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Singin’ in The Rain
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The main topic for the Buff Nation in the week leading up to the game against Baylor wasn’t the big win over Colorado State, and whether the Buffs could sustain their momentum against the Bears.
It wasn’t about how Baylor had the nation’s leading pass defense, though the Bears’ stats were certainly aided by playing Tarleton State (80 yards passing for the Texans) and Air Force (25 yards passing for the Falcons).
It wasn’t even about whether Travis Hunter, the reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week (while still being second in the nation in receptions and receiving touchdowns) would finally be taken seriously nationally as a Heisman Trophy candidate.
Nope.
The main topic of conversation for the Buff Nation in the week leading up to the Baylor game was … the weather.
On Tuesday, four days before the game, the forecast for CU/Baylor had a 35% chance of rain. By Wednesday, the forecast was up to 95%, with a prediction of over an inch of rain on Saturday night. Coach Prime, who deflected a question during his Tuesday press conference about preparing for potential bad weather by using “wet balls” in practice, found a new way to be criticized in social media, with the haters chiming in on Coach Prime’s inability to properly prepare his team for a game.
Whether the players were ready for a game in the rain was secondary to the thoughts of many Buff fans, however. Colorado and Baylor players were going to take the field Saturday night, regardless of the forecast. For some in the Buff Nation, though, the dire forecast was enough to give them pause as to whether they wanted to attend.
Then, as the week went on, the storm scheduled to hit Boulder on Saturday kept getting pushed deeper and deeper into the night. By Saturday morning, it appeared that the heavy rain would be deferred until after the final gun. Undeterred, an over-capacity crowd of 52,794 found their way into Folsom for a game none of us will soon forget.
Yes, it rained during the Colorado/Baylor game, but, as it turned out, the forecasters were correct, and the heavy stuff didn’t come down until after the Buffs had secured an unlikely – check that, make that impossible – 38-31 overtime victory.
As the Homecoming crowd filed into Folsom for the nationally televised Fox broadcast, the clouds were overcast, and there had been a few drops of rain. Thereafter, the rain came at times when the Buffs’ fortunes waned.
After taking a 7-3 first quarter lead, the Buffs – and the weather – went south. Ponchos and other rain gear came out in the second quarter as Baylor took command of the game.
Three plays into the second quarter, Baylor scored on a 30-yard touchdown to make it a 10-7 game. After the Buffs managed to tie the score at 10-10 with a 43-yard field goal by Alejandro Mata. The kick was a surprise, as Mata had been struggling in the early going of the 2024 season, but the field goal gave the Buffs and their fans a boost.
Which lasted all of 11 seconds, as the Bears returned the ensuing kick for a touchdown, reclaiming the lead.
After a quick three-and-out from the CU offense and a 45-yard touchdown run by Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson on a fourth-and-one, the score was suddenly 24-10, Baylor. Man soggy Buff fans in the stands were left wondering at that point if an exit at halftime might be the better part of valor.
Then, the unexpected happened.
The rain let up … and … the Buffs started playing a litter better. After the teams traded punts, the Colorado offense got a boost from an unlikely source, as seldom used wide receiver Omarion Miller scored on a highlight touchdown. Catching the ball near the Baylor 30, Miller managed to stay on his feet while being tackled, then scampering the remaining yardage to complete a 58-yard score, making it a 24-17 game at halftime, and giving the Buff Nation renewed hope.
The second half opened with the defense giving the team a lift, ending a drive into CU territory with a stop on fourth-and-one at the CU 41-yard line. The offense, though, was not able to capitalize, going three-and-out.
But the Buff defense, as they have all season, came to play in the second half, forcing another punt. This time, the Buff offense rose to the occasion, with a Micah Welch two-yard score in the final minute of the third quarter, tying the score at 24-24.
As a mist turned into a drizzle in the fourth quarter, the Buffs’ fortunes also took at turn for the worse as the game clock ticked down. The Bears scored with 5:43 to play, regaining a 31-24 advantage. After a sack … and then another sack … left the Buffs’ offense with a third-and-31 at their own four yard line, the incompletion to complete the three-and-out was almost a positive play.
After a short punt and a return to the CU 26-yard line, Baylor looked to move in for the kill as some of the saturated Buff fans made their way to the exits. With the ESPN “win probability index” giving Baylor a 98-99% chance of winning, the Bears went conservative. Instead of going for another touchdown, the Bears ran three times, looking to post a game-clinching field goal in the final minutes.
Then … Miracle No. 1 … Lost in the heroics of the moments to come, the Buffs were given a reprieve when Baylor kicker Isaiah Hankins missed a 45-yard field goal attempt with 2:19 to play, leaving it a one-score game.
The Buffs, as the rain started to intensify, had new life.
Starting at their 28-yard line, the Buffs opened their miracle drive with a sack, the seventh of eight surrendered by the offensive line on the night. Instead of folding, the CU offense moved forward, despite adversity. An apparent 39-completion to Travis Hunter was waived off, with Buff fans shrugging off the call as just another play which would seal CU’s fate. A second bad break occurred when Shedeur Sanders hit LaJohntay Wester for an apparent first down and a stoppage of play with under a minute to play. Instead of giving the Buffs a first down, Wester was deemed short of the sticks, keeping the clock moving, forcing the Buffs to run the ball on fourth down to keep the ball. The fourth down quarterback sneak was successful … but now only 18 seconds remained.
A third bad break in the final frenetic seconds came two plays later, when a heave by Sanders to Will Sheppard was dropped at the Baylor two yard line. With only two seconds remaining and 43 yards to cover, only a Hail Mary through the rain would answer the Buffs’ prayers of a chance at overtime.
And a Hail Mary they got. Using Travis Hunter as decoy – notably drawing the attention of no fewer than three Baylor defenders – wide receiver LaJohntay Wester was left with single coverage. Shedeur Sanders drifted to his left on the game’s final play … and was almost sacked despite the four-man rush. Sanders did get the ball off, though, with Wester cradling the ball in the south end zone in front of a disbelieving student section.
Miracle No. 2 was complete when Mata calmly made the extra point with no time on the clock, forcing overtime at 31-31.
The rain continued to intensify as the teams prepared for overtime, but the sold out “White Out” crowd no longer cared about getting wet. A nicely orchestrated seven-play drive in overtime by the CU offense covered the necessary 25 yards, with a Micah Welch one-yard scoring run giving CU its first lead since the first quarter, 38-31.
The Bears looked to quickly answer, and had a first-and-goal at the CU two-yard line after only four plays. (a overlooked play: A great open field tackle by Cam’Rom Silmon-Craig prevented a touchdown on the play before Miracle No. 3 – allowing what happened next to occur). A second overtime was seemingly a certainty, with Baylor having four tries to cover only two yards. Baylor running back Dominic Richardson, though, was met at the goal line by Travis Hunter on Baylor’s next play. The mano-a-mano was won by the best player in college football, with Hunter forcing a fumble. The ball went through the end zone, giving CU a touchback and the victory … but not until after the referee went under the hood one last time.
With thousands of students already on the field, the referee, after a few (very) tense minutes, declared the call on the field of a fumble to be correct … and the celebration of a 38-31 overtime victory could finally commence.
There have been a few other games in Folsom Field history played in the rain (see below). There have been other memorable games and stunning comebacks in Colorado football history.
How does this miracle victory rate?
How this win will ultimately affect CU’s 2024 season remains to be seen. Whether this game will go down as a program-defining moment – like the Miracle in Michigan or the 62-36 win over Nebraska – is hard to say.
What can be said with some degree of certainty is that those who attended the game will not soon forget it. The 12,000 students – almost all decked in white, with very few in rain gear – came early and stayed late. They will remember this game and talk about it for years.
As the jubilant crowd slowly made their way out of Folsom, the heavy rain – which had been forecast and the subject of much discussion in the week leading up to the Baylor game – finally appeared.
At that point, though, the Buff Nation could have cared less.
With all due respect to Gene Kelly … CU’s singin’ in the rain was much more enjoyable.
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P.S. In case you were wondering … The last time the Buffs played at home in the rain before the Baylor game was on October 3, 2015 against Oregon (light-to-moderate rain during the game – in fact, kickoff was delayed 61 minutes due to lightning in the area). Prior to that, the last time CU played in the rain was October 14, 2006, during the second half against Texas Tech. The last time there was heavy rain during a game in Boulder was in the fourth quarter in a 20-13 loss to Michigan in 1996; otherwise you have to go back to September 11, 1982, in a 31-17 loss to California (Bill McCartney’s first game).
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5 Replies to “Singin’ In The Rain”
Article could’ve just as easily been titled “Slingin’ in the Rain”
I almost left that game 4 times. Thinking the season was over…. Down 14 a few minutes before half, the late touchdown by Baylor with 5 minutes left, back to back sacks on the subsequent drive, and the dropped pass by Sherman…. But my seat mates kept me there. Thank god. This sort of play can make a team. This team has a ton of flaws, but it also has moments and players that are absolutely brilliant. If they can somehow put it all together….. well I have learned my lesson. No leaving the seats….
I listened to some eastern time zone sports talk radio this morning. Since the game didn’t end until midnight eastern the announcers had no idea what transpired. The take was Colorado squeaked by a bad Baylor team, ho hmm. This is what 12 has to overcome to get the Heisman. They should already have his name on it. Most dangerous weapon on offense – see the triple coverage he got on Hail Mary – and makes the defensive play of the game. No one else is even close to him.
Can Travis kick off into the end zone and be on the punt team?
Love that Bill!