Colorado State University Athletics
This Week in History: Rams Go Back-to-Back With Wyoming
10/3/2019 1:00:00 PM | Football
Only time in program history, back in 1919
October 4, 1919 – The Aggies and the Cowboys had to make up for a game that was never played in 1918, so with WWI behind them, the two schools faced off in back-to-back weeks. It would be the only time in school history the Aggies or the Rams would ever face the same team in two consecutive weeks, and after a 28-0 shutout of the Cowboys in Laramie on Sept. 27, the Cowboys came to Colorado Field to take their punishment once again.
Game two against Wyoming was truly not much to behold, but the 1919 team certainly was something special. With all-time great players like William Nye, Harry Scott, Duane Hartshorn, John Ratekin, Arthur Sheeley and the immortal Charles Bresnahan, coach Harry Hughes knew he had a championship team in the making despite never saying it himself.
Hughes was not only a pessimistic coach, but he could be cagey and knowing other schools were scouting his team, he decided to put all of his second-string players into the second version of the 1919 Wyoming tilt. While the top stars rode the bench, the Aggies and Cowboys played to a scoreless tie until the fourth quarter.
In the opening moments of the fourth, Hughes then inserted his first-team players and the fireworks exploded on Colorado Field. Nye, a senior, immediately scored the game's first touchdown as Ratekin kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
The Cowboys tried to fool Hughes' men by shifting up their lines, but that only slowed them down until later in the quarter. Scott threw a 30-yard pass to Bresnahan, who crossed over the goal for the Aggies' second touchdown. After the extra point, the Aggies led 14-0 and again were driving. Hughes decided to practice the Million Dollar Play and that opened up a 30-yard run by Bresnahan to the Cowboys 3. Before the Aggies could punch it in for their third touchdown, the game ended with a 14-0 final.
The 1919 team, which had a bear cub as a mascot and an incredibly potent offense, would go on to win the next five games, including a 49-7 drubbing of CU and racking up 218 offensive points in seven games to their opponents' 44 points. The Aggies took home the conference title before the season ended for Hughes' third conference championship in five seasons. Considering they only won one game while their men were off to fight in WWI, the Aggies had begun to build a dynasty of college football in the Rocky Mountain Region.
The last game of the 1919 season would be a 13-0 loss at Washburn Field in Colorado Springs. Under the strangest of circumstances, the Aggies' train was slowed in a blizzard and they did not arrive at the Colorado College campus until kickoff time. Hughes and his RMAC Champions ran from the train to the field to play without warming up and let go of their chance for an undefeated season.
Although it has been 100 years since the 1919 team tore up the field, this team has gone down in the history of CSU football as one of the finest to play the game in Fort Collins.
Game two against Wyoming was truly not much to behold, but the 1919 team certainly was something special. With all-time great players like William Nye, Harry Scott, Duane Hartshorn, John Ratekin, Arthur Sheeley and the immortal Charles Bresnahan, coach Harry Hughes knew he had a championship team in the making despite never saying it himself.
Hughes was not only a pessimistic coach, but he could be cagey and knowing other schools were scouting his team, he decided to put all of his second-string players into the second version of the 1919 Wyoming tilt. While the top stars rode the bench, the Aggies and Cowboys played to a scoreless tie until the fourth quarter.
In the opening moments of the fourth, Hughes then inserted his first-team players and the fireworks exploded on Colorado Field. Nye, a senior, immediately scored the game's first touchdown as Ratekin kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
The Cowboys tried to fool Hughes' men by shifting up their lines, but that only slowed them down until later in the quarter. Scott threw a 30-yard pass to Bresnahan, who crossed over the goal for the Aggies' second touchdown. After the extra point, the Aggies led 14-0 and again were driving. Hughes decided to practice the Million Dollar Play and that opened up a 30-yard run by Bresnahan to the Cowboys 3. Before the Aggies could punch it in for their third touchdown, the game ended with a 14-0 final.
The 1919 team, which had a bear cub as a mascot and an incredibly potent offense, would go on to win the next five games, including a 49-7 drubbing of CU and racking up 218 offensive points in seven games to their opponents' 44 points. The Aggies took home the conference title before the season ended for Hughes' third conference championship in five seasons. Considering they only won one game while their men were off to fight in WWI, the Aggies had begun to build a dynasty of college football in the Rocky Mountain Region.
The last game of the 1919 season would be a 13-0 loss at Washburn Field in Colorado Springs. Under the strangest of circumstances, the Aggies' train was slowed in a blizzard and they did not arrive at the Colorado College campus until kickoff time. Hughes and his RMAC Champions ran from the train to the field to play without warming up and let go of their chance for an undefeated season.
Although it has been 100 years since the 1919 team tore up the field, this team has gone down in the history of CSU football as one of the finest to play the game in Fort Collins.
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