Saturday’s Border War between Colorado State and Wyoming will mark the 109th time these two teams have played each other. The Border War is always a special event for both schools. The Border War is the longest continuous rivalry west of the Mississippi.
Laramie and Fort Collins are separated by a mere 66 miles apart, along highway 287. The proximity of the two schools makes the week leading up to the game special. Typically the two schools will meet at the Wyoming/Colorado border and exchange the game ball the day before the game takes place. The ROTC groups from both schools get involved by having the away team run the ball to the border. Once the ball is at the border the home school will take the ball and run it to the home field.
The two teams play for the Bronze Boot. The Boot was first introduced into the Border War in 1968. The Boot was worn by Colorado State alum Jeff Romero Sr in the Vietnam War. Romero’s boot was bronzed and introduced into the football game.
The Wyoming Cowboys are led by their junior quarterback Josh Allen. Allen is 123/220 for 1450 yards and 12 TDs with six interceptions. Allen also has 162 yards and four touchdowns rushing for the Pokes this season. Allen has had a season of adjustment so far as he graduated his top three pass catchers from last season, as well as his starting running back and center. The Cowboy offense has struggled most of the season, currently ranking 128 out of 130 FBS teams.
The saving grace for the Cowboys is the defense. It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to say the defense is the strong point of the team. Wyoming currently ranks 25th in total defense, giving up 327 yards per game. The defense is led by junior defensive back Andrew Wingard. Wingard is 24th in the nation in tackles, with 77 tackles. He is 19th in the country with 9.63 tackles per game.
The Colorado State Rams are led by quarterback Nick Stevens. Stevens is 196/318 for 2755 yards and 22 touchdowns against nine interceptions. Their running back, Dalyn Dawkins has rushed for 896 yards and five scores on the season, while Izzy Matthews has rushed for 542 yards and seven touchdowns. Wide receiver Michael Gallup has caught 1167 yards of passes from Stevens for six touchdowns.
Defensively the Rams are 93rd in the country giving up 426 yards per game. The Rams are led by junior linebacker Josh Watson who’s got 73 tackles on the season.
Wyoming currently leads the country in turnover margin sitting at +16 on the season. The Cowboys have gained 24 turnovers while only losing eight. Colorado State sits at 70th in the country in turnover margin, sitting at -1.
At the time of this writing Colorado State is currently a -3 chance of winning at most Vegas sports books. Colorado State is a 3.5-point favorite according to mytopsportsbooks.com, who said the Rams should be able to win and cover even with the game in Laramie.
The game will kick off at 5:00pm from Laramie and can be seen on CBS Sports.