Chip encourages the gold and blue crowd to make noise during Saturday's game against Texas A&M. The Buffs beat the Aggies 35-34. (CU Independent/Lee Pruitt)
Fans can wear whatever color they want.
In the days leading up to Saturday’s game versus Texas A&M at Folsom Field, students planned a “powder blue protest.” In the early 1980s, Colorado wore powder blue uniforms because the Regents wanted to replace the popular black uniforms with “Colorado Sky Blue at 9,000 feet.” The Buffs went 10-33-1 over this time period, prompting the school to go back to black and gold.
Just thinking about the recent struggles of the football program made some fans get the blues.
Sophomore environmental design major Alvin Jen, 29, was one fan in the student section sporting powder blue.
“Watching the games is frustrating,” Jen said. “It will show the school and the athletic department that students are sick of watching a losing team.”
Of the 47,227 fans at the game, very few showed up in powder blue. A large portion of the student section was decked out in its usual gold T-shirts.
Sophomore business major Jeff Taylor, 19, was one of many who did not come out in powder blue.
“I heard about it,” Taylor said. “I thought it was contradictive, just encouraging the players and the coaching staff is really what it’s about.”
The players heard about it, too, and they responded the only way they could – with a win against a conference rival.
“We knew they were going to do it and we took it as disrespect,” sophomore quarterback Tyler Hansen said. “Even though [the fans] don’t have our back, we’re going to play for each other on the team as one heartbeat.”
Hansen, whose only touchdown came with under three minutes left in the game, led CU back from an 11-point halftime deficit to topple the Aggies. Hansen’s touchdown throw turned out to be the winning score in CU’s 35-34 win over A&M.
In a show of hypocrisy, some students wearing powder blue rushed the field after the game.
“That’s outside stuff,” junior wide receiver Scotty McKnight said. “They can do whatever they want. We came out with a big win over a great team.”
The win improves Colorado’s record to 3-6 and the team remains bowl-eligible. If they expect to get to a bowl game and the fans back on their side, they will need to win the remaining three games on their schedule.
“Your backs can’t get any closer to the wall,” head coach Dan Hawkins said. “It’s March Madness now, you either win or you go home.”
If the Buffs win out, this victory could be looked upon as the game that turned the season around. CU was in desperate need of some momentum coming into the game and beating a quality opponent may return some swagger to the sideline.
“The whole state of Colorado expected us to throw in the towel,” senior tight end Patrick Devenny, who caught the game-winning touchdown, said. “We’ve never given up. Hopefully, this gives confidence back to the team and the fans.”
Maybe those powder blue-clad fans will return to cheer on their team in the Buffs’ season finale against rival Nebraska on Nov. 27. But as Hawkins said, they are not really fans at all.
“The real Buffs are wearing black and gold,” Hawkins said.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Michael Krumholtz at Michael.krumholtz@colorado.edu.
