CSU never waved the white flag. Too bad the zebras couldn’t stop chucking the yellow ones.
Say this for Jay Norvell’s Rams: Now they’re just good enough to break your heart after dark. But they’re not good enough yet to beat two teams on the road, let alone one, on a given weekend.
Oregon State needed double overtime to outlast CSU at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, 39-31, a teaser of a future Pac-12 rivalry game for the Rams, who’ll join the league in 2026.
The scoreline, given that CSU (2-3) was an 11-point underdog, will look like a moral victory in the papers, on smartphones and in media guides for years to come.
The reality? It was a missed opportunity. A missed chance to stun a bigger-name brand/team/program (the Beavers) with all kinds of flaws. A program-defining, coach-salvaging victory that was knocked out of wideout Tory Horton’s hands as he slid into the corner of the end zone.
A pass, by the way, that CSU quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi was forced to throw on a fourth-and-goal fade from his own 11. Why? The Rams’ 13th penalty of the ballgame.
Saturday was CSU’s second tilt this season — along with CU — in which it had been flagged 10 or more times. It was the sixth with double-digit penalties over the Rams’ last 16 contests. It was their 20th of 10 or more flags over their last 29 games, all under Norvell.
Perspective: In its previous 29 games, spanning the Mike Bobo and Steve Addazio eras, CSU reached double-digit penalties in a game just four times.
The script wouldn’t hurt the folks in Fort Fun so much if they hadn’t seen this movie so many times before. Curious play-calling. Capitulation on fourth-and-short. A young QB looking confused, and repeatedly, as the play clock threatens to expire. Panicked timeouts. Mental lapses.
In this tussle, those self-inflicted wounds proved fatal — and dampened a valiant comeback from a 21-10 deficit, thanks to 176 hard-fought yards on the ground and a statement game by the CSU offensive line. The Rams snatched a 24-21 lead with 1:56 left in regulation on Avery Morrow’s 1-yard touchdown plunge off a Wildcat snap.
They just couldn’t keep it.
CSU looked Pac-12 strong, Pac-12 fast, Pac-12 tough, with Pop Warner discipline. By the time the second overtime rolled around, the Rams also looked gassed. Spent. Former CU running back Anthony Hankerson’s 25-yard score proved to be the game-winner, capping a 26-carry, 113-yard performance.
The Rams’ opening drive started hopefully enough, as the visitors drove to midfield on five plays, two on short throws to Horton and two more on physical runs by Justin Marshall (10 carries, 53 rushing yards).
On third-and-1 at the 50, BFN took the snap behind center, stumbling as he turned left, somehow flipping a pitch as he fell to Marshall, who found a seam and pounded his way to an 8-yard gain. One problem: BFN’s knee was down before he completed the short pitch, as confirmed by replay, turning a first down at the Beavers 42 into a fourth down, punt-and-pin situation.
It paid off. The hosts’ offense looked even more discombobulated than CSU’s, incurring a false start on first down from its own 10 and a hold by former CU lineman Van Wells on second-and-4 from its 16. On second-and-12 at the Oregon State 8, a short pass intended for Jordan Anderson was tipped into the air by Rams linebacker Chase Wilson and high-pointed for a pick by teammate Gabe Kirschke.
Gifted the ball back at the Beavers 12, Marshall picked right back up where he left off, bouncing a first-down carry off left tackle, cutting upfield and rambling for the first score of the afternoon and a 6-0 CSU lead with 10:15 left in the opening stanza.
The Beavers marched their second drive to midfield when the Rams produced another massive takeaway. On first-and-10 from the CSU 47 with 7:45 to go in the first, Beavers tailback Jam Griffin took a zone-read handoff from QB Gevani McCoy only to be surrounded by CSU defenders. One of them, defensive lineman Nuer Gatkuoth, pulled Griffin down while the back’s knee was buckling at a queasy angle on the Reser Stadium turf. The ball popped loose and fellow D-lineman Will Prendergast fell on it at the CSU 49.
The Rams couldn’t take advantage, though, as a third-and-7 pass to Horton managed just 5 yards and Norvell elected to punt from midfield on fourth-and-2.
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CSU’s defense wasn’t threatened early by McCoy’s arm, but the Oregon State signal-caller’s legs were another story. The Rams stuffed Hankerson for a 1-yard gain on third-and-2 at the Rams 30. But the Beavers went with the option on fourth-and-1, and McCoy elected to keep, found a seam to his right, and turned on the jets for a 29-yard touchdown. The extra point with 11:04 until halftime knotted the game at 7-7.
The Rams had a golden chance to take a touchdown lead into halftime, but couldn’t get out of their own way. CSU’s offense committed two costly penalties after driving into Oregon State’s red zone that wiped a touchdown off the board.
The defense joined the sin bin on the Beavers’ next drive, as two CSU flags gave the hosts the ball at the Rams’ 1-yard line with 11 seconds left in the first half.
The offense continued to rip off big chunks on the ground, but an 11-yard score by Marshall with 7:19 left in the second quarter was nullified by an illegal formation call. A delay-of-game flag turned a second-and-8 play at the Beavers 9 into a second-and-13 at the 14, and CSU wound up settling for a 25-yard field goal and a 10-7 cushion with 5:19 left until the break.
Early in the second half, Morrow (140 rushing yards) got loose for a 24-yard run up the gut. But instead of first-down at the Oregon State 19, a holding call on Drew Moss gave the visitors a first-and-20 at their own 47. Which became second-and-21. Then third-and-21. Then a punt.
On the Beavs’ next drive, a first-and-10 McCoy incompletion at the CSU 36 was absolved by a Rams holding penalty, moving the chains up 10 yards. On second-and-3 at the CSU 19, a run for no gain was wiped off the board by a defensive offside, giving the hosts a first down at the CSU 14.
Rinse. Repeat.
The Rams are 1-4 in their last five away games decided by eight points or fewer. And like the Buffs 13 months earlier, Oregon State was there for the taking. The Beavers can’t throw the ball and can’t defend the run. In other words, they were the kind of opponent where, once you get up by two scores early, the fat lady knows to start warming up.
CSU never got there. And until the Rams learn to stop being their own worst enemies on the road, they never will.
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