Pokes Football: Best of Colorado – No. 16
LARAMIE -- No other state has been more of a recruiting hotbed for the University of Wyoming than Colorado.
This list will prove that.
Numerous UW Hall of Famers, NFL stars and program record holders began their football journey in that square to the south. The Cowboys' top rival, Colorado State, overlooked plenty of these guys. So did CU. Air Force even whiffed a time or two.
Some just flat out picked Laramie over Fort Collins, Boulder and Colorado Springs.
This summer, with the help of some longtime Wyoming football followers, we will count down the Top 25 Colorado products in program history. As always, what these guys did in professional football doesn't matter. This is all about production in Laramie.
No. 16A - Gabe Knapton
Defensive end, 2008-11, Mead, Colorado
No. 16B - Dominic Rufran
Wide receiver, 2011-14, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Knapton Résumé in Laramie
Gabe Knapton capped his decorated career in Laramie with 368 tackles, which at the time was fifth in school history. Now, he sits in seventh overall thanks to some eye-popping numbers from Andrew Wingard and Logan Wilson. As a senior, Knapton was named second-team All-Mountain West. He was an honorable mention a year prior. His 18 tackles as a freshman against UNLV is still tied for seventh most in program history. His three-sack performance against New Mexico in 2010 is still the fifth most in a single game at UW. The Mead, Colo. native registered 22.5 tackles for loss, which is 10th in the record books. Knapton appeared in two bowl games during his time as a Cowboy, both in New Mexico. The first, in 2009, resulted in a 35-28 overtime victory over Fresno State. Knapton and crew will always be remembered for a goal-line stand that saw future first-round draft pick Ryan Mathews fail to cross the white stripe on four consecutive snaps. After going undrafted in 2012, Knapton joined the Colorado Ice of the Indoor Football League. He then headed north, where he put together a six-year career in the Canadian Football League.
Rufran Résumé in Laramie
Dominic Rufran caught 203 passes in his four-year career in Laramie. That's still fifth most in school history. He also racked up 2,487 receiving yards, mainly from quarterback Brett Smith, which lands him seventh all-time. Rufran still owns the school record for catching a pass in 49 consecutive games, two better than UW great Jovon Bouknight. He also snagged 15 touchdown passes for the Cowboys, including three in a blowout win over visiting Idaho. Against Nebraska earlier in the season, Rufran hauled in 11 passes for a game-high 120 yards as the Pokes narrowly fell to the Huskers in Lincoln, 37-34. Rufran stepped immediately into the starting lineup as a true freshman in 2011. He began his career with a bang, racking up 100 all-purpose yards in the first two games against Weber State and Texas State.
About Mead
A town of less than 5,000 residents, Mead sits just 43 miles north of Denver on Interstate 25. A little town with a big future is the motto and the film Die Hard 2 used locations in Mead during filming.
About Colorado Springs
Nestled in the shadows of Pikes Peak, Colorado Springs is a military town, home of the U.S. Space Command, NORAD headquarters, the Air Force Academy and much more. Colorado's second-most populated city is believed to be the home of 45,000-plus active-duty troops and more than 100,000 veterans. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Center is also in Colorado Springs.
Pokes Football: Best of Colorado series:
Pokes Football: Best of Wyoming series
(Cody Tucker and Jared Newland both work for Townsquare Media, which owns 7220sports.com. Kevin McKinney has been a color commentator of Cowboy football for five decades. Ryan Thorburn now works for the University of Wyoming in a sports information role after spending decades in the newspaper industry, most recently at the Casper Star-Tribune. Sally Ann Shurmur, the daughter of former UW football coach Fritz Shurmur, is also a veteran of the newspaper industry, working as a journalist, columnist at the CST for 43 years. She currently writes for Cowboy State Daily.)
University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players
Gallery Credit: 7220Sports.com
- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players
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