Keeler: CSU Rams tried new play-caller. Tried new QB. Only one thing left to change: Jay Norvell

Jay Norvell evidenced them the Mumme It s time for CSU to show him the door It s hard to say But Heaven help us it s harder to watch The Rams - on the page but - in our heads after a - shellacking at San Diego State late Friday night have run out of buttons to push There are no more cards to play No more deck chairs to shuffle Norvell benched Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi his franchise quarterback Same Rams Norvell handed the play-calling sheet to longtime confidant Matt Mumme Same Rams CSU football is in a far better place than it was in for six days a week But that seventh day is gameday And it s not just unacceptable right now It s borderline unwatchable Sean Lewis Aztecs managed all of six points and zero touchdowns at Northern Illinois future Mountain West member and CSU replacement last weekend Against the Rams they d piled up points with still left on the clock The Aztecs could ve scored if they longed to Norvell has months left on a contract that ends next December Every week since the Northern Colorado win gifted by a dubious reversal of a Bears TD has felt as if athletic director John Weber was merely delaying the inevitable Norvell can t recruit on an expiring deal CSU can t extend him with the alumni and fan base bordering on open revolt over what they ve witnessed this past month It s become FoCo s biggest competition of chicken with CSU faithful riding shotgun to nowhere Norvell was hired in December to be everything his predecessor Steve Addazio wasn t Classy Respectful Achieving Throw the ball Dominate Wyoming and Air Force Beat CU again In Year he s ticked two of those six boxes and they re the first two The off-field two Which is what makes the continual on-field failures the continual on-field disappointments harder for Weber Harder for everybody The future of CSU football is in limbo The present is backsliding into a gorge of apathy All of the best arguments to retain Norvell have been taking on water for a fortnight Conventional wisdom says the Rams can t afford a full-scale rebuild in Year of a meatier nastier Pac- next year Yet the eye test says they ve already peaked With Friday night s loss Norvell is now - at CSU against future members of the Pac- Washington State and SDSU just outscored the Rams by a margin of - Ask yourself this What about the last two weekends or the last five makes you think the Rams are ready for a conference where SDSU is the norm and not the exception The penalties The turnovers The silly self-inflicted wounds week after week Still the preponderance damning failure of Norvell s offense and indeed his scheme is how the engine refuses to turn over without a quarterback Plan A BFN looks ready to hit the reset button Plan B Jackson Brousseau had passing yards midway through the third quarter And of those came on CSU s only first-half touchdown a high-arcing flea-flicker to an Armani Winfield so wide open that Bo Nix couldn t miss him Likely Brousseau s other five completions netted a total of checks notes yards Man we re getting Patrick O Brien vibes again The Aztecs Donovan Brown catches a pass for a touchdown as Colorado State s Dagan Myers defends in the first quarter at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on Friday Oct Hayne Palmour IV For The San Diego Union-Tribune Related Articles Keeler Broncos Alex Palczewski loves being Empower Field s newest cult hero Why are they all cheering Keeler Jamal Murray taking ownership of Nuggets Nikola Jokic Era dynasty hinges on it Renck vs Keeler Who is under more pressure Nuggets David Adelman or Avs Jared Bednar Keeler Deion Sanders necessities clock management coach His CU Buffs are running out of time to salvage Keeler Evergreen High School lost a football battle Friday but Cougars got something better back Normalcy We ll be OK Yes injuries have gremlin-ed this coaching staff s best intentions But the gap in pace and athleticism between Lewis Aztecs and Norvell s Rams was alarming And yes the heart of CSU s defense has been ripped out piece by piece with the absence of linebacker Jacob Ellis and linemen Gabe Jones and Mukendi Wa-Kalonji Defensive coordinator Tyson Summers has been blitzing to cover up the cracks only for the foundation to crumble away Whenever CSU sent an extra rusher at Jayden Denegal the SDSU QB read the danger right away and determined an open pair of hands effortlessly CSU ran with the Aztecs the way Mines would run with the Aztecs trailing by two efforts If SDSU wideout Jordan Napier was zipping up the boundary they trailed by three or four Napier did to the Rams what a healthy Tory Horton did to everybody else By halftime the sophomore had piled up receiving yards and a tally with of those coming on the back-breaking -second drive that gave the hosts a - lead at the break The only part of the first half that went worse than the end for the Rams was the beginning CSU launched its Mumme Era with A WR screen that Jordan Ross turned into a -yard loss A botched center-QB exchange that sailed past Brousseau only for the signal-caller to hurry back retrieve the rock and somehow throw it away A Brousseau -yard scramble on third-and- Three plays Minus- yards Ninety-one seconds that nobody ever gets back Wazzu made the Rams look small SDSU made them look slow CSU is - in the Pac- Guy Fieri was spotted on the sidelines under the lights at Snapdragon Stadium SDSU to paraphrase the celebrity chef didn t just shut the front door They locked the back door Then they boarded up the windows All with the Rams still trapped inside If that s a taster of what s to come CSU fans are going to start throwing entrees against the wall Or worse yet eat somewhere that doesn t leave them feeling sick to their stomachs when the check arrives Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams