CSU Rams Gameday: Football vs. Wyoming, Oct. 1

Sept. 30, 2016

Colorado State opens Mountain West play with Wyoming, a foe the Rams have faced more than any other team with 106 official games in the books. CSU has won the coveted Bronze Boot three years in a row, and looks to win the Border War again in front of an expected sellout crowd.

LINKS: Gameday Guide | Game Notes | Tickets | Roster | Media Guide | Schedule

Colorado State vs. Wyoming
Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016 | 8:21 p.m. MT
Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium | Fort Collins, Colo.

TV: ESPNU
Stream: ESPN3.com / WatchESPN app
Radio: KARS 102.9 FM / KDCO 104.7 FM & 1340 AM
Live Stats
In-Game Twitter Updates
Watch Parties

GAMEDAY FAN TIMELINE
4 p.m.--Parking lots and Ram Town open
5:50 p.m.--Ram Walk
6:30 p.m.--Stadium gates open
8:06 p.m.--CSU Marching Band performance (be in your seats!)
1st quarter, 1st timeout--1980s flag ceremony; recognition of former head coach Leon Fuller (1982-88)
Halftime--Salute to Ram Legends and 1966 team's 50-year reunion

THIS WEEK'S HEADLINES
#TheGrind | Inches
Kevin Davis added to Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List
All-Access with CSU Rams Radio: Wyoming
1966 Border War: The Bounce Pass Heard 'Round The World
#NextLevelRams: NFL Update Week 3
Game Notes: CSU football vs. Wyoming, Oct. 1

BORDER WAR
The Rams and Cowboys will play for the 107th time on Saturday (in addition to a 1899 Wyoming forfeit), a series that dates back to 1899. Not only is it the longest continuous rivalry west of the Mississippi River – playing every season since 1946 – but it is also the Rams’ longest active series. CSU has played – and beaten – Wyoming more than any other opponent.

SERIES NOTES

CSU and Wyoming have met on the gridiron 106 times (in addition to a Wyoming forfeit in 1899 in the series’ first meeting).
All-time, the Rams hold a 57-44-5 advantage over their rivals to the north, including a 31-21-1 mark in Fort Collins. 
Since the start of the Sonny Lubick Era in 1993, CSU has won 15 of 23 meetings in the series.
The teams are 24-24 since the Bronze Boot became the official traveling trophy in 1968.
CSU has won the rivalry game each of the past three seasons, out-scoring Wyoming 123-60, and totaling 1,415 yards of offense. The Rams have not trailed during their three-game winning streak in the series.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES BY CURRENT RAMS

In his first Border War, RB Dalyn Dawkins rushed for a career-best 140 yards in 2015.
Spelling Dawkins, freshman Izzy Matthews rushed for 55 yards and two touchdowns.
DB Tyree Simmons had 13 career tackles in three games against Wyoming, in addition to a forced fumble.
LB Kiel Robinson had two sacks and a forced fumble in the Rams’ 2015 victory.
Wyatt Bryan is 2-for-2 on field-goal attempts vs. the Cowboys.
In 2014, WR Xavier Williams caught three passes for 39 yards and a touchdown.
LB Bryan Ohene-Gyeni recorded his first career sack vs. Wyoming, in the 2014 meeting.

UP FOR GRABS
Since 1968, the Bronze Boot has become possibly the most famous piece of footwear in college football history. This U.S. Army combat boot, gilded in bronze, is the traveling trophy that goes to the winning football team every year when CSU and Wyoming square off. In the 48 years the boot has been exchanged, the series is tied 24-24.

Few fans of both schools realize the history behind this famous boot before it became the trophy both schools live for each and every football season. It started as a United States-issued Army combat boot to Captain Dan Romero. Romero, a native of Colorado and 1955 graduate of Pueblo Central High School, attended Pueblo Junior College for two years before he graduated from Adams State College. While at Adams State, he met his wife and played varsity basketball and baseball.

As the war in Vietnam heated up and a draft was imminent, Romero joined the Army before he was drafted. He then attended Officer Candidate School (OCS), where he received his commission to become an officer. Romero was then sent to Vietnam for a tour of duty and in the spring of 1968 he returned to the U.S., where he was assigned to the Colorado State University ROTC Military Science Department as an assistant professor. Since he was at CSU as an assistant professor, Romero enrolled as a graduate student as expected when officers are assigned to ROTC duty.

In 1968, CSU Army ROTC cadre member Major Vic Fernandez came up with the idea of having a trophy fitting of the rivalry between CSU and UW, an authentic, battle-tested combat boot. Romero, by then a CSU Army ROTC graduate and cadre member, donated a combat boot he wore during his 1966-67 tour in the Vietnam conflict. Romero had the boot bronzed and mounted on a walnut base in 1968. The base bears a plaque that holds the history of the Bronze Boot series. Close inspection of the boot will reveal small tears and cuts – scars of battle that have remained on the 50-year-old boot through the bronzing process and 48 years of travel between the rival universities.

Romero’s son, Jeff, is a Rocky Mountain High School graduate and walked onto the CSU football team in 1982 before following in his dad’s footsteps in the Army. Jeff now is an FBI agent.

BRONZE BOOT RUN
Every year Army ROTC cadets from CSU and UW run the game ball from the visiting team’s stadium to the site of the Border War game and guard the trophy until the game is over.

This year’s Border War pits Colorado State against Wyoming for the 107th meeting (CSU doesn’t recognize the 1899 forfeit win, or any forfeit in its all-time records), and extends the battle for the Bronze Boot in its fifth decade. On Friday, the Wyoming Army cadets will run the game ball from Memorial Stadium 26 miles to the Colorado-Wyoming border on U.S. Highway 287. The cadets will then hand the ball off to CSU ROTC cadets, who will run the remaining 39 miles to Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium.

BORDER WAR MOMENTS

CSU and Wyoming share the longest continuous rivalry west of the Mississippi, with an unofficial 108th Border War meeting on tap this week. The teams’ first meeting in 1899 was a CSU forfeit win, making this week officially the 107th meeting. CSU does not recognize forfeits in all-time won-loss records. 
The first meeting between CSU and Wyoming was Thanksgiving 1899 and ended in a dispute over rules. The Cowboys forfeited and the game never counted in the official record. The bad blood of 1899 spilled over into 1900 and again the two schools had a disagreement, this time over the eligibility of players. Although the rivalry continued to be cordial until after WWII, the first two meetings between the border schools signaled the beginning of the Border War.
The 1924 game never occurred because Wyoming Governor William Ross died the week of the contest. Out of respect, both schools decided not to play that Saturday and due to scheduling conflicts were not able to make up the game. Since 1929, CSU and Wyoming have only missed playing one another three times, all during WWII.
In 1949 and 1958, Colorado Field was the site of two near riots between fans from Fort Collins and Laramie. When the 1949 game ended, Wyoming fans tried to tear down the goalposts mainly because Colorado A&M fans had done so after the 1948 game in Laramie. When Aggies fans tried to prevent the posts from coming down, fights broke out and tear gas was unleashed on the crowd. In 1958, fans from both schools poured onto the field as they disputed a non-touchdown call that made the difference in the game. Again, tear gas had to be used to disperse the crowd.
CSU Coach Sark Arslanian vowed to his Rams after the 1973 Wyoming game that they (the players in the room that day) would never lose to the Cowboys again. The Rams beat Wyoming in 1974, `75 and `76, winning the Bronze Boot for the first times since the traveling trophy was established in 1968. 
In 1990, the Pokes came to Hughes Stadium as a nationally ranked 9-0 team. The Rams were in the hunt for their first bowl bid in 42 years, and needed a win to keep their hopes alive. On that cold November day, CSU beat Wyoming, 17-8, in what has been called the greatest game ever at Hughes Stadium. CSU also became bowl eligible in 2008, by beating Wyoming in Laramie during the regular-season finale.

ABOUT COLORADO STATE

Under the direction of second-year head coach Mike Bobo, who previously spent 14 seasons at Georgia, including the final 8 as OC.
Returns 43 letterwinners and 13 starters from last year’s team that went 7-6.
2015 Ray Guy Award finalist Hayden Hunt, an All-America P who has had 9 of his last 12 punts land inside the 20-yard line.
After starting 3 different QBs in 3 weeks, freshman Collin Hill has emerged after going 36-of-57 for 497 yards and 6 total touchdowns in 2 starts.
DB Braylin Scott has 3 interceptions in his last 3 games. He is 1 of 11 FBS players with 3 picks this season.
LB Kevin Davis is the only FBS player with 40 tackles, 3.0 sacks and 2 forced fumbles.
Is a perfect 14-of-14 when reaching the red zone.
Has a three-headed rushing attack of Dalyn Dawkins, Izzy Matthews and Marvin Kinsey, Jr. Dawkins and Matthews combined for 1,678 rushing yards and 8 total scores in 2015.
K Wyatt Bryan is 6-of-7 on field-goal attempts, including a career-long 53-yarder vs. UNC.
24 players have made their CSU debuts so far this season, including 7 true freshmen.

ABOUT WYOMING

Is 2-2 on the season, defeating Northern Illinois and UC Davis and falling at Nebraska and Eastern Michigan.
RB Brian Hill, a junior, is 79 rushing yards shy of Wyoming’s all-time record.
On the season, Hill has 463 rushing yards (11th in FBS) and 6 touchdowns (8th).
WR Tanner Gentry leads the Mountain West with 388 receiving yards (97.0 per game).
QB Josh Allen leads the Mountain West with 6 passing touchdowns and 2nd with 866 passing yards and a .619 completion percentage.
The Cowboys rank 10th nationally with 6 interceptions, including 4 vs. Eastern Michigan - 2 of which were returned for touchdowns. Every starter in their defensive backfield now has an interception.
Conner Cain and Logan Wilson each have a fumble recovery on the season.
Craig Bohl is in his 3rd season with the Cowboys, going 8-20, including 2-10 in 2015.
RB Brian Hill, OL Chase Roullier and DB Andrew Wingard were all 2015 All-Mountain West selections.

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