It’s not over until the final whistle blows.
If we learned anything in this crazy weekend of college football, it’s that the game is 60 minutes long. It does not matter if one side is ahead by three scores or even four — if the clock is not showing zeros, the potential for chaos is always on the table.
Colorado led 29-0 over Stanford on Friday night. By all accounts, the game was over. Until it wasn’t.
Colorado State was trailing by 20 with a little over four minutes remaining. The Rams were dead in the water. Until they weren’t.
College football is a beautifully chaotic sport. It’s wildly erratic and unpredictable. And while there are incredible athletes that can do amazing things out on the field, when the game is being played by college-aged individuals, the chances for craziness are much higher than what we see in the NFL.
We witnessed CSU pull off one of the more improbable victories we’ve ever seen this past weekend. There were so many key moments along the way that had to play out in favor of the Rams and if even one of those plays went the other way, CSU very likely would have left with a 13th consecutive loss to Boise State.
On Saturday night, though, on Homecoming weekend, CSU reminded the world why you should always think twice before leaving a game early.
Don’t get me wrong — the point of this is not to shame the folks that left. It was an incredible crowd of 34,901 fans and the majority decided to head home on a chilly, late night after assuming that the Rams were destined for another heartbreaker against the Broncos.
But for the supporters that decided to stay until the bitter end — the die-hards that refuse to leave their seats until all hope is officially lost — those people got to be part of something truly special. They got to experience one of the more remarkable games in program history. And for the rest of their lives, they’ll be able to say without lying, that they were some of the brave few that stuck it out.
“The last 5 minutes were pretty incredible,” Jay Norvell said postgame.
“I imagine there will be a lot of people that years from now will say that they were at this game and probably went home early, so you know it is what it is. It’s probably one of the most amazing games I’ve ever had a chance to coach in.”
Again, do not get me wrong here. It was a late start and the commute can be especially challenging for people that are coming from the metro area. I completely understand the logistics of the situation. Given the circumstances, it’s not surprising that there were probably less than 10,000 fans still in Canvas Stadium when Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi connected with Brayden Fowler to complete the miraculous comeback.
But much like the 1996 thriller against Air Force or the 2013 New Mexico Bowl, we got to see in this wonderful game that sometimes the unexpected does happen. Sometimes one team rises up like the Undertaker in the middle of the ring, and just when it seems like we know how things are going to play out, a surprise chokeslam is delivered to shock the world.
“We just kept fighting,” Norvell said. “It’s just a real testament to faith. It’s a real testament to not ever saying die.”
Maybe think twice before heading for the exits next time. You never know what you may miss.
