FORT COLLINS — The Colorado Buffaloes (2-1) defeated the Colorado State Rams (1-2) 28-9 on Saturday night.
In what was the first Rocky Mountain Showdown in Fort Collins since 1996, the Buffaloes out-gained the Rams, 419 yards to 340.
Penalties were arguably the story of the night for the Rams. Despite the penalty figures being similar, CSU had penalties that directly contributed to the Buffs' scores on their first two touchdown drives.
It was familiar faces for the Buffaloes in terms of stardom, quarterback Shedeur Sanders had 310 yards and four touchdowns while wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter continued to make his mark on both sides of the ball with 13 catches, 100 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Hunter broke the record for most catches in a single game versus Colorado State with 12. The record was previously held by current Seattle Seahawks WR Laviska Shenault Jr., who had 11 in 2018.
Still, the game opened up slowly for both sides. After the teams traded three-and-outs, the Rams took a three-point lead which carried into the second quarter. But once the Buffaloes got it going, the Rams were never able to make it stop.
Early in the third quarter, the Rams made the first truly backbreaking mistake of the game. Backed up in his own end zone, Rams quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi dropped back and panicked under pressure. Rolling right and off his back foot, he threw it back across the field to Colorado defensive back Preston Hodge who easily intercepted it and gave the Buffs offense great positioning. Colorado then scored on a Travis Hunter touchdown to make it 21-3.
The rest of the game followed a similar trend. A long, near-quarter long drive by the Rams that included two fourth-down conversions was halted by a lost fumble which was forced and recovered by CU linebacker LeVonta Bentley. CSU could not establish any resemblance of momentum, and that showed in the stat sheet.
The pregame headlines were dominated by comments from the Fort Collins side, with preseason clips of Fowler-Nicolosi and receiver Tory Horton resurfacing in the days leading up to the game.
"We'll see how far Instagram followers gets them," said Fowler-Nicolosi. BFN finished 22-of-39 with 209 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.
Horton, who was unfortunately injured for the matchup, also got his comments in.
“I don’t feel like we left it on the field, because we should have murdered them guys,” he said.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders opened his post-game press conference with a direct call out of the CSU camp. The comments from the players were not all. Pregame, Colorado wide receivers coach Jason Phillips got into it with Colorado State head coach Jay Norvell.
“Personal game, heartfelt game, emotional game,” coach Sanders said. “They kind of make it like that. We just want to play some football.”
This comes after a similar, antagonistic sentiment was given by the Rams’ side just one year ago. Norvell himself publicly called out Sanders for his public attire before the game which drew national attention.
After Coach Prime spoke, Shedeur made a point to show love to his offensive line unit, who many felt he threw under the bus with his post-game comments after CU’s 28-10 loss to Nebraska. He brought his entire offensive line unit to the press conference.
“It was great,” Sanders said with a smile. “We all got together (and) understood we gotta do it.”
Postgame, the Buffaloes' Instagram account posted the final score with the caption “maybe next time lil bro.” That next time will have to wait as the Buffs and Rams do not face off again until 2029. For the next five years, Colorado will have the sweet taste of victory over their in-state rivals.
Until then, the largest crowd to ever pack Canvas Stadium will likely remain the crowd that was in attendance for this year’s game. 40,099 fans packed the stadium past capacity.
“This (is) the first time they sold out in here?” said Coach Prime. “Why was that? Y’all know darn well why.”
Cover photo by Roberto Patrick Gerra/Sko Buffs Sports
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