Losing stinks but covering the spread is always nice.
The Colorado State Rams opened up the 2025 season with a road trip to Seattle, Washington to face the Washington Huskies, losing the game 38-21.
The Rams fought hard, responding every time the Huskies scored until it was 21-21 in the second half. After that, however, the Huskies’ defense clamped down on Colorado State’s offense, scoring 17 unanswered points of their own to reach this game’s final score. While this final score does imbed some optimism
about the team going forward, there are undoubtedly still some concerns about the Rams.
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
11:08 – Jonah Coleman run for 26 yds for a TD (Grady Gross PAT)
Colorado State 0 – Washington 7
6:47 – Tahj Bullock run for 2 yds for a TD (Isaiah Hankins PAT)
Colorado State 7 – Washington 7
2nd Quarter
10:43 – Adam Mohammed run for 1 yd for a TD (Grady Gross PAT)
Colorado State 7 – Washington 14
0:10 – Jalen Dupree run for 15 yds for a TD (Isaiah Hankins PAT)
Colorado State 14 – Washington 14
3rd Quarter
11:17 – Kade Eldridge 1 Yd Run (Grady Gross PAT)
Colorado State 14 – Washington 21
8:01 – Jaxxon Warren 27 Yd pass from Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi (Isaiah Hankins PAT)
Colorado State 21 – Washington 21
3:01 – Denzel Boston 12 Yd pass from Demond Williams Jr. (Grady Gross PAT)
Colorado State 21 – Washington 28
4th Quarter
12:11 – Grady Gross 24 Yd Field Goal
Colorado State 21 – Washington 31
6:57 – Jonah Coleman 3 Yd Run (Grady Gross PAT)
Colorado State 21 – Washington 38
Final: Colorado State 21 – Washington 38
Offense
The Rams putting up 21 points in this game against a Big Ten defense conveys some optimism about the new Air Raid system. Unfortunately, however, most of the Rams’ success on offense came from more traditional read-option plays, since the Air Raid attack didn’t really work as intended.
Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi seems to have not fully broken out of his slump, as he went 17-32 for 180 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception for a QBR of 56.8. This may be in large part due to not really having many good options to throw to.
Any concerns I had before the season about the Rams’ WR core were justified, as no wideout cracked 30 yards, led by sophomore Tommy Maher’s 4 catches for 29 yards. For reference, Maher caught 4 passes for 99 yards all of his freshman season. Maher also did some damage to his own offense on Fowler-Nicolosi’s interception, since, while being a tough play in traffic, the ball did go straight through Maher’s hands. Nobody else had more than two catches, or more than 24 yards. CSU’s leading receiver was redshirt sophomore TE Jaxxon Warren, who tallied 6 catches for 79 yards and CSU’s only passing touchdown. Warren had never caught a pass at the collegiate level before, referencing both his immediate reliability and the current inadequacy of the Rams’ receiving core.
Colorado State definitely did some interesting things on offense in this game, specifically at QB, where they kind of reminded me of when the Ravens first got Lamar Jackson in 2018, when they had a primary starter, but brought in the mobile quarterback in obvious running situations.
In the Jackson role was Akron transfer Tahj Bullock, who was used solely as an option QB, where he rushed four times. On three of those carries, Bullock was successful, totaling 10 yards and a touchdown. The fourth? Well, let me put it as nicely as I can: it was the single worst fake field goal attempt I have seen since Jim Zorn’s absolute brilliance on Monday Night Football in 2009.
Bullock, who is not the normal holder, was in as the “holder” on the play, which was so obviously telegraphed that both announcers called it out immediately. Bullock got up, moved to take the snap, revealing a play which gave him the following options to throw to: kicker Isaiah Hankins, tight ends Ryan McConnell and Rocky Beers, and 6-3, 280-pound defensive lineman Caden Branston. Stunningly, absolutely no one got open on the play. I believe the play also tried to get TE Carlos Anaya open in the flat, but by the time he was even in position as a receiver, Bullock had run out of time, resulting in a 14-yard loss and a total on the night of -4 yards. Hopefully, that play got thrown in the nearest dumpster outside Husky Stadium immediately following the game.
On the ground, it wasn’t really much better for CSU, as they totaled just 85 yards on 27 carries, with three rushers having negative yardage on the night. This performance came against a Huskies D that ranked 15th of 18 Big Ten teams in rushing yards allowed per game in 2024. Aside from standout sophomore Jalen Dupree, who had 15 carries for 92 yards and a TD, Tulsa transfer Lloyd Avant’s 12 yards made him the only CSU rusher to have positive total yards. Dupree looks to have usurped Avant and Justin Marshall as the starting back, and he does look to be a solid option going into the rest of the season.
There were definitely some positives to take from the Rams’ offensive performance, but along with that come both some concerns and a play so poorly designed and executed that I genuinely question how it was supposed to play out in a perfect world.
Defense
This was not exactly a banner day for the Tyson Summers-led defense. CSU gave up 513 yards to Washington, while only recording 2 sacks on the evening and a fumble recovery by JaQues Evans. Sophomore LB Owen Long was CSU’s best defender, tallying 11 of CSU’s 47 solo tackles, with 13 total. Aside from that, Washington dominated the Rams’ defense in all aspects, as, aside from their two “drives” at the end of each half, Washington gained at least 25 yards on each and every one of their 9 drives.
Redshirt sophomore QB Demond Williams Jr. went 18-24 for 224 yards with a touchdown and a QBR of 69.7. Williams did a good job of spreading the ball to his receivers, as among the six receivers that caught passes in this game, all of them had at least 20 yards, led by redshirt junior Denzel Boston’s 92 yards on 5 receptions, including the Huskies’ only air-based touchdown.
All things considered, the Rams weren’t too bad against the pass. The only issue with that is the fact that Washington didn’t really need to pass in this game, because the Rams were getting bullied on the ground all night long.
Including the knee Williams took to end the game, Washington ran the ball 50 times. Those 50 carries amounted to a staggering 287 yards—over 5 yards per carry—while scoring 4 rushing touchdowns. In particular, Jonah Coleman was a total beast running the rock. On his 24 carries, Coleman rushed for 177 yards, the second-best of his career, only being surpassed by his 179-yard game in 2023 against Deion Sanders’ trainwreck in Boulder, while still a member of the Arizona Wildcats. Coleman also scored twice on the ground, while catching one pass for 22 yards on an opening-drive 4th and 1, just for good measure.
The other Huskies didn’t fare too much worse on the ground, either. Adam Mohammed rushed for 25 yards on 7 carries with a TD, Kade Eldridge scored a goal-line TD, and Williams himself showed his dual-threat ability by turning his 12 non-knee carries into 72 yards. This does, unfortunately, line up with Summers’ defenses at Western Kentucky, as the Hilltoppers’ defense ranked 124th and 131st in the nation in rushing yards allowed per game in 2023 and 2024, respectively
While the Rams did more than other Mountain West teams (looking at you, Nevada) by forcing Washington to punt the ball twice and turn it over once, the defense was the main reason the Rams were not able to pull off the upset, as they kept the Rams’ offense once step behind throughout the game. The Huskies are certainly not an easy opponent, but Colorado State’s defense will need to improve, especially against the run, if they want to compete in a not especially tough-looking Mountain West.
Coming Up
The Rams travel back to Fort Collins for their home opener against in-state FCS school Northern Colorado. The Bears are coming into this game off of a less-than-encouraging 17-3 victory over Division II Chadron State, where they gave up over 200 passing yards. In order to progress through this season, the Rams must not only win this game but also take advantage of the Bears’ lackluster pass defense to get the Air Raid out of neutral.
Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday, September 6, at 5:00 p.m. MT.
