Three Phases: Rams Face Reflection After Win

No team will apologize for a win, not even Colorado State. Not for Saturday's night's performance leading to an unimaginable 21-17 victory against Northern Colorado – a team it had never lost to on the field, just by forfeit.

Back in 1900.

But the Rams aren't going to make excuses for the way they played, either, which wasn't good overall. Not enough focus and too many mistakes adds up to a victory they had to sweat out until the end.

We're just very fortunate at the end. They had the ball down there; it appeared that they had the winning score, CSU coach Jay Norvell said. We're just very fortunate the ball bounced our way and we won the game. But the message to the team is that we just a week ago played up in Seattle. We played a Big 10 team in a very tough environment, and we were more focused and made less mistakes on the road than we did at home.

We have a lot of new players. We have a lot of new coaches, and sometimes at the beginning of these first three games, there's a lot that you find out about your team. And we found out a lot tonight. We're not nearly as consistent as we need to be.

Offense

Three turnovers as a unit. Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi lost a fumble and threw an interception in the first half, a period of time when he was just 5-of-12 passing, a mix of overthrows and tosses behind receivers. Norvell said his veteran quarterback was just not himself, and Fowler-Nicolosi was in no position to dispute his coach.

Something was off today, the quarterback said.

Sure was. He was 8-of-13 in the second half, a bit of a bounce back. He did lead a game-winning 77-yard scoring drive, scrambling on third down for a 13-yard touchdown to put the Rams in front for the first time.

In his career, he does have a knack for those kind of drives.

I really don't like to lose. I really, really don't like losing, Fowler-Nicolosi said. I think I have so many guys around me that have made it happen. I've been lucky to be in the position where I am able to lead those drives but I wouldn't be able to do it without all the other guys that I have around me and so I'm just grateful for it.

What he was really grateful for was the running game. Norvell has said he feels the room is a strength, and four backs had carries in the first half. By the end of the day, the Rams rushed for 230 yards, averaging 5.0 yards per carry. Lloyd Avant had 68 yards on 11 carries, scoring on two short runs, but he also had a fumble to end a promising drive in the fourth. Jalen Dupree rushed for 58. Avant said they don't care who gets the ball, just that the job gets done.

We just try to keep a good vibe on the sideline. We all match each other, he said. I mean, we just want each other to win. So, rounds be rounds, and we just want to come out with a great win. If that means somebody has to go out on the field, somebody has to come off on the field, we're just going to keep each other's heads high and just work together.

Defense

There was a switch made at defensive coordinator, in part because Norvell had seen too many leads evaporate in his time as CSU's coach in the closing minutes of the game. He nearly saw it again Saturday when Carvfer Cheeks seemed to pull down a game-winning catch in the end zone with 8 seconds remaining.

The review was time standing still for the Rams, a knot in it's collective stomach.

We're not going to lie to you, Jahari Rogers said. I mean, from my angle, it looked like he caught it.

But according to review, he didn't. And was hit with a flag, pushing the Bears back to the 46. A pass interference on the next play against CSU gave it back, and with 1 second remaining, Rogers picked off the final heave.

The group allowed 17 points and survived a small panic attack. But it survived, allowing just 223 yards and limiting the guests to just 63 rushing yards. Two of the scores were set up by turnovers creating short fields.

On third down, the Rams were getting off the field, UNC finishing 3-of-14 on the down. Fourth down, they'd like to be better – UNC was perfect twice, one leading to a second-half scoring drive. Again, they survived the scare. But the goal is to avoid the situation the Rams found themselves in when UNC had just 45 seconds to work with and 72 yards away from the payoff. Allowing a 29-yard pass followed by a 15-yard roughing the passer flag is not in the design.

I always tell my guys we have to finish. Last week we didn't finish it to the standard that we wanted to, Rogers said. This week we finished. Bottom line, the mind's already played its heart out. At the end of that play, we got it out. We finished every play, we finished every drive, and we played hard. But we have to finish, no matter if it's the end of the first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter. We will finish and we will dominate and finish mentality.

Special Teams

A missed 46-yard field goal in the first half by Isaiah Hankins wasn't ideal in his first attempt, but it's not a chip-shot distance. The bigger issue was punt return, where Tommy Maher muffed one punt, setting up a UNC field goal, and when he busted a good return which would have given the Rams a chance to score before half, he was stripped from behind.

Even in the second half, he didn't attempt to catch a high punt, one which bounced inside the 15 and pinned the Rams at the 1.

Norvell stuck with him. Same as he did with a struggling quarterback.

Those guys know they have to play better, Norvell said. Tommy's been a good player. Brayden's been a good player. But they have a responsibility to play better.

The entire team does. Not much about the night sat well with the coach, only the fact they won. With a bye week in front of the Rams, Norvell figures they have much to ponder before returning to the field Sept. 20 against UTSA.

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