This bitter rivalry is set to heat up the state of Colorado on September 1st, as the Colorado Buffaloes take on the Colorado State Rams in the Rocky Mountain Showdown. The game kicks off at 8 P.M. ET in Denver, Colorado, at the Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
The Colorado Buffaloes open up the 2017 season against their in-state rival in what will be an emotional contest. The Buffaloes finished their 2016 against four Top-25 opponents going 2-2. They look to build off a 10-4 season with a potential stampede toward the Pac-12 South division title.
The Colorado State Rams come into this matchup at a possible disadvantage. The Rams play 6 days prior, against a feisty Oregon State team. There will be tape of their offseason progress that the Buffaloes can use to better prepare.
Betting line opened with Colorado favored by 8. It has come down to -6, but could still see plenty of movement before the September 1st date especially based on how CSU plays in their opening game.
Colorado owns this series with an all-time record of 64-22-2. They’ve won 7 of the last 10 matchups including a 44-7 beat down of the Rams last year. Despite Colorado’s coach saying that the Rams will have an advantage due to playing a Week 0 game, the Buffaloes should be better prepared for what the Rams might do.
Speaking of the Rams, they do bring back a high scoring offense which tallied over 35 points per game in 2016. However, they had their lowest output of the year against Colorado as they only scored 7 points. The one silver lining for Rams fans is that the Buffaloes have lost a few key defenders and their coordinator. So, this could open the door for CSU to put some points on the board.
Despite the questions on Colorado’s defense, we already know how bad the CSU defense is. They gave up an average of 30 points per game last year and will get carved up this year by Colorado’s offense. Led by returning quarterback Steven Montez, this unit also features a very dynamic running back in Phillip Lindsay who led the Pac-12 conference with 16 touchdowns last year. Additionally, he ran for 1,189 yards and has the benefit of playing behind a veteran o-line this year. This bodes well for the Colorado rushing attack as the Rams gave up roughly 238 rushing yards per game last year.
Colorado State Rams are 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games, 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games against Colorado and 5-10 ATS against Pac-12 opponents in their last 15 games. Conversely, Colorado is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 September games, 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games on a neutral field when favored by 3.5 to 7 points, and 11-4 ATS in their last 15 games.
The Rocky Mountain Showdown should be a high scoring contest pitting 2 explosive offenses against unknown and unproven defenses. The running game should be the difference here as CSU’s defense is horrible against the run. Look for Lindsay to have a big game, propelling the Buffaloes to a late-game surge and covering the spread.