Colorado State erases a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter and stuns Utah State

Colorado State's Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi celebrates after scoring a touchdown during a home game against Utah State on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in Fort Collns, Colo.

Stunning.

Amazing.

Shocking.

Dumb.

All of that and more is a good starting point when describing Friday’s college football game at Canvas Stadium.

Colorado State won 42-37 after erasing a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

CSU outscored Utah State 29-7 in the fourth quarter as Utah State only scored points with 15 seconds left in the game.

Utah State recovered an onside kick, but the first play afterward was fended off by CSU, securing the victory.

Here are takeaways from CSU’s wild win to close out the 2024 regular season.

A fourth quarter for eternity

CSU (8-4, 6-1 Mountain West) trailed 30-13 after a pick-six to Utah State in the final minute of the third quarter.

It looked like the game was over as the Rams faced a tough loss at the end of the regular season.

Then the tide turned.

Vince Brown made a close catch and ran into the end zone to reduce the deficit (Jamari Person made a sensational catch on the two-point conversion) as CSU made the score 30-21 with about 13 minutes left.

Then Utah State put together a beautiful drive to tie the game. At least it seemed that way. As the Aggies (4-8, 3-4 MW) went for a sealing score, Ayden Hector forced a fumble and Buom Jock recovered it.

The Rams quickly marched downfield, with Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi converting a crucial fourth down after a pass to Dane Olson. The drive ended with a 22-yard TD catch by freshman Jordan Ross on a rushing screen.

That gave Utah State a 30-28 lead with six minutes left.

Next? Dominic Morris made a great pass on a pass from Bryson Barnes as he jumped a short yardage and intercepted it, giving CSU the ball at Utah State’s 19 with a chance to take the lead.

A few plays later, the Rams did just that. Fowler-Nicolosi kept the ball and rushed for a 4-yard touchdown to make it 35-30 with 2:32 left.

CSU forced a turnover on downs on the next series as Utah State’s fourth down catch was about a foot short of a first.

The Rams had a 4th-and-2 from the Utah State 26 shortly after and went for the kill. Fowler-Nicolosi entered the game and found Brown, who scored a 26-yard TD to increase CSU’s lead to 12 points.

Utah State scored with 15 seconds left recovering an onside kick, but CSU intercepted on the next play.

The 17-point comeback matches the mark from the win over Boise State in 2023.

CSU with an impressive comeback

Social media was ablaze when CSU went down by 17 points, and fans demanded Jay Norvell’s job.

That’s predictable in an ugly loss, which would have been a modest end to the season after the loss to Fresno State.

But the team wasn’t ready to go down so quickly. The Rams could have seen the result and known the regular season was over.

They didn’t do that. They fought.

There are some issues this program faces in the offseason, but there is also undeniable evidence that this team plays hard.

This was a wild comeback win on Senior Day.

Memorable trip for CSU seniors

Some of these seniors have been through it all.

They graduated from high school during the coronavirus crisis, when recruiting new employees was nearly impossible.

Some started at the CSU, in Steve Addazio’s wild regime. Then they experienced a coaching change.

They experienced a coaching change and years of losses.

Now they have concluded the 2024 season with one of the craziest wins ever. Now they’re finishing a regular season with eight wins, the first time the program has that many or more since 2014.

And next, they’re playing in CSU’s first bowl game since 2017.

Now CSU awaits the fate of the Mountain West championship

The CSU now has to wait.

The Rams are tied with UNLV in the Mountain West standings in losses, but UNLV holds the tiebreaker to reach next week’s conference title game against Boise State.

CSU would have to have UNLV lose to Nevada for the Rams to get in.

UNLV hosts Nevada in the Mountains on Saturday at 6 p.m. (on CBS Sports Network). UNLV is the favorite by 17.5 points.

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Colorado State erases a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter and stuns Utah State

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