QB Fowler-Nicolosi to start for Colorado State

Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior WriterSep 11, 2023, 02:50 PM ET

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• College football reporter.
• Joined ESPN.com in 2008.
• Graduate of Northwestern University.Colorado State is making a quarterback modification

  and will start redshirt freshman Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi for today’s roadway game against No. 18 Colorado in the Rocky Mountain Showdown.Fowler-Nicolosi replaced Clay Millen in Colorado State’s season opener Sept. 2 versus Washington State, after Millen sustained a shoulder sprain in the second half. Coach Jay Norvell informed ESPN that Millen is healthy after an open week and offered for the Colorado game, but he wanted Fowler-Nicolosi to get the start. Fowler-Nicolosi helped Colorado State score 21 fourth-quarter points versus Washington State in a 50-24 loss, passing for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns with an interception.” The time is best for Bray to get an opportunity, “Norvell stated.”He sparked us, drove for a couple ratings.

  The bottom line is we’ve got to score points and be more efficient, and we’ve got to be competitive and lead at that position.” We’ve got a lot of self-confidence in Clay, but Brayden played for us last year as well.”Millen started most of the 2022 season, setting the team’s single-season conclusion percentage record (72.2). However Colorado State finished 128th nationally in scoring, and it got among its three wins on the roadway versus Nevada when Fowler-Nicolosi began.”When the game was on the line, he drove us down the field with the two-minute drill for the winning goal,”Norvell stated.”He can run, he’s got excellent feet and a strong arm, and he’s ecstatic and his colleagues are excited. We have actually got to rally behind him.”Colorado State has actually dropped five straight to Colorado, last facing the Buffaloes in 2019. Colorado, which went 1-11 last season, is 2-0 under new coach Deion Sanders and averages 40.5 points per game, a substantial dive from last season, when it balanced just 15.4 points per game.”Offensively, we’ve got to convert third downs and finish drives and score points,”Norvell said.”We need a development game, and it’s important that we keep pressing until we get it. “