Oregon State may have scored the first touchdown of the 2017 FBS season but Colorado State wound up taking home the thing that mattered on Saturday: the first win.
The Rams opened their sparkling new on-campus stadium in style by putting on an offensive showcase against the Beavers to score a 58-27 win in the very first game of ‘Week 0' in college football.
Senior quarterback Nick Stevens led the way for CSU, throwing for 334 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. While his arm played a big part in jumping out to a multi-score lead over the second and third quarters, the ground game behind Dalyn Dawkins (67 yards, one touchdown), Marvin Kinsey (34 yards and a touchdown) and Izzy Matthews (one score, 28 yards) helped salt away the game late.
OSU kept things close for the most part until turnovers help doom them in during the second half. As expected, new strong-armed starting quarterback Jake Luton was a bit of a mixed bag: throwing for 304 yards and two scores but also turning the ball over three times via interceptions. Beavers’ star tailback Ryan Nall was effective early on but had to take a back seat in the offense as things got a bit lopsided on the scoreboard, finishing with just 115 yards and a touchdown.
The loss kept Oregon State winless on the road under head coach Gary Andersen.
The flip-side of scoreline could be a nice little buzz for the Rams as a potential team that could snap up that ‘Group of Five’ bid to a New Year’s Six bowl. The team already dispatched one Pac-12 opponent and can do so again next Friday when they take on in-state rival Colorado what will formally be Week 1. Most of the talk in the Mountain West has centered on Boise State and San Diego State but the debut win in Fort Collins was enough of a statement that a third team will certainly be in the mix.