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Colorado v. Wyoming: “T.I.P.S.” for Buffs v. Cowboys
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The flagship schools from the states of Wyoming and Colorado are only 124 miles apart.
Despite the proximity, the football teams for these respective schools have only met on the gridiron 27 times (for comparison’s sake: CU has played CSU 93 times). The Buffs and Cowboys have only played once in the 21st century (2009), and only five times in the past 50 years.
Perhaps it’s because CU leads the series, 24-2-1.
The Buffs are 13.5-point favorites over the Pokes, and desperately need to have the lopsided series to continue.
Will Coach Prime have his team ready to play? Can the Buffs take advantage of its last best opportunity to get things right before Big 12 play begins in earnest?
Let’s find out …
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“T.I.P.S” for Colorado v. Wyoming – Saturday, 8:15 p.m., MT, ESPN
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T – Talent
Wyoming finished its first year under new head coach Jay Sawvel with a 3-9 record, ranked 103rd in the nation in both total offense and total defense.
While there was a significant overhaul of the Cowboy roster during the off-season, Sawvel felt he kept a strong base of returning players: “I had a top ten list when we came out of the season in December. we have nine of those players off the top ten list that are still here in Wyoming”.
One of those players was quarterback Kaden Anderson, who was the starter late last season before missing the final game with a concussion. This fall, Anderson, along with the rest of the Wyoming offense, is off to a slow start. Anderson is 48-of-82 for 535 yards through three games, with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Almost half of Anderson’s completions have been to one wide receiver, Chris Durr, Jr., who has 17 receptions for 284 yards and two scores. The Cowboys do have a quality tight end (seemingly always a problem for the CU defense), John Michael Gylienborg, who has eight receptions in the first three games, going for 84 yards and a touchdown.
Wyoming has three running backs with over 100 yards rushing to date, led by Sam Scott, who has 44 carries for 203 yards and a touchdown (for comparison’s stake, CU has one running back, Simeon Price, with over 100 yards rushing – 135).
While Wyoming has had difficulty scoring so far this season (15.7 points per game; 119th nationally, after averaging 19.3 points per game last season), the Cowboy defense has been stout. In the first ten quarters of this season, the Wyoming defense surrendered … ten points.
True, Wyoming opened with (now 0-3) Akron and FCS Northern Iowa, giving up a total of seven points through the first two games, the Cowboys also held Utah to only three points in the first half their game last Saturday. (Okay, the Utes did contribute to their low first half point total by missing two field goals and fumbling the ball away at the Wyoming four-yard line … but still).
It’s all new for the Wyoming defense, with only one returning starter from last season, but, at least until the second half of the Utah game, when the Cowboys gave up four touchdowns in four second half possessions to the Utes, the defense had been playing well. For a CU offense which has had its own share of struggles, a defense playing with confidence is never welcome.
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I – Intangibles
Chips on their shoulders … While Wyoming players may not have the same vitriol and animus towards Colorado that players for Colorado State may have, there are almost two dozen players on the Cowboy roster who played their high school ball in the state of Colorado. It would be fair to say that many of these ex-pat players – who likely didn’t receive offers from the University of Colorado – will come to Boulder with something to prove. Or, at the very least, they will want to play well for local family and friends making the trip to Folsom for the game.
Plus, even if the players don’t have any particular dislike for Colorado or Boulder, there will still be incentive for Wyoming to play well against Colorado.
The future of the Wyoming football program is very much in doubt. Not only are the Cowboys galaxies removed from consideration in any Power Four realignment, they are now stuck being in a conference which will be losing most of its star power after this season. Five current members of the Mountain West Conference – Colorado State; Boise State; Fresno State; San Diego State, Utah State – will be joining Texas State, Oregon State and Washington State in the new “Pac-12”. Wyoming was left on the outside looking in in the latest round of realignment, and will be left to compete with the likes Air Force, New Mexico, Nevada, Hawai’i and UTEP for the Mountain West title … and sparse television revenue.
While taking out their frustrations later this season against the likes of Colorado State is a Wyoming priority this fall, a win over a Power Four conference school in front of a national television audience on ESPN would be a considerable feather in the Cowboys’ hats … a victory to savor before they head back to Laramie and college football obscurity.
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Chips on their shoulders, Part II … As much as the Cowboys have to prove on Saturday night, the CU players may have as much or more at stake. The Buffs not only need to win, they need to prove to the nation, the Big 12, and themselves that the Houston game was an aberration.
“We’re not struggling, we don’t need that escape”, Coach Prime stated after the loss to Houston when asked if the team was struggling. “You don’t have to be polite with me. You don’t have to sugarcoat it. We got our butts kicked. We’re not successful on either side of the ball as we wished to be”.
This is CU’s last chance to get it right. After Wyoming, the Buffs play BYU (2-0), TCU (2-0), Iowa State (4-0), and Utah (3-0).
Wyoming is CU’s final “preseason” game. Get it right now … or it’s going to be a long October.
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P – Preparation/Schedule
Friday Night Lights … The Buffs played Houston on Friday night; the Cowboys played Utah on Saturday night. With the “relatively” early finish of the Houston game (9:17 p.m., MT), the Buffs were able to get home Friday night, and actually held practice on Saturday.
And then, hopefully, the Buffs and the coaching staff were glued to their televisions Saturday night, watching Wyoming play Utah. With a game against Utah is CU’s not too distant past (the teams met in mid-November last season), the CU coaching staff should have been familiar with what the Utes were running, and able to note what was being successful against the Cowboys, and what was not.
Yes, the Wyoming coaches were likely watching some of the CU/Houston game on Friday night, but, with the Utah game less than 24 hours away, it would have been difficult to do too much game-planning for the Buffs.
Not a huge advantage this early in the season, but any extra day to heal and prepare is a good day.
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Injury reports … This entry will be a fixture here on the website once we get to Big 12 conference play. But … The Wyoming game is the last non-conference game, so no injury reports will be issued this week. Check back next week for the ongoing saga of the players listed as “Out”; “Doubtful”; “Questionable”; and “Available”.
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Wanting the Sunshine … Not a fan of late night games? Neither is Coach Prime.
“We normally get our butts kicked at night”, Coach Prime said after the Houston game. “Maybe because we’re morning practice team, maybe because when we even try to implement and change the schedule, schedule to accommodate the young men to flip their bodies the time table, and their sleep patterns and all of that, we try to do everything we can to accommodate what’s going on, because we can’t place blame on what time the darn game is. They playing the same during time we play, they just get the upper hand first.”
Hopefully, the Buffs will get things figured out, as next weekend’s game against BYU is also an 8:15 p.m., MT, ESPN game.
(Side Note … If you hear anyone bitching this week about the scheduling of the BYU game being because CU is not doing well on the field, make a mental note to ignore anything that fan tells you in the future. If they are anything close to being a CU “expert”, they would know that the BYU game was scheduled for a late night kickoff back in May. Anyone who has looked at the CU schedule anytime in the past four months, whether to make plans to attend games, check out how the season might play out, or just have a general curiosity about the team and which Big 12 teams were on the 2025 calendar, would have noticed that the BYU game was already scheduled for an 8:15 p.m., MT, kickoff).
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S – Statistics
Kick Return Defense … What a difference a week makes. Last week, CU was 11-for-11 in kickoffs going for touchbacks. That meant that the Buffs had allowed zero yards in kick returns, tying the Buffs for No. 1 in the nation in kick return defense (thank you, Buck Buchanan). Now, after allowing one kickoff return against Houston (for 21 yards, which you would think is not too bad), Colorado is now 89th in the nation in kick return defense. Sigh.
Still, last season, Colorado had 76 kickoffs … with only 15 of those making it to the end zone. So far this season, CU has 13 touchbacks, which is nice.
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CU’s rushing defense is offensive … Last season, Kent State was last in the nation in rushing defense, giving up 264.9 yards per game. Against Georgia Tech, the Colorado defense surrendered 320 yards rushing. That was good enough to rank CU 132nd out of 134 teams nationally.
After giving up only 84 yards rushing to Delaware, CU’s rushing defense average was down to 202.0 yards per game … 121st nationally. After giving up 209 yards rushing to Houston, the Buffs’ averaged slipped to 204.3 yards per game, 123rd in the nation.
Stay tuned to this spot in the “T.I.P.S.”, as we chronicle CU’s season-long effort to get its rushing defense ranking back to respectability.
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Prediction …
Early season numbers can result in misleading assumptions, as in, “The Wyoming defense only allowed 10 total points in the first 10 quarters of the 2025 season”.
That sounds impressive, and it’s not a number to be completely ignored. But using results against Akron and Northern Iowa are not the same as using results against teams from the same states as Wyoming’s first two opponents, like, say Ohio State and Iowa State.
Wyoming only presents a problem to Colorado … if the Buffs allow it to. On paper, there is nothing about the Wyoming team – recent past; present; or near future – which suggests that Colorado should not win this game, and win handily.
That being said, if the Buffs start out against the Cowboys the way Utah did last weekend – field goal; missed field goal; missed field goal; punt; fumble (at the Wyoming four-yard line); missed field goal – they might not have the confidence to finish the way the Utes did in the second half – touchdown; touchdown; touchdown; touchdown.
I’m anticipating a game in which the offenses frustrate the fans of both teams. In the end, though, I’m seeing the Buffs’ overall edge in talent proving sufficient to allow fans to leave Folsom satisfied with a win …
Prediction … Colorado 27, Wyoming 13
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2025 Predictions (1-2 Straight up; 1-2 Against the spread) …
- Colorado 27, Georgia Tech 23 … Actual: Georgia Tech 27, Colorado 20
- Colorado 38, Delaware 13 … Actual: Colorado 31, Delaware 7
- Colorado 24, Houston 20 … Actual: Houston 36, Colorado 20
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2024 Predictions … (Straight up: 10-3; Against the Spread: 10-3) …
2023 Predictions … (Straight up: 8-4; Against the Spread: 7-5) …
2022 Predictions … (Straight up: 10-2; Against the Spread: 9-3) …
2021 Predictions … (Straight up: 9-3; Against the Spread: 7-5) …
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6 Replies to ““T.I.P.S.” for CU v. Wyoming”
I SEE REALLY, REALLY GOOD OFFENSIVE SCHEMES FROM OUR OPPONENTS….OR, PERHAPS THEY JUST KNOW WHERE OUR WEAKNESSES ARE….OR, BOTH.
I HAVE YET TO SEE GOOD CONSISTENT OFFENSIVE SCHEMES FROM OUR BUFFS….ONCE IN AWHILE IS ALL. THE OPPOSITION SEEMS TO TAKE 2 RECEIVERS TO CLEAR OUT OUR DEFENSIVE LB’S AND CORNERS THEN BRING A R.B. BEHIND THEM (IN THE CLEAR) TO RECEIVE A SWING PASS… AND IT KILLS US EVERY TIME.
ON DEFENSE…. (IS THAT WHAT IT’S CALLED?) WE TACKLE LIKE A BUNCH OF FIRST GRADERS. IF LIVINGSTON IS THE DEFENSIVE GURU, WHERE ARE THE RESULTS ?
I FEEL LIKE A “NAYSAYER.”
COLOR ME DOUBTFUL….. BUT, C.U. 24 – WYO 21…. IT’S ABOUT AS MUCH OPTIMISM I CAN SQUEEZE OUT OF MY CRYSTAL BALL.
I’m hoping “they” create some decent RPO’s for Salter. We have a running QB that has no blocking on designated runs now. Seems like we get shredded by opponents running QBs and we cant spring ours loose.
Here is hoping the D was shamed enough to give it the “old College try.” Remembering that the OLD college try was one w/o being paid to wave as they go by.
The WY D against the Buff’s O
hmmmm
Buffaloeswire rated the Utah O line the best in the conference….but then they also rated the Buffs at number 7
more hmmmm
I never vetted this but one of the announcers in one of this year’s Buff games said the Buff O line averaged 350 lbs. Seaton aside, how big is too big to move quickly and efficiently?… like pulling, blocking at the second level and any other blocking scheme other than straight ahead?
Like the Delaware game, where they gave all 3 QBs a shot, this should have been another one to try a new new wrinkles on offense but, not being Charlie Brown, I’m sure they will use the same ol stuff in an effort to overpower the cowboys. Another loss would be devastating. Speaking of effort, that will be they key on the field. If they can dominate then maybe they will game a lot more confidence
Weird season so far for sure. CU probably have the personnel to turn things around, but the question remains whether the coaching and motivation are there. This could go either way…a win over Wyoming, and maybe a decent year, or a choke job against Wyoming, complete collapse, Sanders losing the locker room, and the outward transfer of guys like Seaton, Lewis, etc.
WOW, the line is -13.5, don’t see it. Hope they bet the spread, but hope has led us astray before. Close and a struggle….
Before reading your prediction will put in my guesstimate.
Not seeing what Vegas does at all if still -7.5, and think the struggle will be season long
CU-27
WYO-24
** If the game was in Laramie I think I would’ve reversed this
ATS 1-2, SU 2-1