Setting the Stage: Retaining Bronze Boot Remains Sole Focus

As far as Owen Long is concerned, the Bronze Boot holds permanent residence in Fort Collins. It's the only place it has ever been in his young career. Throughout the week, it has been staged in the Colorado State locker room, placed on a table and roped off like the highlight exhibit in the Louvre.

"I'm 1-0, so gotta make it 2-0, and yeah, keep that winning percentage up," Long said.

Though the team plays for two trophies in most years (the Ram-Falcon Trophy being the other consistent prize), the Bronze Boot is the prize possession and will always be the biggest point of emphasis for the program in a rivalry which dates back to pre-1900.

Change came at the team fast and furious this week with defensive coordinator Tyson Summers being named the interim head coach, but with so much at stake, the players found a focus point to keep them occupied.

"No doubt. We want to keep the Boot here," quarterback Jackson Brousseau said. "That's first and foremost. That's the most important thing right now is keeping the Boot here. We're just really focused on scheming them up and getting ready to go for them."

As one would expect, there is a wave of emotions floating around the program at the moment. Emotions can carry a person to a particular place, and the memory of certain emotions can have the same effect.

Unlike Long, Brousseau knows both sides of the Border War, and he knows which perspective he prefers.

"It's a great feeling to get that Boot," Brousseau said. "Any type of rivalry, you just think about the losses because I've lost one up there and I've won one here. So, you just like that feeling. Losing it is horrible and then winning is the best thing ever, so you have both ends of it and you do not want to lose this game."

Strong Reaction

If you're around Summers long enough, you'll hear him say "be where your feet are" or a slight variation of the wording, meaning to be present in the moment where you are. For the players, even the coaches, it's a good piece of centering advice.

Practice habits and styles have been altered this week, even coaching assignments. The team remains on the practice fields the entire day. No longer does the offense head into the stadium part way through, later rejoined by the defense as they go through scout work. None of it is drastic, but change is change, and Summers feels the players have adapted well.

"I'm the most biased person in the building, but they've been good. I mean, I think really just trying to do the progression correctly with their emotions and their processes I think was a big part of it," Summers said. "I talked to them about it the other day, just letting them have their day with Coach (Jay) Norvell. I thought that was really important. I thought they handled that really well. And I thought that was important for Coach as well, and kinda being able to turn the page and get to Wyoming the next day.

"Not that there's a lot of change, but just some subtle adjustments to some things that I think can help us, and that's what we've tried to do. I'm so impressed with the players, so impressed with their attitudes."

Summers has been impressed with the coaches, too. They've had changes, and not just Grant Chestnut being elevated to the play caller. In Summers' new role, he's had to float beyond the defense, putting some more duties on the defensive staff. He always wore a light blue sweatshirt and practice so his players could find him, but Trent Matthews has been sporting the look this week.

But the most noticeable change is Chestnut, and Summers believes he can bring something new to a unit which is averaging just 21.9 points and 332.4 yards an outing.

"I really like his sense of urgency and his details. He will stop, make sure everybody knows what they're doing, and get people on the same page," Summers said. "I think those are really his strengths. I think he does a great job of leadership. I've been really impressed with how he had been able to take the tight ends in his room and through spring practice and through fall and see the production that they've been able to have. Even as guys have gotten injured and people have kind of come in and out, they still produce, and that's usually a mark of a good coach and a good room and a good culture. And I thought all those things were going to be really important as we move through the next four or five weeks.

"I've talked to our staff and our players, everything we do for this period of time is trying to be where our feet are, but everything is about leadership and how we can make things better and improve. And I thought that he would be a good, fresh set of eyes to do all those things."

There may be a bit more pace in moving from one drill to another, and there are altered expectations for the how the team is doing things under Summers, but according to Long, none of it would qualify as rocking the boat.

Each ask has been simple enough, and the communication as to why has been clearly stated.

"He's such a great leader, and I mean, the whole team would tell you that," Long said of Summers. "So, it's really not that much of a drastic change for us, and he's gonna get up there and just get us ready for this game and the rest of the season. We've got full confidence in that."

Wayback Machine

The last time Colorado State beat Wyoming in Laramie was back in 2015, when Summers was the Rams' defensive coordinator. His memory is fuzzy on some things but spot on with others.

"It was cold. It was funny. You know, if I remember correctly, the running back that we were playing that day (Brian Hill) was a guy who was either leading the country in rushing or maybe he was second in the country in rushing," Summers said. "And so, the emphasis was obviously to stop the run. And anyway, we did that that day. I think we had, if I remember correctly, we had a couple of takeaways early. I think Trent had two of them --Coach Matthews. And so, we were able to do that. We were able to get ahead early."

The Rams did. They led 17-0 after the first quarter, 23-0 at halftime in a game which was 41 degrees on a clear day with a slight breeze. Matthews not only had two takeaways, he had three – two fumble recoveries and an interception. As for Hill, he ranked second in the country at the time in rushing with 140.2 yards per game. He would finish ninth in rushing at season's end, with the Rams limiting him to just 65 yards on 21 carries.

The final score was exactly what the Rams wanted – 26-7 in their favor – to a degree. Wyoming didn't score until the final three minutes of the contest on a Hill scoring run, and that might have been the real chill Summers remembers.

"If I remember correctly, at the end of the game, I think we had a shutout going. And if I remember correctly, I was not happy that we didn't finish with one," Summers said with a smirk. "That's how I remember it. But the players were great in the locker room. And, you know, that was a special group of guys. And it was an important day. It was a big day. All games are important. All competitions are important. But it is a special one for sure.

"But it was cold."

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