Turning point, unsung hero and what’s next for UW football

FORT COLLINS, Colo., -- Tommy Maher giveth. Tommy Maher scoreth.

Colorado State's freshman wide receiver handed Wyoming a precious gift just before halftime, fumbling the end-around exchange from quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi. A clean handoff surely would've tacked six more points on the board.

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The Rams were on the brink of making Border War rival Wyoming pay for a failed fourth-down attempt on the wrong side of the 50-yard line.

Instead, senior defensive end DeVonne Harris scooped up the loose change.

Disaster averted.

Turns out, it was just disaster delayed.

Jay Johnson's offense, trailing by just 14, would get a crack at cutting into that seemingly-insurmountable lead on the initial drive of the third quarter. That unit instead squandered that golden opportunity in the span of 2:35. It wasted a 25-yard pitch and catch from Kaden Anderson to Jaylen Sargent.

It again couldn't pick up a third-down conversion. The Cowboys finished 3-of-14 in that all-important department.

CSU wasted little time dropping the hammer.

After a 32-yard burst from senior running back Avery Morrow, Fowler-Nicolosi connected with Maher, who hauled in a perfectly placed 53-yard touchdown strike, sending the 36,000-plus in attendance inside Canvas Stadium into a frenzy.

“He’s just really worked hard and he just shows a natural feel for route running," CSU head coach Jay Norvell said of that deep corner pattern that gave his team a 24-3 lead. "That’s not an easy route that he ran. When Tory (Horton) went down -- we used to do a lot of things with Tory -- other players have kind of been auditioning to do a lot of the things we used to do with Tory.

"Tommy can really run that route.”

He sure can.

The 5-foot-10, 170-pound California product had zero resistance off the line and darted straight past Wyoming nickel corner Wrook Brown, who could only flail at the ball as Maher crossed the white stripe.

"I think that, at times, it was we defeated ourselves on certain things," Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel said. "Look, we didn't get off enough blocks inside, at times, to start the second half. That was the most disappointing one."

The visitors would force five punts on the Rams' final six possessions of the night. Placekicker Jordan Noyes added a miss from 57 yards out early in the fourth.

Wyoming, despite being the beneficiary in the field-position battle (Averaged the 32-yard line in eight second-half drives), managed just one touchdown -- a 1-yard run from Anderson -- and a grand total of 156 yards.

"Of all my years playing football, it's probably the toughest loss I've had," a dejected Anderson said postgame. "Personally, that hurt. That hurt a lot."

Colorado State 24, Wyoming 10

UNSUNG HERO

DeVonne Harris has been gutting it out.

The senior edge rusher, who Friday night played in his fifth Border War, suffered a severe elbow injury in the season opener at Arizona State. This wasn't just a hyper-extension, this was real damage. Still, the eccentric 6-foot-4, 235-pound Minnesota native found a way back on the field.

Harris tallied a season-high six tackles against the Rams. One of those came behind the line of scrimmage. Three very solo stops. He gobbled up that fumble at the goal line just before the half, too.

Wyoming was without defensive ends Braden Siders and Sabastian Harsh for this 116th meeting between these hated rivals. Harris stepped up -- again.

He was in no mood postgame, though, to celebrate anything.

"It stings," he said. "It stings to lose the last one. "We're going to come back Monday and get ready for Boise and try to finish the year out strong."

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"As a coach, it’s incredibly satisfying. I keep reflecting back to my own college days. Our football team reminds me of my college years at Iowa where our guys just fought for each other. They did not care who got the credit. They weren’t worried about stats. They just wanted to not let their teammates down. That’s rare in football right now."

-- CSU head coach Jay Norvell speaking to the local media after his first victory over Wyoming since arriving in Fort Collins in 2022

"It was just kind of a weird look. There was a lot of people over there, and I thought I was getting pressure. I shouldn't have checked it. It was just a beginner's mistake, you know? I gotta be better."

-- Wyoming QB Kaden Anderson talking about changing the play to a run on a 3rd-and-6 at the 50-yard line with 2:36 remaining in the third quarter. Running back Sam Scott was stopped for no gain and the Cowboys were forced to punt

"It's the worst feeling of my life. I just feel terrible, you know? I let Bert (Jordan Bertagnole), Connor (Shay), Shae (Suiaunoa), just all seniors. That's the last time playing against these guys and, I mean, as you guys can see, they're 6-3 and they just rushed the field beating us. We were 2-7. I mean, this rivalry means so much and I just feel absolutely terrible. I feel like I let those guys down. It's tough to look at them in the face because you want everybody to go out the right way, as a senior."

-- Wyoming offensive guard Jack Walsh on his emotions following the Border War loss in Fort Collins

"It's a hard lesson for a lot of people to learn in the program. I feel for our seniors, because we've had that boot for three straight years. We don't have it now. To the underclass players, I would just say, Hey, you look across the field and see what that looked like because you're going to see it all off season in the weight room. You're going to see it all off season in everything we do. We got to get a lot better at a lot of things."

-- Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel, referring to CSU players running to the visiting sideline to snag the Bronze Boot, a coveted traveling trophy that goes to the winner of this game

WHAT'S NEXT?

Boise State's Ashton Jeanty and his Heisman campaign will roll into town next Saturday for the home finale inside War Memorial Stadium. The 5-foot-9, 215-pound junior has rushed for 1,734 yards and found the end zone an eye-popping 23 times for the 8-1 Broncos. Need a little perspective? Wyoming's offense, as a whole, has scored 25 times this fall. Jeanty even has a receiving touchdown. Spencer Danielson's team averages nearly 270 yards on the ground per game. That ranks second in college football. Wyoming's defense, a unit that has given up 660 rushing yards over the last eight quarters alone, sits at No. 117 out of 133 FBS teams, allowing 201.2 an outing. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. and the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.