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“Welcome To The Fight”
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A theme for the Buffs this off-season has been “W.T.T.F.”. Fans have seen coaches and players wearing this on t-shirts and sweatshirts throughout the spring and summer.
An obvious play on “WTF”, the eye-catching slogan instead stands for “Welcome to the Fight”.
“I said it all spring, ‘Welcome to the Fight’,” said coach Mike MacIntyre in the Colorado Video “The Rise – Episode 1” (posted below). “This is a fight, because life is a fight. You men are ready to fight. It’s everything you do. 24/7/365”.
After a dominating 44-7 victory over Colorado State, a few other “W.T.T.F.” possibilities come to mind:
W.T.T.F … Whoa! Texas Tech Football
There was much debate, and a great deal of consternation, in the Buff Nation this off-season about co-offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren calling the plays. Sure, the line of reasoning went, it’s great to have Darrin Chiaverini on the staff, but if Lindgren is still in charge of orchestrating the offense, won’t these be the same ‘ol Buffs who struggled to score last season?
Nope.
The Buffs came out fast and furious. Not the same fast-paced offense of Oregon (or even Texas Tech), but a measured, controlled pace which had the Colorado State defense on its heals the entire game.
“I felt it put them on their heels a lot,” said wide receiver Bryce Bobo, who had a career-high 99 yards receiving. “They probably haven’t seen an offense that moves that fast. We just wanted to come out and push the tempo and do what we did today”.
Overall, the Buffs rolled to 578 yards of total offense, averaging 6.5 yards per play. In the decisive first quarter, the Buffs posted 253 yards on just 26 plays (I’ll do the math for you … that’s almost ten yards per play).
It appeared that the new-and-improved Colorado offense could do just about whatever it wanted in the game. Even in the fourth quarter, when the Rams knew the Buffs were going to run, the Colorado offense couldn’t be stopped. The Buffs held the ball for 11:17 of the final period, draining the clock along with the Rams’ will.
On the Buffs’ final scoring drive, Kyle Evans was given the ball eight straight times. The former walk-on was receiving his just reward for his hard efforts in earning a scholarship, and, even though everyone in the stadium knew he was going to get the ball, the Rams were powerless to stop him. Evans capped off his own personal highlight reel drive with a one-yard touchdown run, closing out the scoring with just over four minutes to play.
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W.T.T.F. – Was Tedric Thompson Fantastic?
Not really … but he didn’t have to be.
Thompson was the hero of the 2015 game, though few Buff fans remember. It was Thompson who blocked the CSU field goal attempt in overtime, paving the way for Diego Gonzalez to kick the game-winner a few minutes later.
(Quick trivia question: Who was the Buff who blocked the Notre Dame extra point attempt in the 1991 Orange Bowl, proving to be the game-winning effort in a 10-9 Colorado victory? Answer below).
Thompson, the Buffs’ starting safety, posted stats for the 2016 season opener which were good, but not extraordinary. Thompson had four tackles (three unassisted), with an interception, a pass break-up, and a quarterback hurry on a blitz.
The beauty of this was that while Thompson was not – perhaps – “fantastic” against the Rams, he didn’t have to be. The Colorado defense was magnificent all evening, holding the Colorado State quarterbacks to 12-of-29 passing for a microscopic 63 yards.
This, from a defense which just two years ago was giving up an average – an average! – of 39 points per game.
Here’s hoping Thompson won’t have to be “fantastic” in too many games this fall.
(Trivia answer: Ronnie Bradford was the defensive back who blocked the Notre Dame extra point attempt in the 1991 Orange Bowl).
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W.T.T.F. (N.)- We’ll Take This, For Now
While the Buff Nation gets to bask in the glow of this huge victory for the next week (or two, considering the likely outcome of the Idaho State game), there is still plenty of work to be done.
Colorado State, for all of the bluster coming from Ft. Fun this spring and summer, is not a superior football team. Their defense may jell as the season progresses, but it was clear that they were out-manned against Colorado.
“I thought we did some good things, but when we watch film there will be a lot to correct”, said Mike MacIntyre. “The fumbles we just can’t have period. We’ll fix that and we won’t do that anymore”.
“It always feels good to play in the CSU game and beat them, of course”, said wide receiver Devin Ross. “But, our motto right now is ‘The Rise’ and that was a good statement to start the season. It’s good to show what we’ve been working on and on what’s to come. That’s just a little start of what’s coming. It’s not anything close to where we’re going. I’m ready for the rest.”
Buff fans are well aware that, after the gimme game against Idaho State, comes to daunting road trips. Colorado must first travel to Ann Arbor to face No. 7 Michigan, then on to Eugene to face Oregon, a team which the Buffs haven’t been able to keep up with since joining the Pac-12.
The true tests await. This was a great win – a very satisfying win.
But for the Buffs to go bowling in 2016, the momentum must continue.
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W.T.T.F – What To Tell Friends
Tell them to come out and support their team next weekend.
Sure, it’s “only” Idaho State, but remember that Colorado is “only” 4-2 against FCS teams in the past decade, and can’t take anything for granted.
Mike MacIntyre, for his part, doesn’t feel that there will be a change in the team’s demeanor. “It’s been changing. We just need to keep doing it on the field and that’s what everyone needs”, said MacIntyre. “I see it every day, and I’ve seen the change there’s no doubt. Now we’ll see how we handle having a little bit of success really early. We’ve got to handle that correctly and we’ll see what the guys are made of on Monday.”
Projections were for only about 40,000 for the game next Saturday (3:30 p.m., Pac-12 Networks). The big win should help attendance, especially in the student section, which had a taste of what a big win feels like on Friday night.
It would be nice if the rest of the stands had plenty of black-and-gold in them as well.
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W.T.T.F. … or better yet … W.F.T.F.
Colorado coaches and players have been wearing their “W.T.T.F. – ‘Welcome To The Fight’ ” shirts for months now.
It was clear that the players have bought into the message, as they came out and played their best first quarter, their best half, and their best overall game in years (the 31-0 halftime lead was the largest for the Buffs since 2003).
Still, if I had been outside Mile High Stadium Friday night as the fans left the stadium (the CU side of the field, anyway), I would have sold shirts with a slight variation.
Instead of “W.T.T.F”, I would have modified the shirts to read: “W.F.T.F.”
Waiting For This Forever.
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“The Rise – Episode One”
If you haven’t seen it, you need to watch it. If you have seen it, you need to watch it again, as it has taken on new meaning after Friday night:
4 Replies to ““Welcome To The Fight””
very inspiring for sure, especially after the last 11 years. Friday night, on TV, the team was faster, stronger, and played bigger than anytime i can remember, over the course of the last decade. The Buffs fully dictated the pace, the line of scrimmage, and thus the outcome. lots of very good teams on the schedule, but i am starting to believe the team can not only compete, but win. we shall see.
I’ve been waiting for this type of offense since the BUFFS joined the PAC-12.
GO BUFFS !!!!!
Nice write-up, I enjoyed your variations of the WTTF moniker.
Hope Teddy is OK as I believe he is battling a concussion limit. Hopefully his injuty is something minor and not a concussion.
W.T.T.F In addition, Welcome To The Future – When you can dominate w/ errors that is the sign of real progress. What an enjoyable game. My wife and I recently moved from McMinnville, OR where the local college, Linfield just completed its 60th consecutive year of having a Winning season. Winning the first game is a tradition that the team points towards. They hold the record no matter the NCAA classification. GO BUFFS !!! One game at a time !!!!