Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)

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Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)

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There were any number of reasons for the Colorado State faithful to be looking forward to their rematch against Colorado in Ft. Collins this weekend …

— The Buffs were coming off of an embarrassing, demoralizing, and humbling 28-10 loss to Nebraska, with the score not indicative of the beating. Colorado was down 14-0 before the game was fully underway, with the Buffs down 28-0 at the half. The offensive line was a sieve, giving up six sacks, and the Buff rushing attack was non-existent, not getting into positive numbers until the final drive of the game. In short, everything which had been a problem in the second half of the 2023 season, when the Buffs finished the season with a six-game losing streak, was back in full focus. The Buff Nation was demoralized, with bickering and second-guessing in full voice on the message boards;

— Meanwhile, in Ft. Fun, the Rams had shaken off a demoralizing loss of their own in the season opener with a workmanlike 38-17 win over Northern Colorado. It wasn’t a signature win, but there were plenty of positives to build upon, especially with an schedule which included CU and a hapless UTEP team left in non-conference play before taking on a weakened Mountain West schedule;

— The game was to be played in Ft. Collins for the first time since 1996. CSU’s relatively new on-campus Canvas Stadium promised to be a sell-out, and the Ram faithful were smelling blood. Yes, the Rams had lost six straight to the hated Buffs, but the 2023 game, played in Boulder, had gone to double-overtime. CSU had an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter of that game, and had an eight-point lead with less than two minutes to go in regulation. And that was against a ranked CU team, not the shell of a program riding the bus north from Boulder … It was time for revenge!;

— Colorado State also had the added momentum of having announced a few days prior that the Rams, along with Boise State, Fresno State, and San Diego State, had been invited to ditch the Mountain West and join the “Pac-12”. While perhaps not a step up to a “Power Five” conference, it was at least a step up a a Power 4.5 conference.

A video of a preseason interview with CSU quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and wide receiver Tory Horton showed the confidence the Rams had in playing the Buffs at home … “We owe them … This ain’t no Cinderella story … The hype, the media train, only gets you so far … At the end of the day, Deion Sanders ain’t playing”.

“We should have murdered them guys …we’re coming for revenge”

“We’ll see how far instagram followers gets them”

Here’s what CSU’s Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and Tory Horton had to say about last year’s Rocky Mountain Showdown and the upcoming game against CU: pic.twitter.com/51ZBPyigpf

— Romi Bean (@Romi_Bean) September 12, 2024

When the Rams took a 3-0 lead into the second quarter, the Ram Nation was in full voice. The Buffs came into the game as 7.5-point favorites, but the Colorado offense had produced little, and the Rams were more than holding their own.

Even after the Buffs started to take control, with a pair of touchdown passes from Shedeur Sanders to LaJohntay Wester giving CU a 14-3 second quarter lead, CSU quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi was still disrespecting the Buffs, even giving CU All-American All-Everything Travis Hunter a “too small” sign after a hit late just before halftime:

CSU’s QB hit Travis Hunter with the “too small” right before the half

Travis had more receiving yards than BFN had passing yards in the first half lol

pic.twitter.com/7c0HA9jiPT

— DNVR Buffs (@DNVR_Buffs) September 15, 2024

“How stupid is that?” Coach Prime said after the game. “It’s Travis Hunter. Dude, this is Travis Hunter. This is Travis Hunter! Like, who does that?”

The Buffs went on to score two more touchdowns – both passes from Shedeur Sanders to Travis Hunter – making it a 28-3 lead and a 28-9 final.

“Well, I’m proud. I’m truly proud,” Coach Prime said of how his team responded to a week’s worth of criticism and pressure. “I mean coming down the street (from Boulder), from the time we walked out the locker room, I heard how much we suck – and I hate using that word and that terminology, but that was said – and all the profane and profanity that we were ushered into. These guys stood up. Come on, man, we can hear.”

As much as the players said they tried to ignore the trash talk from a team which hadn’t beaten them since 2014, and hadn’t beaten them in Ft. Collins since … 1955, they heard.

“Just a little bit of extra motivation when they’re talking crazy,” Shedeur said. “We don’t really put other  players down, you know, like we’re not trying to go on social media and do that. So, yeah, they just asked for it.”

Even Travis Hunter, as easy-going as they come … a player who sought out safety Henry Blackburn (the player who took Hunter out of the 2023 game with a cheap shot) after the game … wasn’t immune.

“It was very important (to get the win),” Hunter said. “They were talking, but we let it go through one ear and out the other. We just said we’ve got to go do our job, we’ve got to go out there and come out fast and play hard.”

The win was not only important for the Buffs under Coach Prime, it was important for the program as a whole. Yes, the Buffs had a six-game winning streak in the series. Yes, the Buffs hadn’t lost to the Rams since 2014. Yes, Colorado owned a commanding 68-22-2 overall lead in the series heading into the game, with a 25-8 advantage in games played since the series was resumed in 1983.

But … a loss … with no games to be played between the teams on the schedule until 2029 … would have been unthinkable. The Buffs would have a 1-2 record, and CU have been a national joke. The Big 12 slate would look like an insurmountable mountain of losable games, and a long losing streak, like the one endured to end the 2023 season, would seemingly have been all but assured.

Instead, the Buffs came through. The offensive line surrendered only one (late) sack, and only one hurry. The rushing attack, behind freshman Micah Welch, who finished with 65 yards on only nine carries, was serviceable (and could have been even better if the ball in the final few minutes, instead of padding stats with repeated pass attempts). The much maligned Colorado defense continued to improve its play, picking up their first four turnovers of the season, and finishing the game with only one touchdown surrendered in the last six quarters of play.

Now, instead of a potentially devastating loss, the Buffs will carry a seven-game winning streak in the Rocky Mountain Showdown series into the foreseeable future. The Rams, with an easy schedule the rest of 2024, may surpass CU’s win total by season’s end, but that doesn’t matter. The Buffs and their fans can tune out any noise coming from up north.

And that, by the way, includes listening to stories about CSU’s improved national status as a member of the Pac-12.

With Colorado State joining the “Pac-2” to form the “Pac-6” (Six-Pac?), there will be talk in Ft. Collins about how the Rams are being elevated to a Power Five conference.

Don’t believe it. Don’t even bother to listen to it.

Do you see the networks flocking to televise games in the new “Pac-8”? (the six current pledges – Oregon State; Washington State; Fresno State; Boise State; CSU; and San Diego State – will have to add two more schools by 2026 to even be recognized as a conference by the NCAA). Sure, the late Saturday night television window will be a draw, but how many fans on the east coast are going to stay up late for CSU/Fresno State? For Washington State/San Diego State? How many afternoon games in the Pac-8 will those networks even bother to try and show in the afternoon? There will be a television contract, to be sure, but it won’t be within shouting distance of the Power Four.

Colorado State is, and will always be, CU’s little brother. The historical domination in the series (69-22-2) says so. The domination since the rivalry was resumed in 1983 (26-8) says so. The 13-6 record in games played in Denver says so. The current seven-game winning streak (not even close to the longest winning streak CU has in the series, by the way. The Buffs won 12 straight between 1934-47) says so.

The final score of the 2024 game, 28-9, says so.

Let the Ram Nation go on and have their fun in their last two seasons in the Mountain West, before becoming the bottom-feeder in the new “Pac-X”.

The Ram coaches, players, and fans will continue to despise the Buffs and all that CU stands for.

Let them.

With apologies to Motley Crue … Don’t Go Away Mad, Ram Nation …

Just Go Away.

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This post, about the Colorado State game, from the 2024 Season, is filed under Article.
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