Buffaloes stumble; Rams roll

ly given quarterback Steven Montez a consistently clear pocket and has allowed 14 sacks. The Buffaloes’ defense has given up an average of 6.3 yards per play against Pac-12 teams. CU’s biggest problem is that its issues are far from isolated.

Greatest positive: CU started a total of 10 seniors at UCLA, a group that’s experienced many highs and lows under coach Mike MacIntyre, and now those leaders enter a stretch of winnable games against Arizona (this week) and at Oregon State (Oct. 14). Montez has started only eight games, and while he completed less than 50 percent of his passes against UCLA, he showcased improved decisionmaking with zero interceptions. The Buffaloes have yet to be defined.

COLORADO STATE

• has thrived spreading the ball to multiple playmakers. Olabisi Johnson, Detrich Clark and Michael Gallup each has double-digit receptions. Saturday against Hawaii, Stevens had as many touchdown passes (four) as he had incompletions.

Defensive Josh Watson. The junior linebacker leads the Rams in tackles (35) and pass breakups (four) to go with a forced fumble and fumble recovery. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds, Watson’s combination of strength and athleticism will become increasingly valuable as the Rams face several highpowered Mountain West offenses down the line. The Rams are done with power five competition for this regular season, but the schedule is still tough, highlighted by road games against Utah State (this week), New Mexico (Oct. 20) and Wyoming (Nov. 4).

Greatest positive: CSU looked like the Mountain West championship contender it claimed to be during August camp in its total domination of Hawaii. The Rams have veteran leadership at quarterback — and a future NFL talent at wide receiver in Gallup. That combination, plus a muchimproved defense from a season ago, could very well lead the Rams to the program’s first conference championship since 2002.