Wyoming Head Coach: ‘This is What College Sports is All About’
LARAMIE -- One head coach showed up in a polo shirt, khakis and with a prepared speech.
The other?
Well, let's just say the former sports commentator and NFL head coach was a man of few words. Like, six of them, to be specific.
"Go Rams, bring home the boot," Jim Mora said Friday at the Wyoming-Colorado border on Highway 287, wearing gym shorts and sporting a whistle around his neck.
This is Mora's first game as the head coach at CSU.
Jay Sawvel also brought that aforementioned "boot" with him from Laramie. The Cowboys' third-year head coach, grasping the official game ball with both hands, talked about what an honor it is to be part of a rivalry that dates back to 1899.
"Two great states, two great universities, 66 miles a part," he said, in part, adding this is his seventh tilt with the Rams as a coach at UW. "This is what college sports is all about. This is what I wish our country was all about. It's just an honor to be a part of this. There have been so many great players, so many great coaches.
"Our job and our goal every time that we take part in this is we want to represent the University of Wyoming and the state of Wyoming the best we can."
CSU fans and boosters gathered on the south side of the border. Wyoming supporters, obviously, to the north. The rare intermingling only seemed to take place between the respective cheer squads, mascots and handlers of the live versions.
Wyoming ROTC members ran the game ball 26 miles from War Memorial Stadium to the border Friday where they handed it off to their counterparts from CSU.
Sawvel and Mora shook hands and made small talk. John Weber, the director of athletics in Fort Collins, took center stage after Mora's brief statement, calling the annual Border War the "best tradition in college football."
"I can't wait to see all of you down at Canvas Stadium and proud to keep this rivalry going," he continued.
The Cowboys and Rams Saturday will meet for the 118th time in history. CSU holds a 60-52-5 edge in the all-time series, but Wyoming has a 32-26 lead since the Bronze Boot was introduced into the rivalry back in 1968.
Sawvel's Cowboys blanked the Rams 28-0 in last year's meeting in Laramie.
Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game will be televised on USA Network.
Check out some photos from today's ceremony:
Border War: Wyoming Cowboys vs. Colorado State Rams
Gallery Credit: Cody Tucker photos