Best of the West College Football Top 25: If CSU Rams fans want another reason to dig Jay Norvell, check out his division record in Mountain West

2 years ago 193

Steve Addazio talked a bully game, but lone truly backed it up once.

Hey, we’ll ever person CSU 34, Wyoming 24, connected Nov. 5, 2020, nether the lights, played successful beforehand of nobody. A scrappy tilt that ended with the Bronze Boot raised by a joyous Toby McBride to the stars and ghosts above.

The remainder of the past 2 years successful FoCo volition beryllium remembered arsenic a fever imagination of disaster. The off-field accusations successful the summertime of 2020. The investigations. The quality conferences that sometimes doubled arsenic shriek therapy. The ejection that ended his reign. A stubborn refusal — look up “stubborn” and “refusal” successful the dictionary and you’ll astir apt find Daz’s mug changeable adjacent to some entries — to prosecute a full-time peculiar teams coordinator.

Followed, of course, by a special-teams calamity at Boise State successful 2020. And an adjacent worse one, a nationalist embarrassment, at Utah State successful 2021.

So, yes, Jay Norvell is simply a good addition, 1 helped by an adjacent better, and necessary, subtraction that preceded him. There’s a batch to similar astir Monday’s hire, and there’ll beryllium much to like, nary doubt, aft the caller Rams coach’s introductory quality league Tuesday astatine Canvas Stadium.

And there’s a tiny nugget that’ll astir apt get buried erstwhile the back-slapping starts: Norvell’s grounds successful Mountain West tilts portion astatine Nevada. The caller CSU brag is 12-8 (.600) since 2018 against West part foes. He’s 6-4 (.600, again) against the Mountain division, wherever his caller yearly creation partners reside.

If that past fig doesn’t stroke you away, see this: CSU is simply a hair-pulling 4-13 (.235) successful Mountain part games since 2018.

And it gets worse: Take retired a 3-0 people against New Mexico, and the Rams are 1-13 (.071) against Wyoming (1-3), Air Force (0-3), Boise State (0-4) and Utah State (0-3) implicit the past 4 autumns.

If CSU had posted a Norvell-esque .600 winning percent successful those 17 part games since 2018, they’d beryllium 10-7, with six much victories. That’s astir 2 much per season.

Which would’ve been capable of a plaything to notch the Rams astatine slightest a .500 record, and apt a bowl, successful some 2019 (4-8) and (pandemic permitting) 2020 (1-3).

Small victories, yes. But erstwhile you’re lone getting 3 oregon 4 of those a year, the ones successful your part get bigger each the time.

There’s obscurity to spell but up for Norvell’s Rams, who dropped to No. 23 successful the past regular play Denver Post Best of the West College Football canvass that posted Monday astatine DenverPost.com.

The Post’s Best of the West College Football canvass each Monday ranks the apical 25 FBS programs from the Front Range to the Pacific Ocean, arsenic culled from the Pac-12, Mountain West and BYU.

Post columnist Sean Keeler (@SeanKeeler), Post lawman sports exertion Matt Schubert (@MattDSchubert) and Post newsman Kyle Fredrickson (@KyleFredrickson) ballot connected the apical 25.

The remainder of the latest rankings follow, with in-state teams listed successful bold:

THE DENVER POST BEST OF THE WEST TOP 25 POLL — DEC. 6

School Previous Up next
1. Utah (10-3) *(2) 2 Rose Bowl vs. Ohio State
2. BYU (10-2) *(1) 1 Independence Bowl vs. UAB
3. Oregon (10-3) 3 Alamo Bowl vs. Oklahoma State
▲4. Utah State (10-3 8 L.A. Bowl vs. Oregon State
5. Fresno State (9-3) 5 New Mexico Bowl vs. UTEP
6. UCLA (8-4)
6 Holiday Bowl vs. North Carolina State
▼7. San Diego State (11-2) 4 Frisco Bowl vs. UTSA
8. Air Force (9-3) 7 First Responder Bowl vs. Louisville
9. Arizona State (8-4) 9 Las Vegas Bowl vs. Wisconsin
10. Nevada (8-4) 11 Quick Lane Bowl vs. Western Michigan
11. Washington State (7-5) 10 Tony the Tiger Bowl vs. Miami (Fla.)
12. Boise State (7-5) 12 Arizona Bowl vs. Cent. Michigan
13. Oregon State (7-5) 13 L.A. Bowl vs. Utah State
14. California (5-7) 15
15. Wyoming (6-6) 16 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl vs. Kent State
16. USC (4-8) 14
17. Colorado (4-8) 17
18. Hawaii (6-7) 19 Hawaii Bowl vs. Memphis
19. San Jose State (5-7) 21
20. Washington (4-8) 18
21. Stanford (3-9) 20
22. Arizona (1-11)
24
23. Colorado State (3-9) 22
24. UNLV (2-10) 23
25. New Mexico (3-9) 25

*First-place votes successful parenthesis

▲= Biggest ascent of the week
▼= Biggest driblet of the week
The adjacent Best of the West canvass volition station successful January 2022.
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