The first game of the season is supposed to ease a team in. This one does no such thing. Jim Mora’s Colorado State debut comes with Wyoming Football, the Border War, and a rivalry that has been grinding away since 1899. That is not a soft landing. That is a test with teeth.
Colorado State and Wyoming meet for the 188th time on Saturday, but this opening-day clash carries a wrinkle that makes it feel even bigger: the last time the Battle for the Bronze Boot opened a season was 1964. That is the sort of stat that tells you this is not just another rivalry game. It is unusual, old, and loaded with enough history to make even a first-year coach careful about what he says and how he says it.
Mora has heard plenty about it already. He said the rivalry was one of the first things he heard after arriving at Colorado State, and he is clearly not interested in making Saturday about himself. His message is simple: keep the focus on the coaches and, especially, the players. “I don’t think about me,” he said. “I think about our coaches and particularly our players.” That is sensible enough, but in a game like this, it is also a bit of a challenge. A debut always invites noise. A Border War debut invites more.
A rivalry that still knows how to matter
There is a reason this game still carries force. Colorado State and Wyoming are separated by one border and roughly 65 miles, which means bragging rights are not some abstract concept cooked up by marketing departments. Mora said exactly that in his own way, noting the pride communities can take when their team wins this game. He is right. Rivalries like this survive because people care too much to let them fade.
The recent series history also gives Wyoming Football extra bite. Colorado State has won four of the past five meetings and eight of the past 10, and the Rams beat Wyoming 24-10 at Canvas Stadium in 2024. That matters because rivalry games are never just about tradition. They are about current leverage. Right now, Colorado State has it.
That is what makes Saturday tricky for Wyoming. It is not just walking into a hostile rivalry game. It is walking into one against a team with recent confidence in the matchup and a new head coach trying to set the tone immediately. Mora said the best way to avoid the ups and downs that can wreck a season is to keep it about “us” and not the noise outside. Again, hard to argue. But the noise will be there anyway.
Jim Mora wants calm. The Border War rarely provides it
Mora has promised consistency in his weekly message: prepare for the opponent, play to the standard, and do not get dragged into things that cannot be controlled. On paper, that is exactly the kind of approach you want from a first-year coach. He is trying to make sure Saturday is about execution rather than emotion, which is a smart place to begin.
Still, the Border War has a way of making simple ideas look complicated. It is the first season opener between the schools in the rivalry since 1964, it is Mora’s CSU debut, and it is a game with history, pride and momentum all tangled together. That is why this opener matters. Win it, and Colorado State gets an immediate statement. Lose it, and the questions start early.
So yes, Mora is right to keep insisting that it is about his team and not about him. But the truth is that Saturday will say plenty about him anyway. That is what first games do. And that is especially true when Wyoming Football is standing on the other sideline, waiting to spoil the mood.
