CSU comes up short yet again as Cowboys secure the Bronze Boot in 111th annual Border War

LARAMIE — One of the oldest cliches in the book is that football is a game of inches. But the thing about cliche statements is that they tend to be rooted in truth. This was certainly the case Friday night as Colorado State narrowly fell to the Wyoming Cowboys at War Memorial Stadium in the 111th annual Border War (17-7).  After losing to the Cowboys for a fourth consecutive time, the Rams (4-7) are officially eliminated from postseason contention.

“Wyoming won a hard-fought game tonight,” head coach Mike Bobo said postgame. “Pretty much a microcosm of our whole season — tonight (we were) close but not quite good enough.”

While the game was tight throughout, the final outcome really boiled down to one critical decision. With 11:45 remaining in the third quarter and the game tied at 7-7, the Rams decided to go for it on 4th and one at midfield. After a brutally-executed quarterback sneak by CSU, the Cowboys took over possession and immediately responded with a 10-play scoring drive to go up a touchdown (14-7). From there, the Pokes never surrendered the lead as they were able to lean on their stout defense and potent rushing attack to close out the game.

“I decided to go for it on fourth down and we got stuffed — but our defense was playing well — I thought if we could get a drive right there on the first possession of the second half, we’d get a lead against Wyoming and make them do things a little differently offensively,”  Bobo said.

Even after turning over the ball on downs and allowing Wyoming to re-take the lead, it’s not like the Rams did not have plenty of opportunities to get back in it. In the second half alone, CSU was able to get past midfield on three different drives — the problem was that none of them resulted in points.

“We still had plenty of opportunities after that,” Bobo said. “We were in scoring range and missed a field goal and then we had other opportunities and weren’t able to convert.”

The other issue was that CSU was completely one-dimensional on offense all night. The Rams totaled just 48 rushing yards on 30 attempts (1.8 yards per carry) in the loss, and without any sort of running game to rely on, Patrick O’Brien was put in the brutal position of trying to do everything himself.  Considering the frigid temperatures and CSU’s inability to move the ball on the ground, O’Brien’s final numbers were fairly respectable. He finished 17-of-29 for 217 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Overall, though, it was another rough night for the former Nebraska Cornhusker.

“Offensively we had some opportunities but the inability to get any kinda running game (going) hurt us,” Bobo said.

From CSU’s perspective, there weren’t many aspects of the game to brag about. Two of the players that were able to consistently make plays, though, were sophomore tight end Trey McBride and junior wide receiver Warren Jackson.

McBride, who was celebrating his 20th birthday, told DNVR Rams pregame that all he wanted was to bring the Bronze Boot back to Fort Collins. The 6-foot-4, 258-pound, tight end did not have his bday wish come true but did finish his first-ever game in Laramie, Wyo., with six receptions for 78 yards.

Jackson on the other hand continued to look like the best wide receiver in the Mountain West Friday night. The 6-foot-6, 218-pound, wide receiver paced the team with six catches for 95 yards and scored CSU’s only touchdown in the game. In the second quarter, Jackson was able to haul in a fade in the corner of the end zone. Unfortunately for CSU, though, O’Brien and Jackson were only able to connect on six of his 12 targets.

After falling to the Cowboys once again, Rams head coach Mike Bobo is now 1-4 all-time against the rivals from the north. In total, Bobo is 2-13 in regular season trophy contest and 2-20 if you also include bowl games and his four losses to Boise State.

After a tough loss to swallow, the Rams will be playing for pride against the Broncos at Canvas Stadium next week.

“It’s Senior Night next week so we’re going to do everything that we can to prepare and beat Boise for the first time,” defensive tackle Ellison Hubbard said. “We’re going to everything we’ve got.”