The Colorado State Rams football program represents Colorado State University and is a member of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Pac-12 Conference."Colorado State University 2007 Season Review." McGraw Athletic Center, Fort Collins, CO. Release No. 13, 12/31/07. Pg 16. The Rams have long-standing rivalries with Colorado, Wyoming, and Air Force. The team is currently led by head coach Jim Mora since he was hired on November 26, 2025.
The Rams have played their home games at Canvas Stadium since 2017. Previously, the team played 49 seasons (1968–2016) at Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium. The first game at Canvas Stadium (known as Colorado State Stadium for the 2017 season only) was played on August 26, 2017, when the Rams defeated the Oregon State Beavers 58–27.
History
Early history (1893–1910)
On December 12, 1892, a student named F.O. Congdon and 18 of the other 179 students enrolled at Colorado Agricultural College at the time decided to form the school's first American football team and compete with other schools in the area. The team's nickname (that would later be changed to Aggies, then Rams) was the CACs, the school's acronym (Colorado Agricultural College).
Following Christmas break, the team found some men at a small private hybrid college/high school named Longmont Academy who would challenge the CAC team to play the first game in each school's history. The first game in school history took place on January 7, 1893, in Longmont, Colorado. Earlier that morning, Colorado Agricultural players and fans bought orange and green ribbons at a dry goods store in Longmont, choosing the school's colors.
The team continued competing without a head coach until 1894, when Colorado Agricultural College President Alston Ellis disbanded the team after one game in the 1894 season. The program returned upon Ellis's departure from the school in 1899 and named 25-year-old University of Vermont graduate W. J. Forbes to be the program's first ever football coach. Forbes led the 1899 team to a 0–2–1 record. On Thanksgiving Day, November 30, 1899, in the first ever game that Colorado Agricultural played outside of the state of Colorado (and their first ever game against Wyoming), a disagreement between officials from the two schools resulted in a controversial ending to the first ever Border War game.
At the time, officials were provided by the schools competing in the game. The game concluded with a Wyoming forfeit being called after Colorado Agricultural official Edward House ruled that Wyoming official E.D. McArthur and the Wyoming team were refusing to abide by the rulebook. After the forfeit was called and the Colorado Agricultural players began leaving the field, official McArthur reportedly exclaimed that he "did not give a damn for the rules" and instructed the Wyoming team to run in a touchdown. This action reportedly set off a brawl between the teams.
Following the game, Colorado Agricultural President Barton Aylesworth declared that his school would not play Wyoming in any athletic event until he received a written apology from the school. The two schools played again the following year, and there has remained bad blood between the two programs since. Per an NCAA rule that does not recognize forfeits in games that were incomplete, Colorado State University does not count the game as a victory in their record books.
Head coach W. J. Forbes died prior to the 1900 season in a freak accident on June 18, 1900. Forbes was succeeded by George Toomey who led the Rams to a record of 1–3 in the 1900 season. Between 1899 and 1910, the program recorded a dismal record of 14 wins and 35 losses with seven different men holding the position as head coach throughout the period.
Harry Hughes era (1911–1941, 1946)
Harry Hughes accepted the position of athletic director and head football coach at Colorado Agricultural University in 1911 and turned a winless team in 1911 into conference champions with an undefeated record in 1915. Hughes also helped build Colorado Field, the first sodded football field in Colorado history, replacing Durkee Field (1899–1911). Colorado Field was the home of the Colorado Agricultural/A&M Aggies and Colorado State Rams from 1912 to 1967.
Hughes won eight conference championships in the Rocky Mountain Conference in 1915, 1916, 1919, 1920, 1925, 1927, 1933, and 1934. He was a member of the NCAA National Rules Committee beginning in 1926 until his retirement. Hughes coached the Aggies from 1911 to 1941 in football and remained as the athletic director until his retirement in 1953. In the early 1930s, Hughes was given the nickname "Dean of American Football Coaches" by sportswriters and fellow coaches for his many seasons at one school. He was famously known as one of the most fair and sportsmanlike football coaches in America. He coached football from 1911 to 1941 and after resigning as football coach in 1946, he remained as the school's Athletic Director until 1953. Upon his retirement he was inducted into the Helms Football Hall of Fame on Harry Hughes Day, November 8, 1952.
Known as a tough but fair coach, Hughes was a strict disciplinarian who developed a play in 1914 known as the Million Dollar Play. This triple pass was an end around play based on the single wing formation and helped Hughes lead his teams to national fame. Some of Hughes's greatest players were Ralph "Sag" Robinson (All-American Honorable Mention 1916), Kenneth Hyde (1925 All-American 3rd team) and Glenn Morris (1936 US Olympic Decathlon Gold Medal winner). Hughes broke the color barrier in modern Colorado football in 1939 when he played John Mosley between 1939 and 1942.
During Hughes's hiatus from 1942 to 1945, the team was coached by Hughes's assistant coach Julius Wagner, although the university didn't field a team in 1943 and 1944 due to World War II.
When Colorado State University built a new football stadium in 1968, it was named Hughes Stadium in his honor. Hughes's final record at CSU was 126–92–18.
Bob Davis era (1947–1955) Bob Davis succeeded Hughes on January 6, 1947.
Davis utilized the "T" formation and veterans returning from World War II to turn around a 2–7 Aggies team in 1946 to an 8–2 team in 1948; placing second in the Skyline Conference. Colorado A&M (as the school was then called) was invited to and played in the Raisin Bowl in Fresno, California, against Occidental College on January 1, 1949. Losing 21–20 in the last minutes of the game, Davis's 1949 team went on to a 9–1 record and placed second again. Davis utilized classroom football along with practice and game films to help his players excel. Davis also played black athletes at a predominantly white school such as Eddie Hanna, George Jones and Alex Burl.
Several of Davis's players went on to careers in the National Football League including Dale Dodrill, Thurman "Fum" McGraw, Jim David, Don Burroughs, Jack Christiansen, Alex Burl and Gary Glick. Three of his players were All-Americans: Thurman "Fum" McGraw (first team 1948, 1949), Harvey Achziger (first team 1952) and Gary Glick (second team 1955). Davis's 1955 team won the Skyline Conference championship but following the season he resigned from coaching football to concentrate on his duties as athletic director. Davis's record with the Rams when he left was 54–33–2.
Don Mullison era (1956–1961) A player for Colorado A&M under Harry Hughes, Don Mullison was promoted from line coach to head coach when Bob Davis retired. However, the Rams freefell to a record of 19–40–1 in Mullison's six seasons, which included a winless 0–10 campaign in 1961. Mullison was not retained as head coach past the 1961 season.
The Mullison era would begin with a 2–7–1 mark in 1956, which included wins over Montana and New Mexico. In 1957, Mullison would lead the Rams to a 3–7 record, with wins over Denver, Montana and Air Force. The 1958 and 1959 seasons would see the Rams finish with a 6–4 record, the only two winning seasons of Mullison's tenure. In 1960, Mullison would lead the Rams to a 2–8 record, with wins over BYU and Drake. In 1961, the Rams would finish a winless 0–10.
Mike Lude era (1962–1969) Delaware line coach Mike Lude was selected as Mullison's replacement, and under his tutelage, Colorado State, as they had switched from Colorado A & M, compiled a record of 29–51–1. In 1962, the Rams duplicated the previous year's mark of 0–10. In 1963, Lude led the Rams to a 3–7 record with wins over Pacific, UTEP and Montana. In 1964, the Rams posted their best record under Lude to that point, a 5–6 mark. In 1965, CSU finished 4–6. It was in 1966 that the best season of the Lude era would come for the Rams, with a record of 7–3 with wins over South Dakota State, Utah State, Air Force, No. 10 Wyoming, New Mexico, West Texas A&M and Iowa State. In 1967, the Rams slipped to 4–5–1 with wins over Utah State, Pacific, Emporia State and Wichita State. In 1968, the Rams would join the Western Athletic Conference and finish the season at 2–8. The inability for Lude to turn around the Rams led to his firing in 1969, a 4–6 campaign, after eight seasons.
Jerry Wampfler era (1970–1972) The Rams continued to struggle under Lude's successor, Jerry Wampfler, who had arrived in Fort Collins as a prized line coach at Notre Dame under head coach Ara Parseghian. The Rams compiled a record of 8–25 before Wampfler resigned following the 1972 campaign.
In 1970, the Rams finished 4–7. The team began the season with a victory over New Mexico State, but then lost six straight with losses to No. 20 Arizona State, Iowa State, No. 10 Air Force, Wyoming, UTEP, and West Virginia. In Wampfler's second season, Colorado State went 3–8. The Rams lost their first eight games of the season, being beaten by BYU, Idaho, Wyoming, No. 12 Arizona State, Utah, No. 20 Air Force, Utah State, and Wichita State. The Rams finished the season on a three-game winning streak, defeating West Texas A&M, UTEP, and New Mexico State. In 1972, Wampfler's Rams finished with a dismal 1–10 record. CSU lost their first nine games of the season — losing three of the first four without scoring a single point — to Arizona, Iowa State, West Texas A&M, Utah State, No. 19 Air Force, Wyoming, Florida State, BYU, and Houston. Colorado State would finally win their first game of the season in their next-to-last contest, against UTEP, before dropping their final game of the season to Utah.
Sark Arslanian era (1973–1981) Colorado State improved its performance under head coach Sark Arslanian, who came to Fort Collins from his post as head coach at Weber State. Despite a few down years, Arslanian's record at CSU was 45–47–4.
Arslanian led the Rams to a 5–6 record in his first season. After losing to Arizona to kick off the season, the Rams defeated BYU and New Mexico State. State then lost to No. 13 Arizona State then defeated Idaho. After losses to Utah State and Wyoming, Colorado State rang up 76 points in a dominant win against UTEP then defeated Toledo. Arslanian's Rams would close the season with losses to No. 15 Houston and New Mexico. In 1974, the Rams finished 4–6–1. CSU began the season with a loss to New Mexico then defeated Florida State before losing to Memphis, tying BYU and losing to Utah State. After crushing Nevada, the Rams lost to Arkansas, beat Wyoming, lost to Arizona beat UTEP and lost to Arizona State.