Wyoming at Colorado State - Cowboys Preview of the Border War

Before I delve into the Border War talk, I want to acknowledge Alex Eiden (UnderDogsAlways) and Matt (godogs13) for covering Wyoming football the past couple of weeks. While both were covering their respective teams (who had games against Wyoming), it was still nice to know that a preview/recap was going up on Mountain West Connection that covered the Cowboys. It has been a busy couple of weeks for me, so I did not have the time to get up articles for Wyoming. A tip of the hat to those two writers for covering those games.

Game Time:

Friday, October 26th at 8:00 PM (Mountain)

Broadcast:

CBS Sports Network

The History:

Now, I’m very glad to be back to writing this week as this Friday is the Border War. Wyoming and Colorado State meet for the 110th time. Colorado State leads the all-time series 58-46-5. This year is sort of a milestone as this marks the 50th year anniversary of the Bronze Boot trophy. While Colorado State might hold the all-time series edge, Wyoming has won the Bronze Boot more over the past 50 years, 26 to 24.

The Matchup:

The Cowboys offense has been terrible so far this season. About the only thing Wyoming has going for itself on that side of the ball is Nico Evans. Currently, Evans is the Mountain West Conference rushing leader, doing so in just six games as Evans sat out two games earlier in the season due to injury. In those six games, Evans has rushed for 803 yards and 5 TD’s. Otherwise, I’m hoping that Sean Chambers, a true freshman QB, gets the start for the Cowboys this week. Chambers replaced Vander Waal for a portion of the Utah State game last week and seemed to give the Cowboys offense a spark. If nothing else, Chambers will give the Wyoming offense another dimension in the rushing game. In limited action last week against Utah State, Chambers ran the ball 19 times for 100 yards. Paired with Nico Evans, that could cause the Rams defense a lot of trouble. Currently, Colorado State has the 105th ranked rushing defense in the FBS.

On defense, the Cowboys will be going up against Collin Hill as the CSU QB. Hill is getting the starting nod over K.J. Carta-Samuels who had been the starter this season. That’s important as the Rams are more of a passing team. Starting CSU running back, Izzy Matthews, has run the ball well in recent weeks. Still, CSU ranks 118th in the FBS in rushing offense. Meanwhile, the Rams rank 14th in passing offense. Wyoming ranks 58th in passing defense and 35th in rushing defense, so Colorado State is probably more likely to find success through the air in this game.

The Outcome:

I really think Wyoming can end a 4-game losing streak and get their first conference win in this game. To do so, Wyoming must win the turnover battle, and the offense must show some life (even if Vander Waal starts at QB or ends up playing in this game). After an inspired effort against Utah State last week, I hope the defense plays the same way against Colorado State. If so, a game that is currently being viewed as a toss-up (CSU by 1.5) can go for the Cowboys.

Wyoming 23, Colorado State 20