Cowboys prepare for 114th meeting with rival Colorado State

Nov. 8—LARAMIE — It wouldn't be rivalry week without University of Wyoming football coach Craig Bohl reflecting on the importance of the Bronze Boot.

The traveling trophy, awarded to the winner of the Border War game between UW and Colorado State since 1968, has resided in Laramie for five of the last six years. CSU last beat the Cowboys 34-24 in Fort Collins in 2020.

UW (6-3 overall, 4-1 Mountain West) is coming off its second bye week of the season. The Rams (2-7, 2-3) lost 28-16 to San Jose State last weekend in California.

"Obviously, it's a big week," Bohl said. "I think we utilized the bye week in a real positive fashion to make sure we continue working on fundamentals. We spent a great deal of time working on CSU, and also getting our players back in a positive state."

Titus Swen used the bye week to progress through concussion protocol. The Cowboys' leading rusher has 679 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the year, but left UW's 27-20 win over Hawaii on Oct. 29 with concussion symptoms.

Bohl expects Swen to be available for the Cowboys this weekend in Fort Collins.

UW's rushing offense hardly missed a beat with Swen on the sidelines. The Cowboys rushed for 365 yards against Hawaii, including 179 yards from backup D.Q. James alone.

The Cowboys' passing offense was a different story against the Rainbow Warriors. Quarterback Andrew Peasley was just 7 of 15 passing for 76 yards and two interceptions. It was Peasley's third game this season with under 100 yards through the air.

Bohl wants to see improvements in the passing game this weekend against the Rams.

"Any time you throw it, sometimes you put the ball in harm's way," Bohl said. "The two interceptions — you're going to have some interceptions, but I thought that they were not very timely. We need to take care of the ball better, and (Peasley must) go through his progressions with his reads.

"He's a hard critic for himself. He's going to need to make better decisions and put it where it needs to be better."

Despite CSU having just two wins on the season, Bohl knows the Cowboys will need to show up and play well if they want to come away with the team's fifth conference win of the season. The Rams have won two of their last five conference games, including a 17-13 win over Hawaii at home last month.

"They're an improving football team," Bohl said. "San Jose is really talented, and they had several opportunities to win the game. You're looking at a football team that, I think, is improving. Coach (Jay) Norvell has done a good job continuing to have them stay in the fight."

One of Bohl's priorities this week will be striking a balance between keeping his team's emotions in check and using the significance of the Border War to motivate his players.

"The fundamentals of winning a football game certainly need to be emphasized," Bohl said. "We need to tackle well, and we need to be in position well, and we need to maintain blocks. We need to make sure we win the turnover margin, and we didn't two weeks ago against Hawaii. We need to capitalize on those things.

"Sometimes, you have to put emotions in check. However, I think acknowledging that this is a big game is important to our players. We're going to talk about that over the course of this week. Our players, specifically the older guys, understand the meaning of the game. These are games that all our former players will remember."

Bohl has been a part of several historic college football rivalries throughout his coaching career. Going into his ninth career game against CSU, Bohl ranks the Border War at the top of the list.

"This one, I think, rises to the top," Bohl said. "One of the reasons is what the game represents, the Bronze Boot and everything that goes into that. This is something that I've truly cherished, and it's one of the best college football rivalries. We're excited about that."

What makes the Bronze Boot stick out to Bohl over other traveling trophies like Jim Bridger's Rifle with Utah State and the Paniolo Trophy with Hawaii is the long history between UW and CSU. The tradition of the Border War makes holding the Boot after a rivalry win that much more gratifying.

"This has been an ongoing game and has gone on for quite some time," Bohl said. "The meaning of this one is really special. I was introduced the very first year to it, and it's a really great, great ball game. We treasure the Boot, and we do everything we can to keep it."

The most important factor for the Cowboys this weekend against CSU will be to continue to play gritty and control the pace of the game, Bohl said. A win over the Rams would keep UW's hopes for a MW title alive for at least one more week.

"Going on the road again, to hopefully get another win, is hard," Bohl said. "I think we're just a ham-and-egg group. You know what, 'Whatever we have to do to win the next one, coach, that's what we want to do,' ... I just think we're a young, blue-collar group.

"I really believe the people in Wyoming have embraced this team. They're ham-and-egg, blue-collar guys who play for each other, and they've been a fun group to coach."

Alex Taylor covers the University of Wyoming for WyoSports. He can be reached at ataylor@wyosports.net or 269-364-3560. Follow him on Twitter at @alex_m_taylor22