Colorado State vs. Denver

Colorado State and Denver have 58 meetings on file, the first in 1902; Colorado State leads the series 28–⁠25–⁠5 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Colorado State 6–⁠4.

Colorado State wins
28
Denver wins
25
Ties
5
Earliest on file
1902
Longest streak
6 Denver
Current streak
1 Denver
Last 10 meetings
Colorado State 6–⁠4
Most recent
1960

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1900s3–⁠6
1910s6–⁠4
1920s7–⁠3
1930s3–⁠4–⁠3
1940s2–⁠4–⁠2
1950s7–⁠3
1960s0–⁠1
Average margin
12.9 points; 20 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Colorado State
9–⁠6 Colorado State’s record at home
At Denver
19–⁠19–⁠5 Denver’s record at home
Shutouts
21

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. Colorado State’s biggest win1915: Colorado State 34, Denver 3by 31 points
  2. Denver’s biggest win1911: Denver 49, Colorado State 0by 49 points
  3. Upset1921: Denver 21, Colorado State 14Denver had a 18% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1904: Denver 18, Colorado State 0Denver had a 27% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  5. Upset1907: Denver 5, Colorado State 0Denver had a 32% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Coach against coach

YearsColorado StateSeriesDenver
1920–⁠1922Harry Hughes2–⁠1Fred Murphy
1925–⁠1928Harry Hughes3–⁠1Fred Dawson
1929–⁠1931Harry Hughes2–⁠1Jeff Cravath
1936–⁠1938Harry Hughes0–⁠2–⁠1William Saunders
1956–⁠1960Tuffy Mullison3–⁠2John Roning

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Colorado State’s side (Hughes 2–⁠1 against Murphy). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Colorado State and Denver, 1902 on130015001700192019401960198020002020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

From the newspapers

  • The Arizona republican's story of the 1915 game: CURTAINS 1Republican A. P. Leased Wire1

    1915 · Arizona republican, Arizona, Nov 26, 1915

  • The The Birmingham age-herald's story of the 1923 game: HARVARD WINS FIRST OF "RIG THREE" GAMES OFF CRIMSON Football Results

    1923 · The Birmingham age-herald, Alabama, Nov 11, 1923

  • The New Britain herald's story of the 1930 game: FOUR COLLEGES STAND OUT IN EASTERN GRID CIRCLES Carnegie Tech, Brown Colgate, and N Y U. Establish Right to Pre-eminence- Others Not Really Tested Northwestern and Michigan Lead Big Ten - Georgia's Win Thrills South-S Southern California Bows to Washington State

    1930 · New Britain herald, Connecticut, Oct 13, 1930

  • The Evening star's story of the 1932 game: Eastern Foot Ball in aorGame Stage Districts Grdon Forces Scattered Grid Results Local Teams.

    1932 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Oct 15, 1932

  • The Imperial Valley press's story of the 1938 game: Football Scores

    1938 · Imperial Valley press, California, Oct 9, 1938

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Every game

Nov 24, 1960Denver 21, Colorado State 12at Denver
Oct 3, 1959Colorado State 15, Denver 0at Colorado State
Nov 27, 1958Colorado State 9, Denver 8at Denver
Oct 5, 1957Colorado State 27, Denver 6at Colorado State
Nov 22, 1956Denver 39, Colorado State 13at Denver
Oct 1, 1955Colorado State 20, Denver 19at Colorado State
Nov 25, 1954Denver 34, Colorado State 0at Denver
Oct 3, 1953Colorado State 21, Denver 6at Colorado State
Oct 4, 1952Colorado State 28, Denver 6at Denver
Nov 24, 1951Denver 21, Colorado State 6at Denver
Sep 23, 1950Colorado State 30, Denver 14at Denver
Sep 24, 1949Colorado State 14, Denver 13at Denver
Oct 9, 1948Colorado State 14, Denver 10at Denver
Oct 11, 1947Denver 13, Colorado State 13at Denver
Oct 12, 1946Denver 33, Colorado State 0at Denver
Nov 10, 1945Denver 35, Colorado State 12at Denver
Oct 10, 1942Denver 26, Colorado State 0at Denver
Nov 1, 1941Denver 6, Colorado State 6at Denver
Oct 12, 1940Denver 14, Colorado State 13at Denver
Nov 11, 1939Denver 13, Colorado State 6at Denver
Oct 8, 1938Denver 0, Colorado State 0at Denver
Oct 9, 1937Denver 22, Colorado State 0at Denver
Oct 10, 1936Denver 14, Colorado State 7at Denver
Oct 5, 1935Denver 20, Colorado State 14at Denver
Oct 13, 1934Colorado State 2, Denver 0at Denver
Oct 14, 1933Denver 0, Colorado State 0at Denver
Oct 15, 1932Denver 7, Colorado State 7at Denver
Nov 21, 1931Colorado State 20, Denver 0at Denver
Oct 11, 1930Colorado State 15, Denver 7at Denver
Nov 29, 1929Denver 19, Colorado State 6at Denver
Nov 17, 1928Colorado State 15, Denver 0at Denver
Oct 15, 1927Denver 6, Colorado State 0at Denver
Oct 16, 1926Colorado State 7, Denver 6at Denver
Oct 17, 1925Colorado State 17, Denver 0at Denver
Nov 29, 1924Colorado State 19, Denver 0at Denver
Nov 10, 1923Colorado State 25, Denver 0at Colorado State
Dec 2, 1922Colorado State 27, Denver 6at Denver
Nov 5, 1921Denver 21, Colorado State 14at Colorado State
Nov 27, 1920Colorado State 14, Denver 0at Denver
Nov 1, 1919Colorado State 33, Denver 3at Denver
Nov 16, 1918Denver 14, Colorado State 0at Denver
Oct 27, 1917Denver 10, Colorado State 6at Colorado State
Nov 4, 1916Colorado State 21, Denver 13at Denver
Nov 25, 1915Colorado State 34, Denver 3at Colorado State
Oct 31, 1914Colorado State 19, Denver 6at Denver
Oct 18, 1913Colorado State 20, Denver 6at Denver
Oct 5, 1912Colorado State 14, Denver 13at Colorado State
Nov 4, 1911Denver 49, Colorado State 0at Denver
Oct 29, 1910Denver 22, Colorado State 0at Colorado State
Oct 17, 1908Denver 17, Colorado State 0at Denver
Nov 23, 1907Denver 5, Colorado State 0at Colorado State
Nov 17, 1906Denver 10, Colorado State 0at Denver
Nov 18, 1905Denver 11, Colorado State 5at Denver
Oct 7, 1905Colorado State 12, Denver 0at Colorado State
Oct 1, 1904Denver 18, Colorado State 0at Colorado State
Nov 21, 1903Colorado State 16, Denver 6at Denver
Oct 3, 1903Colorado State 23, Denver 17at Colorado State
Nov 22, 1902Denver 11, Colorado State 5at Colorado State

Every game is listed as played on the field.