Colorado State quarterback Matt Newton gets ready to pitch the ball against Colorado.(AP)

Newton's 30-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jose Ochoa with 10:31 remaining proved to be the clincher.

Newton said the Buffaloes "were all about revenge, but revenge only takes you so far. We've always been the 'guys up the road.' We'll probably still have no respect, and they'll think this was a fluke. But so be it. It's all about wins, and we beat them twice."

In the season opener for both teams, No. 23 Colorado fell behind 14-0 but rallied to take a 24-14 lead early in the third quarter behind backup quarterback Bobby Pesavento.

Newton subsequently was intercepted twice by cornerback Terrence Wood, but Newton and Frank Rice hooked up on their second scoring pass of the game, a 42-yarder with 2:32 left in the quarter.

After the Buffaloes missed a long field-goal attempt, Colorado State went 64 yards in eight plays for its fourth touchdown.

Colorado State had only 5 yards rushing through three quarters, but Cecil Sapp promptly broke off a 20-yard run and later added a 5-yarder. On third-and-10 from the Colorado 30, Newton found Ochoa wide open over the middle, and freshman cornerback Phil Jackson, closing fast, was unable to bring the 255-pound Ochoa down short of the goal line.

Colorado had three possessions after that but failed to advance beyond midfield.

Asked if the outcome means his team owns the state, CSU coach Sonny Lubick said, "It means we beat them two years in a row, and it means we're happy about it. Coach (Gary) Barnett did a hell of a job with his kids and they played well. They were out for revenge, they were out for blood. That motivational factor worried me."

Colorado outgained the Rams 532-392 in total offense, including 121 yards rushing by Cortlen Johnson and 98 by highly recruited freshman Marcus Houston. But shoddy coverage by the Colorado secondary proved to be the Buffs' undoing. Newton victimized Buffs cornerback Nate Wright on three of his TD throws.

"They took advantage of our young guys, our inexperienced guys, with a veteran quarterback," Barnett said. "We had to go to man coverage in order to bring pressure. We put our corners on an island, and they just didn't hold up."

Wide receiver Javon Green expressed the disbelief of many of his teammates. "I never thought in a million years that CSU would beat us two straight years," he said.

The Rams scored six minutes into the game when Rice got behind Wright and hauled in Newton's pass in-stride at the 15 for a 52-yard scoring play.

Colorado's Mark Mariscal was short on a 54-yard field-goal attempt later in the quarter.

After a short Colorado punt early in the second quarter, Newton passed 12 yards to Pete Rebstock and then found a wide-open Joey Cuppari, who had beaten Wright, for a 34-yard scoring play with 14:01 left in the half and a 14-0 lead.

Pesavento, who took over in the second quarter after starter Zac Colvin bruised his right elbow, led the Buffs on a nine-play, 88-yard scoring drive. Pesavento completed four of four, including a 26-yarder to Cedric Cormier and an 18-yarder to Scott Nemeth, and Houston ran 5 yards for a touchdown with 9:41 to go in the half.

Pesavento's 17-yard pass to Roman Hollowell got the Buffs moving again later in the half, and Pesavento hit Javon Green on a 15-yard scoring pass with 2:35 left.

Thanks to defensive end Anwawn Jones' sack of Newton, Colorado took possession again at midfield in the waning seconds. Pesavento's 28-yard pass to Eric McCready set up Mariscal's 36-yard field goal as time expired.

The Buffs took the second-half kickoff and marched 75 yards for another touchdown and a 24-14 lead. Johnson had a pair of 15-yard runs, and Pesavento sneaked the final yard with 11:55 left in the period.

Nine minutes later, Rice wrestled an underthrown ball away from Wright to make it 24-21.

A no-alcohol policy at Mile High Stadium and police presence on the field at the end of the game -- including six patrolmen on horseback -- prevented a repeat of the rowdiness that followed last year's game here.

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