a time like this, when we talk about fight and character and connection and all that, but I can tell you from a vast amount of experience is that those are the things that, at this point, you really hang your hat on," Mora said. "And you'll see teams that splinter very quickly if they don't have the right type of people. I'm talking about not just the players, but the people in the program, and we have the right kind of people. And this is awful, right? It's not sugar-coated, okay? It's been two awful games in a row.

"Well, three, really. We've given up a gazillion points. You know, we haven't been as explosive on offense, and so we're going through it a little bit. But this group is very resilient. They have done a tremendous job of staying connected."

Oregon State rolled out 727 yards of total offense, the second most allowed by a Colorado State defense. The Beavers scored 56 points, generating five drives of 75 yards or longer. Unpressured most of the night, Braden Atkinson threw for 413 yards and five touchdowns, with Jesse Legree catching five passes for 156 yards and three scores.

For a head coach raised on the defensive side of the ball, those numbers sting. Mora is as intent as ever to heal the wound, and he says with good reason.

The players. His staff. None of their body language has given him a reason to doubt.

"I think their character is going to carry us through this tough time, and I'm not going to make any promises, but I know how I feel in my gut about these guys. I've been in situations like this before," Mora said. "I mean, you can't coach football as long as I have and not be in these situations, and you look for certain things. You know, you look for certain reactions. You look for certain comments. You look for certain looks on people's face.

"You look are people hanging back? Are they, when you call them up, are they getting in tight? And from what I've seen so far, our guys are going to continue to engage and do the right thing, and that's what we have to ask them to do."
Oregon State scored on its first two possessions, and at that point Mora relieved Tyson Summers of his defensive play-calling duties. He left the field and Mora added he is no longer with the program.

Colorado State would tie the game at 14, with Mel Brown taking over one drive on his own. His 36-yard kickoff return led to a 36-yard run, one he followed with a 17-yard scoring run. Shortly after, Mora said he was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons, noting the first thing he had to do after the press conference was check on his player's condition.

Kenyon Agurs produced the one true defensive stop, getting a strip sack and recovery to set up a drive where K'saan Farrar scored on a 2-yard run on a fourth-down play.

Oregon State then scored touchdowns on six consecutive drives.

The Rams would add two more touchdowns, one a Nadir Chirchi touchdown catch – his third of the season – and a 9-yard run from Durell Robinson. Robinson became the Rams' workhorse after Brown exited the game, finishing with 21 carries for 117 yards.

"It's just I love football. I'm a guy that cares so much about this sport," Robinson said. "And I know how much of a blessing it is, and a lot of other people can't play this game today. I just keep that on my mind. I just keep that chip on my shoulder, being doubted, having this opportunity, Coach Mora giving me this opportunity.

"So I just want to show my team how grateful I am to be able to play football with them each and every play. And I just love football, and I just want my players to show that."

That's the character Mora was referring to. That's the expectation of the players in the locker room, those who were feeling down but not about to give up. Mora remembers starting a season 1-4 at UConn and getting rolled three games in a row. He remembers that team going to a bowl game.

He has a conviction, and it is shared. By many.

"You know, you've got a guy in every position group like this dude sitting right next to me," center Phillip Ocon said, pointing to Robinson. "You've got a guy who's going to hold his boys to the highest standard. You know, in my room, I'm going to do my best to hold my guys to the highest standard, and I know he's going to do the same thing. And I know that we've got a guy in the receiver room and a guy in the quarterback room who's going to do that. So regardless, win, lose, or draw, we're going to play to our standard and we're going to do our best to improve week in and week out."

What the Rams have is a bye week approaching, giving them 12 days to work before they go to Texas State. It feels like perfect timing for a team which has a staff change to work through and areas of play to clean up.

The only way Mora can see is to approach it with the right attitude and conviction.

"It's a combination of rest, reset, refocus, and work," he said. "So we really are very lucky, the way this thing laid out with the Thursday night, is that we really get kind of two long weeks. So we can give these guys a chance to recover a little bit this week, still get some good work in, get some little extra work in on our next opponent, and do the same thing the following week.

"So it lays out well for us. But the first thing we'll do is go evaluate this thing as a staff, and then evaluate it with our players, and continue to make the changes necessary so we can do it."

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Kenyon Agurs

Mel Brown

K'saan Farrar

Phillip Ocon

Durell Robinson