Redemption: Wyoming Reclaims the Bronze Boot with Statement Shutout over CSU
- Jeff Bugher
- 18 hours ago
- 5 min read
LARAMIE, Wyo. - The Bronze Boot had been in Colorado State's possession for nearly a year. For about 340 days, Wyoming players had to walk past an empty trophy case in the weight room. That emptiness was a daily reminder of Wyoming's 24-10 loss to CSU last November.
The empty trophy case was replaced with something else entirely: redemption.
The Cowboys dominated every phase of the 117th Border War, blanking CSU 28 - 0 in front of a sold-out War Memorial Stadium, all while wearing special all black uniforms with white numbers to celebrate Wyoming’s coal industry.
“I’m really happy for our players, really happy for everybody associated with our program,” head coach Jay Sawvel said postgame. “Really happy for our alumni, really happy for our fans. It’s a great night for the Cowboys.”
Sawvel challenged his team throughout the week he even showed a highlight reel of mistakes from last year’s game to the players. All of this on the heels of a very tough loss to a then 1-5 Air Force team, which had one of the worst defenses in the conference. Then last Sunday, Jovon Bouknight took over offensive coordinator duties from Jay Johnson. Sawvel wanted to make sure he credited his players’ strength through the adversity they’ve faced.
“We’ve got character,” he said. “There’s guys that have a high level of care, high level of character. I knew we’d be ready to play. We didn’t worry about them — we worried about us. For 340 days our players had to look at an empty trophy case in the weight room. Every time they walked in there, they saw where that boot was supposed to be. And it wasn’t. They knew.”
With Jovon Bouknight taking over offensive coordinator duties from the sideline, we observed new plays and creativity, including using quarterback Landon Sims as a rusher, who ran the ball five times and scored a touchdown.
“Landon Sims is a talented player,” he said. “Our staff worked really hard on a good plan for that defense. We said, don’t leave an athlete, don’t leave a stone unturned. Every athlete we got that can help us in a situation, let’s use, and Landon Sims was part of that.”
Was this a redemption game for Sawvel?
“We wanted our players to take this personal,” Sawvel said.
For senior nose tackle Ben Florentine, the coaching staff’s message resonated. The former walk-on who drove across the country from California to walk on at Wyoming without an official visit. Was this a redemption game?
“Absolutely,” Florentine said when asked if it felt like redemption. “As part of the senior class, we wanted to do the best we could to leave our legacy here. To send a message to the guys who played in this game for the first time tonight - what this means to this state. Tonight, we weren’t just defending our home field, we were defending this entire state - and by the scoreboard, they understood it.”
Florentine also reflected on his journey from walk-on to senior leader.
“Being a walk-on has been probably the best motivation I could have had,” he said. “As a younger player, I had nothing to lose, and that’s one of the best positions to be in. From then to now, five years later, it’s done nothing but help me get better every day because I’ve always had that chip on my shoulder.”
Sophomore safety Jones Thomas, a Fort Collins, Colo. native, whose grandfather and father played for the Rams, made a key interception that set up a Wyoming touchdown drive, told us this game carried extra meaning for him.
“Yeah, it was definitely a redemption game because of last year,” Thomas said. “That was a point of emphasis all week - just talking about last year and how it didn’t go how we wanted. We didn’t want this year to repeat that. It was a big redemption game, and it was also redemption for me personally coming from there. They [CSU] didn’t really recruit me at all, so I kind of had something to show.”
As for his first career pick?
“It was a great feeling,” Thomas said. “It brought so much energy to the team… if not for the D-line, I probably wouldn’t have even had that pick. So credit to them.”
Senior center Jack Walsh echoed that same emotion, calling the win both personal and redemption.
“This was definitely personal,” Walsh said. “This was definitely a redemption game for us. The boot belongs in Laramie - it should stay in Laramie forever. Just going back and watching that tape that Coach Sawvel showed us, he definitely wanted to send a message to us, and it did.”
Walsh also praised the offense’s rhythm and creativity under Bouknight.
“I was so proud of all the guys,” he said. “They worked their tails off all night. When you have an offense that can work in unison, it’s pretty fun to watch.”
Sophomore quarterback Kaden Anderson led the offense, which featured an efficient, balanced attack in front of arguably one of the loudest home crowds of his career.
“It is so special…” Anderson said. “The focus all week was to get that boot back and represent the state the right way... That was the most physical I’ve seen Wyoming play in a really long time. That was just so special. A great team win. I’m so happy for the guys.”
“The crowd tonight was unbelievable. I loved it. I loved the energy from the students and the fans. It was awesome. I think it definitely messed them up for sure.”
Resilience and taking back what was theirs…
As the game ended, Wyoming players raced across the field to grab the coveted Bronze Boot high under the lights. It was redemption that finally brought the trophy back.
*Saturday night marked the last time Wyoming would face CSU as conference rivals, as the Rams head to the Pac-12 in July 2026. However, there is an agreement to keep the rivalry going for the most part.
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Jeff Bugher is a third-generation Wyomingite living in Casper. He is a sportswriter and Wyoming Cowboys/Cowgirls enthusiast who is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA ) and the National Sports Media Association (NSMA). Jeff's work has been cited by Sports Illustrated, one of the world's leading sports publications.
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