3 takeaways: Colorado State wraps up spring period with annual Green & Gold Game

Spring ball is officially in the books for the Colorado State Rams. 

On a cold and snowy afternoon up in Fort Collins, the Rams held the annual Green & Gold Game Saturday afternoon. 

With the starters, also known as the “green team” slated against the “world”, or the twos and threes, CSU held an intrasquad scrimmage in front of a modest crowd of supporters. 

As they always do under Jay Norvell, the twos and threes began the exhibition with a 21-0 lead over the green team, and for a while it looked like the lead might be too much to overcome for an offensive unit that produced a total of 3 points in the first half. 

After the green team, led by quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, got the scoring started with a 4-yard touchdown pass to WR Donovan Ollie early in the third quarter, though, things started to open up a little bit for Saturday’s starting offense. 

Along with Ollie, redshirt freshman running back Damian Henderson scored on a 5-yard scamper up the gut following a fumble recovery from linebacker Buom Jock. With Justin Marshall not participating in the spring game and Kobe Johnson extremely limited, the majority of the touches in the backfield went to the former 4-star recruit. Avery Morrow and Keegan Holles got into the mix as well. 

In the end, the starters were unable to score enough to offset the 21-point hole that they began the day with, however, they did out-score the backups 17-7 in the actual game.

Here are a few takeaways from Saturday. 

Limited star power 

Unsurprisingly there were quite a few projected starters that either were held out altogether or limited with an extremely tight snap count. 

Tory Horton, for instance, did not play a single offensive rep but did go out and fair catch a couple of punts on special teams. Johnson touched the ball once or twice in the backfield but spent the majority of the day on the sideline. Sayveon Henderson, Drew Moss and Jacob Gardner all sat out on Saturday, too. 

In terms of what we can take away from the performance on Saturday — it’s fair to say that the offense did not light up the world — it’s also important to remember, though, that this unit was much different than the group that will be suiting up in August. The same can be said for the defense which was missing linebacker Chase Wilson, multiple members of the secondary and more. 

Newcomers made plays 

Although we have to take everything with a grain of salt, it was encouraging to see a couple of newcomers on the team step up and make some plays. 

On the defensive side, Nevada transfer Isaiah Essissima stood out at cornerback, finishing the day with a couple of PBUs and an interception. With him likely starting at cornerback this fall, it was good to see him playing with confidence and attacking the ball. 

Offensively, Cincinnati transfer Donovan Ollie caught a 4-yard touchdown pass and moved the sticks on a handful of other occasions. Particularly with Justus Ross-Simmons no longer on the roster, he’s a player that is projected to be a difference maker for CSU this fall. Saturday was a good start for him. 

Young bucks that made an impression 

Out of the first or second-year players that made an impression, redshirt freshman DB Dylan Phelps displayed active hands and looked like a player that could see some action in the fall. 

Sophomore safety Jaylen Gardner had a handful of plays where he was in good position — though he did pick up an untimely unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with the opposing offense in the Red Zone. 

Finally, though he is technically in his third year in the program, Buom Jock appears poised to really ascend in a starting role at linebacker. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound monster of a man was flying around out there. I’m very intrigued about his potential for a breakout season in 2024.