It’s been a largely disappointing first season for veteran head coach Jim Mora at Colorado State. 

The Rams (3-5, 1-3 Pac-12) opened with consecutive wins but are 1-5 in their last six games entering Saturday’s 4 p.m. Mountain time home matchup with No. 20 Boise State (7-1, 4-0).

The Broncos lead the Pac-12 by one game over Oregon State (5-3, 3-1) while Colorado State sits alone in seventh place. 

“Huge challenge this week playing against Boise State,” Mora said during Monday’s press conference. “They do things well. They run the ball well, they stop the ball well. Their quarterback got hurt, but the guy that came in threw for three touchdowns. It’ll be a great opportunity for us to bounce back.”

The Rams, who suffered a 31-14 road loss at Utah State (3-5, 2-2) last week, are one of the worst defensive teams in college football. Colorado State ranks No. 138 of 138 FBS teams in total defense (526.4 yards allowed per game), scoring defense (42.4 points allowed) and rushing defense (261.1 yards). 

Boise State boasts one of the nation’s best rushing offenses with star tailback Dylan Riley, who leads FBS with 165 carries for 1,049 yards and 10 total touchdowns. 

“He’s one of the best players in the country, one of the best running backs in the country,” Mora said of Riley. “Stopping the run is the cultural background of any good defense. It’s a non-negotiable. Everybody has to show up in the fit, and show up in the fit consistently. When you look at the way we’re playing defense right now, when everybody does their job and shows up in the fit and stays connected, we’re good. But when we don’t, we have issues. … We just have to keep becoming more consistent with that. 

“But if you don’t stop the run, it’s tough to play good defense … especially with a team like (Boise State).”

Mora was impressed with Boise State backup quarterback Max Cutforth, who took over for Maddux Madsen in the fourth quarter of last week’s 46-45 victory over Texas State. 

Madsen is officially day-to-day and could return this week. If he can’t, the Broncos will roll with Cutforth against Colorado State. 

“They don’t really change the structure of their offense,” Mora said. “They were down in that game, so they had to throw the ball a little bit more than they would typically probably have liked to with their backup quarterback. But Texas State knew that also, and he was very effective. Two of his touchdown passes were just outstanding throws.

“The very first play they play-action passed … so they obviously have a lot of confidence in him, and he went down and won the game for them throwing the ball against a team that knew they had to throw it. You combined that with their running back, and there was zero drop-off in the productivity of their offense.”