A gratifying win to end a lengthy drought was well with the Aggies’ grasp, but they failed to deliver the knockout punch. Instead, it was a memorable Senior Day for Colorado State, coupled with a collapse of epic proportions for Utah State. The Rams went on a 29-0 run during a stunning 12-minute stretch of the fourth quarter to turn a 30-13 deficit into a 42-30 lead en route to a 42-37 victory over the Aggies in a Mountain West football game on Friday afternoon at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado. CSU terminated a five-game losing streak against USU, plus kept its Mountain West Championship contest hopes alive, in the process. Nevada must beat No. 21 UNLV in Las Vegas on Saturday in order for CSU (8-4, 6-1 MW) to secure its spot against Boise State in next Saturday’s MW title tilt. Conversely, the Aggie (4-8, 3-4) were oh so close to beating a bowl-bound opponent for the first time since November of 2022 and capping off an injury-plagued, adversity-laden season with a three-game winning streak. Had USU prevailed, it would have went 4-1 over its last five games, to boot. “A tough one there,” USU interim head coach Nate Dreiling said. “We came out playing pretty well and just kind of collapsed in the fourth quarter, too many critical errors to win vs. a really good Colorado State team. But Colorado State did a good job of answering and finding ways to get points and to continue to battle. But it came down to us and discipline, and we just didn’t have it and let that one slip away, so that’s a tough one to end (the season) on.” The Aggies were in great shape to avoid any fourth-quarter drama — which has been a recent staple in the USU-CSU series — as defensive back Jaiden Francois came through with a 40-yard pick-six with 49 seconds remaining in the third. A CSU pass was broken up by USU cornerback JD Drew and snared in the air by Francois for his second interception return to the house in as many seasons. Additionally, it was USU’s first defensive TD of the season. This massive play gave the visitors a seemingly comfortable 30-13 lead, but the hosts were undaunted. The Rams took full advantage of a pair of Aggie turnovers during their aforementioned, monumental 29-0 run. A USU fumble just outside the red zone loomed especially large. Another play the Aggies would surely love to get back was an in-stride 29-yard pass from Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi to Dane Olson on a fourth-and-nine play in CSU territory midway through the fourth quarter. USU was nursing a 30-21 lead at the time. “If we get off the field on a fourth-and-nine (play) that ballgame’s over, (but) they completed a good pass for a 45-yard gain or whatever it was,” Dreiling said. “So, that’s what college football comes down to. The margin of error is very, very slim and you have to capitalize … when the moment comes, and Colorado State got it today, so hats off to them.” USU bottled up CSU’s potent rushing game as the hosts only managed 84 yards on 29 attempts — nearly 100 yards shy of their season average. However, the Aggies were unable to keep Fowler-Nicolosi at bay as he completed 31 of 46 passes for 370 yards and four TDs. “I’m really proud of the D-line,” Dreiling said. “That’s a (CSU) team that wants to run the ball 60 times a game and keeping them under 100 is truly remarkable, especially (since) we had extreme trouble stopping the run the first half of the season. And those young guys continuing to battle and coming back to work and getting better and better, and now holding one of the bigger rushing attack teams in the country to under 100 yards shows you the mentality this team had the whole year of constantly improving.” The Rams appeared to be in complete control, up 42-30 following Fowler-Nicolosi’s 26-yard pass to Vince Brown II on a well-executed fourth-and-two play with 1:37 remaining in the contest. Nevertheless, it still ended up being another zany USU-CSU conclusion. USU quarterback Bryson Barnes, filling in for the injured Spencer Petras, found wide receiver Otto Tia in the end zone for a 2-yard TD with 14 seconds remaining. It was the third Barnes-to-Tia scoring connection of the game and it pulled the visitors to within 42-37. The ensuing Elliott Nimrod on-side kick was a good one and it was recovered at midfield by teammate Ike Larsen, giving the Aggies a glimmer of hope. However, that was quickly extinguished as Barnes was picked off for the second time in the fourth quarter on the ensuing play. The three fourth-quarter turnovers, coupled with a slew of penalties, absolutely led to the demise of the Aggies, who racked up a season-high 139 yards on 12 infractions. The Rams had 13 penalties of their own, albeit for a less-damaging 94 yards. Indeed, it was a bitter pill for the Aggies to swallow, especially considering how dominant they were at times in the early going. Case in point: USU went off for 182 yards of total offense in the first quarter and raced out to a 13-0 lead. A missed 44-yard field goal goal and a failed two-point conversion pass prevented USU from taking an early three-possession lead. Barnes powered his way into the end zone from 1 yard out with 6:17 remaining in the first quarter and then tossed a 2-yard TD to Tia four minutes later. CSU pared its deficit to 13-3 on a 33-yard Jordan Noyes field goal with 10:28 left in the second quarter, but USU immediately answered with a 26-yard field goal by Tanner Cragun. It was a rough end to the opening half for the Aggies, though, as the Rams scored 10 points during the final 104 seconds of actual game time. Noyes booted a 40-yard field goal with 1:44 left and then Olson turned a short pass from Fowler-Nicolosi into a 28-yard TD with 19 seconds remaining. Olson entered the contest with only 130 yards receiving on the season, but was a thorn in USU’s side as he accounted for 140 yards on five Friday receptions. The Rams were in good shape to knot things up at 16-16 less than five minutes into the third quarter, but Noyes was well off the mark on a 40-yard field goal attempt. USU seemingly seized control in the final 67 seconds of the quarter as it capped off an epic 15-play, 79-yard drive with a nice 14-yard TD pass from Barnes to Tia. The Aggies struck again less than 20 seconds later on the aforementioned pick-six by Francois, who also accounted for his team’s lone sack. Barnes became the first USU signal caller to ever rush for more than 100 yards in back-to-back games. The Utah transfer followed up his program-record (for a QB) 193 yards against San Diego State with 185 on 24 attempts against CSU. The gritty Barnes also threw for 189 yards and the aforementioned three TDs to Tia on 17 of 29 passing, although the two INTs were extremely costly. The Aggies were oh so close to amassing 300-plus yards on the ground in back-to-back-to-back outings as they finished with 296 on 49 attempts. Standout tailback Rahsul Faison was limited by an injury, but still contributed with 66 yards on 12 carries. The senior rushed for 1,109 during the 2024 campaign. USU, which converted on 9 of 15 third downs, accumulated 485 total yards. Conversely, the Rams were only 3 of 14 on third downs, but still managed to produce 454 total yards. Star safety Jordan Vincent recorded a career-high 15 tackles — his ninth double-digit outing of the ’24 campaign — and finished the season with 117 tackles. Cornerback DJ Graham II chipped in with a career-high nine tackles for the Aggies, followed by linebacker John Miller with eight. Graham II also broke up a pair of passes. “Yeah, that was tough,” Dreiling said when asked about his post-game message to his team in the locker room. “(But my message was) just so proud (of them). I mean, the resilience and the toughness that this team has shown since July fifth is just unmatched, it’s not common, doesn’t happen anymore. And the locker room should be so dang proud of sticking together, continuing to show up every single day and then putting a product on the field that makes the community proud. And that’s what college football’s about and there’s no reason they should hang their heads on this loss. They worked their tails off, man, and winning football games is hard. We came a long way (this season) and I’m awfully proud of their resilience.”
A gratifying win to end a lengthy drought was well with the Aggies’ grasp, but they failed to deliver the knockout punch.
