The honor of being dubbed “The Longest Day” will always go with the day of the invasion of Normandy beaches by Allied forces – certainly one of the most memorable days in history.
However, Boulder has offered a strong candidate for the 2nd longest day, Saturday, September 16. The Holy Trinity of 21st century media was in town:
- College Football Gameday
- Fox’s High Noon Kickoff Show
- College Football Odyssey (Senior Correspondent Matt Anctil is an ardent CU Alum)
Fans were out in force prior to the 7AM start (Mountain time) of Gameday. Those fanatics would still be enthralled as Saturday gave way to Sunday morning.
Regrettably, Matt was unable to file a report due to injuries he sustained in the midnight, post-game field storming. Matt learned two tough lessons in the post-game revelry at Folsom Field. Medicare-eligible fans should be careful in how they “field storm.” If a senior citizen does choose to field storm, definitely do not collide with The Rock. Said senior citizen will lose.
Colorado State should have won this game. CSU made good use of their bye week as the Rams looked little like the hapless bunch that was embarrassed by Washington State in their home opener. Their downfall was due to an unfathomable number of penalties: 17 including a number of unsportsmanlike penalties. One egregious cheap shot took all-everything Travis Hunter out of the game in the first half. Getting Hunter out of the game took out both an All-American defensive back AND an All-American wide receiver in one cheap, outrageous gut punch.
The Buffs thankfully have a great passing game because CU seems unable to run the ball effectively, save for some well-timed scrambles by their stellar QB Shadeur Sanders. Still, the odds seemed stacked against Colorado with 2 minutes to go. Stuck in the shadows of a goal post at your own 2 yard line, down 28-20. After driving to the CSU 45, Shadeur connected to Jimmy Horn on a 45 TD pass. When the subsequent 2-point conversion was successful, the crowd went into a frenzy.
Frenzy is a relatively new emotion in Boulder. Not only were the 2022 Buffs bad, they were as boring as their head coach, Karl Dorrell. The Odyssey remembers covering the CU game at Air Force – a 41-10 rout in favor of the flyboys. Matt Anctil went into a near-coma by the 4th quarter and had to be revived. Now, High Noon kickoff has set an all-time record for being at each of the first 3 games in the Prime era.
The Odyssey believes that hatless, sunglass-less Jay Norvell made a coaching error in the first overtime. CU kept up its momentum by scoring to go up 35-28. When CSU scored, the Rams had a choice to end the game with a 2-point conversion. Given recent Buff momentum and the raucous crowd, this move seemed indicated. Norvell took the safe route and kicked the extra point. When the irrepressible Shadeur guided the Buffaloes to both a 2nd-overtime TD and the mandated 2-point conversion, CSU was unable to surmount their 43-35 deficit. Ballgame as a midnight field storming ensued.
On Sirius radio, Barrett Sallee and Tom Luginbill have a cool Sunday show which reprises some of Saturday’s big doings.They dissed the CU fans for “unnecessary field storming.” The duo opined that field storming is inappropriate when your team is a 23-point favorite. Normally, yes. BUT nothing is normal in the hype surrounding Prime Time in Colorado. Especially in the Rocky Mountain Rivalry when CSU is doing more cheap-shotting than in most wrestling matches.
The Odyssey expects CU to be non-competitive in their next 2 games against Oregon and USC, in part to the expected absence of all-world Hunter. Regardless, Prime has set college football on its head!
Liliane Kirchhoff
I Hope Matt is ok after that accident