The Colorado State Rams, it seems, are a team still searching for consistency.
It was all Rams in the first half, and most of the game, against San Diego State on Saturday night in Fort Collins. They led 15-0 at halftime and pushed that lead to 22-6 at the end of three quarters.
But Jay Norvell’s team couldn’t shut the door and allowed the Aztecs to not only hang on, but make the game extremely close. San Diego State capitalized on a Rams 3-and-out to score a touchdown, and then a CSU fumble, to again put the ball into the end zone. That made it 22-19 with just over two minutes to play, but SDSU kicked the ball deep and the Rams held on to win.
Who excelled on Saturday night and who missed the mark?
Stock Up: Justin Marshall runs wild
Justin Marshall
Marshall ran out of nowhere, enjoying his first game action at Colorado State, to rack up career-highs with 18 carries for 119 yards and one touchdown.
That’s the true freshman’s first score!
📺 @CBSSportsNet https://t.co/kaDJDiE7ot pic.twitter.com/AdYgOX7Sn7
— Colorado State Football (@CSUFootball) November 12, 2023
In fact, he was the first Rams freshman to run over the century mark in a game since Ron Harris way back in 1974. The young man out of Merrillville, Ind. relished his first carries and enjoyed a stellar 6.6 YPC average.
As a senior in high school, he ran for 1,286 yards and 18 touchdowns, and now Marshall is showing that talent at the college level.
The Rams running back room has been a revolving carousel this year with injuries to Kobe Johnson and Avery Morrow, so it’s been great to see Marshall and Vann Schield step up for them.
Mohamed Kamara
The Rams best defensive lineman finally got back on the sack train Saturday night.
Not only did Kamara record a sack, he recorded CSU’s first score of the day because it was a safety.
.@mokamara42 with the SACK and SAFETY!
📺 @CBSSportsNet pic.twitter.com/uelr1Tb12c
— Colorado State Football (@CSUFootball) November 12, 2023
He now has 11.5 on the season, which is third-best in the nation. And his 29.0 career sacks are good for second-most all-time at Colorado State. It was also the first safety for the program since 2015.
Paddy Turner
A little love for the Australian punter, Paddy Turner. He had five punts totaling 209 yards on Saturday, including a booming 58-yard long. His 43.17 yard per punt average is 45th in the nation.
Stock Down: Inefficient passing game for Rams
Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi
He didn’t play poorly necessarily, but Fowler-Nicolosi didn’t ball out, either. He went 17-30 for 202 yards and one interception. BF-N also fumbled twice, luckily recovering both.
It was another quiet game for Tory Horton (4 rec. 24 yards) and Dallin Holker (6 rec. 54 yards), but at least Justus Ross-Simmons is still balling out.
The best pass play of the game came from Horton to Dylan Goffney, going 42 yards and setting up a Rams touchdown.
Vann Schield
Not only did Marshall out-perform him, but he had two fumbles on the day and lost one.
Schield rushed 15 times for 55 yards, and while he has been a solid band-aid with Johnson and Morrow injured, he simply cannot turn the ball over.
Next up for Colorado State (4-6) is Nevada (2-8) on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. MT in Fort Collins. Norvell’s former team may want to take out the Rams, but CSU knows they have to win against a worse opponent to keep those bowl dreams alive.