A word of advice to the scoreboard operator at the Alamodome: Get plenty of rest on Wednesday night, because odds are good you’ll be working in overdrive during Thursday’s Valero Alamo Bowl between No. 10 Colorado and No. 12 Oklahoma State.

“It’s the Alamo Bowl,” Pac-12 Network’s Yogi Roth says in his bowl preview, “So we know that means firepower on offense.”

Both teams are averaging more than 32 points per game, Colorado at 32.8 and Oklahoma State at 38.7. They are also averaging more than 440 yards of total offense apiece, with the Cowboys again having the edge, 492 to 446. Colorado, however, has the edge – at least on paper – on defense. The Buffs rank 17th in the country, allowing just 328 yards per game. The big X-factor, according to Roth, will be how Colorado copes with the loss of their main signal-caller on defense.

“For Colorado, they lost their defensive coordinator, Jim Leavitt, to Oregon, but they replaced him with Joe Tumpkin. He’s been there for a while now as a safeties coach; he’s a former defensive coordinator at Central Michigan. How does he call the defense in the ballgame? It’s going to be imperative, because the offense of Oklahoma State is legit,” Roth says.

Oklahoma State ranks 17th in the country in yards per game and quarterback Mason Rudolph is eighth in the country in passing yards with 3,777.

“Mason Rudolph [is] one of the top passers in the entire country,” according to Roth. “They [have] four wide receivers who have had 100-yard ballgames throughout this season, with James Washington leading the way. I really like the offense of Oklahoma State.”

Stopping the Cowboys will be a major test to a CU defense that struggled at times against elite offenses – namely Michigan and Washington. But Colorado can hope for a shootout, if they can’t slow down OSU, as the Cowboys’ defense, is quite vulnerable.

“[Oklahoma State is] 91st in rush defense, 96th in passing yards allowed. And in the run-pass option game of Colorado is where Sefo Liufau has absolutely thrived this season. He’s going to be healthy. Expect him to play well,” Roth says.

Liufau missed time against both Michigan and Washington, both losses, but he’s not the number one threat against the Cowboys, according to Roth.

“The biggest key for me in this game is [CU running back] Phillip Lindsay,” he says. “He’s a guy who does not get a lot of fanfare, [but he has] over 1,000 yards rushing on the season. And the best part about his year is over half of those yards are after contact. So, if he can get loose – look out – Colorado’s going to get their first bowl win since 2004.”

The Buffs last bowl appearance was a 2007 loss to Alabama in the Independence Bowl. Their last victory was in the now defunct Houston Bowl over UTEP.

Colorado and Oklahoma State kick off in San Antonio at 7 p.m. MT on Thursday, Dec. 29. The game will be televised on ESPN.