FORT COLLINS — Guess it doesn’t matter where it plays, Colorado State’s offense is explosive.

As the university celebrated the return of football back on campus for the first time since 1967 — and 37,583 showed up for the party — the Rams were still stuck in yesteryear when it came to playing offense.

Not like Wing-T ancient. No, it was circa 2016, rolling the numbers on the scoreboard like a slot machine. Colorado State, which averaged 48 points the final six games of last season, posted a 58-27 victory over Oregon State at Colorado State Stadium, proof positive the Rams still have plenty of tools on offense.

Just as they anticipated.

“As a team and as an offense we put higher expectations on ourselves than anybody outside the locker room does,” CSU quarterback Nick Stevens said. “We expect to perform as well as anybody expects us to, if not better. We had a really good offseason, did a really good job preparing for this moment, and then when it came down to it, we executed and performed well today.”

The Rams scored the final seven times they had the ball, producing five touchdowns with three Wyatt Bryan field goals added for good measure.

It turned what had been a tight first half into a rout as the Rams were a perfect eight-for-eight in red zone chances, piling up 525 yards of total offense.

Naturally, they still feel like there were plays left on the field.

“I think our offense can do a little bit more,” Michael Gallup said. “Today was the first game, so people had a bunch of jitters, stuff like that. We stayed focused throughout the game. We had a couple of busted plays and stuff like that. I think we can do a lot better. We haven’t even topped the roof yet.”

Stevens threw a first-quarter interception on a play he was cut in half by a blitzing Oregon State linebacker. He bounced back and stood tall from there out, hitting on 26 of 39 throws for 334 yards and three scores, connecting with three different targets — Dalyn Dawkins, Cameron Butler and Deitrich Clark.

Even still, his favorite mark was Gallup, who caught 11 passes for 134 yards on a day when he said he was more of a “decoy.”

The Rams rushed for 191 yards, using four backs in the process. Dawkins, who added a rushing touchdown, led with 67 yards, with Rashaad Boddie next at 56. Izzy Matthews scored on the ground, as did Marvin Kinsey Jr., back from ACL surgery in December.

After a rough first half, the defense showed it may be developing playmakers, too.

With a 24-20 score at halftime, there was no reason to believe the afternoon would be filled with anything other than fireworks, but the Rams slowed down the Beavers’ running game, picked off Luton twice in the third stanza and allowed no points in the quarter.

“I love our offense, but it’s also a great feeling to have everyone know that our defense is ready, and we’re ready to take on any challenge that is in our way,” linebacker Tre Thomas said.

In the first half, CSU’s defense was beaten on some big plays, the longest a 75-yard touchdown run by Ryan Nall early in the second quarter to give the Beavers a 17-14 lead. Nall finished with 115 yards on the ground, but it took that big run and 15 carries to produce the total.

Luton hit touchdown passes of 39 and 25 yards in the game, but he was also intercepted three times as OSU surrendered five turnovers in all.

Thomas had the biggest dagger, collecting a tipped pass and taking it 44 yards for a score that made it a 34-20 CSU advantage. Anthony Hawkins produced an interception on a deep ball to end the next Oregon State drive, the Rams turning that into Bryant’s third field goal, a 41 yarder.

The Beavers would add a touchdown early in the fourth, but the Rams controlled the game from there on out. After giving up 333 yards of offense in the first half, they cut it to 123 in the second.

To see a unit get challenged early but stand tall late showed CSU head coach Mike Bobo maturity.

“It’s huge for our defense,” Bobo said. “I felt toward the end of spring practice we started to get some confidence. This fall camp with the addition of some newcomers to our football team, the confidence continued to grow for our defense, and they go against a pretty good offensive football team every day.”

The team did what it had to during the game, then enjoyed it after. First, they went to the band to sing the fight song, then shook hands and slapped high-fives with all who could reach them. Bobo did the same.

With all the hype surrounding the day, he asked for their calm and undivided attention when the clock was running, and his players delivered for him.

“This was going to take care of itself today. I told our guys, you’re going to have emotion, but we cannot play emotional in the game,” he said. “We have to play within ourself. There will be drama that happens, there will be bad things that happen, there will be ebbs and flows of the game, but we have to continue to fight and play.”

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

Colorado State 58, Oregon State 27