Consistency up front paying off for Rams
Communication improved for CSU’S offensive line
Colorado State’s offensive line blocks Air Force defenders in front of quarterback Brayden Fowler-nicolosi, far right, on Oct. 28at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins.
FORT COLLINS >> Last season, every week was like a new puzzle for the Colorado State offensive line.
Because of injuries and players departing the program, CSU head coach Jay Norvell and his staff had to find new pieces just about every week.
That hasn’t been the case this season. In the Rams’ nine games, they have had the same five players on the field at the start of each contest.
The reversal of fortune has been one of many positives for CSU this year as the Rams make a final push to get to a bowl game in Norvell’s second season.
After allowing the most sacks per game in the country last season, having a consistent offensive line has paid dividends as the Rams are the top team in the nation in their improvement in that category. They went from allowing just under five sacks per game last season to just 1.5 this season.
Much can be credited to the Rams going out and utilizing the transfer portal to provide depth at that position, although it hasn’t been needed much this season.
“I’m really proud of our coaches and our personnel department,” Norvell said. “We evaluated all the transfer players in our conference and we have more players starting for us that are transfers that we recruited than anybody in our league. We did a good job of evaluating and putting real weight on certain qualities. We wanted guys that were dependable, that were tough, that had a couple years of starting experience and we didn’t really care where they came from.”
The anchor of the line is center Jacob Gardner. Gardner was the only returning starter from last year’s line and moved from left tackle where he mostly played last season to center, the spot he feels more natural at.
Around him are four new starters this season, three of which joined the Rams after playing at either the FCS or Division II levels — left tackle Saveyon Henderson, left guard Oliver Jervis and right tackle Drew Moss. The fourth new starter is right guard Andrew Cannon, a graduate student from Orlando who transferred to CSU from Nevada where he played for Norvell before the coach came to Fort Collins.
“It’s been great,” Gardner said. “In terms of communication, probably the biggest thing is you know how guys work, how they’re going to work, how double teams work out, pass coverage. With the five we’ve got, we’re on the same level. We have our own communication. We understand each other’s tendencies. There’s always going to be work to do, but it’s nice just having the same five guys up there.”
While the Rams haven’t had as much success running the ball this season as they did a year ago, the sack numbers are down and the line has proven to be most effective in its ability to give freshman quarterback Brayden Fowler-nicolosi time to find receivers and complete passes.
Fowler-nicolosi last week became CSU’S alltime leader in passing yards in a season for a freshman. He’s ranked 10th in the nation in that category with 2,696 yards. Even though the freshman has made mistakes at times, the veteran linemen in front of him continue to support and encourage him.
“Brayden, he’s young, and especially me and Jacob being older and having played a lot of games, we know that there’s going to be valleys when you go through a season and just making sure that he has the confidence to know that we trust him, we love him and that we’ve seen what he can do,” Jervis said. “So, allowing a fumble or an interception to shake him is unacceptable because we have a game plan. He’s our commander out there so we need him to have his head high and lead us down the field because without him, we can’t do anything.”
CSU is back home Saturday to host San Diego State with kickoff slated for 5 p.m. at Canvas Stadium. Monday, Norvell emphasized that although the team knows it needs three wins in three games to make it to a bowl game, the focus is to take it one contest at a time.
With the consistency of the offensive line and the production of the freshman quarterback it protects weekly, the Rams will look to get the first of the three wins out of the way before they look to the next one.
Colorado State’s offensive line practices during a summer workout at Canvas Stadium. The line has featured the same five starters all season, making it one of the most consistent groups on the team.