DENVER (AP) -Colorado State coach Steve Fairchild thinks the rivalry with Colorado should be played at Invesco Field “for the rest of all time.”
He may have to settle for Sunday night, when the only football game – college or pro – is televised to a national cable audience from the home of the Denver Broncos and the site just three nights earlier of Barack Obama’s historic acceptance of the Democratic presidential nomination in front of about 84,000 people.
“It’s a fantastic setting,” Fairchild said. “The players look forward to it, and I think everybody in the state looks forward to it.”
They might not have anything to look forward to after Sunday. Buffs athletic director Mike Bohn announced Friday that Colorado would exercise its option and move the 2009 game to Folsom Field in Boulder to give the Buffaloes a sixth home game.
Colorado State responded by moving the 2010 game to Fort Collins.
“We are disappointed by CU’s decision as we believe the series ultimately belongs in Denver,” Rams athletic director Paul Kowalczyk said. “However, in light of CU’s decision to play the 2009 game in Boulder, we believe we owe it to Colorado State University, our alumni, fans, students and the city of Fort Collins to bring the 2010 game back to Hughes Stadium.”
If it is the last time at Invesco, Buffs sophomore offensive lineman Ryan Miller plans to savor it.
“I have a lot of fond memories at Invesco right now, hopefully many, many more,” said Miller, who is from the Denver suburb of Littleton. “This is the big show, the dance. Just walking out of the tunnel and looking up and seeing the bronco head in the end zone, it’s just a surreal feeling.”
Kowalczyk and Bohn are in talks to extend the series beyond that season, and if the rivalry continues, it’s possible it will revert to a true home-and-home series, bypassing the state’s epicenter and the largest alumni base for both schools.
Fairchild, who replaced Sonny Lubick after serving as the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator in 2006-07, is a huge fan of the series and its setting, where workers on Friday disassembled the giant stage and floor that covered the field Thursday night during Obama’s speech.
“It is a perfect game to play,” Fairchild said. “You can see two ways as far as an opener. You can get one that maybe is a little easier than going out against a BCS school. But this is a perfect game to play. This is as good a setting as there is in college football and it would be a shame if we ruined it.”
The schools never faced each other during Fairchild’s playing days in the late 1970s and early ’80s. The series resumed in 1983 after a quarter-century dormancy.
The Buffaloes have won five of the past six games, with all six decided by less than a touchdown. Colorado won 31-28 in overtime last year.
While Rams senior quarterback Billy Farris will make his first start since his senior season at Woodlawn High School in Baton Rouge, La., he will be surrounded by one of the deepest backfields in the nation. He has a top target in senior tight end Kory Sperry, who caught three touchdown passes against the Buffs last season, one week before suffering a season-ending knee injury and petitioning for a medical redshirt.
Although they have to replace the Mountain West Conference’s leading passer in Caleb Hanie, the Rams return four of their five starting offensive linemen and senior running backs Gartrell Johnson and Kyle Bell.
The Buffs started up to eight freshmen on offense late last season, and their deep recruiting class this year is led by highly touted tailback Darrell Scott, rated by many recruiting services as the top running back in the country.
Add A Comment