BSU 41, CSU 10 What went right — Not much. Colorado State had no rhythm on offense and was ineffective on both sides of the ball. Kevin Davis did have 1.5 tackles for loss, a category in which he leads the Mountain West. What went wrong — Boise State hit the Rams for three explosive scoring plays in the first half to put the game out of reach early. True freshman quarterback Brett Rypien threw for a career-best 339 yards. Who played well — Joe Hansley had one catch, but it was good for a touchdown, and safety Nick Januska intercepted the first pass of his career and finished the night with six tackles, one for a loss

FORT COLLINS — Colorado State stayed true to the season pattern, which was exactly what the Rams didn’t need on Saturday.

Boise State’s offense also stayed true to form, and it was a perfect fit. The Broncos have hit big plays all year, and the Rams’ defense has been prone to give them up recently, and it took less then 3 minutes before it was on full display as No. 25 Boise State rolled to a 41-10 victory at Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium.

“We pretty much got whipped soundly in all three phases tonight,” CSU coach Mike Bobo said. “You’ve got to give Boise State credit. They were the better football team. We had a chance to grab momentum a couple of times in the game and couldn’t do it.

“They were more consistent, made more plays and out-executed us all night.”

Boise State (5-1, 2-0 Mountain West) had three explosive scoring plays in the first 30 minutes of the game, starting the fireworks with a lateral to wide receiver Shane Williams-Rhodes, who then hit a wide-open Thomas Sperbeck for a 53-yard score.

While others call them trick plays, Bobo hinted they were “one-hit wonders” for the Broncos, who don’t consider them tricks because they practice them so much and save them for the right moment. Knowing still didn’t help out in the stopping for the Rams, now 2-4 on the year, 0-2 in conference.

Running back Jeremy McNichols gashed the Rams for a 56-yard burst up the gut on a perfectly blocked play, and Sperbeck became involved in the action once again, hauling in a 15-yard pass from Brett Rypien and turning it into an 85-yard score to give the Broncos a 24-7 lead with 14:16 still remaining in the half.

The Broncos had another score set up by a Colorado State bugaboo — a fumble by Dalyn Dawkins that gave BSU the ball on the CSU 11 — but the defense held and forced a 27-yard field goal by Tyler Rausa, who closed the scoring in the opening half with a 35-yarder as time expired.

In short, Colorado State was never in the game and never gave itself a chance, finding the same shortcomings coming to the forefront once again.

“They just came out more physical than us and came out 17-0 right out the bat,” wide receiver Rashard Higgins said. “Man, that’s hard to come back from against a top 25 team. There was nothing we could do; we tried our best to come back, but we just fell short.”

Boise State had little problem moving the ball, piling up 597 yards of total offense. Rypien, a true freshman, threw for a career-best 339 yards with one passing touchdown and one running. McNichols surpassed the century mark in rushing with 104 yards on a second touchdown run, giving him 12 on the season, 14 overall. Sperbeck was Rypien’s main target, as he had five catches for 178 yards and the two scores by halftime.

Proving they are adept in any manner, the last two touchdowns produced by the Broncos were on 10-play drives that covered at least 82 yards.

“It started out pretty rough,” CSU receiver Joe Hansley said. “That’s the thing, you can’t have games start out like that against a top 25 team; you’re not going to win. I thought we bounced back a little bit, but at the end of the day, we just didn’t make enough plays.”

Colorado State’s answer offensively was a revolving door at quarterback. Nick Stevens took the first two series of the game, misfiring on his one pass. Backup Coleman Key was just 5-of-19 for 56 yards and two interceptions, as well as a 13-yard touchdown pass to Hansley on the first play of the second quarter. Stevens would re-enter the game in the third quarter, but the two of them combined barely eclipsed 100 yards passing. Stevens hit 8-of-10 of his throws, but the Rams were held to less than 300 yards of total offense (256) for the first time this season.

Colorado State had pulled to within 24-10 on a Wyatt Bryan 20-yard field goal late in the second quarter, but that was a disappointing finish to a drive that started with a fourth-down stop on defense, led to two big passing plays and a first-and-goal situation from the BSU 10. That started when Key fumbled the snap and had to fall on it, virtually wasting a down.

“They got to play kind of like they have been the last three weeks, in control, and that’s on us,” Bobo said.

Mike Brohard: 970-635-3633, mbrohard@reporter-herald.com and twitter.com/mbrohard