What CSU football coach Jay Norvell and players said about reaching bowl eligibility – Coloradoan

RENO, Nev. — The Rams will be bowling.
The Colorado State football team beat Nevada 38-21 Saturday night to reach a sixth win in the 2024 season.
Here’s a look at what CSU football coach Jay Norvell and players Ayden Hector and Jordan Noyes said after the win.
“Just proud of the collective effort of our football team. I’m really pleased with the focus and execution that we saw in all of our phases. We made big plays offensively, defensively and special teams. Our kids continue to prepare at a high level and it’s starting to show on Saturdays. I think our team has a lot in them. I think we haven’t even scratched the surface of how good we can be, so we have to continue to work and improve. We’ve got a bye week now. We’ve got some guys banged up. I’m hoping we can get some of them back, you know Jacob (Gardner) and Jack (Howell). So, we’ll see how they respond this week. It’s a good week for us to get a bye.”
“It’s big. That’s always a goal that we have. Preparing for this game, we really had bigger fish to fry than just this one game. We have bigger goals. We feel like there’s more out there for us for this team. If this team continues to prepare the way it has and focus the way it has, there’s special things we can accomplish.”
“I think our guys are focused and they know we can accomplish some special things if we continue to practice. You know, when people don’t care who gets the credit, you can accomplish some amazing things. We have a very unselfish team. I think that’s unusual in college football right now.”
“We wanted to start fast. We knew they were going to be emotional and passionate. We needed to start fast and we needed to stay in the fight and then we needed to finish. I was proud of how we started and I was proud of how we finished. We’ve worked so hard on running the football at the end of the game and being able to finish games. I was really pleased we got that fourth down and were able to finish that last drive and get a field goal.”
“There were so many guys that contributed. And I think that’s a sign of a good football team. When you have that many guys contribute and make the kind of efforts that we made – Dane Olson is amazing. The extra effort on the fumble recovery. The big pass laying out was a huge catch. Just so proud of him. We have a lot of guys. Trevyn Heil coming in for Jacob and playing as well – we gave him a game ball. We talk all the time about how backups have to be ready to play. You never know when your number is going to be called. Very proud of him.”
“I just give our kids credit. We say that we want to make a difference in special teams and we really are doing that every week.”
“We just don’t know if we’ll ever play them again here. It was good to be able to do that here and play as well as we did on the road. It’s a tough place to play. They’ve very prideful. I’m very proud of our kids.”
“A lot. We haven’t made a bowl game – I don’t know the last time CSU’s made a bowl game – but since I’ve been here we haven’t made a bowl game. This sixth win, not just a bowl game win but a win that helps us get to our next goal and our highest goal, which is the conference championship.”
“I was telling everyone on the sideline, I was like ‘I’ve never done two kickoff reps in a row in my life.’ That was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. We’ll take it!”
“We had the wind behind our back, which is helpful, but before the game we set a guide but I think if it was further back we probably would have gone for it still. Lucky to have coach (Tommy) Perry and he has a lot of faith in me. I think, to be honest, if it was back we still would have gone for it.”
“Oh, it’s just a whole combination of me playing football for four years and guys around me like Paddy (Turner) and Morgan (Tribbet) snapping for me. It’s not just me. Without them, I couldn’t do the kick. It’s just a whole load of things.”
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.

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