Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi is still the starting quarterback for Colorado State, head coach Jay Norvell said at his weekly press conference Monday.
Both the head coach and Fowler-Nicolosi were disappointed with the way he played against Northern Colorado 1 1/2 weeks ago, which prompted backup quarterback Jackson Brousseau to get work with the first-team offense last week.
However, Monday, Norvell made it clear that Fowler-Nicolosi will start Saturday against UTSA and that he needs to show improvement.
“He’s been our quarterback, and he is our quarterback,” Norvell said. “Brayden’s our guy. We’ve got to get him playing good, feeling confident, and this is an important week for us to do that.”
In two games this season, a loss to Washington and a last-minute victory over UNC, Fowler-Nicolosi has passed for 312 yards with two interceptions and one touchdown.
He has been the team’s quarterback since taking over before the Rams faced Colorado during the 2023 season and is a team captain this year. Norvell said Fowler-Nicolosi understands his role on the team and is relying on his quarterback’s experience to get past his recent struggles.
“I think his role has intensified, obviously, because he is the quarterback,” Norvell said. “I’ve spent a lot of time with Brayden over this past week, watching ball, talking ball, talking about situations and how he can kind of change his thought process and how he can help the football team.
“At the end of the day, that’s his job. His job is to complete passes. Brayden is a good football player. He’s won a bunch of games for us. He’s got a lot of experience. And now, we need to lean on that experience as we move forward.”
Norvell also wants to play to his quarterback’s strengths, which he believes is playing in high-tempo, high-pressure situations.
Against UNC, he led the Rams on a 13-play, 77-yard drive that began with 3:49 remaining in the game and ended with his 13-yard run into the end zone with 49 seconds left. It turned out to be the game-winning play.
“Brayden likes to play fast,” Norvell said. “He always has, and he’s really comfortable in the two-minute drill. That’s probably his most comfortable drill, and so we’ll try to utilize that. We had a chance to go back and really look at things that he likes that we can hang our hat on.”
While Fowler-Nicolosi will start Saturday, Brousseau is ready and capable of filling in if he needs to. Norvell has been pleased with what he has seen from both quarterbacks coming out of their first bye week of the season.
He also said the team is comfortable with whichever quarterback is leading them.
“Jackson is ready,” Norvell said. “We practiced Jackson with the ones last week. Our guys are comfortable with Jackson being in that huddle.”
Coaching connections
UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor took his first collegiate coaching job at the University of Texas in 2015, after spending 15 seasons at East Texas powerhouse Gilmer High School, where he led the team to five state championship games and three state titles.
He became the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach for the Longhorns and spent two seasons at Texas before making stops at SMU and Arkansas and eventually taking over as the head coach at UTSA.
The coaching roads for Traylor and Norvell intersected in Austin, when Norvell was the wide receivers coach.
“Jeff has done a great job,” Norvell said. “We’ve been friends a long time, from when he was a high school coach in East Texas and then we coached together at the University of Texas. We even roomed together for several months. So, I know Jeff really well, know the type of team he’s building. He’s got really talented players.”
Saturday’s game will be the first time the two will be on opposite sides of the field as head coaches.
Series history
This will only be the third meeting between the Rams and UTSA, and first since the teams played a home-and-home series in 2015 and 2016.
CSU won both times — 33-31 in San Antonio in 2015 and 23-14 at Hughes Stadium in 2016. That was the final season the Rams played at Hughes before Canvas Stadium opened in 2017.
Saturday’s third meeting is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. in Fort Collins.
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