Pre-Snap Preview: Washington vs. Colorado State

It’s ‘Big Ten After Dark’ in the season opener on Saturday evening for the Washington Huskies, reminiscent of its days in the Pac-12. The Colorado State Rams are in town after a season ago, they finished tied for second in their league. “Colorado State is a very good team, very well coached,” Jedd Fisch said this week. “Probably one of the better programs, better teams, in the Mountain West. And Coach Norvell, I have a lot of respect for.” The Rams bring with them one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the Mountain West. He’ll be a third-year starter this season. Much of the team’s success begins with this guy, whom Norvell calls the face of Colorado State Football. 

Washington, Colorado State Preview

Third-Year Starting Quarterback

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi brings 887 career passing attempts into his senior season in Fort Collins. Last year, he accounted for over 2,700 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, and nine interceptions in what was a more run-heavy offense than it plans to be in 2025. The Rams will look to open up the offense this season, placing their trust in Fowler-Nicolosi under center. The senior quarterback has four years of experience in Norvell’s offense, earning him confidence from the coaching staff to change plays at the line and make adjustments where he sees fit. 

“I remember recruiting him in 2022 [at Arizona],” Fisch said. “So, certainly familiar with him coming out of high school.” Fowler-Nicolosi has made 25 starts in his four-year career with the Rams, and Fisch spoke to the significance of that. “There’s something to be said about experience, there’s no question about it. Especially at the quarterback position.” The Husky head coach referred to how confident he feels about Demond Williams Jr. as Washington’s starting quarterback having just two career starts. A quarterback with 25 starts and 28 games played is noteworthy in what it can do for an offense.

“[Fowler-Nicolosi] is a good quarterback,” Fisch said. “And Coach Walters and the defensive staff have been talking a lot about all the things that he can do.”

Potential Matchup Mismatch

Colorado State tight ends Jaxxon Warren and Rocky Beers present a possible mismatch for Washington’s coverage unit on Saturday. Warren is listed at 6’-8” and Beers stands at 6’-5”. On the other side, likely covering tight ends, are Leroy Bryant at nickel and linebackers Buddah Al-Uqdah and Deven Bryant. All three are right around the 6’-0” mark. 

“The hardest thing in football is to replicate personnel,” Fisch said at his Thursday press conference. “It’s easier in practice to be able to give them looks of scheme. It’s much harder to try to say, ‘Hey this is how you defend a guy that you don’t have that same body type of frame’.” 

But Washington does have a tight end who can simulate the size of Colorado State’s pass-catchers. “[Our players have] some experience going against Quinten Moore in training camp…going against Keleki Latu a year ago, another big-bodied tight end. We can show [our players] some of the things that he did,” Fisch said. Moore is 6’-5” and 260 pounds, and Latu was 6’-7” at the position last year. Though there might be a height mismatch in coverage, this Husky secondary is not unfamiliar with guarding big-bodied tight ends. “Our secondary feels very prepared for this game,” Fisch concluded.

Defensive Attrition

The biggest question mark for the Rams this season is going to be their defense. New coordinator Tyson Summers spent the last two seasons at Western Kentucky. “I watched [Summers] at Western Kentucky last year,” Fisch said on Thursday. [I] know what he did at Colorado…We know we got our work cut out for us.” Summers’ defense allowed an average of 25.5 points per game during his two seasons with the Hilltoppers. 

In terms of personnel, the Rams return just one starter from last season. Defensive end Mukendi Wa-Kalonji has played over 1,000 career snaps and is back after a season with 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Otherwise, there are a lot of new pieces that have had the Husky coaching staff evaluating players at several past stops. “A lot of the guys that we’ve looked at, we’ve looked at in different uniforms.” Fisch said.

One of those new arrivals is Baylor transfer JaQues Evans. He hopes to return to his high-powered form that he displayed at Western Kentucky in 2022, playing for Summers. Before transferring to Baylor, Evans notched team-highs in tackles (106), tackles for loss (14), and sacks (nine) during that 2022 season. Injury limited his 2023 campaign, and he only played three games at Baylor last year. Colorado State plans for him to be their game-wrecker on the EDGE this season. He’ll test the Husky offensive line right away in game one. 

Establishing Rhythm Early

For Washington to establish rhythm early in the contest on Saturday, Fisch said it needs to simply execute and keep every play positive. “Not go behind the chains, not have penalties that can knock us back into ‘get back on track’ situations, [and] not take sacks that would put us in a negative yardage situation.” Ending every drive with a kick, whether it be a field goal, an extra point, or a punt, is something Fisch wants to see on Saturday. “A one-yard run or a one-yard completion is better than going backwards, that’s how you stay in rhythm.”

Washington’s offensive line will be tested with the physical presence of the aforementioned Evans and Wa-Kalonji up front. Without having seen what the Rams look like in 2025, their front seven will likely be the strength of the defense. As such, it will be important for Williams and the Husky offense to spread the football out early to help the offensive line settle in. Establishing rhythm and getting Colorado State on its heels with the versatility of the Husky run game and receiver threats out wide is how Washington can build an advantage on Saturday.

“First game of a college football season, you don’t know what it’s gonna look like,” Fisch said. “Our goal is to get into some rhythm.”

Final Score Prediction

Washington – 38

Colorado State – 14