The historic Rocky Mountain Showdown rivalry between the Colorado Buffaloes and the Colorado State Rams will come to Fort Collins on Saturday. It’s expected to be a nail-biting showdown between in-state rivals, as both teams are coming off contrasting results.
While Deion Sanders’ unit got humbled by the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Week 2, the Colorado State Rams rebounded from their Week 1 loss with a dominant victory in their FCS matchup with the Northern Colorado Bears.
While the odds show Colorado as a 7.0-point favorite, they will have few players from CSU who could trouble Deion Sanders’ unit. Let’s take a look at them.
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Three players who could give Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes a tough time
#3 Justin Marshall
While Colorado is a good offensive team, the same can’t be said about its defense. That gives opportunity to CSU running back Justin Marshall to exploit the defensive schemes and get through incoming defenders.
Marshall leads his team with 173 rushing on 35 carries, averaging 4.9 yards per carry. If he can perform well like he did in the last two games, CSU would be in a good spot.
#2 Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi
The quarterback is the most important player for any football team. He leads on the offensive front, and if last year’s game is anything to go by, it will be a high-scoring game.
Moreover, even the odds have total points set at 58.5. Therefore, CSU signal caller Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi has to be at his best to help his team take down their rivals.
Last game, he threw 17-of-26 pass attempts for 180 yards and one touchdown and also had one rushing score.
#1 James Mitchell
Colorado Buffaloes’ biggest weakness is its offensive line. That came to the fore in the Week 2 game against Nebraska, where even an elite quarterback like Shedeur Sanders didn’t get much time to make his plays, as he got sacked multiple times in the first half.
As for James Mitchell, the fifth-year defensive lineman leads his team in terms of experience on the gridiron. In the 2024 season, he has six solo tackles and three assists.
Last year, he had 20 total tackles, including nine solo and rest assists. He had 1.5 sacks and one fumble recovery.
Edited by Bhargav
