It certainly felt like Colorado State was a heavy favorite on their home field in the Border War a season ago.
The Cowboys entered Canvas Stadium with an unimpressive 2-7 overall record and featured both one of the worst offenses and defenses in the Mountain West a year ago, as the Cowboy offense finished 11th in both total and scoring offense in the conference and the defense 9th in both total and scoring defense as well.
The Rams easily dispatched of the Cowboys 24-10 in that one, earning the Bronze Boot trophy for the first time since 2020 during the shortened COVID-19 season. With both teams entering the contest this season with a negative conference and overall record, the odds should be much more even as both teams battle to keep themselves out of the basement of the league and to remain in bowl game contention.
Head coach Jay Sawvel is keen on returning the Bronze Boot to Laramie once again this season, especially after his team’s underperformance in last year’s rivalry matchup.
“We did not play the way that the game requires a year ago in the first half of that game, and so that’s something that we’ve got to address this week,” Sawvel said.
Get to Know Colorado State
The Rams have struggled with their offensive identity this season, much like the Cowboys similarly have as well this season.
Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi opened the season as the starter under center for the Rams, but was benched after three games after being unable to eclipse 200 yards passing in any game while only throwing for one touchdown and a pair of interceptions.
Jackson Brousseau has since taken over his duties and has been a serviceable quarterback, throwing for 741 yards on the season with six touchdown passes and no interceptions.
The real strength for the Ram offense lies in their dynamic rushing attack, which features a trio of running backs that have all rushed for at least 190 yards and one touchdown a piece. Jalen Dupree highlights the group with 429 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 83 carries. Lloyd Avant paces Dupree with 328 yards and three touchdowns on 57 carries, while the third option of Justin Marshall has rushed for 192 yards on 29 carries but does feature the longest run of the three with a 73 yard touchdown scamper.
Overall, the Ram offense sits just one place above the Cowboys in scoring offense and one place below the Cowboys in total offense amongst Mountain West teams.
Linebacker Owen Long highlights the Ram defense, as he has tallied an astounding 93 total tackles on the season, which ranks amongst the top in the nation amongst any defensive position. Defensive end Jace Bellah has also recorded a team-high three interceptions.
Cowboys Have New Offensive Playcaller
Following a puzzling fourth quarter leading to a 24-21 loss against a then 1-5 Air Force team on the road, Sawvel has made the decision to demote offensive coordinator Jay Johnson, with play calling duties shifting to wide receivers coach Jovon Bouknight.
“This was not something I was looking forward to. In that, I felt like at this time we needed to do something to give ourselves a jolt offensively,” Sawvel said of the decision. “Sometimes, a new voice and a change in voice can help. We were in a spot right now where that was needed.”
A pair of untimely interceptions in the second half, including a questionable play call to throw the ball with tight end Evan Svoboda under center on 3rd and goal in a tie game in the fourth quarter were all highlighted as a multitude of unfortunate events that led to a 24-21 setback at Air Force just a few days ago. However, it wasn’t that specific contest that has led to this decision–rather, an entire body of work.
About last night…
— mason riding (@ridingmason) October 19, 2025
Here are some of my thoughts on an absolutely disastrous road loss to Air Force that now drops the Cowboys to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the Mountain West.
For the record, they aren't very positive.
⬇️⬇️⬇️https://t.co/xguG2kt7Cf
“I think what happens is it’s a cumulative body of work,” Sawvel said. “I’ve got an expectation in this program that we play very well on defense, we play very well on offense and we play very well on special teams.”
Johnson previously served as an offensive coordinator at Michigan State before his tenure in Laramie, where he was awarded the Broyles Award for the top assistant coach in the nation in 2021. Johnson also served as an offensive analyst for Georgia in 2017 and 2018, aiding the Bulldogs on their way to an appearance in the national championship game in 2018.
Despite those accomplishments and accolades, the Cowboy offense has struggled tremendously under Johnson through his two seasons as the offensive coordinator. The Cowboys currently rank amongst the bottom three teams in the Mountain West in total offense, scoring offense, touchdowns scored and pass efficiency.
Those numbers haven’t improved much at all from a season ago when the Cowboys finished 11th in both total and scoring offense.
“I felt like, to some degree, our talent this year offensively was outmatching our production,” Sawvel said. “A year ago, I couldn’t necessarily say that. We had a beat-up offensive line, we weren’t near where we needed to be at receiver and some other things.
“In this year, I could look at it and say that our production hasn’t matched what the expectation of what the talent level is, and so we made that adjustment.”
Wide receivers coach Jovon Bouknight–who only just joined the offensive staff in the previous offseason–will now oversee the offensive play calling, with some play calling experience coming from his time at Utah State where he coached as a co-offensive coordinator and passing game coordinator amongst other roles for around 10 years.
“Obviously he’s very passionate, very fiery, very direct. I think that our players will respond well to that,” Sawvel said. “When I told him and informed him of the move I was going to make, he didn’t have a step back or a hesitation about what this was either.”
Johnson still remains on the staff at this time, though his role has shifted to an offensive analyst.
Rams Head Coach Jay Norvell Relieved of Duties
The Rams have also made coaching changes ahead of the Border War matchup this weekend, though much more drastic in nature.
We have made a change in football leadership.
— Colorado State Rams 🐏 (@CSURams) October 19, 2025
📝 https://t.co/4Q99dx0n9u pic.twitter.com/4CjfHCaM2J
The firing of Rams’ head coach Jay Norvell was officially announced Sunday, as Norvell’s Rams have struggled to a 2-5 start to the season. Norvell had an 18-26 record while serving as the head coach in Fort Collins. Despite finding success with an 8-5 record a season ago, Norvell struggled to replicate that this season. The Rams’ defensive coordinator, Tyson Summers, now serves as the interim head coach.
Regardless of the coaching change, the Cowboys’ gameplan and preparation will see little changes ahead of the rivalry matchup.
“All you can do is go off what you see and obviously, with Coach Summers being the head coach now, we would not expect anything to change from them defensively for what they do,” Sawvel said.
