Colorado State Football: A Brief History

Colorado State Rams:

First Season: 1890

Head Coach: Jim McElwain (1 seasons, 4-8)

All-Time Record: 477-530-33

Bowl Record: 5-7 (Raisin, Freedom, Holiday 3X, Liberty 3X, New Orleans, San Francisco, Poinsettia, New Mexico)

Playing Field: Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium (Capacity of 34,400)

Conference Affiliations:

• Independent: 1892, 1962-1967
• Colorado Football Association: 1893-1908
• Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference: 1909-1937
• Mountain States Athletic Conference: 1938-1961
• Western Athletic Conference: 1968-1998
• Mountain West Conference: 1999-Current
• No Team: 1895-1898, 1943-1944

Attendance: 21,633 (5-year average)

Claimed National Titles: None

Conference Titles: 15

• 1915 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
• 1916 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
• 1919 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
• 1920 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
• 1925 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
• 1927 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
• 1933 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Co-Champions
• 1934 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Co-Champions
• 1955 Mountain States Athletic Conference
• 1994 Western Athletic Conference
• 1995 Western Athletic Conference Co-Champions
• 1997 Western Athletic Conference
• 1999 Mountain West Conference Co-Champions
• 2000 Mountain West Conference
• 2002 Mountain West Conference

Trophy Games:

• Rocky Mountain Showdown (Colorado): 21-61-2
• Border War (Wyoming): 21-24
• Ram-Falcon Trophy (Air Force): 13-20

Record Versus Rivals (20+ meetings):

• Air Force: 13-31-1
• BYU: 27-39-3
• Colorado: 21-61-2
• Hawaii: 12-9
• New Mexico: 35-25
• San Diego State: 13-19
• UNLV: 13-6-1
• UTEP: 24-10
• Utah: 22-55-2
• Utah State: 37-31-2
• Wyoming: 55-44-5

Year-By-Year Record

1890s: 4-10-1

1900s: 15-29-4

1910s: 31-29-2

1920s: 55-20-5

1930s: 34-42-8

1940s: 37-29-5

1950s: 49-47-2

1960s: 31-69-1

1970: 4-7

1971: 3-8

1972: 1-10

1973: 5-6

1974: 4-6

1975: 6-5

1976: 6-5

1977: 9-2

1978: 5-6

1979: 4-7

1980: 6-4

1981: 0-12

1982: 4-7

1983: 5-7

1984: 3-8

1985: 5-7

1986: 6-5

1987: 1-11

1988: 1-10

1989: 5-5

1990: 9-4

1991: 3-8

1992: 5-7

1993: 5-6

1994: 10-2

1995: 8-4

1996: 7-5

1997: 11-2

1998: 8-4

1999: 8-4

2000: 10-2

2001: 7-5

2002: 10-4

2003: 7-6

2004: 4-7

2005: 6-6

2006: 4-8

2007: 3-9

2008: 7-6

2009: 3-9

2010: 3-9

2011: 3-9

2012: 4-8

Coaching/Team History:

The Colorado State Rams have a storied history dating back to 1890 with over 1000 games played and nearly 500 overall program wins.

In 1890, the Colorado State football program began as an uncoached program playing 11 games from 1890-1894 with a 3-8 overall record during that time. 3 of those 8 losses came to in-state rival Colorado in which the Buffaloes dominated each of the games. The program was shut down after the 1894 season and stayed dormant until 1899 under the tutelage of W.J. Forbes. Forbes only stayed long enough to get the program running, going 4-1-2 in his only season with the Rams.

From 1900 until 1911, the Rams saw 6 coaches pass through the turnstiles with no one staying any longer than Claude Rothgeb (4 seasons, 3-11-1). During that time early in the program, the Rams went 15-34-4 under the six separate head coaches.

In 1911, the Rams hired Harry Hughes who had only assisted one year at Oklahoma before taking the head coaching job at Colorado State. Hoping for some stability at the top spot after so much change, the Rams got more than expected as Hughes ended up coaching the program for 32 seasons with a 126-92-18 overall record and 8 conference titles during those years (1933 and 1934 were co-championships). Seven of those seasons ended with the Rams going undefeated or only losing one game. Hughes stayed after retirement as the athletic director and now has the stadium named after him.

After a time where Julius Wagner went 8-11-1 while holding the program together during the WWII years where the program was stopped for a few years. In 1947, the Rams hired Robert Davis who led the Rams program from 1947-1955 with a 54-33-2 record including 4 wins over Colorado.  

In 1956, the Rams were in need of another coach and hired from within promoting assistant Don Mullison to the head coaching job. Mullison coached the program from 1956-1961 with top seasons of 6-4 in both 1958 and 1959. The Rams struggled after those winning seasons going 2-8 in 1960 and 0-10 in 1961 before being fired after the poor 1961 season.

Deciding not to hire from within again, the Rams found Delaware assistant Mike Lude to be worthy of the hire. Lude took over in 1962 going 0-10 followed by three more losing seasons before having his only winning season with the program in 1966 going 7-3. After the 1966 season, things went badly again with the Rams going 4-5-1, 2-8, and 4-6 in his final three seasons with the program. Lude left the Rams and became the Kent State athletic director in 1970 putting the Rams in need of another head coach.

Colorado State went after Notre Dame assistant Jerry Wampfler to return the Rams to previous glory. Wampfler was given three seasons to turn the program around but failed miserably going 8-25 in those three seasons capped by a 1-10 season in 1972 that go him fired.

With three poor hires in a row, the Rams wanted a solid coach to bring stability and glory back to the program. The Rams hired Weber State head coach Sark Arslanian in 1973 with Arslanian coaching the program for 9 seasons. While bringing stability to the program, the Rams never could get over the hump with Arslanian's best season being in 1977 going 9-2-1 and finishing third in the WAC. Arslanian was let go midway through the 1981 season already at 0-6. That squad ended up 0-12 wit Chester Caddas losing the last 6 games as an interim coach.

In 1982, the Rams hired Texas defensive coordinator Leon Fuller to take over the program. Fuller stayed with the program for 7 seasons with only one single winning season (1986, 6-5) before falling to consecutive 1-win seasons in 1987 and 1988 before getting fired from the head coaching position.

The Rams again needed a new coach and felt lucky to hire away Ohio State legend Earle Bruce who coached the Buckeyes to 8 straight bowl games with 8 teams finishing in the top 15 nationally. Bruce coached Northern Iowa in 1988 before taking the Colorado State job in 1989. After a 5-5-1 season in 1989, the Rams found bowl glory going 9-4 with a win in the Freedom bowl over Oregon. After that season, the Rams fell quickly going 3-8 in 1991 and then 5-7 in 1992 before retiring after the 1992 season.

With only one coach staying over ten years with the Rams to that point, the Rams hired Miami assistant Sonny Lubick to take over in 1993. Lubick exceeded expectations staying with the program for 15 seasons to a 108-74 record including 6 WAC titles and 9 bowl berths (3 Holiday Bowls, 3 Liberty Bowls, 1 New Orleans Bowl, 1 San Francisco Bowl, 1 Poinsettia Bowl). The Rams finished in the top 16 nationally during the 1994, 1997, and 2000 seasons. Lubick was relieved of his duties  after the 2007 with the second most wins in Colorado State history. The Rams later named the field after Lubick.

Needing a replacement for Lubick, the Rams hired Buffalo Bills assistant Steve Fairchild to take over the program. Fairchild had his best season during his first season with the program going 7-6 with a win in the New Mexico Bowl. After that season, the Rams had three straight 3-9 seasons before firing Fairchild with a 16-33 overall record for Colorado State.

After the disappointment of the Fairchild era, the Rams went in a different direction and hired Alabama assistant Jim McElwain. McElwain went 4-8 in his first seasons with the Rams in 2012 and enters the 2013 season trying to regain the previous glory of Colorado State football.

NFL/CFL Players:

• 1925 Kenny Hyde, QB (AP, third team)
• 1948 Thurman (Fum) McGraw, T (Players, third team)
• 1949 Thurman (Fum) McGraw, T (International News Service, first team)
• 1952 Harvey Achziger, T (International News Service, first team)
• 1955 Gary Glick, HB (AP, second team)
• 1975 Kevin McLain, LB (Sporting News, Time, Newspaper Enterprise Association, first team; United Press International, second team)
• 1977 Mike Bell, DL (AP, second team)
• 1978 Mike Bell, DL (Football Writers, Kodak, United Press International, Sporting News, Playboy, Walter Camp, first team; AP, second team)
• 1982 Jeff Harper, LB (AP, honorable mention)
• 1984 Keli McGregor, TE (United Press International, AP, second team)
• 1986 Steve Bartalo, FB (United Press International, AP, second team)
• 1994 Greg Myers, S (Football Writers, Sporting News, Scripps-Howard, first team)
• 1995 Sean Moran, DE (second team)
• 1995 Greg Myers, S (AP, United Press International, Walter Camp, Sporting News, first team)
• 1995 Brady Smith, DE (second team)
• 1997 Anthony Cesario, OL (Sporting News, second team)
• 1998 Anthony Cesario, OL (AFCA, first team)
• 2002 Morgan Pears, OL (Sporting News, second team)
• 2003 Dexter Wynn, KR (CBS Sportsline.com, third team)
• 2004 Joel Dreessen, TE (SI.com, Pro Football Weekly, honorable mention)
• 2005 Kyle Bell, RB (SI.com, honorable mention)
• 2005 Jimmie Kaylor, P (SI.com, CBS Sportsline.com, honorable mention)