“On the East Coast, football is a cultural experience. In the Midwest, it’s a form of cannibalism. On the West Coast, it’s a tourist attraction. And in the South, football is a religion, and Saturday is the holy day.”
– Marino Casem, Head Coach, Alcorn State
Halle-freaking-lujah. And since I don’t see Colorado’s region listed in Casem’s quote, we’ll just co-opt that last one and say it was a pretty freaking holy day in Colorado for college football last weekend.
The CU Buffs got things started with one of the early games of the season last Thursday, and had revenge on their minds after Georgia Tech started them out last season with a loss, and the team never found itself above .500 the rest of the year. Some of those losses were big ones, but a few were also close calls that were ultimately self-inflicted. What a joy it was to see them not only avenge last year’s season opener, but to also finally win a close one with the types of decisive plays they’d need to capture a game like this. Coach Deion Sanders intimated as much after the game, saying, “You have no idea how wonderful this is when you’ve been on the other side of these things.”
I looked wonderful, indeed. Kick-blocking Boo Carter preserved a hard-earned one-point victory before leading the whole team in a celebratory sprint down the field to end the game. It seemed a fitting start to a season that Buffs fans have been wanting for a while now.
On Saturday morning, the Air Force Falcons picked up the mantle, and used it to do some unspeakable things to the Duquesne Dukes. In a shutout that was even less close than the mile-wide scoring difference showed, the Falcons put up points in every quarter, and pretty much had things however they dictated throughout the game. Air Force’s defense gave up just over 100 total yards to the Dukes, while gaining a whopping 431 yards themselves… and that was just their rushing yardage. Two of their rushers broke 70 yards apiece, and their quarterback ran for two scores himself.
By late afternoon, the CSU Rams decided that they might like to put an exclamation mark on an already-successful weekend of Colorado College Pigskin Play. Kicking off the first season in ages in which they were not playing in the same conference, the Rams and Wyoming Cowboys still had decades of history in a season-opening Border War. Colorado State came out hot, then almost let the Cowboys back into the game, before decisively putting them away in the second half.
A national broadcast alongside CU’s Thursday night game showing finally shone favorably on the Rams, and they are off to a hotter start than most anyone but their most loyal fans would have expected.
Hell, even UNC almost took their first game up in Greeley, barely losing to Weber State after a torrid fourth-quarter comeback. So close.
Is it time for any of these teams to start thinking about the College Football Playoffs? That sort of chatter may be a little premature. But it doesn’t change the fact the the Buffs got a few votes for the top 25 in the national polls, and the Rams are ranked for a moment at the top of their brand new conference. Maybe the Falcons will spend their first couple of weeks bowling over cannon fodder, but that is often what makes that running attack so fearsome by the time they start having to stack it up against deeper competition.
So celebrate, Colorado football fans. These last few seasons, when the collegiate teams and even the pro team were playing some questionable ball, it sure made for some long weekend and extra Home Depot trips. But with the way everyone is looking coming into THIS season, that honey-do list is going to have to wait. The only thing I might be building is a little shrine to Saturdays and Sundays in Colorado. Been praying for pigskin? The Church of the Immaculate First Down is back in session. Halle-football-lujah!
