For some, college football has been the little brother of the NFL since the start of the professional football. Football fans from coast to coast consider the end of summer and the start of fall the best time of year for sports and while college football has been a staple in America society for over a century, the NFL has lead the way as the most watched sport amongst all sports across the U.S. That is until the Prime effect.
Over the weekend the Coach Prime led Colorado Buffaloes hosted their in state rivals, the Colorado State Rams (CSU) for the Rocky Mountain Showdown, for a rivalry game, almost as old as the state itself.
In the week leading up to the game, CSU Rams coach Jay Norvell made a statement on ESPN that seemed to be directed solely at coach Prime. Norvell said, “I don’t care if they hear it in Boulder. I told them, I took my hat off and I took my sunglasses off. I said when I talk to grown-ups, I take my hat off and my glasses off. That’s what my mother taught me. (CU’s) not going to like us no matter what we say or do.”
This became fuel for coach Prime, his staff and the players heading into Saturday night’s primetime game, which drew ESPN’s biggest prime time audience at 9.3 million viewers and 11.1 million peaking viewers becoming the fifth most watched college football game ever.
The Rams were 23.5-point underdogs in Saturday’s matchup however; you would have never guessed it by the half.
The first quarter was one of the most productive first quarter in state history (both local and professional) as both teams managed to score a combined 28 points with two decisive turnovers by both teams. The Rams scored in the second leading the Buffs heading into the half.
In the third the Buffs and Rams held one-another to no additional points but in the fourth the Buffs down 17-28 after a field goal from CU and a touchdown from CSU. Colorado added a 41-yard field goal with 7.33 left. CU’s defense stiffened and was able to get Colorado’s quarterback Shedeur Sanders back on the field for one last march down the field.
With less than a minute left to play in regulation, S. Sanders connected with Jimmy Horn Jr. for the touchdown and then found Tight End Michael Harrison in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion to tie the game. CU and CSU went into overtime tied 28 – 28.
The first overtime score came from a 3-yard touchdown connection from S. Sanders to Michael Harrison again to take a 35-28 lead. CSU answered with an 8-yard pass from Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi to Tory Horton (his top receiver of the day).
The final score came in the 2 Sanders connected with Michael Harrison yet again on an 18-yard pass, followed up by a 2-point conversion. CSU was unable to answer and CU bested CSU in the 2023 Rocky Mountain Showdown 43-35.
This week the number 19th ranked CU Buffs will take on the number 10 ranked Oregon Ducks on Saturday September 23.
In other sports the Denver Broncos lost at home again to the Washington Commanders dropping to 0 -2. The Broncos will face the Miami Dolphins in Miami this Sunday at 11 a.m.
 for the Rocky Mountain Showdown.){kind=link}