The former is being paid more than any other Pac-12 coach to clean up the mess left for him by the previous CSU coaching regime. The latter was one of the assistant coaches most responsible for leaving said mess that Mora was brought in to clean up in the first place.

So, yeah, awkward. Right from the start. Let’s just say the Grading The Week (GTW) staff was disappointed, but not surprised, to see the simmering pot-boiler that was Mora vs. Summers explode into a national news story earlier this past week.

We’re also disappointed, to be blunt, in Rams athletic director John Weber and in for letting things get this far, this quickly and this … well … weirdly.

If you didn’t see the incident that made the news, or had simply given up on college football after watching the CU Buffs try to play special teams, here’s the quick version: Mora, the first-year Rams coach, went nuclear on the sideline late last month at Summers, his defensive coordinator, a holdover from Jay Norvell’s staff and a former CSU interim head coach. It happened during the first quarter in San Antonio on Sept. 26 after UTSA scored an easy rushing touchdown in what would become a 59-45 Rams defeat.

Fast forward to the Oregon State game on Oct. 3 at Canvas Stadium, and Mora was still piping hot. Another issue forced another Mora explosion, as captured (again) by the TV crew. A few minutes later, nobody could find Summers on the sideline. Broadcasters got word out to viewers that Summers had been relieved of his play-calling duties during the game, although official details were vague.

After the tilt, a 56-26 defeat before a shell-shocked Canvas crowd of 41,000, Mora announced at his presser that Summers had indeed been demoted during the game, that Summers responded by leaving the building altogether, and, because of that, Mora stressed, he was no longer with the CSU program.

CSU’s Mora/Summers saga — D

Lot to unpack there. Mora doubled down at his bye week news conference this past Wednesday, but a number of pertinent questions, at least to Team GTW, remain curiously unanswered. Starting with this: Why did Mora keep Summers on the staff to begin with?

Was it Mora’s bosses’ idea? Was it a contractual obligation? Because none of that seemed to mesh in the winter, the spring, the summer or the fall, given hindsight. Most of Mora’s mileage as an assistant was on the defensive side of the ball. He’d never worked with Summers before, and it was obvious not long after the Wyoming opener that the unit wasn’t working cohesively and could go off the rails at any moment.

Boy, did it ever.

CSU has allowed 50 points in consecutive games for the first time in 42 years. In 1984, it was against Air Force (52 points) and No. 7 BYU (52 points), two rivals that wound up going a combined 21-4 that fall. In 2026, it happened against UTSA (59 points) and Oregon State (56 points), two programs that almost certainly won’t go 21-4. Although Beavs-vs.-Road Runners would make for an insanely fun, points-happy kind of bowl game.

It’s a rough look for Mora, for Summers, and for Weber and the CSU administration on several fronts. And when you treat your assistants like that in public, it can be read one of three ways by Rams players. Version 1: “Man, Coach really, really, really cares.” Version 2: “If Coach doesn’t respect Coach Summers, why should I?” Version 3: “That dude is cray-cray.”

And all applications could easily apply, mind you. Inter-office squabbles are a part of work life, football or otherwise. But there was no reason for it to ever escalate that publicly in front of the curtains. Ever.

The GTW team wouldn’t blame Summers for driving all the way home after that — even if home was several states south of here.

We figured, after the BYU and UTSA losses, Mora might make a change in his defensive staffing this week. We were off by a few days. There are good times for a bye and great times — this break couldn’t have landed at a better time for CSU. (Or for the Buffs, who have a similar problem, only on the offensive side of the ball.)

Meanwhile, the same thing is true of Mora and the Rams defense going forward that we’ve been saying about Sean Payton and the Broncos offense: It’s your show, now, champ. We’re about to find out real quick if the struggle bus was because of the play-caller … or because of the players themselves. Buckle up.

CU has a QB crisis with no solution in sight. CSU has a Swiss-cheese D that got its coordinator canned mid-game. But elsewhere, Air Force looks like it might be Colorado’s lone bowl contender this fall, while Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference frontrunners CSU Pueblo and Western Colorado are playing undefeated ball with rosters chock-full of locals.

Air Force’s postseason potential

Let’s start with the Zoomies, who are 3-1 and on track to snap an uncharacteristic two-year bowl drought. Troy Calhoun is in his 20th season as the Falcons’ head coach, but insists it “feels like Year 1.”

Air Force boasted Colorado college football’s most exciting player this season — junior QB Liam Szarka, a former Grandview star — but the Szarka Show came to an abrupt end in the Falcons’ win over Navy last week. Szarka suffered a lower-leg injury and Hurt headliner be damned, Calhoun’s crew still has a chance with its patented triple-option.

Will it result in a 14th bowl berth under Calhoun? At this point, the Falcons seem to have better postseason odds than the Buffs or Rams. In Calhoun’s tenure, Air Force has won eight bowl games, compared with two for CSU and zero for CU.

And what is for sure — as those crazed football fans who stayed up past midnight on Sept. 26 to watch Air Force’s saw — is that the Falcons can be competitive in every game.

“I’ve got a feeling we’ve got more than a couple one-score games as we go forward,” Calhoun told The Denver Post. “… Now it’s a matter of coming up with one more stop or being able to score on one more drive, because that might mean a couple of more wins.”

Sophomore QB is the Falcons’ new QB in the wake of Szarka’s injury, while a handful of seniors will continue to be impactful for the Falcons in running back Rocco Conti, tight end Simon Kibbee (Grandview), and the linebacker duo of Blake Fletcher and Dallas Daley.

Remember, this is an old-school program operating in a wild-west, NIL, transfer-portal landscape. Air Force cadets cannot get NIL. The Falcons do not have transfers. They don’t even have redshirts. Run-heavy Air Force is winning the traditional way — program development and coach longevity.

Plus, the Falcons offer the best value, on average, to see FBS Division I football in the state. And as Calhoun argues, perhaps the best environment. Air Force has in 2026.

“(Falcon Stadium) makes the hairs stand up on your arms, and your pulse beats differently anytime you come to a football game at the United States Air Force Academy because of the young men and women who are there — their toughness, their heart, their unselfishness, their willingness to fight for our freedoms,” Calhoun said. “… Oh by way, we play some pretty good football, too, and there’s a good number of years where that’s been the case.”

CSU Pueblo’s 29-game RMAC win streak

The college football-as-it-used-to-be theme is familiar to CSU Pueblo and Western Colorado in the RMAC, Division II programs that do get some transfers, but largely operate with very little or no NIL. CSU Pueblo won the conference’s lone football national championship in 2014 and is the two-time defending RMAC champion.

The ThunderWolves (6-0) haven’t lost a conference game since Sept. 23, 2023, a , but have their sights set deep into December after losing in the first round of the Division II playoffs each of the last two seasons.

“Losing the way that we did last year in the playoffs, and really the last two years, has really ignited a fire in some of these guys,” CSU Pueblo head coach Philip Vigil said. “This team has really taken ownership in that. Yes, there are some things that we’ve used in the past that are external motivators, but the reality is for us to maximize our potential, it has to be deeper than that. It has to be deeper than what happened last year. It has to be our desire and willingness to be the best we possibly can be every day.”

Beyond sophomore QB Navi Bruzon, CSU Pueblo is headlined by an array of Colorado players.

That list includes sophomore running back Russell Patton (Far Northeast), junior wideout Marcellus Honeycutt, Jr. (George Washington), sophomore linebacker Carter Daniels (Mountain Vista), senior safety Kahden Rullo (Grandview), sophomore left guard Odin Johnston (Lakewood), junior defensive end A.J. Jordan (Vista Ridge) and senior kicker Jackson Smith (Arapahoe).

Daniels, whom Vigil says was overlooked coming out of high school because of his size, wears the green dot as the defense’s communicator and is the team’s leading tackler. Rullo, a captain, wears No. 3, a number with special significance to CSU Pueblo, since it was the college number of former ThunderWolves defensive coordinator Donnell Leomiti, who died in 2020

“Leomiti was getting chemo treatments at halftime, then calling the second half of the game,” Vigil said. “Our weight room here is named after him. It’s the Donnell Leomiti Warrior Center, and so that number within our program means a lot. It means a lot to our guys, and for Kahden to wear that number exemplifies what kind of person and player he is. He’s a warrior, a leader, and plays with heart and determination.”

Just like last year, the ThunderWolves are on a collision course with Western Colorado for the RMAC title.

In 2025, CSU Pueblo won the top-10 showdown against the Mountaineers by and then using Smith’s 32-yard walk-off field goal to claim a 24-21 win. This year, the two programs meet in the regular season finale on Nov. 14 at the ThunderBowl. Both Vigil and Western Colorado head coach Jas Bains insist they’re not looking too far ahead to that matchup.

Western Colorado seeking next step

The Mountaineers — who have transformed from an RMAC cellar-dweller into a heavyweight since Bains took over in 2011 — are looking to build on the program’s recent milestones. Western Colorado posted a program-record 11 wins in 2024 that culminated in its first NCAA playoff victory, then won 10 games last year and had another playoff victory before losing in the second round in OT to UT Permian Basin.

But Bains says that this year’s team, which features a slew of returning talent, has to mold its own identity.

“The past is the past, even as you’ve got to honor the history of where you’re at and the teams and tradition that have come before us,” Bains said. “But we’ve asked this 2026 group to leave its own mark, and we’re focused on that.”

Bains, who signed a new three-year contract in January, believes it’s a good sign that Western Colorado is 6-0 despite “not playing four good quarters of football across the board yet.” Case in point: the Mountaineers fell behind 17-0 to New Mexico Highlands last Saturday, then in a blowout win.

Fifth-year QB (Pine Creek) is in his first season as Western Colorado’s starter after serving for several years as a backup. Other local talent includes sophomore running back Isaiah Jones (Mesa Ridge), fifth-year wideout Caden Measner (University), fifth-year wideout DJ Allen Jr (Widefield), senior linebacker Ian Loomis (Loveland), and senior defensive linemen Mikey Smith (Doherty) and Drew Johnson (Salida).

Bains made the case for Colorado college football fans frustrated with the struggles in Boulder and Fort Collins to jump aboard the RMAC wagon.

“It’s a premier conference in Division II football — we’ve had a lot of teams in the playoffs over the years, we’ve had teams make deep runs, we’ve recently had Colorado School of Mines play in the national title game in consecutive years,” Bains said. “Plus, there are a lot of Colorado kids that play on a lot of our teams.

“… I think fans should definitely take notice of that and either drive down to their local stadiums if they’re nearby, or catch us online

Durell Robinson ran the ball on six of CSU’s eight plays on its opening possession. On the Rams’ second possession, following a long kickoff return, Mel Brown needed only two carries for 63 yards to score the team’s first points. He had a 46-yard run, and then scored on a 17-yard burst.

But when Brown went down with an injury in the first half, it was up to Robinson to carry the load, which he did to the eventual total of 117 yards on 21 carries with a touchdown.

Both of his carries and yards were season highs, and in five games he has rushed for 266 yards and four touchdowns. He had two against UTSA, so his one against the Beavers gave him three in CSU’s past two games.

For head coach Jim Mora, who coached Robinson in 2024 at UConn, nothing he has done so far has been a surprise.

“Durell is becoming the Durell that we had in 2024 when he averaged 6.8 (yards) a carry,” Mora said. “He is a guy you can depend on. He runs hard. People draw from his energy and I’m really glad he’s on our football team right now because we need him right now.

“We need his motor. We need his energy. We need his attitude. We need his positivity. We need the way he plays football right now.”

Robinson began his college career at Charlotte before a year at UConn, and then one at Auburn, before rejoining Mora at CSU.

During his season at UConn, he rushed for 731 yards and eight touchdowns. Last year at Auburn, he was limited by injury and only played in four games, but he had a 54-yard touchdown run against Ball State.

After Saturday’s loss against Oregon State, he agreed with his coach that he was feeling like the running back that excelled for the Huskies two seasons ago.

“I am starting to feel like myself, but I still feel like I have so far to go,” Robinson said. “I want to be a great running back. I want to be considered one of the greatest of all time when it����ap all said and done. So, I’m just going to keep watching the film, keep stacking days and just getting better one by one.

“I just want to show my team how grateful I am to be able to play football with them each and every play. I just love football and I just want my play to show that.”

Mora said after the game against Oregon State that Brown had been taken to the hospital at halftime out of precaution following his first-half injury.

He has more than a week to get healthy before CSU plays again on Oct. 15, but if he can’t go, Robinson is more than ready to carry most of the load again when the Rams get back on the field.

More on McClendon

Kenny McClendon is CSU’s new defensive coordinator after what transpired Saturday night with Tyson Summers during and after the Rams’ 56-26 loss to Oregon State.

After the Beavers quickly went ahead 14-0, Summers was relieved of defensive play-calling duties and then left the field on his own.

Following the game, Mora said Summers was no longer with the program.

McClendon took over for Summers during the game. However, even though the Rams came up with a sack and fumble recovery on his first series calling plays, Oregon State went on to score 42 more points.

Previously the team’s assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach, McClendon came to CSU with Mora from UConn at the end of last year.

His last two years with the Huskies, he held the title of assistant head coach under Mora.

Before coaching at UConn, McClendon spent two seasons at Youngstown State, preceded by two seasons at Valdosta State. He was the defensive line coach at both stops.

He began his coaching career at Central Michigan in 2015 as a graduate assistant. He also spent time at Iowa State and Carthage College before helping lead Valdosta to a Division II national championship in 2018.

“I think we have the same styles in terms of coaching and defense,” Mora said. “I think our players will absolutely respond to him because they have tremendous respect.”

Bye week goals

CSU is on a bye this week, and it couldn’t come at a better time for Mora’s team.

Not only have the Rams lost three straight following a 2-0 start, but the squad will be adjusting to McClendon as its new defensive coordinator.

CSU won’t play again until next Thursday, Oct. 15, at Texas State. Then it will have another long week before it hosts San Diego State on Oct. 24.

“It����ap a combination of rest, reset, refocus and work,” Mora said. “We are really very lucky the way this thing laid out with a Thursday night game. We really get kind of two long weeks. We can give these guys a chance to recover a little bit this week, still get some good work in, get a little extra work in on our next opponent and have the same thing the following week.”

Mora also hopes a few players dealing with injuries, including Brown and quarterback Hauss Hejny, will have time to recover.

CSU has had mixed results coming out of its bye week recently. The Rams are 3-4 following a non-game week since 2021.

Sean Keeler: This weekend’s Bye is a 14.5-point favorite over Coach Prime’s Buffs and a 70.5-point over/under (take the over) against Mora’s Rams. It’s smelly up and down all ports of call on Highway 287 right now, but I’m going to pull a Hauss Hejny and give Gentleman Jim a sweet pass. The Rams have a year or two to figure this out, and there’s plenty of “figuring” left to do with that defense. But we’re in Year 4 of the Coach Prime Era, and the headlines coming out of Boulder are sliding into the surreal. And Deion Sanders doesn’t help put out dumpster fires when he throws an absent Julian Lewis under the bus without any kind of clear explanation.

Renck: The playbook the Buffs left at the Omni Interlocken hotel looked like a plant. Not an actual plant with hardy perennials, but a fake document with a CU script, if found, capable of putting Texas Tech on the wrong scent. Instead, the basic plays — think Deion Sanders getting suggestions from Dan “Intramurals” Hawkins — were legit when matched with the actual game film. This should have been the most shameful thing by CU and CSU. Problem is Texas Tech didn’t need the answers to the test. The Buffs offense is so toothless that CU need not bother giving the opponent any hints. As for Summers, that is a legendary fall from grace that offers no defense.

Keeler: You want to talk legends? The late, great Mike Leach, a Texas Tech icon, was a fount of hilarious anecdotes — and one of my favorites was the time Leach was Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator at the time and had a hunch UT would take the bait. They did. OU used the ruse to build a 17-0 lead before the Longhorns caught on and rallied for a 10-point win. The opposite happened here, as Tech looked completely confused during CU’s first drive — the one where the play-calls matched, and the Buffs stormed to a quick 7-0 lead — before shutting down the hosts the rest of the way. Could it have been an inside job, left by a CU staffer who just wants this nightmare over with?

Renck: I have heard of players retiring or quitting during a game. But a coach? According to reports, Mora relieved Summers of play-calling duties — he was working from the sideline — and instead of heading to the press box for the second half, he left. This type of exit is unprecedented. Mora unloaded on Summers at UTSA over a late substitution that led to an easy touchdown. The relationship clearly was not repaired on Saturday. Summers was always a surprise retention for CSU, and he did nothing to earn Mora’s trust. The Rams have allowed 50-plus points in back-to-back games for the first time since 1981. Talk about an ideal time for a bye week. Mora emasculated Summers. Every man draws a line in the sand. So, Summers left. Good luck trying to explain the LinkedIn gap on the resume. But cap tip for exiting on his own terms. Truth. Summers’ departure is more embarrassing because the Buffs step into it so often it has become normalized.

Keeler: Yeah, but that shouldn’t excuse the mess on the bottom of AD Fernando Lovo’s shoes, either. Mora’s gonna Mora. CSU officials should’ve worked a lot harder behind the curtains to keep that shotgun wedding from blowing up in everybody’s faces. Buffs fans and Rams fans at the water cooler this week can both point to the other team and snicker. FoCo’s gone off the rails. But I’ll bet you that the headlines out of Boulder are more likely to get worse in the weeks to come.

Talk about getting run out of the building.

Not long after the start of what turned into a on Saturday in Fort Collins, Colorado State defensive coordinator Tyson Summers was nowhere to be found.

When the game finally ended, Rams coach Jim Mora said Summers was, in fact, no longer with the team.

“That is a permanent move that was made following tonight����ap game,” Mora said.

Mora, in his first year with the Rams, said he had relieved his assistant of his play-calling duties in the first half, though telling him to leave the sideline “wasn’t anything that I would ever consider.”

“He made the decision on his own to leave the field,” Mora said, “and he is no longer with the program.”

The latest defensive debacle came a week after a . Colorado State (2-3) has now allowed 193 points over five games, the fifth most of the 138 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

The Rams allowed 653 yards against the Beavers and have given up 1,195 yards over the last two weeks.

Summers, who has held jobs at Florida, Georgia and Colorado among others over a 20-plus-year career, served as the interim head coach last season for the final five games after Jay Norvell was let go. Mora kept him on staff after he was to turn around the Rams.

When/where: 4 p.m. Saturday/Canvas Stadium

TV/Radio: USA Sports/Rams Radio Network

: CSU +6.5, 61.5 over/under

58 degrees in the evening, clear

Series history: Tied leads 2-2; Beavers won last matchup, 39-31 in double overtime in Corvallis in 2024

Three storylines

New era in FoCo: This will be Colorado State’s Pac-12 debut. The Rams made this leap from the Mountain West to raise their profile in football and athletics overall. Now, it’s time to get to work and prove that CSU football is worthy of the move. Beating a — then known as Oregon Agricultural College, OSU was one of the four original schools in the Pacific Coast Conference — would be a significant feather in the cap of first-year head coach Jim Mora.

Rams’ big-play potential: The Rams have eight plays from scrimmage for 50-plus yards this season, leading the FBS. CSU will need more of that explosiveness to upset Oregon State, which got torched for an average of 34 points in its two losses. With opening-day starting QB Hauss Hejny with a hamstring injury he suffered a couple of weeks ago in the loss to BYU, it will again be up to K’saan Farrar — who threw for 344 yards, two TDs and a pick in last week’s shootout loss to UTSA — to ignite the offense.

Rams’ secondary test. CSU’s top defensive backs, including college football veterans Jordan Lessard and CJ Blocker at cornerback and free safety Dylan Phelps, need to mind their Ps and Qs against a potent Oregon State aerial attack. has surpassed 100 receiving yards in all four games this season and leads the Pac-12 with 585 total receiving yards. OSU QB Braden Atkinson has thrown for over 300 yards each game and leads the conference with 1,421 total passing yards this year.

Predictions

Kyle Newman, sportswriter: CSU 41, Oregon State 37

Putting up 45 points in a tough road environment at the Alamodome, with a backup quarterback, was no small feat. And let’s remember why Oregon State was left behind to pick up the pieces of the shattered Pac-12: historically, the Beavers haven’t been very good. The CSU defense picks itself up off the mat, gets a couple key stops in the fourth quarter, and the Rams win in their Pac-12 debut in FoCo. CSU Army ROTC cadets have a busy day , especially after the Rams race out to a lfirst-half lead.

Sean Keeler, sports columnist: CSU 32, Oregon State 31

The Rammies’ run D can’t stop a nosebleed, and here come the Beavers, who lead the country in percentage of pass plays per offensive snap and rank No. 2 in pass attempts. Braden Atkinson (11 touchdowns, two interceptions) vs. Hauss Hejny (10 TDs, 1 pick) would’ve been a marquee QB battle, but K’Saan Farrar (344 passing yards last weekend) wasn’t why CSU got run out of the Alamodome. With FoCo at their collective backs, this time the Rams start strong and hang on for dear life the rest of the way. But only just.

Troy Renck, sports columnist: CSU 33, Oregon State 30

The Rams opened Canvas Stadium against the Beavers. Nearly a decade later, they are opening Pac-12 play against Oregon State. This is the type of game that draws eyeballs because of the high-powered offenses. The 61.5-point line is the highest among all FBS games this weekend. My guess is K’saan Farrar starts at quarterback as Hauss Hejny gets another week to heal his injured hamstring. He is dynamic, as is running back Mel Brown, a walking first down. Former CU coach Mike MacIntyre will be charged with slowing the Rams as Oregon State’s first-year defensive boss. Tyson Summers can’t coach worse than he did last week at UTSA. Home field will lead to a huge win for the Rams.

Nate Peterson, sports editor: CSU 31, Oregon State 28

This isn’t your granddaddy’s Pac-12, but for a conference known for high-scoring, explosive offenses, this one should deliver plenty of points. Defense? Yeah, not so much. It’s a strange twist that former CU coach Mike MacIntyre is now coaching the Beavers’ defense, given that it was a crushing loss in Boulder to the Beavers that cost MacIntyre his job after the Buffs coughed up a 28-point second-half lead. In a track meet, the Rams do just enough to get Jim Mora a signature win as they open the Pac-12 era.

With another touchdown catch against UTSA last week, Smith has three on the season and had his first 100-yard game of the year with 102 against the Roadrunners.

CSU is Smith’s second college stop. He was recruited by Jim Mora at UConn and originally began his college career with the Huskies.

“It was Jim Mora,” Smith said. “I never had even heard of … well, I heard of UConn like the basketball program and stuff, but I never thought in my life I’ll ever go to Connecticut. Everything was so genuine with Jim Mora and my own position coaches and stuff like that. It was a pretty easy decision.”

Choosing to go to UConn also meant the high school quarterback would transition into a receiver.

So far, it has worked out for him.

“They’ve got pros and cons for sure,” Smith said. “But I would say the hard part was just getting my conditioning up because receiving, you’re running every play. And just working on my blocking too.”

Smith redshirted his first season at UConn, and then played in all 13 games for the Huskies last season. He rushed 14 times for 75 yards and one touchdown while making four receptions for 34 yards.

When Mora decided to take the job at CSU, it wasn’t a hard decision for Smith to follow him to Fort Collins.

“I know if I want to develop myself and be a better me, this would be a great move for me,” Smith said. “So, it kind of was a no-brainer.”

In CSU’s season opener against Wyoming, he caught four passes for 29 yards and also threw a pass for a 28-yard completion. Then the next week, he set career highs with 90 yards and two touchdowns against Southern Utah.

After a quiet game against BYU where he only made one catch, he had a big game against the Roadrunners with 102 yards and a touchdown.

From offseason workouts last winter to CSU’s first four games this season, hard work has paid off for Smith as he becomes a more important piece of the Rams’ offense.

“I think they’re trying to put my head down and stack days since I got here in January,” Smith said. “All the guys, we’ve just been putting in the work. We just put our heads down to work. Everything can work itself out.”

It hasn’t mattered who is throwing the ball to him either. In the Rams’ first two games, it was Hauss Hejny who connected with him eight times for 114 yards and two scores. With Hejny out with an injury last week, K’saan Farrar completed found Smith often, including a 74-yarder that gave CSU an early 14-0 lead against the Roadrunners.

Smith has confidence in both quarterbacks. He already had a relationship with Farrar before they got here, as Farrar was at UConn as well.

“It really hasn’t been too much of a difference because I’ve been playing with K’saan since he got to college at UConn,” Smith said. “I feel confident with all our quarterbacks. So, whoever is back there, we’re just ready to work with whoever we’ve got.”

Smith will look to build on his big game against UTSA on Saturday when the Rams open Pac-12 play against Oregon State (4 p.m., USA Network).

Hejny update

Mora couldn’t say Monday if Hejny will be available for Saturday’s game against the Beavers.

Hejny injured a hamstring in the first quarter of CSU’s third game against BYU. He was a game-time decision last Saturday but wasn’t able to go.

His availability this week will likely be the same.

“He has made progress because he’s doing everything humanly possible, along with Casey Carter, our head athletic trainer, and the rest of his staff to get ready,” Mora said. “For instance, on game day, rather than come into the morning meetings, he was in getting treatment. We had determined at that point he wasn’t going to play.

“Sunday, he was in here all day, so between Casey and Hauss, they’re doing everything they can possibly do to get ready. If he’s ready to go on Saturday, then he’ll play. If he’s not, we have a guy that now has two starts under his belt.”

Farrar started in his place against UTSA and completed 29 of 46 passes for 344 yards and two touchdowns.

In the Rams’ first two games and part of one quarter, Hejny passed for 619 yards and 10 touchdowns while rushing for 128 yards and a touchdown.

Up next

CSU will open Pac-12 play Saturday at home against Oregon State, ahead of its only bye week of the season.

The Beavers are also 2-2 and coming off a 33-7 victory over UTEP last Saturday. Quarterback Braden Atkinson passed for 301 yards and three touchdowns, while running back AJ Newberry rushed for 111 yards and a TD. Receiver Jesse Legree caught six passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns.

This will be the fifth meeting between the two schools. Oregon State won the last game in the series, 39-31 in two overtimes, in 2024 in Corvallis, Oregon.

The Rams’ lone win against the Beavers came in 2017, when CSU won 58-27 in the inaugural game at Canvas Stadium. Oregon State hasn’t visited Fort Collins since.

When/where: 10 a.m. Saturday/Alamodome

TV/Radio: ESPNU/104.3 FM

: CSU +12.5, 56.5 over/under

91 degrees, partly sunny

CSU leads 2-1; UTSA won 17-16 last year in Fort Collins

Three storylines

Rams’ QB question: In last week’s 41-23 shellacking by No. 11 BYU in Fort Collins, the Rams saw starting QB Hauss Hejny hurt his hamstring in the opening quarter, and then backup K’saan Farrar leave the game in the fourth with an eye injury. That left third-stringer Darius Curry to finish the game. CSU head coach Jim Mora hopes that Hejny will be able to play Saturday. After a hot start to the season, the Rams will need Hejny to get back on track, but if he can’t play Farrar will have an opportunity to show what he’s got after losing the QB battle that went on during fall camp.

Familiar face under center for UTSA. The Roadrunners’ offense is headlined by , who began his college career at Colorado, where he made three starts as a true freshman for the Buffs. He is a three-year starter for UTSA, and threw for 2,995 yards and 30 TDs with a 66.7 completion percentage last year. The son of longtime NFL QB Josh McCown, now the Vikings QB coach, the younger McCown presents a stiff test for the CSU secondary, especially considering he has potent weapons at wideout in David Amador II and AJ Wilson.

Turnover battle, discipline. Two positive signs through CSU’s first three games are the Rams’ and their ability to limit flags. CSU is +8 in turnover margin, with seven interceptions and three fumble recoveries to just two turnovers by the offense. Those 10 takeaways have generated 35 points this season. Plus, CSU has only drawn nine total flags, ranking No. 3 in the country in that category. The Rams will need that trend to continue to pull an upset at the Alamodome, where UTSA is 34-5 (.872) in the seven seasons of tenure.

Predictions

Kyle Newman, sportswriter: UTSA 31, CSU 28

The Alamodome is a tough place for any visiting team, and it’s not going to help that Hauss Hejny is likely still nursing an injured hamstring. Plus, on the other side of the ball, Owen McCown is one of the best and most experienced quarterbacks in a non-power conference. He’s made 33 career starts dating back to his true freshman year at CU in 2022, and on Saturday, his poise and arm are the difference as the Roadrunners march the field in the waning minutes of the game and McCown connects with AJ Wilson for the game-winning TD to send CSU home an unsettling 2-2.

Sean Keeler, sports columnist: UTSA 34, CSU 22

Jim Mora knows — defense and the run game travel well as a combo, especially in hostile environments. I believe in Mel Brown. I believe in Durell Robinson. I believe in CSU’s offensive line. I still have doubts about Tyson Summers’ D, though. This one would be massive for CSU when it comes to keeping a bowl game in sight. But with Hauss Hejny a game-time decision on one sideline and Owen McCown slinging it around on the other, it’s tough to see the Rams keeping up in an Alamo shootout.

Troy Renck, sports columnist: UTSA 28, CSU 25

This represents a winnable game for the Rams even as a double-figure underdog. The problem is that it’s hard to see quarterback Hauss Hejny playing with an injured hamstring or lasting four quarters if he does. Given the prowess of quarterback Owen McCown — CU fans, would you rather have him or Julian Lewis? — the Rams might need to score 30 to win. That would represent an herculean accomplishment on the road. That is why they will come up just short.

Nate Peterson, sports editor: UTSA 35, CSU 24

This is a tough spot for the Rams. After wrestling with Bear Bachmeier last week, the CSU defense faces a completely different QB test in Owen McCown, who is completing nearly 70 percent of his passes and has thrown four TDs to one interception while taking just one sack. If the Rams are going to have any chance of pulling the upset, they have to play clean, force some turnovers and hope to get enough offense to win a shootout.

Sean Keeler: on the rest of , my friend. Northwestern’s a DU clone, the Big Ten’s snooty, private legacy brat, a field hockey school. And Coach Prime just made the Wildcats look like Texas. Bad sign. Even worse: The Puddy Tats are the slowest team the Buffs will face the rest of the season. Although, as the late Peter Falk would say, just one more thing: Northwestern also isn’t the worst Power 4 team the Buffs have played this month, no matter what your favorite podcaster/YouTuber/Prime Disciple/crank is trying to tell you otherwise. Oh, no. That’s Georgia Tech. The Jackets followed up a sloppy stinker against CU by giving up 299 rushing yards at home to Tennessee and 188 yards on the ground (also at home) to Mercer. Mercy.

Renck: The answer is CU because old problems resurfaced just as the schedule stiffens. Coach Deion Sanders criticized specific players for laughing as they walked off the field in front of him following the 41-7 loss to Northwestern. He was right. But why do things like this keep happening, where self-awareness remains a stranger despite CU losing 10 of its last 15 games? The ability to run the ball remains encouraging, and it will be necessary with the upcoming games at Baylor followed by hosting No. 11 Texas Tech and No. 15 Utah. The gauntlet makes inching closer to the panic button unavoidable. A four-game losing skid would place a bowl game — the minimum accomplishment to justify Sanders’ salary — in jeopardy.

Keeler: Meanwhile, Jim Mora’s honeymoon phase still has plenty of legs left in it. Few realistically expected the Rams to hold off one of the Big 12’s Big Two (Texas Tech’s run by oil money; ). The loss of Hauss Hejny takes the shine off of a pretty good opening three weeks, all things considered. We’re about to find out how good Mora is with a signal-caller crisis, albeit not one of his own making. And much as we like him personally, I’m still not sure about Tyson Summers’ defense up in FoCo, especially with Texas State (478.3 yards per game), Boise State (461.7 per game), and Oregon State (461.3 per game) looming in the weeks to come.

Renck: The Rams don’t exactly have a leg up over CU because of quarterback Hauss Hejny’s hamstring injury. They face a solid Texas-San Antonio team on the road led by former CU quarterback Owen McCown, who is capable of lighting up the Rams’ secondary. Based on the history of hamstring issues, Hejny likely will miss at least a few weeks. Does that mean K’saan Farrar, who struggled on Saturday, gets his chance or will coach Jim Mora give Darius Curry more run after a strong cameo against BYU? When a team has three quarterbacks, it has none. The Rams need to lean on their ground game before Hejny returns, but it will be challenging. CSU is a 12.5-point underdog against the Roadrunners. Nobody said it would be easy for the Rams, but Mora was hired to deal with adversity better than his predecessor.

Keeler: CU’s got two problems, and the second one is the doozy. The first is perception. The Deion Brand is about talking a good game — and then backing it up on the field with an even better one. Your players loudly and profanely mocking Northwestern, only to go out and get trucked by the ‘Cats, is an insanely weak look. And a hard sell, too, which ties into the bigger issue — money. You’re right: Only a bowl game in ’26 would truly justify Sanders’ salary. The heyday of the “PRIME 21” merch and jersey sales are long gone. You’ve got to give the locals a reason to keep coming back. The only way to do that is by winning consistently. And after Saturday, we’re all wondering where the next victory’s going to come.

Hejny left last Saturday’s 41-23 loss to BYU in the first quarter with a hamstring injury.

“He’s attacking it with everything he’s got,” Mora said. “He was in treatment after the game. He was in treatment most of the day yesterday. He’s going to do everything he can to be ready to play. Our hope is that he can play.

“The most important thing is that if he does play, he is able to protect himself and do the things that make him special as a quarterback. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense to play him. But knowing Hauss, his toughness and his mindset, I’m not going to put it past him that he’s ready to go.”

Following a third-down incompletion with about 7 minutes left in the first quarter against the Cougars, Hejny limped off the field after the play.

He went to the medical tent on CSU’s sideline briefly and returned for CSU’s next series, which resulted in a three-and-out. However, on the following series for the Rams’ offense, Hejny was on the sideline without a helmet.

After the game, Mora said Hejny had tweaked his hamstring.

Before leaving the game, Hejny completed six of 10 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. In two games and one quarter, the Oklahoma State transfer has passed for 619 yards and 10 touchdowns while rushing for 128 yards and a touchdown.

Backup quarterback K’saan Farrar took over at quarterback for Hejny following the starter’s exit from the game.

Farrar, a UConn transfer who competed last spring and in fall camp with Hejny for the starting job, led the offense until early in the fourth quarter when he also left the field with an injury. Mora said Farrar was poked in the eye.

While in the game, Farrar completed 13 of 23 passes for 70 yards with an interception and rushed twice for 12 yards.

Mora said Farrar was cleared to re-enter the contest, but third-stringer Darius Curry, who had replaced Farrar, was having success with the offense so Mora let him finish the game.

Curry, the only returning quarterback this season who had previous experience directing the CSU offense, completed six of eight passes for 70 yards and a touchdown. He led the Rams on two fourth-quarter scoring drives as CSU turned a 38-7 deficit into a 41-23 final score in the last 12 minutes.

Mora said either, or both, should be ready to go Saturday if Hejny isn’t able to.

“K’saan took the shot to the eye so the first thing we have to make sure is that that����ap completely cleared up,” Mora said. “He’s functional, but being functional isn’t the same as being 100%, especially at that position.

“And the impressive thing is that Darius went out and performed the way he did. So, there’s a lot of confidence in Darius that if he doesn’t get a maximum about of reps, he can still go out and perform.”