FORT COLLINS — Strange, isn’t it?

How an offense can start out pretty quick in games, then flutter along in the middle, but still be able to produce clutch drives at the end. Or move the ball consistently, but not be able to score points with the same fluidity.

Strange works for Colorado State’s offense. So does frustrating, Even maddening. Some of it doesn’t make sense.

“If I knew the answer to that, we wouldn’t probably do that and we’d keep playing fast,” CSU coach Mike Bobo said.

Bobo is very vested in cracking the code as he’s the one calling plays in games. In each of the three games the Rams have played this year, they have scored first. In the past two games, the Rams have also given up that lead and were forced late in the fourth quarter to put together a drive to tie the game, getting a field goal as time expired against Minnesota, delivering a touchdown with 4:29 to go against Colorado, again forcing overtime.

And both turned out to be losses.

Bobo looks at the situation and sees the obvious, that the program is in the infancy stage of running his system, doing it with a quarterback in Nick Stevens who has all of three career starts heading into Saturday’s date with UTSA (5 p.m.: CBS Sports Network).

“You’re going to have growing pains. You’re going to have growing pains when you start a new quarterback, you’re going to have growing pains when you have a new system and you’ve got to work through those growing pains,” he said. “Sometimes you’re able to work through them and find a way to win and still improve, and sometimes you have some setbacks and losses and frustrating moments.

“It’s not easy, but I do think we’re improving. I’ve been in situations where we start out slow and continue to get better.”

It makes sense. What doesn’t is the Rams on third down. The money down. The down where things are supposed to get tougher. It’s a statistic where one would expect a team like Colorado State to struggle under the circumstances, but yet the Rams are converting 46 percent of the time.

That ranks CSU 31st nationally. Last year, with an experience quarterback running a familiar system, the Rams hit 48 percent of the time.

Odd? Yes.

Inconsistent? Most definitely. And that’s really the crux of Colorado State’s problem right now according to those running the plays.

“I think consistency. We’ve definitely come out fast and finished strong; we’ve just got to work on continuing that momentum of the first few drives through the entire game and still work on finishing,” Stevens said. “We definitely can’t stall out very much, especially with the teams we have in the next few weeks. I think we just need to work on consistency on our offense and focus on every play, every drive.”

The stir-crazy aspect of it was at its peak against Colorado, as the Rams drove into Buffs territory on 11 of 14 drives, but only turned four of those into scoring drives. Three missed field goals didn’t help, but then again, settling for field goals isn’t an offense’s goal.

It was a game CSU led 14-0 and had chances to build on that lead, only to misfire.

“I think all we have to do is develop that killer mentality,” tight end Kivon Cartwright said. “When we get them on the ropes early, we’ve got to finish them. In the middle of the game, early second, late first, we just have to execute and we’ve got to put the dagger in.

“I feel like for two weeks we had teams on the ropes and they were ready and willing to quit, but we let them come back in the game.”

Which they have. Then the Rams have. That ability to produce clutch drives late is a bit of a beacon of hope. Despite the inconsistent nature of a unit that lacks experience at positions, that ability to deliver is looked upon as a building block.

Not just for the confidence it gives them late, but proof the ability is there to do it at any time, say the second and third quarters of games when Colorado State’s scoring ability has been at its worst.

“I think at the end of the day we’re going to be able to move the ball,” Stevens said. “We have been the past two weeks to take the game into overtime, and I think that definitely provides a lot of confidence for us because we know that if we get down to a situation where we need a score, we can move the ball. Even if we need a field goal, we can get into field goal range, and if we need a touchdown, we can get a touchdown.”

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