Strike 2: The goal at the start of the season was simple: Win rivalry games and make it to a bowl game.

And by the way, the coach’s job depended on it.

So for head coach Jay Norvell and the Colorado State Rams, it’s mission accomplished.

The Rams finished an improbable 8-4 on the year, winning six of seven at home. They lost to Colorado, but defeated both Wyoming and Air Force, so they got two out of three in the rivalry department. Now they wait to find out their bowl game destination. (It’s looking like Boise in December. Burr.)

So it’s all good, right.

Well, not entirely.

A whole lot of things went right – even after they lost their best player, receiver Tory Horton, for the season early on. They played gritty football most of the time, even while being wildly inconsistent within games. The running game that was missing from Norvell’s first two teams emerged, and aside from lopsided contests against ranked teams Texas and Colorado, they were competitive every week. A marked improvement from previous seasons.

However, if we’re being honest, the Rams were clearly the beneficiaries of a soft conference schedule, which helped record-wise but hurt them when it came time to figure out which team got to play unbeaten Boise State in the title game. CSU only lost one conference game, 27-20 to Fresno State, but didn’t get the chance to play one-loss UNLV, the team judged to be more worthy of a spot in the Mountain West championship game due to some sort of tiebreaker.

If the MW had not done away with divisions two seasons ago, the Rams would have played Boise State during the season and found out on the field if they belonged in the championship game.

Tiebreakers continue to be stupid.

As it turned out, the “best” team CSU defeated all season was seven-win San Jose State. Not a lot to boast about, but an eight-win season is still an eight-win season, regardless. Eight wins – and perhaps nine if the Rams can reverse their bowl victory drought as well – means everything, but it does not mask deficiencies.

Norvell deserves high praise for recognizing his team’s shortcomings from a year ago – mainly playing fast and loose with the football and committing 25 turnovers (including 18 interceptions thrown by quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi) in his touted “Air Raid” offense. He changed course this season, returning to his more conservative Iowa roots and committing to a ground game that produced almost double the rushing yardage from 2023. Fowler-Nicolosi – who led the MW in passing yards a season ago, only passed for more than 300 yards twice (the last two games) all season. However, his interceptions were less than half (seven) while his touchdowns were down to 13, including four in the wild, come-from-way-behind finale against Utah State.

While CSU had a solid, veteran offensive line returning, plus a stable of excellent young running backs, it was still a round-peg square hole kind of deal in many respects. Players – like Fowler-Nicolosi – recruited to run the Air Raid offense, struggled mightily at times. The second-year QB regressed noticeably during the season, and not just statistically. And after the final game, the Rams two leading receivers, seeing the writing on the locker room wall, entered the transfer portal.

With his job secure going into his fourth season in 2025, Norvell’s task will be to smooth things out. Fit personnel, new and returning, better into his new run-based offensive system. He may also need to get more of a running threat from his strong armed QB (who ran for the decisive score in the season finale.) He’s got to mold a new o-line too.

Mostly he has to manage new expectations. The bar will not be just getting to a bowl game anymore.