FORT COLLINS — Colorado State’s highly touted running attack vanished Saturday night in the Rams’ 31-19 loss to Hawaii.
A vital, and productive, facet of the team’s offense that has risen to the occasion multiple times this season, even in losses, was nowhere to be found against the Rainbow Warriors.
The room that head coach Jay Norvell has raved about weekly, that includes as many as four backs capable of both grinding out yards and producing explosive plays, was held to only 85 yards and an average of 2.5 per carry by Hawaii.
“I was disappointed in our ability to run the football, which has been a strength for us,” Norvell said. “We did not run the ball effectively tonight. We really needed to run the ball and keep it away from their offense and play complimentary football. We did not get that done, obviously, tonight.”
A week after the Rams rushed for 190 yards against Fresno State, including a 73-yard touchdown run by Justin Marshall early in the game that set the tone for the Rams’ offensive attack, none of the team’s six players that carried the ball, including quarterback Jackson Brousseau tallied more than 50 yards.
Those yards came from Lloyd Avant, who had eight carries and led the team with 6.3 yards per carry average. Even when the Rams did come up with a big gain on the ground, and there were a few of them, they were followed up by an incomplete pass or a sack.
Brousseau finished the game with minus-16 rushing yards on 10 carries. However, he lost 37 yards on six sacks.
CSU’s lone rushing touchdown in the game came from Tahj Bullock, a backup quarterback who the Rams use in Wildcat formations.
Javion Kinnard (24) of the Colorado State Rams returns a punt for a touchdown in the first half of the game against Hawaii Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025 at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins. Colorado State trails 14-7 at halftime. (Photo by Daniel Brenner/Special to The Denver Post)The Rams could have gotten more production from their running backs if they had gotten more touches. However, most of CSU’s drives lasted only a few plays and resulted in punts. It wasn’t until the third quarter that the Rams found a little rhythm on offense.
Hawaii also dominated the time of possession, going on lengthy drives and keeping the Rams’ offense off the field for significant lengths of time.
While Avant, Marshall and Jalen Dupree have gotten the bulk of the carries for the Rams this season, backup running back Javion Kinnard has found ways to provide a spark.
Last week, he caught a touchdown pass and Saturday against Hawaii, he had an electrifying 91-yard punt return in which he had to retreat to field the ball before finding enough open space to run almost the length of the field. It tied for the longest punt return in program history.
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But while Kinnard was able to make things happen on special teams, he only got one carry in the game. The bulk of the totes came from the Rams’ big three — Dupree, Marshall and Avant. They just couldn’t find the space to run like Kinnard did on his return.
Now Norvell and the offense will go back to the drawing board to try to find ways to get the ground game going again, especially with a high-profile rivalry game next on the schedule.
“We’ll have to go back to the drawing board and look at how we can put a plan together to get after Wyoming,” Norvell said. “I was disappointed in our inconsistency in being able to run the football. We have to do that every week. We have to be able to hang our hat on that.”
CSU’s next opportunity to get its running game going will be next Saturday when the Rams (2-5 overall, 1-2 Mountain West Conference) travel north for the Border War against the Cowboys.
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