Saturday Blitz
Fansided

Colorado football vs Colorado State: Live highlights, top performers

ByMatthew Bartlett|
DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 2: Running back Kyle Evans #21 of the Colorado Buffaloes leaps over the pile for a goal line rushing touchdown against the Colorado State Rams at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on September 2, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 2: Running back Kyle Evans #21 of the Colorado Buffaloes leaps over the pile for a goal line rushing touchdown against the Colorado State Rams at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on September 2, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

Colorado football opens their 2017 slate against the 1-0 Colorado State Rams. Catch the highlights here and stay tuned for three stars of the game.

More: 2017 Colorado football season preview, game predictions

My, my how quickly things change. The Colorado Buffaloes are the reigning PAC-12 South champions but you sure wouldn’t know it given how the national media has moved on to teams like USC and UCLA. That’s partly because Colorado might as well be a completely different team this year.

Quarterback Sefo Liufau has graduated leaving Steven Montez in charge of the Colorado offense. After that the offense is relatively intact. The defense is not. Chidobe Awuzie , Ahkello Witherspoon, and Tedrick Thompson were all starters in the secondary last season. All three of them were NFL Draft picks in the spring. That leaves a lot of holes.

Colorado State might be poised to take advantage of some inexperience Colorado defenders. Rams quarterback Nick Stevens had an impressive beginning to his season in Week 0 throwing for 334 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in a rout of Oregon State.

ESPN FPI favors the PAC-12 team this week, but not by a wide margin. By that metric, Colorado has a 61.4 percent chance of victory. Time will tell. Stay tuned here for in game updates, highlights and the three stars of the game.

Three Stars

  • Phillip Lindsay’s 45 yard scamper would be more than Colorado State could muster all evening. He tallied 140 yards rushing on 19 carries and that one touchdown.
  • Shay Fields was quarterback Steven Montez’s favorite target, connecting for six receptions, 78 yards and one score.
  • CSU passer Nick Stevens was very good for the second game in a row. He racked up 309 yards passing and two interceptions. He had two touchdowns called back on penalties.

Highlights

Next: 2017 Top 50 players in college football

What’s Next

The Colorado Buffaloes don’t leave the state until a Sep. 30 trip to play UCLA in California. Next up after this contest is a home game against the Texas State Bobcats on Sep. 9. Also on that date, Colorado State hosts Abilene Christian. It will be the Rams third game of the season after they beat Oregon State to open their new stadium last weekend.

Home/Colorado Buffaloes