Colorado Buffaloes vs Colorado State Rams — Free NCAAF Pick, 8–31–2018
Free College Football Pick by “Primetime” Ryan Johnson of Sports Picks Forum
Colorado Buffaloes vs Colorado State Rams
NCAAF: Friday, August 31, 9:30 PM EST
Odds: Colorado State +7.5, 65.5
Colorado looks to retain the Centennial Trophy for the fourth straight year as it faces interstate rival Colorado State in the Rocky Mountain Showdown Friday night at Mile High Stadium. Oddsmakers list the Buffaloes as -7.5 point favorites and the Total is sitting at 65.5.
After starting the season 3–0 in 2017, the wheels fell off for the Buffaloes as they finished the season 5–7. Colorado is replacing its three top receivers and top running back on offense and is trying to bolster a defense that ranked in the bottom third in the Pac-12 in nearly every category last season. Steven Montez returns for his second season as the Buffaloes starting quarterback after throwing for 2,975 yards and 18 touchdowns last season. The senior completed 60.5 percent of his passes and showed some mobility by adding 338 rushing yards.
Defensively, Colorado was a mess as it ranked worse than 100th among FBS teams in rushing defense (208.0 yards per game), sacks (19) and takeaways (14). CU will have a handful of junior college transfers they may be plugging into the rotation with hopes of improving upon their performance from a season ago.
Colorado State (0–1) has some questions to answer of their own after losing to Hawaii last week 43–34 at home. The Rams gave up 617 total yards to the Rainbow Warriors, raising questions about whether their defense has improved at all from last season. The Rams fought back after going down 37–7 early but a mix of bad defense and penalties derailed their comeback. One bright spot was starting quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuels, a graduate transfer from Washington, who completed 34-of-50 passes for 537 yards and five TDs.
This hasn’t been much of a rivalry as Colorado owns a 65–22–2 advantage in the Rocky Mountain Showdown series, including winning the last three matchups. CSU has the advantage of having played last weekend, giving them a week to work out the kinks while Colorado is still an unknown. Colorado State showed some major weaknesses to their team last week and it’s hard to imagine the Buffaloes not exploiting this team. CSU will put up some points but their defense was gashed and it’s hard to imagine this was fixed in a week. I’ll lay the -7.5 points and back the Buffaloes en route to their fourth-straight win.
Colorado vs Colorado State Pick: Colorado -7.5
