The Colorado State Rams and Colorado Buffaloes will face off in the Rocky Mountain Showdown at Sports Authority Field this Friday night. The game is slated to begin on Friday, September 1st at 8:00 p.m. EST. The inner-state rivalry can be viewed on the PAC-12 Network. As of this article, the Buffaloes are -5.5 favorites and the game’s over/under is at 66.
The Rocky Mountain Showdown is always one of the better rivalry games that takes place at the beginning of the year. In last year’s game, Colorado had no trouble taking care of business. The Buffaloes beat up the Rams 44-7. However, these are much different clubs then the ones that played a year ago.
The Colorado State Rams kicked off their season with an impressive 58-27 victory over the Oregon State Beavers on Saturday. Colorado State didn’t disappoint their home crowd in their first game in their new stadium.
In the second half, the Rams pulled away from the Beavers by outscoring them 34-7. In fact, Colorado State out gained the Beavers by a 525-456 margin. The Rams also were opportunistic in their victory, winning the turnover battle 5-2.
The Buffaloes were one of the nation’s biggest surprises in College Football last season. Colorado went from a 4-9 team in 2015, to a 10-4 team that made the PAC-12 Championship. They also fell just short of being selected to the FBS Playoffs. Now, they return a talented quarterback with a good receiving corps. Colorado will also need to shore up a defense that lost a lot of talent.
Colorado State Rams (1-0)
Leading the way for the Rams over Oregon State was quarterback Nick Stevens. Stevens completed 26-39 passes for 334 yards and three touchdowns. Furthermore, the accurate passer only threw one interception, after a hit that many thought would have knocked him out of the contest.
Helping Nick Stevens out, wide receiver Michael Gallup was sensational against the Beavers. He opened his season with a bang, catching 11 balls for over 130 yards. Five other players also caught passes, and all of them averaged over 13 yards per catch.
The Rams found success running the football for their opener. They pounded the rock for over 190 yards. Leading the way, was running back Daylon Dawkins. Dawkins carried the ball 15 times for almost 70 yards and one score. Like the wide outs, moving the ball was a team effort. Three more tail backs pitched in for another 120 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, Colorado State let Oregon State capitalized on a few big plays early in the game. However, the Rams’ defense settled down in the 2nd half and put the game away with a few turnovers. One of which was Tre Thomas’s 44-yard pick six. Colorado State allowed their opponents to average 30.4 points per game last season.
For the showdown against the Buffaloes, they will have seven returning starters back on the defensive side. Obviously, the Rams will need to continue to improve if they want to challenge for a Mountain West title.
Colorado Buffaloes (0-0)
The Buffaloes were solid on the offensive end last season. Colorado State averaged 31.1 points per game on 437.1 total yards per match. This year, quarterback Steven Montez will start behind center. The 2016 back-up filled in nicely last year, completing 59.3 percent of his passes for 9 touchdowns and five picks. The numbers aren’t bad considering he played in limited action, filling in for Sefo Liufau who has graduated.
At the tail back spot, offensive leader Phillip Lindsay is back for another go. Last season, Lindsay rushed for 1,252 yards on 244 carries. He also found the back of the end zone a team-high 16 times. Steven Montez can also move the ball with his feet. The quarterback scrambled for 231 yards and another score in 2016.
Catching passes shouldn’t be a problem for the Buffaloes’ Shay Fields, Devin Ross and Bryce Bobo. All three leading pass catchers are back to do more damage this season. Together, the trio combined for almost 170 catches for over 2,300 yards and 16 more scores. Fields led this unit with nine touchdown grabs. Running back Phillip Lindsay pitched in for another 53 receptions for almost 500 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, the Buffaloes had one of the bests units in the PAC-12 last year. Statistically, they held their opponents to an average of 21.7 points per game and only 342.5 total yards per contest. Colorado will no longer have defensive coordinator, Jim Leavitt. Leavitt took the same position for the Oregon Ducks.
New Defensive Coordinator D.J. Eliott, will have his work cut out for him. The Buffaloes lost three starters on the defensive line and try to replace corners Chidobe Awuzie and Ahkello Witherspoon. Both explosive play make were drafted in the NFL.
Prediction
The Buffaloes lost a bunch of talent on the defensive side. In fact, they return only three starters to the fold. I think they are going to have their hands full in trying to slow down a very good Colorado State offense. Adding to the fact that the Rams will be looking for a little pay back from last year’s whopping.
Colorado is still a very good PAC-12 football team with many weapons on offense. They should find plenty of ways to open up the Rams’ defense in this one. Whether or not the defense gets close to what they were in 2016 remains to be seen.
Knowing that this rivalry has been close more often than not over the past 5 years, and not sure about the Buffaloes D, I suggest taking the over 66. I believe this will develop into another shoot-out. There is too much talent on both offenses for that not to happen.
I also am sticking to my guns with the Colorado State Rams. They already proved they can beat a PAC-12 school handily, and will be looking to do it again on Friday. Jump all over the +5.5 points, as this game could very well be decided by the team that has the ball last. Colorado State’s season gets off to an amazing start, going 2-0 after their 38-34 win over the Buffaloes.
Trends
The Rams are 15-5-2 ATS in their last 22 non-conference games.
The Rams are 35-17-1 ATS in their last 53 games overall.
The Over is 5-0 in the Rams last 5 games overall.
The Under is 4-0 in the Rams last 4 Friday games.
The Buffaloes are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games in September.
The Buffaloes are 11-4 ATS in their last 15 games overall.
The Under is 5-0 in the Buffaloes last 5 vs. MWC.
The Under is 5-0 in the Buffaloes last 5 neutral site games.
The Road team is 10-3-1 ATS in their last 14 meetings.
The Underdog is 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 meetings.
The getmoresports.com NCAA College Football Throwdown Podcast will be returning to the air on August 24th. We will be highlighting the first five games on August 26th of the 2017 NCAA College Football season. That will be the first of three installments leading into the first week of the season. We also we will be covering our expectations for the Heisman Trophy front runners as well as predictions for conference winners and team totals.
Our second NCAA College Football Throwdown is penciled in for August 29th. In that installment, we will be discussing all the games that will be played on August 31st and the 1st of September.
Our third segment will officially be airing on August 31st. In this edition of the NCAA College Football Throwdown, we will be covering all the relevant games for Sept 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
