The crowd broiled under a midday sun at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium as the Colorado Buffaloes and Colorado State Rams faced off in the state’s biggest college football rivalry today.
The 76,000-seat stadium was not close to full, with an official attendance of 60,989. The southwest corner of the undulated with fans dressed in CU’s old gold, and the northeast corner was equally matched in CSU’s Kelly green.
The struggle on the field in the first half was hotter, as the Buffs took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter and scored again with about 9 minutes into the second on a 27-yard pass to Scott McKnight, making him CU’s all-time leading receiver. That beat the mark set in 1994 by former all-American Michael Westbrook.
The Buffs added a added a 28-yard field goal 3 minutes later to take a 17-0 first-half lead.
The Buffs are favored by 11 ½ points going in, but the Rocky Mountain Showdown was starting to look like a beat down. CSU went in hoping to notch back-to-back wins.
“Our quarterback is just warming up,” Monk Marcum, a CSU fan from Berthoud said of the Rams’ freshman quarterback, Pete Thomas, who started the game hot — 6-for-8 passing in the first quarter — before giving up two interceptions in the second quarter.
Other Ram fans in line at the Mile High Barbecue concession stand weren’t taking the first half as well.
“(Coach) Steve Fairchild is trying to save Dan Hawkins’ job; our offensive line is getting blown out,” said another fan wearing CSU colors, before he stomped off.
Pregame festivities had promised an emotional 84th meeting, a series Colorado leads handily, 60-21-2.
Traditional chants of “It’s great to be a CSU Ram,” were matched by jeers along the hecklers’ row that rings the stadium, where T-shirts taunted with messages such as “If You Can’t Go to College, Go to State.”
At one CU tailgate party, an undergraduate crowd listened to the “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus, while the alumni party next door the speakers blared “You Gotta Fight (For Your Right to Party” by the Beastie Boys.
“The game is on the field, but the entertainment value is priceless before the game,” said Terry Martin, a CSU fan who says he’s been to 25 straight games against the archrival buffs.
The rivalry runs deep.
Shane Company, the jewelry store, offered a free ring to any CU or CSU fan who proposed to a fan of the opposing school. No takers, said a spokeswoman shortly before kickoff.
This crowd has a history of rowdiness, but Denver police have stepped up efforts to reign in the mayhem since a riot and tear gas at Mile High in 1999.
As the crowds rolled in this morning, at least six uniformed police officers awaited them. Undercover officers roamed the crowd looking for drunks and other trouble, police said.
In one north stadium lot, a throng of Colorado State students and recent graduates urged a group of Denver officers to name the team they wanted to win.
“Three to two, see? Colorado State can’t get anything fair in Denver,” said CSU alumn Tiffany Rogers of Fort Collins.
There were no significant problems before gametime, according to police.
Alcohol was not absent, however.
“Kind of early to be drunk,” one shirtless undergraduate called out across a parking lot just after 9:30 a.m.
“I’ve been drunk since last night,” his friend hollered back in raspy voice as he wrangled a pack of Marlboros from the pocket of his khaki board shorts.
Parking turned into playgrounds as Colorado and Colorado State fans get primed to enter the stadium for today’s noon kickoff of the state’s birggest grudge match, with both teams trying to rebound from 3-9 seasons.
“I love this game,” said Juan Champion, a CSU fan from Thorton. “You never know when this might be the only thing you have to cheer about the rest of the year.”
A few players ventured onto the field early. The home of the Broncos has the end zones marked with Colorado State and Colorado in their distinctive styles.
South of the stadium, CU graduate Greg Harris of Denver wore a houndstooth hat, the kind you find in Tuscaloosa to honor former Alabama coach Bear Bryant.
“Luck,” he explained.
The game has little chance, barring a miracle, of having anything to do with national championship aspirations; both teams are forecast to land near the bottom of their conferences.
But that, however, does not mean there’s nothing to be fired-up about, said Jerome Daniels, a CU fan from Denver.
“The weather’s nice,” he said.
If the season’s expectations are low, the intrigue is still high, fans said.
The Buffs, however, lead the series 60-21-2.
Last year, in the last game scheduled at Boulder’s Folsom Field until at least 2021, the Rams won a 23-17, an upset that wasn’t decided until the final minutes.
This year’s game could render and early verdict on whether CU coach Dan Hawkins will ever turn the Buffaloes into winners in his last season under contract? In four seasons in Boulder, Hawkins has yet to have a winning season and owns a dismal 16-33 record. He relocated to Boulder with high hopes, as one of the hottest tickets in the coaching coaching game after going 53-11 at Boise State — a team that has continued to prosper and is ranked third in the country in the AP preaseason poll.
On the other sideline, the question is whether or not CSU freshman quarterback Pete Thomas, the California kid, can live up to his billing and lead the way in Fort Collins?
“I love this game,” said Juan Champion, a CSU fan from Thorton. “You never know when this might be the only thing you have to cheer about the rest of the year.”
— The Denver Post’s Natalie Meisler contributed to this report
