Saturday marked the first game of a new, rapidly fluctuating era in Fort Collins, one without Jay Norvell. Under the leadership of defensive coordinator and new interim head coach Tyson Summers, the Rams traveled to War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming, to take on their archrivals, the Wyoming Cowboys, in the final in-conference running of the Border War.
In arguably their worst outing of the season, the Rams were shut out by the Cowboys by a final score of 28-0, surrendering the Bronze Boot back
to Wyoming. Colorado State (2-6, 1-3 MWC) had three turnovers, two turnovers on downs, and once again dealt with a lack of a true leading quarterback. All the while, Wyoming (4-4, 2-2 MWC) ran down their rivals’ throats, inching one step closer to a bowl invite.
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
2:43 – Landon Sims 1-yd run (Erik Sandvik PAT)
Colorado State 0 – Wyoming 7
2nd Quarter
14:15 – Michael Fitzgerald 22-yd pass from Kaden Anderson (Erik Sandvik PAT)
Colorado State 0 – Wyoming 14
0:36 – Chris Durr Jr. 9-yd pass from Kaden Anderson (Erik Sandvik PAT)
Colorado State 0 – Wyoming 21
3rd Quarter
10:51 – Sam Scott 37-yd run (Erik Sandvik PAT)
Colorado State 0 – Wyoming 28
Final: Colorado State 0 – Wyoming 28
Wyoming Cowboys (4-4, 2-2 MWC)
This win was a refreshing break for a Cowboys team that hasn’t had many comfortable wins this season. All three of their FBS wins prior to this game were by 10 points or fewer, highlighted by a perplexing 10-0 win at Akron: the team that was barred from playing in a bowl game this season due to academic ineptitude, and one that would go on to give up 68 points to Nebraska the next week.
So things had gone for the Cowboys’ offense, which ranked 11th of 12 Mountain West teams in scoring offense entering this matchup, scoring exactly 20 points per game, only surpassing the atrocious 1-7 Nevada Wolf Pack in said category. This went along with a defense that has been more than up to the task thus far, ranking second-best in the conference in scoring.
Most annoying of all was the Cowboys’ previous matchup. Against Air Force, far and away the conference’s highest-scoring offense and worst-scoring defense, Wyoming’s defense held the lethal Falcon offense to just 24 points, but their offense once again underperformed, handing the Falcons both their first conference and first FBS win of the season, 24-21.
The Cowboys’ defense, certainly tired of being let down by the offense, responded by completely stifling, and shutting out, a Rams offense just two weeks removed from putting up 49 on Fresno State’s top-half defense. The Cowboys picked off CSU QB Jackson Brousseau three times, held the Rams to just 94 rushing yards, and had only allowed 60 total yards of offense on 20 plays at halftime.
While this performance was certainly impressive, the defense had been anything but Wyoming’s problem this season. Thankfully, Wyoming’s offense also decided it was time to perform. Quarterback Kaden Anderson only had 152 yards passing, but that came on a 67% completion percentage with two touchdowns and no interceptions, partly due to the performance of Chris Durr Jr., who again led the way among Anderson’s pass-catchers with a 7-for-67, 1 TD statline.
Most impressive was the performance of the previously mid-tier Wyoming rushing attack, which feasted on the Rams’ weak run defense for 212 yards and 2 TDs on 34 carries. Six Cowboy backs had double-digit rushing yards, Sam Scott feasted in particular with 22.7 yards per carry and a touchdown on his three carries. All in all, it was a quiet, dominant day for the Wyoming Cowboys, one that they desperately needed in their quest for a bowl game.
Wyoming will next travel to San Diego, California, to face the conference-leading, possibly Top 25-ranked San Diego State Aztecs. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. MT on November 1. Coverage will be provided by CBS Sports Network.
Colorado State (2-6, 1-3 MWC)
On the other side of the trophy was another pitiful performance from the CSU offense. Completly lost without their opening-day quarterback and their head coach of the last three years, the Rams were stifled the entire way by a stingy Wyoming defense.
Jackson Brousseau had his worst game of the season by far, passing for just 99 yards on 18 attempts with no touchdowns and throwing three interceptions before being benched at the start of the fourth quarter. By that time, the Colorado State offense had just 194 yards on 38 total plays. The Rams got nothing done on the ground all night long, with just 94 total yards on 27 carries, led by Justin Marshall’s 6-for-33.
Through the air, NAU transfer Tay Lanier led the team with 3 catches for 56 yards, followed closely by Tommy Maher’s 5-for-52. However, almost all of these catches and yards for both players came from the arm of fellow redshirt freshman QB Darius Curry, who outpaced Brousseau with 116 yards on 16 attempts, yet he, too, failed to change the scoreboard in the Rams’ favor.
Defensively, Owen Long continued his tear with 10 total tackles, pushing his FBS-leading tally even higher, to 93 total tackles, which stands a full 10 tackles ahead of second-place NIU linebacker Quinn Urwiler. Aside from him, there was next to nothing good to say about the Rams’ defense. The Rams’ defense tallied no sacks of Kaden Anderson and allowed Wyoming backs to run for 212 yards on their 34 carries.
At least the Rams were consistently able to flip the field, as Bryan Hansen averaged 53.3 yards per punt with a long of 61. But that brings little comfort to a team that is just one loss away from bowl ineligibility. Blowout losses like this, especially when they are in rivalry games, are as deflating to a team as anything could be. Any momentum gained from the upset of Fresno State three weeks ago is long gone, and the Rams seem to have no answers left.
Perhaps Darius Curry could serve as a viable starting quarterback based off of his performance in this game, but many, myself included, once thought the same thing of Jackson Brousseau. There is no denying anymore that this is a lost season for the Rams. They should certainly start turning their focus towards 2026, when they will hopefully be able to start anew in the Pac-12.
After their much-needed bye next week, Colorado State’s next game will be at Canvas Stadium on November 8 against the UNLV Rebels (6-1, 2-1 MWC). Despite losing their unblemished start in a blowout loss to Boise State, the Rebels are nothing short of a formidable foe, as they currently lead the Mountain West in points per game with 37.1, and their defense, in the midst of giving up the second-most yards and points per game, has also snared 17 total takeaways this season, which leads the conference. Colorado State will need to play perfectly to win this game, which is something that they have not shown to be able to do much of this season.
