The trophy was all that mattered.

The only one which matters. Gain it for the first time in three years and everybody is happy. Some might nitpick a bit, lament lost chances. Claim it should have been more.

Colorado State's football team doesn't care. Not about being pretty. That's beside the point.

Rush to the Boot on the sideline. Parade it around the field in front of a sold-out Canvas Stadium with a record student section. The first half could have been so much more. Fine.

But in the end, a 24-10 victory Friday in front of 36,720 fans (13,723 of them students) meant it will be Colorado State finding room in the trophy case for the Bronze Boot.

"We had a lot of guys hurt tonight. We had a lot of guys get hurt, get banged up and guys just stepped up in their absence," CSU coach Jay Norvell said. "As a coach, it's incredibly satisfying. I keep reflecting back to my own college days.

"Our football team reminds me of my college years at Iowa, when our guys just fought for each other. They didn't care who got the credit. They weren't worried about stats. They just wanted to not let their teammates down."

The result was all which was important because it was the fifth consecutive Mountain West victory for Colorado State, the first time the Rams have had such a streak since 2014. It carries meaning because it keeps the team undefeated and in control of its destiny in pursuit of a Mountain West championship game appearance.

The Rams came out fast, scoring on the opening drive, using five runs and a short pass play to go 75 yards, capped by an 11-yard scoring run by Avery Morrow. But it wasn't all rosy in the first half despite a big gap in possession time and yards gained.

Colorado State had two more trips into the red zone where it didn't cash in touchdowns, both times starting with first-and-goal. One was a short field goal by Jordon Noyes (who had missed a 44-yarder on the second drive), the second a failed attempt on fourth-and-goal from the 1 at the end of the half when they fumbled the handoff on a reverse to Tommy Maher, who was coming in motion.

Another they did cash in with a trick play, Dane Olson throwing a 6-yard touchdown pass to Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi after Morrow took the direct snap, then handed it to Olson.

He is the first CSU quarterback to have a touchdown reception since Garrett Grayson in 2014. And it was so hard to play it cool, knowing a play they've been practicing for some time was going to be called.

"In the back of my head, play it cool, don't act like you're going to get the ball," Fowler-Nicolosi said. "Straight excitement when I hear the call. In the back of my head, act normal, act normal, don't be suspicious. Once the ball gets snap it turns to the fun part."

A 17-3 advantage was nice, even if it felt like so much more. That's a topic for film sessions this week.

The game at hand was still to be determined. Besides, none of the four prior victories had been perfect in any regard. They all resulted in doing what was needed in the key moments. By being resilient.

Like Maher. The night was just his third appearance, yet on the first drive of the third quarter he hauled in a 53-yard touchdown pass for his first career catch.

"It speaks to the depth of our team," Fowler-Nicolosi said. "It's really cool to see how many people like you guys are mentioning – a walk-on coming in making plays like that, winning a one-on-one matchup in space."

Credit a stingy defense – as has been the case during the win streak – with keeping the anxious moments on offense from letting anxiety find a comfortable landing spot. Outside of one big run – 62 yards by Jamari Ferrell -- which set up Wyoming's touchdown in the third quarter, the Rams were solid.

No turnovers, no real pressure on the quarterback, but they broke up some passes in the backend and delivered a few key tackles for loss on third downs. Wyoming didn't have 200 yards of offense through three quarters and added just 42 all of the fourth, most of it on a last-ditch drive that ended with three dropped passes.

"I thought it was great. I'm very proud of our defense," Norvell said. "I think (defensive coordinator) Freddie (Banks) and the defensive staff worked hard. So much of what we're doing is repetition. We're really not doing things differently schematically than we did early in the season, we're just practicing it over and over and over and getting repetition and experience from a lot of young and up-and-coming players."

Anderson, after throwing for 360 in his first start a game prior, was just 13-of-30 passing for 120 yards.

While the Rams were struggling offensively on third down, the Cowboys were anything but sharp, just 3-of-14. Dom Jones was active in all phases, rushing up to make stops on third down, finishing with 10 tackles, eight of which were solo stops.

No sacks, but five hurries. No picks, but four passes broken up. Just 3.0 tackles for loss. But it worked, as the Rams played in tandem.

"Coach Banks makes a great plan every week and the whole defensive staff. We're really locked into what our assignment is and playing with good fundamentals and executing what we're supposed to do," safety Henry Blackburn said. "I give credit to our coaches putting in a good game plan.

"It's just the love we play with as a defense and a whole team. You can see it on the field. We love each other. What we were talking about before the game is we love each other way more than we hate Wyoming, and we love each other so much we'll put our bodies on the line. We'll do anything to get a win."

Colorado State did enough early, another game with multiple people pitching into the cause. The 15 completed passes by the Rams were collected by 11 different targets, with only Armani Winfield (four) and Peter Montini (two) hauling in multiple. The producing of 435 yards of total offense was due in large part to eight explosive plays – three in the passing game, five on the ground. Most of it came early as the first six drives of the game produced legitimate scoring chances; the Rams' next six resulted in five punts and a missed 57-yard field goal attempt.

Pretty means less than winning. Substance over style.

"If you see our helmet, you see a big Grit on our foreheads," Blackburn said. "That's what we pride ourselves on."

Yet, the overall result was a celebration. A rush to the trophy, one to put next to the Ram-Falcon hardware won earlier this year. It becomes the first season the team has won two trophies in a single campaign since 2015. It keeps the hope of a championship alive.

The Rams could worry about the look of the win later. Those thoughts were far out of mind when singing the fight song with the fans, most of whom had rushed the field, taking turns holding the grand prize.

"That's pretty cool," Norvell said. "A lot of the things that we're doing, it's complementary football. You see a lot of scores in our league that are 55-49, 50-45 or whatever, and we play 'em and it's not like that. We're not going to allow people to play like that against us. That's how we're choosing to play right now. With this group of players, it's how we have to win."

For all of the players who have wanted the Boot returned to Fort Collins, well, that's all that mattered.