The season has begun like so many others for Minnesota -- with an easy win against a non-conference opponent.

Those who look at sports in this country and call it an unpredictable business have not been following the Minnesota Golden Gophers in recent years. Minnesota has won 17 straight non-conference games and regularly wins its first three, four or five games of the season. Then comes a painful loss to Michigan and the Gophers go into a funk before straightening themselves out in with a bowl win.

With a win over Tulsa safely in the bank, the Gophers now get ready for Colorado State. The Rams don't fit in the cupcake category, but the Gophers clearly have an advantage playing at home and with the superior running of Laurence Maroney.

Sonny Lubick's Rams have been one of the powers of the Mountain West Conference, but they are coming off a 4-7 season in 2004. Colorado State came up with a good effort in the season opener vs. Colorado, but the Buffs caught and passed them in the fourth quarter and CSU was beaten, 31-28.

In its opener against Tulsa, the Gophers rolled up 536 yards of offense (301 yards rushing), forced four turnovers, were solid in the kicking game and got two highlight-reel touchdown runs from Maroney.

"I'm pleased that we won 41-10," said head coach Glen. "Am I ecstatic? No, because there are some areas where I thought we would have done better. I don't know if it serves as a wake-up call, but it got our attention."

Maroney has gotten the attention of the Rams and opponents throughout the season. He opened the year with 203 yards and had TD runs of 67 and 73 yards. He remains a dark horse contender for the Heisman Trophy and could play himself into serious contention with a few more efforts like the one he had against the Golden Hurricane.

He should be able to follow up with another great effort against Colorado State.

SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: If the passing game can match the running attack, Minnesota could have one of the most explosive teams in the nation. Head coach Glen Mason likes QB Bryan Cupito, who looked more accurate and more confident than he did last season.

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: Mason tried to find a few things to work on after the opener and the most significant may have been the Gophers' run defense. Minnesota gave up a 17-play, 85 yard TD drive in the second half that left a bad tasted in Mason's mouth. They got pushed backwards by the Golden Hurricane and that's not a good sign as the Big Ten season approaches.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "It's good to get all the kinks and bugs out now while we're still in the non-conference. We had a lot of mistakes that we need to correct in practice, but I feel good about how we started." -- RB Laurence Maroney on the Gophers' performance in the season opener.

THIS WEEK'S GAME: vs. Colorado State, Sept. 10 -- The Rams are coming off a painful 31-28 loss to archrival Colorado. The Buffs won on a last-second FG and came back from a big deficit. If Sonny Lubick's Rams are still thinking about that game, they could be in big trouble when they travel to play the explosive Gophers. Colorado State may not be athletic enough to stay with stars like RB Laurence Maroney.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: C Greg Eslinger -- The leader of an outstanding offensive line. He thought the blocking effort was a bit sloppy vs. Tulsa, and challenged his teammates to play more consistently this week vs. Colorado State.

RB Laurence Maroney -- He exploded for a 67-yard TD run on the first play of the season and ran for a career-high 203 yards against Tulsa. Look for more of the same against Colorado State.

LB Mike Sherels -- He stepped up in the season opener with 11 tackles and a sack against Tulsa. Glen Mason is looking for more of the same against Colorado State.

PK Jason Giannini -- In his first game, Giannini made both of his field-goal attempts (28 and 23 yards) and got the ball deep on kickoffs.

ROSTER REPORT: Offensive lineman Joe Ainslie (hand) is expected to miss the Colorado State game. Offensive lineman Mark Setterstrom (eye) and tight end Eric Clark (personal) are questionable.