Colorado State

2-0
Latest
Washington State vs. Kansas State (Sep 12, 2026) Live Score - ESPNour readThe Wyoming rivalry

Pac-12 · Jim Mora, year 1 (2-0) · Canvas Stadium · 36,500 · 38,147 avg in 2026

The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#79 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #98 (-7.5) · FPI #90
The marketBYU by 17.5vs BYU · our model 22% Colorado State · a number, not a pick

LastW 58–24 vs Southern Utah · Sat Sep 12 · Hauss Hejny 325 pass yds, 4 TD, 1 INT

Nextvs BYU · Sat Sep 19 · 7:30 pm ET · Canvas Stadium · BYU by 17.5 · series 27-39-3, lost the last 7 · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

Zeitgeist statureRegional Program IV#161 all-time– holding
The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 60-81 12 seasons
Best season 10-3 2014
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 10-3 '15 7-6 '16 7-6 '17 7-6 '18 3-9 '19 4-8 '20 — '21 3-9 '22 3-9 '23 5-7 '24 8-5 '25 2-10

Colorado State's 2014–2025 record is 60-81. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Era win %
.425
Ranked seasons (AP)
1/12
Best AP finish
#21

Program outlook

Colorado State earned a Pac-12 invitation to play at the Power-conference level. It then went 2-10 in the Mountain West, fired its head coach mid-October, and walked into the new conference on the worst on-field footing it has had in years. The upgrade arrived at exactly the wrong moment.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

Sonny Lubick's field is named for a reason. From 1993 to 2007, Lubick willed Fort Collins into a program that mattered — six conference titles across the WAC and Mountain West, an 11-2 team in 1997, Joey Porter becoming a Super Bowl champion, ranked finishes that the program still defines itself by. The Doyt Perry equivalent in Fort Collins: a coach who built the only sustained winning era in program history and whose name on the turf is the reminder that it happened once and can happen again. Canvas Stadium opened in 2017 — a sleek on-campus build at the foot of the Rockies, the first dedicated on-campus venue in decades — as a physical statement that the Rams intended to be taken seriously.

Jay Norvell was fired on October 19, 2025 after a 2-5 start, with Tyson Summers finishing the year as interim. The final record was 2-10, 1-7 in the Mountain West — the program's worst in years and a humiliating curtain call for its final MW season before the Pac-12 move. Jim Mora was hired to lead the reset, a credentialed NFL-pedigree coach charged with making the Pac-12 leap feel earned rather than premature.

The 2026 question in Fort Collins is the starkest possible version of the program's ongoing chip: can the Rams prove the Pac-12 move was based on trajectory rather than optimism? Colorado State hasn't won a conference title since 2002. Mora's first team enters the Pac-12 without a recent winning season to point to. The Rocky Mountain Showdown against Colorado is the annual measuring stick, and right now the Buffaloes have the cameras and the buzz. The Rams need wins before they get the conversation.

On the field

Hard-nosed, trench-first football is the Lubick-era inheritance — defense, toughness, the chip of being overlooked in its own state. Mora's background is NFL defensive structure and professional-level accountability; the expectation is a physical reset, emphasis on run game and line development, a departure from the more pass-first approaches that didn't produce results. Canvas Stadium's mountain setting and capacity give the Rams a legitimate home-field case; the roster needs to justify the venue.

program outlook · as of 2026-06-14

All-time record · Colorado State

Colorado State has won 46% of its games since 1902 — 53% at home, 39% on the road.

545-617-32 all-time · 123 seasons · 1902–2026

Home 288-230-22
Away 239-366-10
Neutral 18-21
32% 1900s
48% 1910s
69% 1920s
40% 1930s
52% 1940s
50% 1950s
31% 1960s
42% 1970s
32% 1980s
62% 1990s
50% 2000s
44% 2010s
36% 2020s

Coaching Era · Colorado State

Jim Mora

Jim Mora took over from Tyson Summers (interim) for the 2026 season.

Era Jim Mora · 2026–presentPrev: Tyson Summers (interim) (2025)OC: Pryce TracyPrev OC: Matt Mumme (2022–2025)DC: Tyson Summers / co-Kenny McClendonPrev DC: Tyson Summers (2025)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
1 year · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

1997 Holiday Bowl season

An 11-2 Lubick team and a New Year's-tier bowl trip — the program's high-water mark

2017

Canvas Stadium opens

The on-campus stadium finally gives the Rams a real home and a recruiting pitch

Norvell fired mid-2025

A 2-5 start in the final MW season triggers the firing, capping a 2-10 year

Wound

Moment of the season — so far · Colorado State · 2026

Won 35-13 vs Wyoming

Week 1 of 2026. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight.

Decisive Margin

NFL Draft Pipeline

2022–2025

Colorado State has sent 3 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — none in the first round.

Developing. Pipeline emerging.

3 picks · 0 in round 1
#55 Trey McBride Tight End · 2022 · Arizona · #1/119 final season
#158 Mohamed Kamara Defensive Edge · 2024 · Miami · #3/418 final season
#166 Tory Horton Wide Receiver · 2025 · Seattle · #12/497 final season
#77 all-time · 5 first-round picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 2-0

Colorado State is 2-0 and unranked in the season's first weeks.

Even or better through the season's first weeks. The resume is still forming.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Jim Mora2026
  • Hired Tyson Summers (interim)2025
  • Jay Norvell departs18-26, 4 seasons
  • Tyson Summers departs (interim)0-5, 1 season
  • Hired Jay Norvell2022
  • Steve Addazio departs4-12, 2 seasons
  • Hired Steve Addazio2020
  • Mike Bobo departs28-35, 5 seasons
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

Colorado State’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014 · Dave Baldwin (interim)2015–2017 · Will Friend2018–2019 · Dave Johnson2020 · Joey Lynch2021 · Jon Budmayr2022–2025 · Matt Mumme2026 · Pryce Tracy
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014 · co-Marty English / co-Al Simmons2015 · Tyson Summers2016–2017 · Marty English2018–2019 · John Jancek2020–2021 · Chuck Heater2022–2024 · Freddie Banks2025 · Tyson Summers2026 · Tyson Summers / co-Kenny McClendon
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

Sonny Lubick Era (1993-2007)

since 1993

more

Sonny Lubick's 1993-2007 tenure produced the program's all-time peaks — 1994 10-2 + #16 AP, 1997 11-2 + Holiday Bowl championship + #16 AP. Multiple Mountain West (then WAC) championships + sustained competitive cycles. Lubick's age-66 retirement after 2007 closed the era. The football complex is named for him.

Canvas Stadium 2017 Opening

since 2017

more

Canvas Stadium (built 2017) — Colorado State's first dedicated on-campus stadium since 1968 — replaced decades at Hughes Stadium. The 41,000 capacity + on-campus location + Fort Collins Front Range setting + corporate naming-rights modernity create a venue distinct from larger flagship-state programs.

Rocky Mountain Showdown (vs Colorado)

since 1893

more

Colorado State-Colorado plays the Rocky Mountain Showdown — first played 1893, paused intermittently. The In-State Front Range rivalry crosses MW vs Big 12 conference lines. The Rocky Mountains backdrop + the altitude angle + the CFB-bicycle-trophy create a venue tradition unique to Colorado-region football.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2014-2024): 0-5

Most recent: 2024 — loss 17-43 (home). Last 5 postseason: 0-5.

20242017201620152014
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

523
[Postgame Thread] South Dakota State Defeats Colorado State 42-23
Sep 2021 · r/cfb

All-time top community posts · ranked by upvotes

This page may include content derived from public news sources, social media, and fan communities. We relay these sources as-is — we are not reporting them. Sources may be summarized or quoted imperfectly; for anything that matters, go look at the original source directly. The original source may also be wrong. AI-generated content is labeled and may contain factual errors. All analysis is editorial opinion, not professional reporting. Data sources · About this site