Jim Mora started his postgame press conference in Logan by blaming himself. By the end of it, he had told everyone in his program where the door is.
Colorado State fell 31-14 at Utah State on Saturday, a week after putting up 56 points in a win over San Diego State. The Aggies came in ranked last in the country in scoring offense at just under 15 points per game. They led 17-0 at halftime, outgained the Rams 291-67 in the first half, and held CSU to minus-5 rushing yards before the break.
"That was awful. An awful performance from all of us, starting with me not getting the team ready to go," Mora shared at his postgame presser. "I thought we had a great week of practice, we came out here and were awful. It's not acceptable. It will not be acceptable. It will not be accepted. It will not be tolerated. We're all professionals. Everyone in that locker room is making money. Every single one of us in that locker room is making money. With that money comes an obligation to do your job all the time, not just once in a while."
Utah State finished with 464 yards, 247 of them on the ground, while Colorado State, who entered the day 12th nationally in scoring offense at 38.6 points per game, didn't score until the third quarter.
Receiver Jaivyn Moore was ejected in the fourth quarter after two personal fouls on the same play.
"I'm ashamed of myself that a player got kicked out of the game on a team that I coached. That's happened once before in my 15 years as a head coach and it was at UConn, it was a guy on the bench," Mora said. "The very first thing I told the players this week is we will not engage the crowd. The very first thing I saw when we took the field was two of our offensive players, that are starters, engaging the crowd. That's an indicator of why we played like crap on offense."
Asked about the team's maturity, Mora pointed to a roster "used to losing" and to the transfer portal before dismissing both as excuses.
"Our hats off to Utah State, but I will tell you right now, the hammer is coming down," he said.
Asked if there are players who don't deserve to play, he didn't mince words.
"Absolutely and they won't be here. There's no chance they'll be here. Zero chance. There's already a list. The list is getting longer. I'm not going to put up with this. I know how to turn programs around. I've done it four times. You've got to be freaking tough. You've got to be willing to make really hard decisions as a university and as a program."
On the week that lies ahead, Mora issued a warning. "I'm going to be an asshole. If they don't like it, there's a door and they can walk their ass right out."
He also made it clear the list being developed isn't limited to just players.
"You discipline them. You get rid of them. You get their ass out of here. If they're not going to do it our way, they're not going to be here. That goes for everybody. I'm not just talking about players. I'm talking about everybody that touches this program is equally responsible."
Mora has already made one staff move this fall. As we shared in October, he took play-calling away from defensive coordinator Tyson Summers in the first quarter of a 56-26 loss to Oregon State on October 3 and handed the defense to Kenny McClendon - who has spent weeks away from home after making a makeshift bedroom in an assistant coach's office in the facility. The Rams entered Saturday ranked 138th nationally in both total defense and scoring defense.
Colorado State hired Mora away from UConn on November 26, 2025, as the Rams prepared for their move to the Pac-12. He went 27-23 in four seasons in Storrs. The Huskies went 6-7 and 3-9 in his first two years, then 9-4 in 2024 with a Fenway Bowl win over North Carolina, the program's first bowl victory since 2009. UConn was 9-3 when he left, with all three losses coming in overtime. Before that, Mora went 46-30 at UCLA from 2012-17 with wins in the Sun Bowl and Alamo Bowl, 26-22 with the Atlanta Falcons from 2004-06, including a trip to the NFC Championship Game, and 5-11 in one season with the Seattle Seahawks in 2009.
Colorado State is currently 3-5 and hosts Boise State on Saturday, November 7, in Fort Collins.
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