What Colorado State football coach Jay Norvell said after the win over UTEP

The Colorado State football team heads into the week off with a win.

The Rams built a big lead and held on to beat UTEP 27-17 in front of 29,151 fans at Canvas Stadium.

Here's what CSU coach Jay Norvell said about various topics after the win.

Jay Norvell on the win against UTEP

“I'm really proud of our guys and their fighting spirit. They responded really well in practice this week and I was really proud of how we practiced this week. We have a football team that is going to be as good as we practice. If we don't have really great practices and really high energy and physicality, we're not going to play well on Saturday. I'm very, very proud of how we came back and proud of our coaching staff, how we handled our guys this week and how they responded. We didn't play perfectly. We had some plays and some things we could have done better. We didn't play well enough on some fourth downs. We allowed some big plays on screens, but overall we battled and played really hard for four quarters.”

Jay Norvell on Dane Olson blocking a punt

“I'm very proud of the blocked punt and Dane Olson. He's one of those guys that just came through and earned his way. He just does his best when he gets the chance to play. I'm really proud of him.”

Jay Norvell on some outstanding defensive performances

“Really proud of some of our defenders. Dom Jones played well today. Buom Jock played a good game, lots of tackles. Mukendi (Wa-Kalonji) played an outstanding game. These guys are constantly improving and getting better and better.”

Jay Norvell on quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi

“I'm really proud of Brayden. His numbers sometimes don't always look like they did last year, but he does a lot of good things that help us win football games. He's very involved in the running game. He's very involved in making sure we make the right plays, and I think his maturity and leadership was really good. I'm proud of how he came back today.”

Jay Norvell on the upcoming week off

“We have two weeks now where we can recover a little bit. It's going to be important that we get some players back. Tory (Horton) back, I hope we get Nuer (Gatkuoth) back, I hope we get DeAndre Gill back. We just have some really good players that have been off the field that we really need to get back. Hopefully Alex Foster can come back as well.”

Jay Norvell on the next game against Oregon State

“It's going to be an important game in two weeks when we play Oregon State. Good football team, good program. This game doesn't count for our conference, but it's an important game to get us into the conference.”

Jay Norvell on the running game

“It's incredible, when we have explosive runs, it changes our team. That's a daunting thing for a defense. When you can run the ball at them like that and gain big yards, it changes the game. We want to continue to build on that. We still have some young receivers that haven't played much with Brayden. On the interception, Brayden thought Caleb (Goodie) was going to get in front of the defender.”

Jay Norvell on whether the team would let off the gas with a 21-point lead

“I just think we haven't executed it very well for a while. We just have to keep going and be aggressive. That's what we're going to be. We had a lot of short yardage plays that we didn't convert or fourth downs. I wasn't happy with that. That's something we need to keep working on and getting better at. That should be one of our strengths. We'll look at that and see what we need to correct.”

Jay Norvell on problems with the third and fourth attempts

“You just have to be a little better, block a little cleaner, be a little more conservative in the way you execute. I'm disappointed that we didn't finish and execute on some of those.”

Jay Norvell on Jack Howell leaving the game injured

“I'm not sure. I'll have to go to the training room and ask how he's doing. I was glad he got up and moved. You always worry when a kid throws a punch like that. Jack is such a tough kid and a tough competitor. I hope he's OK. I'm not sure what his status is right now.”

Jay Norvell on the offensive line

“I think our offensive line is getting better and better. We had a freshman starter tonight, Tanner Morley, a real monster kid. It was nice to see him out there and get some action. Our line is just getting better and better. We run a lot of the same schemes over and over again. The more you run them, the more confident they get. I'm really proud of them.”

Jay Norvell on the special teams game

“We take a lot of pride in our special teams here and that's our standard to play well. Tonight we missed Tory. To get a block when Tory doesn't come back is great. I was really proud we did that. We have to show that every week. We have to find ways to make a difference. We have to score on special teams or set up a point. That's a really important part of our football team. We have a lot of good athletes that can contribute on special teams. Tonight was a great example of that. A guy like Dane, we have seven guys on special teams that we call the 'magnificent seven' and Dane is one of them. He's not a starter, but he has a tremendous impact in his role on special teams.”

Jay Norvell on the importance of a win before the bye

“It's always good to win. It's good to play hard and have to win. We need to be better in some areas and we could have extended a couple of drives and scored. We're still developing. We need to get better every day, but I'm convinced that the confidence we gained from winning will help this football team. With our guys, it's a mental thing. We need to understand how to prepare and play a very tough, competitive contest every week. That's what we need to do. If we continue to improve and build on what we're doing, we have a chance. We're going to play as well as we practice.”

Jay Norvell on Armani Winfield's touchdown after some important drops

“I thought that would be great. I kept calling his number because I wanted him to have a chance to come back. I'm proud of him. I'm really proud of him. He's a great kid. He's got a lot of talent and ability. We have a lot of kids like him. Caleb Goodie is similar and Jamari Person. Those kids haven't played a lot of college snaps. They just need the opportunity to make some plays and build some confidence.”

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