CSU Rams save season with impressive win over San Jose State

Colorado State put together its most complete performance of the season in Saturday’s 31-24 victory over San Jose State. 

The Spartans came into Fort Collins with a 4-1 record and an eight-game winning streak against Mountain West competition going back to last year. On a picture perfect afternoon in Fort Collins though, with the sun shining but the air brisk enough to keep you cool, the Rams just might have saved their season with an impressive win over a quality team.  

After losing a double-overtime heartbreaker on the road last week, CSU needed a statement performance and a signature win to get the season back on track. This win against a potent Spartans squad that scored 35+ points in four of their first five games could be exactly that. 

CSU held SJSU to just 17 points on offense on Saturday and despite giving up the occasional chunk play through the air, the Rams really did a nice job of getting off the field. SJSU was just 4-of-12 on third down and only made it to the Red Zone once. The CSU defense really stepped up on a day where if they came out flat, this game could have been very easily gone the other way. SJSU came in averaging just under five offensive touchdowns per game and CSU is the only team this season to limit the Spartans to a single passing score. 

The defense has faced a lot of criticism over the last season and a half, particularly for the way they have performed in some bigger games. In a must-win scenario this weekend, the group played their tails off. 

After allowing a touchdown on the opening series, the Rams got stops on six straight possessions during a stretch between the first and fourth quarters. The only points scored in that time came on an 85-yard scoop-and-score touchdown from the SJSU defense right before halftime. 

SJSU did score 10 points in the fourth quarter and refused to go down without a fight. But it was matched by 10 points from the Rams, so CSU was able to hold off any type of late comeback effort. 

That was the big key for the Green & Gold on Saturday. CSU played complementary football and really saw every unit step up when they needed to. The defense was solid, the special teams were spectacular and the Rams were in rhythm on offense from start to finish. They also showed real balance in an impressive 455-yard day from the group. 

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi set a school record with 16 straight completions and finished with a season-high 269 yards through the air. He made a lot of big-time throws over the course of the game, particularly on third down, and he also showed he’s a threat on the ground with a handful of timely scrambles. His 23-yard rushing touchdown was the longest of his career and 35 yards on the ground is a career-high for the redshirt sophomore. 

Following the game, Fowler-Nicolosi admitted that it’s been a process adjusting to a different style of offense in 2024. He looked really sharp in this much-needed win though. And it was especially encouraging to see the amount of success he had using play-action. With the Rams running the ball effectively each week, it’s only going to create more chances for ‘BFN’ to have success on the bootleg or even deep shots over the top thanks to a creeping DB. 

Just as he had in each of the past couple of weeks, Avery Morrow continued to make plays and went over the century mark on the ground. He has 396 rushing yards and five touchdowns over the last three games alone. And although nobody is going to top what Ashton Jeanty is doing with Boise State, Morrow has quickly played his way into the conversation for the second-best running back in the league. 

Along with Morrow, Armani Winfield scored for the second time in three weeks. He had his first 100-yard receiving game and basically clinched the game for CSU with a 62-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter. With Tory Horton getting dinged up in the game, the Rams really needed somebody else to have a breakout game and the former Baylor Bear answered the call. 

Jay Norvell said postgame that Horton will have to get an MRI but the fact that he returned to the game was both encouraging and a testament to the fifth-year receiver’s toughness. When your stars are as selfless and team-oriented as Horton, it really makes it easy to understand why this group continues to stay together. 

The Rams have shown a lot of heart these past couple of weeks. With the season essentially on the line, it was really encouraging to see them go out and execute in every phase of the game. 

The second half of the season is still going to have its own challenges. Teams like New Mexico and Nevada look a hell of a lot tougher than anybody would have thought coming into the year. Currently sitting at 1-0 in league play though, the Rams have a chance to factor into the mix if they can string together some Mountain West wins.

We’ll see where they go from here. But enjoy this one. It’s been a while since we’ve seen that type of four-quarter effort from CSU against a legitimately good team.