Cougar Football Saturday: in Boulder against the Buffaloes

I tried not to get up or move around very much throughout the night because that air mattress made so much noise.  I do remember getting up once because I had to pee.  Ben had snored a few times because I think the altitude was getting to him or he was getting sick or maybe both.  Anyway, we got up when we heard everyone else get up (around 7) because we were in the living room with all the noise.

I got myself ready for the day.  I pulled out my new Cougar jersey Ben got me for my birthday.  It was a little small (inspiration to start working out again) so I wore it as a under layer.  I really wasn't sure how cold it was suppose to be today so I dressed in layers.  If I needed to I could take some off.  I went into the kitchen and there was an assortment of breakfast foods...you could make a breakfast burrito, have pancakes, French toast and/or bacon and fruit.  I had some French toast, bacon, a banana and some OJ.  We waited around while everyone got ready for the day and had breakfast.  I bought some Cougar face sticker tattoos so we took some time and put them on.  I made sure I had all of my stuff I was taking with me to the stadium and that my phone was charged all the way.

All of us made the trek over to the stadium.  Our Airbnb was located on Mapleton and Folsom Field was roughly a mile and a half or so down Folsom St.  Along the way we saw a bunch of Coug fans in town for the game.  Originally, we tried to get tickets to the Alumni Cougar tail gate party but failed to do so.  Every block we heard a new group of Coug fans yell, "GO COUGS!"  It was so cool! We were also heckled by Buffalo fans as well. I was super stoked to have this experience at an away game.  It was just so different from going to a game in Pullman.  We obviously were the favorite to win the game because of how well we were playing and our impressive College Gameday win over Oregon.

We got to the stadium and Fitzy handed us our tickets just in case people wanted to wander around.  We really weren't sure what we wanted to do so we went with Fitzy and Chaise to the tailgating/beer garden area next to the stadium.  We got our ID's out and were given a bracelet.  We followed Chaise to a brewery promotion table.  Upslope were giving out free cans of beer and sunglasses.  Of course we took advantage.

We were instantly invited to a Colorado tent by some Cougar Alumni/fans who were buddies with some of the Colorado Alumni/fans.  We chatted with them for a while and even gave us some more beer, homemade chicken chili and corn bread, which had real corn in it.  They were so generous and the lady who made the chili...was the best chili I have ever had.  I complimented her at least three times before it was time to head into the game.  A lot of the Buffalo fans we talked to expected a blow out by the Cougs, which was true but as a Coug fan you just never know.

We wandered around for about another 20 minutes or so before heading into the stadium.  We got so many "GO COUGS!" as we walked by.  We used the restrooms, purchased some drinks and found our seats.  

The eleven of us took over two of the bleachers and were soon inundated by other Coug fans as it got closer to game time.  I was really impressed by the weather.  It was pretty mild but as they say, one day it could be 75 degrees and sunny and the next day you could get a foot of snow. For the most part the extended forecast said it was going to be a pretty dry mild weekend.

   

The game finally started and our section of fans were out of control.  So many mustaches and aviator glasses riddled the Cougar section of the stadium.  It was awesome and I was super stoked to be here.  The game started off pretty slow and Colorado scored first on blown coverage.  However, that is all the Buffalos scored the entire game.  Our defense was on target today.  We powered our way into their offense, stripped some of the fumbles, monster-trucked tackles for lost yards and forced some incomplete passes just past our finger tips.  We were hoping for more of an offense at the beginning of the game but we all had to be patient.  It's not like we didn't have chances to score, because we had plenty of them, we just didn't execute immediately.

We were scoreless at the end of the first quarter and that worried me.  I didn't want our winning streak to end at a game I went to.  It was really weird not having our band there.  Fitzy and I couldn't remember if our band traveled or not.  We knew they went to Seattle and wherever our bowl games were for that season.

The second quarter brought us a lot of  defense back and forth.  We managed to get down the field but had to settle for a field goal instead of a touchdown.  Our wide receiver was clearly being held by the defender but they didn't call it.  Our kicker put us on the board with 3.  Our defense stopped them again from scoring and this time about midway through the second quarter we finally got our Minshew to Borghi touchdown.  The Coug section erupted!  It took us a while to get going but once we did we went into halftime up 10-7.

When we came out of the locker room at halftime, a lot of defense on both sides had either opponent on edge.  If they scored it would make it close and if we scored we would build on our lead.  We extended our lead further before midway through the third quarter.  We marched down the field and Minshew threw a one yard pass to Bell for the touchdown!  Our section gave out tons of high fives and hugs.  The game was finally coming alive!

At the start of the fourth quarter, we took nearly three minutes of time off the clock with seven plays, a gain of 88 yards and a ten yard rushing touchdown from Minshew himself!  At that point most of the fans on the Colorado side started to thin out.  Unless they started to play like professional athletes, and every single thing went their way, they were not going to come back into this game.  The Buffaloes struggled all day with their offense.  With a little less than four minutes of the game to go and a drive of 68 yards, the Cougs topped off the game with another Minshew touchdown pass to Williams.

Cougs came into Boulder and won 31-7!

The whole team came over to our sideline and we all sang the Cougar fight song.  Coach Leach was given an honorary stick on moustache as ESPN was interviewing him.  It was one of the many iconic moments of this years season.

We walked back up the stairs and met up as a group to walk back to the Airbnb.  Somehow we all got separated and ended up walking the opposite way we came in down to the main street.  Along the way I noticed the stadium's statues and wanted a victory picture in front of it.

We continued back to the Airbnb and there were a lot of Cougar fans honking their horns, yelling "GO COUGS!" and singing the fight song.  It was awesome.  When we got back, we all decided on pizza and salad for dinner.  Fitzy and Regan went and got the pizza with a few stops along the way.  We all watched some of the highlights and other football games on ESPN while we waited for dinner.  I did some internetting.

It was also Chaise's brother's birthday so we had a small birthday party for him after pizza and salad.  They had gotten him a cheesecake birthday cake for dessert afterwards.  Both the pizza and the cake really hit the spot.

I decided to get cleaned up and get ready for bed.  I had Ben sleep on the couch because he was very congested and I didn't want him waking me up every five minutes.  Fitzy had given him some cold medicine to help with the congestion.  Before we all went to bed for the evening someone had looked on their phone app and it said it was lightly snowing.  No one believed her so I opened the door and yes, it was lightly snowing.  Unexpected.

We will see in the morning what mother nature has decided for us.  Could be a light dusting...could be a foot of snow...could be another nice sunny day?

Next Adventure:  Snow Storm, Leaving Boulder and Heading to Colorado Springs