LARAMIE, Wyo.—Good luck finding a Colorado State fan who feels bad for Wyoming, or vice versa.
As both football teams have trudged through a season that can’t end soon enough, certainly Cowboys and Rams have found solace in knowing the team on the wrong side of the state line isn’t doing so hot either.
But there’s one thing Cowboys and Rams can come together about, a similar hardship the two teams have shared, one that without a doubt helped lead to the undesirable spot their seasons sit now.
Both Colorado State (2-6, 1-3 Mountain West) and Wyoming (1-7, 0-4) have had trouble keeping their most important players on the field. Both have experienced season-changing injuries to game-changing quarterbacks.
“There are not a lot of places in the country that are going to be as efficient when their backup is in at quarterback,” Wyoming coach Dave Christensen said.
Wyoming’s struggles this season have certainly not been helped by the head injuries to its sophomore quarterback Brett Smith. Twice Smith has been kept out of entire games due to blows to the head. He also missed the pivotal moments of the fourth quarter during a game UW lost to Toledo.
“He’s missed a lot of opportunities where he would have been in at the end of the game for us in a two-minute situation,” Christensen tells the Casper Star-Tribune (). “He’s frustrated, because he’s such a great, great competitor. I just remind him to stay positive.”
Colorado State can relate. The Rams’ starting quarterback, sophomore Garrett Grayson, broke his collarbone in the fifth game of the season, a loss to Air Force. He hasn’t played since. Backup quarterback M.J. McPeek filled in, until he injured a shoulder as well in a game against San Diego State. Jim McElwain’s team has most recently been led by third-string reserve Conner Smith.
Trying to win games without starters is a hardship the rivals share. It’s also one both teams seem close to putting behind them. Wyoming’s Smith has started the past two games for the Pokes, and played without further symptoms of concussions. Both Grayson and McPeek practiced this week for the Rams.
McElwain said both will do their best to be ready to play, but added that he expects Conner Smith to start.
The wiggle room has left UW unsure of who the team will face Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium. Instead of Grayson, McPeek or Conner Smith, the Pokes’ defense must preparing for all three.
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Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune,
