Colorado vs Colorado State: 3 storylines to follow in Week 1

1. Nick Stevens

It goes without saying but Nick Stevens was bad against Colorado last season. Bad in the worst sense of the word, going 6-for-20 on passing attempts and two interceptions. Head coach Mike Bobo quickly made a change at quarterback and it must have stuck with Stevens. Once then starter Colin Hill went down with an injury Stevens returned and has never looked back since.

Stevens was masterful of the offense in the opener against Oregon State and should head into the CU game with a ton of confidence. Stevens was accurate with his throws and showed toughness on plays when he got literally leveled by defenders but kept on hanging in there.

Luckily for Stevens, he has plenty of weapons around him in Michael Gallup, Dalyn Dawkins, Izzy Matthews and the list goes on. Stevens doesn’t have to be superman because his teammates will help him along the way.

Stevens has to do well against Colorado not only for CSU to win but to redeem himself. That 2016 game against CU was not indicative of who he is as a starter and he has proved that in the games he has played in since. But I’d almost be willing to bet that from the way that he judges himself and his play on the field, that he has to do well in this game from his standpoint.

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If Stevens is the QB that we’ve seen since the end of last season and the same QB we saw against Oregon State, then Colorado better look out because this Rams team has serious aspirations of making it to a New Year’s Six bowl as the Group of Five participant.