LAS VEGAS — Everything Colorado State’s football team believes it can be was on full display in the first half Saturday.

The second half, not so much.

But the first 30 minutes of the game had Colorado State comfortably in the driver’s seat at Boyd Stadium, leading to a 42-23 victory to even their marks at 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the Mountain West heading into the bye week.

In the first half, the offense moved at an impressive tempo and didn’t stall. The Rams converted on third down and drives led to touchdowns, not field goals. Defensively, they got stops on third down to get the offense back on the field. CSU generated turnovers, didn’t give them away.

Both sides helping each other out. What a concept.

“We capitalized on each other’s momentum,” CSU head coach Mike Bobo said. “I think the first turnover we didn’t score. Other than that we capitalized and did a nice job punching it in. Great stop getting the turnover and us scoring right before half.

“Just taking advantage of opportunities, playing off each other. We’re growing up.”

What made it rare was the combination. The Rams have played well for halves both offensively and defensively, never really at the same time. It made for a perfect storm that hit a favored UNLV team like a prize-fight ending 1-2 punch.

Running backs Izzy Matthews and Marvin Kinsey Jr. each had two scoring runs, and quarterback Nick Stevens was precise, hitting 21 of 27 passes for 237 yards, his first touchdown a 9-yard toss to Danny Nwosu to open up the flood gates on the game’s very first drive.

“I feel like the best way to describe it tonight was it was fun,” Matthews said. “Everyone on the sideline was having a lot of fun. We came in at halftime and everyone just enjoyed the game of football, and that’s really what it’s all about. When we play like that and we get that kind of excitement going, and you guys saw that today.”

Bobo wanted to take an aggressive approach from the start, and Stevens said it all just clicked like never before.

“It felt great,” Stevens said. “I think that everybody on the field at the same time did their job, and that’s just what we’ve been looking for is execution on every play instead of having good plays, bad plays, one guy messing something up and take turns on that every single play. I think that we played a good game as an offense, and we were able to move the ball really efficiently.”

The Rams scored on five of six first-half drives, the first three taking some time, the last two produced by big plays. Matthews had a pair of 2-yard TD runs to push the score to 21-0. Then Kinsey took over, scoring on runs of 34 and 2 yards to close the first-half scoring.

Defensively, the Rams has success when keeping UNLV quarterback Dalton Sneed in the pocket and not giving up contain. He was inconsistent throwing the ball, producing two big plays and an interception. When CSU gave up the edge, he had plenty of room to run, gaining nearly 100 yards.

“I thought it was a great first half,” said CSU safety Jake Schlager, who had an interception in the game. “Everybody was flying around, having fun. Offense was clicking on all cylinders, defense was clicking on all cylinders, even the special teams were.”

Bobo said the big lead led him to being conservative in the final half, but when the chance came, he did want to take a shot with Michael Gallup deep, and it hit.

But the first 18 minutes of the second half gave the home crowd hopes of a comeback as the Rebels scored 17 straight points. After trying an onside kick early in the fourth, the Rams recovered then struck, with Stevens hitting Gallup for a 36-yard score to bring a hush back to the crowd.

UNLV, which had just 72 yards of total offense in the first half, had nearly 300 in the final half, with a 51-yard strike from Sneed to Mekhi Stevenson the final score of the game with 5:54 remaining. When they forced Sneed to stay in the pocket, he was just 7-of-23 passing for 185 yards. When he got loose, he ran for 96 yards and was able to create plays in the air, like the 37-yard strike to Lexington Thomas on a play he extended by avoiding multiple sacks.

After their final touchdown, the Rebels didn’t hit the 2-point conversion, and CSU recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock on the ground, rushing for 230 yards in the game with an even dose of its trio of backs, including Dalyn Dawkins (65 yards on 15 carries).

A perfect half, not a perfect game. But the result was unquestioned in the mind of the CSU coach.

“At the end of the day, we executed enough to win the ball game, and you never apologize for going on the road and winning a ball game,” Bobo said. “They’re tough to come by, and I’m proud of this football team.”

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