Colorado State football's Jay Norvell says play-clock issues need ‘sense of urgency’

Vince Brown was lined up out wide and with his hands made a circular motion as if to suggest “let’s get going.”

Brown's urging a snap was just one instance from a game where play-clock issues seemed consistent throughout for the Colorado State football team.

In Saturday’s double-overtime loss at Oregon State, the Rams frequently rushed to get an offensive snap off in time ahead the play clock expiring.

CSU was twice called for delay of game penalties, there was an illegal substitution penalty in the second overtime, and in both halves the Rams had to burn timeouts early due to clock issues.

"We’ve just got to have more of a sense of urgency," CSU coach Jay Norvell said Monday. "It was very difficult to hear, even with the headsets. I was telling Brayden (Fowler-Nicolosi) plays and he couldn’t even hear me with the headsets on."

This is the first season college football teams have had coach-to-player headset communication capabilities, with Norvell calling offensive plays in through his headset directly into Fowler-Nicolosi’s helmet.

Norvell said the noise disrupted the timing process to get the call and personnel in, make adjustments or checks, and get the play off.

"That’s part of playing on the road, we have to do a better job with that. We’ve got to have a little more sense of urgency as well. Getting the play call, getting out of the huddle, making checks at the line of scrimmage, making sure everybody can hear. One of the things when you play in a loud environment like that is, as a quarterback you have to go up-and-down the line and tell everybody what to do," Norvell said.

"Brayden got caught a couple times with the clock running down. We had to use some timeouts. That’s something we have to have a little more sense of urgency with."

Fowler-Nicolosi said the game highlighted some communication spots that need to be cleaned up and took the blame for the penalties.

“Play clock is my responsibility. I need to be more on top of those in those high-pressure situations,” Fowler-Nicolosi said after the game.

Nuer Gatkuoth makes impact on return in limited duty

CSU defensive end Nuer Gatkuoth made an immediate impact on his return from injury, forcing a fumble immediately upon his entry in the game.

He missed CSU’s first four games with a toe injury before playing against Oregon State.

Gatkuoth had two tackles, including a tackle for loss and the forced fumble but he wasn’t on the field often. That’s because CSU had Gatkuoth on a snap count upon his return.

Norvell said Gatkuoth played 20-25 plays and the hope is to slowly increase the workload.

"We wanted to be smart with him and not re-injure that. It was so good having him out there. He was great," Norvell said. "He’s just one of those players that’s a disruptive player."

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle .

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado State football's Jay Norvell says play-clock issues need ‘sense of urgency’