End of an era: CSU football, CU prepare for final Rocky Mountain Showdown in Denver

DENVER — For college football players at Colorado State and Colorado, there isn’t another game on the schedule like the Rocky Mountain Showdown.

A heated rivalry between two in-state schools of more than 32,000 students apiece, separated by just 45 miles.

Played at an NFL stadium, where half the fans are wearing the colors of each team, cheering loudly for the team they support and jeering the opponent.

“That’s my favorite game,” CSU receiver Warren Jackson said after a practice earlier this week. “It’s very anticipated. I love the drive down, just seeing everybody. CU Buffs giving us the finger from time to time, it’s pretty good. It’s a lovely atmosphere.”

It’s a tradition, usually played on the opening weekend of the college football season, that is coming to an end Aug. 30, when the Rams and Buffs line up against each other at Broncos Stadium at Mile High for the last time.

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“It’s going to be a special night,” CSU quarterback Collin Hill said Thursday at the Front Range Media Huddle and Luncheon at the Blake Street Tavern.

Although the two schools will play again next year and in 2024 in Fort Collins and in 2023 in Boulder, there are no plans for the two schools to ever play again on a neutral field in Denver, where crowds of more than 73,000 turned out for five of the first six matchups.

The crowds have dwindled some in recent years, reaching a low of 57,186 in 2011 before rebounding to 70,158 last year.

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But the excitement, energy and emotion has remained strong, regardless of how each team’s season has ultimately turned out. CSU beat CU in coach Jim McElwain’s debut in 2012 but finished 4-8. And the Rams lost four of the next five Showdowns but finished each of those seasons in bowl games. And only once in those five seasons did CU advance to a bowl game.

So the outcome of the game doesn’t really set the tone for the season, as fans often suggest.

What the Showdown does do, though, is give players on both teams a unique opportunity to get a feel for what it might be like to play at the next level.

“It’s a very fun game to be a part of,” CU quarterback Steven Montez said Thursday, “especially being in an NFL stadium, suiting up in an NFL locker room.

“It’s something that you dream about as a kid, playing in those types of situations and those types of games in those atmospheres.”

Montez, a senior, has never lost to CSU.

CSU’s Jackson and Hill, both juniors, have never beaten the Buffs. Neither has their coach, Mike Bobo.

This is their last shot in Denver, in an atmosphere they say is hard to beat in college football.

CU has won 12 of the 18 games the two schools have played in Denver and 66 of the 90 games they’ve played at all sites.

"I know our kids get excited,” Bobo said. “We’re driving down to Denver, and we see that stadium, Mile High Stadium. You just hear them on the bus, the excitement that kind of generates throughout the bus.

“Then when you walk in there, and it’s game time; it’s 50-50, or close to it (fans pulling for each team). That’s a cool atmosphere to play in.

“… Last time there — we need to go down there and win one of these things since we’re not going to have it at Mile High anymore.”

Rocky Mountain Showdown

(games in Denver)

1998 — CU 42, CSU 14

1999 — CSU 41, CU 14

2000 — CSU 28, CU 24

2001 — CU 41, CSU 14

2002 — CSU 19, CU 14

2003 — CU 42, CSU 35

2006 — CSU 14, CU 10

2007 — CU 31, CSU 28 (OT)

2008 — CU 38, CSU 17

2010 — CU 24, CSU 3

2011 — CU 28, CSU 14

2012 — CSU 22, CU 17

2013 — CU 41, CSU 27

2014 — CSU 31, CU 17

2015 — CU 27, CSU 24 (OT)

2016 — CU 44, CSU 7

2017 — CU 17, CSU 3

2018 — CU 45, CSU 13

Note: Teams played each other in Boulder in 2004-05 and 2009

Kelly Lyell covers CSU and other local sports and sports-related news for the Coloradoan. Follow him at twitter.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news and help support the work he and his fellow journalists do in our community by purchasing a subscription at coloradoan.com/subscribe.