While there weren’t many positives to take away from Idaho State’s one-sided 56-7 loss Saturday at Colorado, the Bengals didn’t have any glaring miscues or game-changing gaffes.

Rather, ISU ran into a better team.

Colorado dominated Idaho State in all facets Saturday, illustrating the vast talent gap that exists between an up-and-coming Pac-12 program and a perennially below .500 Big Sky squad.

“They just ran their offense ran their defense,” Bengals head coach Mike Kramer said after the game. “We knew what we were facing.”

Colorado outgained Idaho State 597-96 and led 49-0 at halftime. Backup quarterback Steven Montez led CU’s final touchdown of the first half and outgained the Bengals on his own in limited action.

“We’re a passing offense,” Kramer said. “We shouldn’t be able to be knocked around like that.”

Idaho State plays Oregon State this week, another Pac-12 team and the second of back-to-back money games. Here are some pluses and minuses from the Bengals’ loss to Colorado.

PLUS: Improved pass protection

After allowing four sacks in ISU’s season-opening win against Simon Fraser, the Bengals’ offensive line limited Colorado’s pass rush to one sack for minus-3 yards on Saturday.

Although the improved protection didn’t translate to offensive production, Kramer was pleased with the offense line, which featured three starters that were penciled-in backups.

“The one thing we were worried about was their pass rush,” Kramer said, “and their pass rush was not even close to being the reason we couldn’t move the ball.”

ISU’s O-line wasn’t as successful opening holes in the running game. Colorado held the Bengals to 35 yards rushing on 14 attempts with a long of 8 yards.

But protecting the quarterback is priority No. 1. The inexperience at the position behind starter Tanner Gueller makes the sophomore’s health critical to ISU’s season.

“Our young guys are young guys,” Kramer said of the offensive line. “They’re getting a little bit better but it’s incremental.”

PLUS: Special teams play

Idaho State’s special teams will be a focal point throughout the season after last year’s positional debacle.

The Bengals’ kick teams were heavily featured Saturday, getting ample opportunities to return kicks and send the ball downfield in the flow of Colorado’s blowout win.

ISU punted 11 times, averaging 41.3 yards per kick with one inside the 20-yard line and two traveling at least 50 yards. Sean Cheney has already matched last season’s total of four punts of 50-plus yards through two games and booted one kick 59 yards Saturday.

Tom Jewell also punted three times Saturday. Kramer reverted back to the roll punt at times and called upon Jewell to do so. Jewell averaged 33 yards per punt.

“I liked our punting game,” Kramer said. “We used two punters, two styles of punt and we did a nice job.”

ISU’s punt coverage was also a bright spot. The Bengals held Colorado to 6 yards per punt return and 14 yards in CU’s lone kick return. Opponents averaged 26.7 yards per kick return and 8.9 yards per punt return a season ago.

The Bengals averaged 20.8 yards per kick return but were only given four chances. Colorado sent the ball into the end zone for a touchback five times.

“One of the major issues today was not the kicking game, and that’s a significant difference for us last year,” Kramer said. “I like where we’re at in our kicking game. I like our depth. I like our hardness.”

MINUS: Offense

The stats speak for themselves: 96 yards of offense, seven first downs, 2.5 yards per carry, 3.2 yards per pass completion, a 46.3 completion percentage, 1.7 yards per play and one play longer than 8 yards.

“We must generate more first downs,” Kramer said. “Not to protect our defense, but to give ourselves a chance to be successful.”

Colorado’s smothering pass defense didn’t yield anything to Gueller, and Kramer said his signal caller made incorrect reads at times.

The Bengals never got their running game going, either, as handoffs to the inside and pitches to the perimeter were snuffed out for minimal gains.

“We tried to spill the ball around, ran some plays we hadn’t really shown before, and they did a good job of blunting them,” Kramer said.

ISU’s longest play of the day was an 11-yard pass from Gueller to Josh Cook in the first quarter. Ty Flanagan’s 8-yard run was the best ground gain.

Through two weeks, the Bengals’ rushing attack is averaging 3.6 yards per attempt.