DENVER (Ticker) -- Gary Barnett performed miracles at Northwestern. It also appears he has his work cut out for him at Colorado.

Barnett's coaching debut of the 17th-ranked Buffaloes quickly turned into a disaster as Colorado State scored 14 points in each of the first two quarters and cruised to a 41-14 victory at Mile High Stadium.

Barnett, who guided perennial Big Ten Conference doormat Northwestern to the 1996 Rose Bowl, took over the Buffaloes' program on January 20. He served for six years as an assistant under Bill McCartney at Colorado and was part of the staff that captured a share of the 1990 national championship.

Barnett was the Buffs' quarterbacks and fullbacks coach in 1986, when the team had suffered its last loss to Colorado State, 23-7, in Boulder.

Kevin McDougal ran for touchdowns in each of the first two quarters and linebacker Rick Crowell returned an interception 54 yards for a score to begin the onslaught as the Rams snapped an eight-game losing streak to their intrastate rivals.

Colorado's Mike Moschetti completed 30-of-46 passes for 291 yards and two meaningless touchdowns but was picked off three times, the first of which Crowell brought back for a score just under six minutes into the game.

McDougal, who finished with 192 yards on 22 carries, broke loose for a 59-yard scoring run later in the first quarter. Early in the second period, Frank Rice caught a 67-yard pass from quarterback Matt Newton for a 21-0 Rams lead.

Any hope the Buffaloes had of a comeback probably ended late in the second quarter, when defensive end Clark Haggans picked off Moschetti deep in Colorado State territory. McDougal scored on a one-yard scoring plunge with 10:32 left before halftime and the game officially was a rout.

But the onslaught did not stop. Newton's one-yard TD run for the Rams was the only points of the third quarter and C.W. Hurst connected on field goals of 29 and 44 yards in a 2:12 span of the fourth quarter to make it 41-0.

Newton was 10-of-18 for 109 yards.

Moschetti hooked up with Roman Hollowell for a 43-yard score 6:11 into the fourth quarter to finally get the Buffaloes on the scoreboard. He found Javon Green for a five-yard score with 3:31 remaining.

Hollowell caught six passes for 90 yards and Dwayne Cherrington gained 35 yards on eight carries for the Buffaloes.