Jay Norvell didn’t feel relief. He didn’t feel much of anything.

Well, the Colorado State coach did feel one thing as his Rams were saved from an embarrassing upset at the hands of Northern Colorado  — a team that has won just two games since the start of 2023 — by a controversial overturned touchdown in the final seconds last Saturday at Canvas Stadium. 

Norvell felt disappointed.

“I was very disappointed with how we were playing,” Norvell said after the 21-17 win over the Bears. “I know we could play much better. Our responsibility is to play up to our ability, and we didn’t do that (last Saturday). We’re capable of playing a lot better.”

Norvell isn’t wrong about that, either. 

The reason there was so much optimism heading into the Rams’ 2025 home opener was because of how they performed the week prior in a 38-21 loss at Washington. CSU went toe-to-toe with a quality Big Ten opponent and entered the fourth quarter of that game tied at 21 before things slipped away against a bigger, faster, and stronger team. 

It was a far cry from the blowout losses suffered at the hands of Power conference opponents like Michigan and Texas in other season openers during Norvel’s tenure.

But all of that goodwill that built up in Seattle quickly evaporated in what can only be described as an embarrassing performance against a team CSU should’ve beaten by multiple touchdowns.

“We’re just very fortunate the ball bounced our way,” Norvell said.

As a result, there has been some soul-searching going on in Fort Collins this week.

Norvell mentioned they’re looking at everything within the program to fix what went wrong last week — and whether it was penalties, turnovers, or just general offensive inefficiency, there’s a lot to discuss.

That includes the quarterback, Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, who received the harshest public criticism from his coach since he became the starter two years ago. Here are a few of the things that Norvell said:

“Brayden was not sharp in this game early on and made several mistakes early. Missed some throws, missed some reads. But he wasn’t the only one.”

“He didn’t have a good night, that’s for sure.”

“I just think it’s fundamentals and execution. Brayden wasn’t as focused early in the game, didn’t start very well, and he’s just got to get off to a good start and get his footwork going and read it out and give his guys a chance.”

That was before Norvell even put on the tape, but the stats tell the story, too.

Fowler-Nicolosi was 13-for-25 passing (52% completions) for just 132 yards and no touchdowns with one interception. Compare that to another game against an FCS opponent, Utah Tech in 2023, when Fowler-Nicolosi had a career-high 462 passing yards in his fourth-ever start, and you can see that he just hasn’t improved the way Norvell and the rest of the coaching staff expected now in his third year as the starter.

Now, going forward, it seems like every solution is being considered — including putting Fowler-Nicolosi on the bench in favor of Jackson Brousseau, a redshirt sophomore in year three as the backup.

“We’re looking at every option right now in practice,” Norvell said. “We’re giving (Broussard) some reps with the ones. Brayden’s getting some reps, as well, but everybody’s gotta continue to improve.”

Lucky for Norvell, he has another week to hold off on making that decision, as the Rams have the weekend off before getting back to preparations for UTSA next week. If the same team that showed up against UNC shows up again at any point this season, the Rams — and Norvell — could be in trouble. 

“This is a game we could really learn a lot from without losing the game and that’s exactly how we’re taking it,” Norvell said.

King’s 5 Games to Watch

Georgia Tech vs. No. 12 Clemson (10 a.m. ESPN)

Everyone in Boulder found out how good QB Haynes King and the Yellow Jackets are two weeks ago. Will the Clemson Tigers find that out this week? It’s a pivotal game for both teams. Georgia Tech is eager to announce itself as an ACC contender against a preseason top 5 team in the country, while Clemson wants to prove the shaky first two games (a home loss to LSU and an uneven win over Troy) are in the rearview and it is still a national championship contender. 

King’s pick: Georgia Tech +2.5

No. 15 Tennessee vs. No. 6 Georgia (1:30 p.m. ABC)

It’s rare to get such a massive SEC game this early in the season, but that’s exactly what we have in Rocky Top on Saturday afternoon. Both teams want to establish themselves as not just conference title contenders, but national title contenders. It will likely come down to which starting quarterback (Georgia’s Gunner Stockton or Tennessee’s Joey Aguilar) can make enough plays to win the game against a pair of defenses not at the level they were last season. 

King’s pick: Tennessee +3.5

No. 5 Miami vs. No. 18 South Florida (2:30 p.m., The CW)

How about those Bulls from Tampa? South Florida could have a legitimate claim to being the No. 1 team in the nation if it can knock off Miami (after beating Boise State and Florida) to move to 3-0. But that will be a tall task against a Hurricanes team favored by three scores and who showed how good they are at home with a win over Notre Dame in Week 1. 

King’s pick: South Florida +17.5

No. 3 LSU vs. Florida (5:30 p.m. ABC)

A game against a top 3 LSU team in Death Valley is rarely considered a ‘must win’ game for any coach or program, but that might be the situation Florida’s Billy Napier is in this week. The Gators coach narrowly survived being fired after a slightly disappointing 2024, but he needs to show improvement this fall, and that feels unlikely after last week’s loss to South Florida and a daunting schedule (four straight games against ranked opponents, three on the road) ahead. 

King’s pick: LSU -7.5

No. 8 Notre Dame vs. No. 16 Texas A&M (5:30 p.m. NBC/Peacock)

Speaking of ‘must win’ games, that might be what Notre Dame has on its hands this Saturday night in South Bend. Sure, the Fighting Irish might be able to sneak into the playoff with a 10-2 record, but getting to 10 wins is a tall task when you start 0-2, which is what Marcus Freeman’s team could be starting at if it is not able to defend its home field against an emerging Texas A&M team, led by QB Marcel Reed. 

King’s pick: Texas A&M +6.5

King’s YTD record ATS: 4-6 (2-3 last week)

King’s Top 5 Heisman candidates

1. John Mateer, QB, Oklahoma

The Mateer-lievers tried to tell everyone before the season, but the Sooners have a quarterback. He might not be a future No. 1 pick like Baker Mayfield or Kyler Murray, but Oklahoma is a contender once again because of Mateer, the Washington State transfer who has already become a fan favorite in Norman after leading the Sooners to an impressive 24-13 win over Michigan last week. Mateer led the way with nearly 350 combined passing and rushing yards and 3 total touchdowns.

2. Sawyer Robertson, QB, Baylor

Speaking of No. 1 NFL draft picks, there might be a new favorite for the next guy to achieve that feat. Baylor has its first legit Heisman contender since Robert Griffin III in Robertson, who is averaging 430 passing yards through two games to go with 7 passing touchdowns and 0 interceptions. The Big 12 is loaded with quarterbacks, but Robertson might be the best of the bunch after leading the Bears to an impressive, double-overtime road win over SMU.

3. Luke Altmyer, QB, Illinois

The Fighting Illini announced themselves as real playoff contenders with a dominant road win over a solid Duke team last week and Altmyer was at the forefront of it. Passing for nearly 300 yards to go with 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, the former Ole Miss transfer now in year three at Illinois is establishing himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the country, not just the Big Ten.

4. Dante Moore, QB, Oregon

Sticking with Big Ten QBs, Moore has seamlessly transitioned into the starting role vacated by Dillon Gabriel and put up big numbers in his first two games as the Ducks’ starter. He only needed 16 completions to throw for 266 yards and three touchdowns in Oregon’s dominant, 69-3 win over Oklahoma State last week. 

5. Byrum Brown, QB, South Florida

The Byrum Brown that had over 4,000 combined passing and rushing yards and 27 total touchdowns in 2023 has shown up again to start 2025. The veteran QB is the leader of a USF team that has become one of the best stories of the early part of the season, with upset wins over Boise State and Florida. As the Bulls took down the Gators on the road last week, Brown had 329 passing and rushing yards combined and a touchdown.