Colorado State football opens fall camp Wednesday and there are plenty of questions surrounding this year’s team.
Read more Suspect sketch released of man who attacked 73-year-old hiker in Boulder Canyon
From new faces on the sideline and on the field, to position battles and a few returning players looking to reverse the result of last year’s 2-10 season, there are plenty of storylines to follow leading up to the Sept. 5 season opener against Wyoming at Canvas Stadium.
Here are a few of them as a new era of CSU football kicks off this fall:
New eras begin
As the season gets underway for the Rams, it marks the beginning of a pair of new eras for the program. First, Jim Mora takes over the head coaching duties. Second, CSU will play in a new conference for the first time since 1999 as it embarks on its inaugural season in the Pac-12 after 27 seasons in the Mountain West.
The hiring of Mora last fall was one of the most significant coaching hires in the country. Mora was tabbed to lead the program after Jay Norvell was fired mid-season. Tyson Summers finished the campaign as the interim head coach and remains onboard as the Rams’ defensive coordinator.
But an intense coaching search landed on one name and Mora was introduced as the new head coach at the beginning of last November.
Mora comes to CSU after four seasons at UConn, where he turned that program around, leading it to a bowl game in each of his last two years. (He didn’t coach the Huskies in the Fenway Bowl last season after taking the CSU job.)
Before coaching at UConn, he spent six seasons at UCLA where he led the Bruins to four bowl game appearances. He also has stints as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons for three seasons and the Seattle Seahawks for one.
CSU hopes his track record of success and turning programs around will continue in Fort Collins.
Coinciding with Mora’s first season is the first year the Rams will play in the Pac-12. The Rams are joined by former MWC foes Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State, holdovers Washington State and Oregon State and newcomers Texas State and Gonzaga (non-football).
The Rams hope the move will be beneficial in multiple ways, including increased brand awareness and national exposure.
Who will be QB1?
CSU has seven quarterbacks on its roster, and all of them had their moments during spring workouts. But by the time those practices ended in April, a couple emerged as the top candidates to line up behind center for the season opener.
After an impressive spring, Hauss Hejny is one of those frontrunners. The transfer from Oklahoma State is not only a dual threat, but he is itching to get back on the field after his one season at OSU was cut short by injury.
Hejny began his career at TCU where he played in four games and rushed for 65 yards. He transferred to OSU and started the season opener for the Cowboys, completing 5-of-10 passes for 98 yards and a TD while rushing for 27 yards and a TD. An in-game injury, however, ended his season before he could finish that contest.
Read more Chipotle pulls jalapeños from some restaurants as health officials investigate salmonella outbreak
K’saan Farrar is another quarterback who had a strong spring. Farrar came to Fort Collins from Mora’s UConn squad. He appeared in two games for the Huskies, rushing for 30 yards and a touchdown while passing for 84 yards before redshirting for the remainder of the season.
The other quarterbacks include Tommy Poholsky, Darnell Kelly, Carter Emmanuel and Darius Curry. Curry is the only quarterback with CSU experience. In five games for the Rams last season, he completed 70 of 107 passes for 740 yards.
Offensive depth
One thing the Rams don’t lack is depth at the offensive skill positions. Besides quarterback, CSU loaded up through the transfer portal with promising players at running back, receiver and tight end.
The Rams’ roster features seven running backs, including four that have spent some time at UConn under Mora. Leading the way is former Husky Mel Brown. Brown, who began his college career at Gardner-Webb for two seasons, spent the past two at UConn and played in 13 games, rushing for 935 yards and four touchdowns.
Other running backs who spent time at UConn include Durell Robinson, Oliver Lundberg and Malichi Greaves. Robinson played sparingly at Auburn last year due to an injury, but in 2024 he rushed for 731 and eight touchdowns at UConn. Lundberg is a native of Sweden.
There are 18 wide receivers on the Rams’ roster. Most of them are new, but there are a couple of holdovers. Lavon Brown played in all 12 games for CSU last season, catching 22 passes for 244 yards. Tommy Maher also returns after catching 32 passes for 358 yards. He was also CSU’s top punt returner.
The Rams loaded up at tight end through the transfer portal and have seven on their roster entering camp. The most intriguing is Juice Vereen, a UConn transfer who had 22 receptions for 310 yards and five touchdowns last year for the Huskies.
Defensive returners
Though the majority of CSU’s roster is new, there are several holdovers, especially on the defensive side, looking to build on what they did last year.
Redshirt graduate Mukendi Wa-Kalonji returns after playing only three games last season before being injured. He is the only returner who was a team captain at the beginning of last year. Prior to last season he played in every game of the season three years in a row. In his redshirt junior season, he recorded 35 tackles, five tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
Redshirt senior safety Jace Bellah returns after playing in 10 of the Rams’ 12 games last season. He had 58 total tackles and led the team with four interceptions, including two against Fresno State. He forced a pair of fumbles in the Rams’ contest against New Mexico and had a nine-tackle, one-interception game against UNLV.
Redshirt junior jack Kenyon Agurs is also back after playing in all 12 games for CSU last year. He had 29 tackles, one tackle for loss and one forced fumble a year ago. He had a season-high five tackles against Boise State.
Junior safety AJ Noland also returns after playing in six games for the Rams last season. He had a total of 19 tackles, including a season-high nine against Washington. He had three pass break-ups including two against Hawaii. He also recorded four quarterback hurries, all in the same game against Fresno State.
Read more Fired judge says Colorado’s immigration courts focus on rapid deportations, not due process
