Scouting Report: Colorado State

The long wait is finally over as the Longhorns kick off the 2024 season Saturday afternoon in Austin against Colorado State. The Rams are coming off a 5-7 season where they were the victim of three one-possession losses and went 3-5 in Mountain West play. Former Texas assistant Jay Norvell enters his third season at the helm, hoping to lead CSU to their first bowl game since 2017.

Offense

Colorado State runs a pure air-raid offense, ranking 5th nationally in pass attempts per game a season ago. QB Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and WR Tory Horton are the two names to know. Fowler-Nicolosi is a Texas native and enters his second season as the full-time starter after tossing 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in 2023 while completing 62.1% of his passes. Horton is a sure-fire NFL player who bypassed the draft to return for his senior season after catching 96 catches for over 1,100 yards last year. The 6’3, 185-pounder also factors into the return game as the primary punt returner.

The running game was an afterthought for the Rams last year, as they averaged a measly 3.4 yards per attempt. Norvell has been quick to point out they relied on a walk-on running back for much of 2023 and the position room looks much different this season. Redshirt freshman Justin Marshall (57 carries for 311 yards) figures to be the primary running back entering week 1.

The Rams are experienced along the offensive line, returning three starters. Center Jacob Gardner is the best of the group and has 45 career starts under his belt. The unit benefits from the air-raid system, only allowing 14 sacks a season ago. Right tackle Aaron Karas will be making his first career start on Saturday.

Defense

The Rams were 0-5 last year when giving up over 280 passing yards. The secondary took a beating and the run defense wasn’t much better. Norvell also announced on Monday that the Rams will be without starting defensive end Nuer Gatkuoth this weekend due to turf toe. The absence of Gatkuoth and the departure of star edge rusher Mohamed Kamara (13 sacks in 2023) to the NFL means the Rams will be breaking in a lot of new faces along the defensive line.

CSU does return their two leading tacklers in safety Jack Howell (114) and LB Chase Wilson (107). Howell will also be joined at safety by Henry Blackburn, who led the team in interceptions in 2023 with 3. Dom Jones was inserted into a starting CB spot the second half of 2023 and will be joined by Navy transfer Elias Larry to start this season.

Team speed is a big concern for the Rams.

Overall Thoughts

The season opener represents a decent test for Texas. The Longhorns are 30+ point favorites for a reason, but the Rams will test a Texas secondary that was shredded far too in 2023 and will present some intriguing individual matchups. The Texas offense would likely need to turn the ball over 3+ times for the game to get interesting. Steve Sarkisian and his staff hope to get reps for a ton of players ahead of a the big week 2 matchup against Michigan.