Colorado State (2-5, 1-2 Mountain West) at Wyoming (3-4, 1-2 Mountain West)
When/where: 5:30 p.m. Saturday/War Memorial Stadium
TV/Radio: CBS Sports Network/Rams Radio Network 99.1 FM
BetMGM Line: CSU +5.5, 46.5 over/under
Weather: 43 degrees, slightly windy
Series History: CSU leads 59-51-5; Wyoming’s won seven of last nine Border Wars, but CSU won last year, 24-10 in Fort Collins
Three storylines
New boss at the helm: After the loss at home to Hawaii last week, CSU fired head coach Jay Norvell, ending his tenure midway through his fourth year. Defensive coordinator Tyson Summers is now the interim head coach, and tight ends coach Grant Chesnut is now the Rams’ offensive coordinator and play-caller. It will be a tall task for Chesnut to revitalize a struggling CSU offense that ranks 10th in the Mountain West at 21.86 points per game. QB Jackson Brousseau and the aerial attack are lagging at just 184.14 yards/game (11th).
Wyoming’s new play-caller: The Cowboys also made a change this week, with head coach Jay Sawvel announcing that Jay Johnson is out as the offensive coordinator, though he will remain on staff as an analyst. Wideout coach Jovon Bouknight is now Wyoming’s OC, and he will be charged with jump-starting an offense that’s been even more anemic than CSU’s at 20 points per game (11th in the Mountain West). Wideout Jaylen Sargent, who has eight catches for 104 yards over the last two games, has been a silver lining.
Westland vs CSU O-Line: Cowboys defensive end Tyce Westland had a career-high 14 tackles last week against Air Force, the most by a Wyoming D-lineman since ex-Bronco Mike Purcell recorded 16 in 2012. Westland is tied for the team lead with 5.5 tackles for loss. He’ll have to be a focus for the inexperienced CSU offensive line, which lost Tanner Morley to a season-ending injury last month and has only one returning starter from 2024. The CSU front has allowed 21 sacks this season, which is tied for 120th out of 134 FBS teams.
Predictions
Kyle Newman, sportswriter: Wyoming 24, CSU 13
New head coach, new coordinator, same result as the Rams’ season continues to spiral. Wyoming freshman running back Samuel “Tote” Harris tears up the CSU defense, even with another double-digit tackling performance by sophomore linebacker Owen Long. On offense, Jackson Brousseau turns in another vanilla performance that might make CSU consider giving redshirt senior Tahj Bullock or redshirt freshman Darius Curry a start next week against UNLV (Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi left the program earlier this week).
Sean Keeler, sports columnist: Wyoming 27, CSU 23
Just another quiet Border War Week in FoCo, right? Jay Norvell is out the door and quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi has left the building. CSU has the element of surprise going for it with new offensive play-caller Grant Chesnut throwing who knows what at the Cowboys. But he’s still heading up to Laramie with Norvell’s guys and with Summers’ defense — which is giving up 41.5 points and 282 rushing yards per game on the road. 2025 Rams MVP candidate Owen Long records 24 tackles as the Pokes run absolutely wild and take back the Bronze Boot.
Matt Schubert, sports editor: Wyoming 20, CSU 17
Neither one of these teams has played all that well in recent weeks. The Pokes have lost four of five, and the Rams have done the same. In a matchup like this, it’s best to pick the team that has an identifiable strength. In this instance, it’s hard to say what that is for CSU. Wyoming, on the other hand, has a defense that’s actually pretty solid. Everything else? Not so much. So, with the Pokes defense shutting down CSU, the offense does just enough to walk away with the Boot. And a painful season in FoCo trudges on.
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