Colorado State University Athletics
Memorable Moments: 60th Anniversary of the Best of the Border
9/3/2026 2:00:00 PM | Football
Bounce pass put an end to Wyoming’s national hopes
The 2026 football season is underway and for the first time in 62 years, Colorado State opens the season against its great rivals to the north. It was 1964, when the Rams opened their season in Laramie against Wyoming. You have to travel back 105 years since the Cowboys came to Fort Collins to open a football season against the Aggies. This long and storied rivalry continues in 2026, making it one of the longest continuous rivalries in college football.
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The 2026 game also marks the first time CSU and Wyoming have played as non-conference rivals since 1967 and the first ever non-conference game to play for the Bronze Boot. These two schools have played one another as conference foes for well more than 100 years, but from 1962 to 1967, CSU played as an independent school.
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The last time the Rams and Cowboys played a non-conference game in Fort Collins was without question the greatest battles of the Border War. The Cowboys came to Fort Collins on October 29, 1966, undefeated, ranked No. 10 in the nation and heading to a possible national championship. They needed to beat a CSU team which had not won a Border War game since 1955 and cruise through November for an undefeated season.
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The Rams had other plans, including a special trick play that had not been used the previous week at Air Force. Known simply as the "Bounce Pass", this trick lateral may have defined the 1966 Border War, but it was not the reason CSU beat the No. 10 team in the nation.
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The Rams had their best team of Coach Mike Lude's tenure at CSU, beating Air Force in Colorado Springs the previous week and riding a 3-2 record. The Rams were excited about a new football stadium to be opened in less than two years and with such talented athletes like running back Oscar Reed, halfback Jon Henderson and defensive back Bill Kishman guiding the team, CSU was playing its best football in a decade.
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The Rams defense shocked Wyoming with hard tackles causing fumbles and preventing the Cowboys from moving down the field. While Wyoming scored first and stayed ahead, the Rams kept the game close and within reach. The famous bounce pass came in the third quarter, on fourth down, shocking the Cowboys.
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The play was first done on third down, but quarterback Bob Wolfe connected to halfback Larry Jackson, who was brought down for a loss. Then, on fourth down, Wolfe bounced the pass behind him and into Jackson's hands. Jackson used his best acting talents yelling at Wolfe, "Come on Bobby, can't you throw the ball better?" This made the Wyoming players stop playing, but unbeknownst to them, the ball was live due to the lateral. Jackson then threw the ball 40 yards to the end zone where Rams end Tom Pack was waiting for the ball, all alone except for the referee who threw his arms up for the touchdown. Lude stated in 2016 that he let the referees know the play was coming, so that there would be no doubt the pass was a lateral and the catch was made.
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This put CSU ahead, but Wyoming pushed back to take the lead once again. It was not until late in the fourth quarter when Rams kicker Al Lavan kicked the field goal that would put the Cowboys down for the count and hand them their only loss of 1966.
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In the weeks that followed, Wyoming fans and even coaches claimed the bounce pass was an illegal play, that it was not a lateral and that CSU cheated. Lude's papers, donated to CSU by the coach 10 years before he passed away in 2024, have telegrams and notes from people north of the border complaining about the play. Since the Rams were not in a conference, there was no conference commissioner to complain to and the referees all agreed the play was legal.
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Wyoming won the rest of its games in 1966, but did not win a national championship, thanks to Lude's Rams.
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Today, 60 years after that game, there are likely some Wyoming fans who will not believe this play was legal, but the game film now preserved on YouTube here, tells a different story. Â Conference rivals or not, the Rams and Cowboys will always have a special history that will never end.
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The 2026 game also marks the first time CSU and Wyoming have played as non-conference rivals since 1967 and the first ever non-conference game to play for the Bronze Boot. These two schools have played one another as conference foes for well more than 100 years, but from 1962 to 1967, CSU played as an independent school.
Â
The last time the Rams and Cowboys played a non-conference game in Fort Collins was without question the greatest battles of the Border War. The Cowboys came to Fort Collins on October 29, 1966, undefeated, ranked No. 10 in the nation and heading to a possible national championship. They needed to beat a CSU team which had not won a Border War game since 1955 and cruise through November for an undefeated season.
Â
The Rams had other plans, including a special trick play that had not been used the previous week at Air Force. Known simply as the "Bounce Pass", this trick lateral may have defined the 1966 Border War, but it was not the reason CSU beat the No. 10 team in the nation.
Â
The Rams had their best team of Coach Mike Lude's tenure at CSU, beating Air Force in Colorado Springs the previous week and riding a 3-2 record. The Rams were excited about a new football stadium to be opened in less than two years and with such talented athletes like running back Oscar Reed, halfback Jon Henderson and defensive back Bill Kishman guiding the team, CSU was playing its best football in a decade.
Â
The Rams defense shocked Wyoming with hard tackles causing fumbles and preventing the Cowboys from moving down the field. While Wyoming scored first and stayed ahead, the Rams kept the game close and within reach. The famous bounce pass came in the third quarter, on fourth down, shocking the Cowboys.
Â
The play was first done on third down, but quarterback Bob Wolfe connected to halfback Larry Jackson, who was brought down for a loss. Then, on fourth down, Wolfe bounced the pass behind him and into Jackson's hands. Jackson used his best acting talents yelling at Wolfe, "Come on Bobby, can't you throw the ball better?" This made the Wyoming players stop playing, but unbeknownst to them, the ball was live due to the lateral. Jackson then threw the ball 40 yards to the end zone where Rams end Tom Pack was waiting for the ball, all alone except for the referee who threw his arms up for the touchdown. Lude stated in 2016 that he let the referees know the play was coming, so that there would be no doubt the pass was a lateral and the catch was made.
Â
This put CSU ahead, but Wyoming pushed back to take the lead once again. It was not until late in the fourth quarter when Rams kicker Al Lavan kicked the field goal that would put the Cowboys down for the count and hand them their only loss of 1966.
Â
In the weeks that followed, Wyoming fans and even coaches claimed the bounce pass was an illegal play, that it was not a lateral and that CSU cheated. Lude's papers, donated to CSU by the coach 10 years before he passed away in 2024, have telegrams and notes from people north of the border complaining about the play. Since the Rams were not in a conference, there was no conference commissioner to complain to and the referees all agreed the play was legal.
Â
Wyoming won the rest of its games in 1966, but did not win a national championship, thanks to Lude's Rams.
Â
Today, 60 years after that game, there are likely some Wyoming fans who will not believe this play was legal, but the game film now preserved on YouTube here, tells a different story. Â Conference rivals or not, the Rams and Cowboys will always have a special history that will never end.
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