Fan anger is quickly rising after the Colorado State football team had another bad offensive night against Washington State.
New quarterback, but similar result.
Colorado State’s offense continues to be confounding and unproductive on the scoreboard and it led the Rams to another loss.
Future Pac-12 mate Washington State came into Canvas Stadium and built a big first-half lead and cruised to a 20-3 win on Sept. 27.
Here are takeaways from the game.
Jay Norvell’s offense looks lost
CSU coach Jay Norvell is also the play-caller on offense. He made a change at quarterback late last week replacing the struggling Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi with Jackson Brousseau.
Brousseau then stayed in the No. 1 spot for the Washington State game for his first career start.
But the offense looks lost. Norvell was quite conservative in the first half and continued use of the QB run package with Tahj Bullock had some fans booing.
On CSU’s first drive of the game, a long Jalen Dupree run put CSU inside the Washington State 30, but the drive petered out with the next play after the Dupree run resulting in a loss of yards on a run from Bullock.
CSU settled for a field goal. Bullock had a fourth-down run near midfield stopped. In the third quarter CSU went into the Washington State red zone only for another minus-2 yard Bullock run help stall a drive.
This isn’t to say Bullock himself is at fault, but his run package felt predictable to Washington State.
The Cougars had given up 59 points in each of the last two games. Washington State had allowed a touchdown or field goal on 15 consecutive drives entering this game.
But the play-calling for CSU has to be questioned. Even when the Rams moved the ball, a negative play or penalty would set them back at the wrong time.
A mere three points against a reeling defense is alarming. CSU averaged just 13 points per game in the three-game homestand.
Bullock finished with four rushes for minus-10 yards. Brousseau went 19-28 passing for 188 yards.
Familiar mistakes costly for CSU
There were a number of similar themes for CSU in this one.
Too many penalties early in the game. Negative plays killing drives. The defense giving up explosive plays. Missed field goals, as Isaiah Hankins missed one outright and had one blocked.
Washington State quarterback Zevi Eckhaus threw a 35-yard touchdown on Washington State’s first drive and had two touchdowns at half.
The defense was excellent in the second half to give the offense a chance to get back in the game but it never happened.
Washington State entered the week 114th in Sagarin rankings and No. 121 in ESPN's FPI but the Cougars controlled the game almost all 60 minutes.
CSU’s putrid September has fan anger boiling
The stadium emptied early in the second half of this one. After a decent-enough showing in a Week 1 loss at Washington, the wheels seem to be coming off.
CSU barely escaped a game against Northern Colorado with a win, thanks in part to a questionable ref decision.
The Rams then lost to UTSA on a questionable two-point try at the end of the game. And then in this one the Rams were out-classed in the first half on both sides of the ball.
Fans are upset.
CSU went 1-2 at home in a September stretch many viewed as a chance to go 3-0.
Mountain West play comes quickly with a short week before the Rams play at San Diego State (Oct. 3).
The pressure is on Norvell to show there’s still life in this team.
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado State football offense sputters in loss to Washington State
Category: General Sports
