BOULDER, Colo. — Excitement was roaming at the University of Colorado Boulder as the Buffs took on Brigham Young University (BYU) Saturday night at Folsom Field.
Fans of all ages were decked out in black and gold, feeling both confident and committed that their Buffs had a chance of beating BYU, though the night ended in heartbreak for the Buffs. The final score of the game was 24 to 21.
Buffs superfan Phil Caragol, also known as Buffalo Phil, has been dressing up in Buffs gear since 2010. He said it all started because they weren’t a ‘very good team’ and there were ‘so many sad faces in the stadium.’ Now, 15 years later, he explained what the energy is like during these late-night games and his role in keeping fans going.
“These late-night games are killer, starts at 8:15 p.m., so we’re not out of there till like 12:30 a.m. Everbody’s great energized in the first quarter, second quarter, and then halftime comes and the energy level starts sinking. It gets cold and old people leave, so it's rough. Afternoon game, it's just much more everybody's much more engaged," Caragol said.
Before the game started, fans gathered for the Buff walk to cheer on the players and hear from the band. Becky Gamble could easily be spotted standing on top of a cooler to get a good view ahead of the game. She explained just how special Folsom Field is and the energy inside of it.
“This stadium is one of the best in the country, just because it’s small and it’s intimate and you got the flat irons in the backdrop,” said Gamble. “This is a pretty special place.”
Tailgating was in full force before the kickoff, with kids throwing footballs and fans enjoying their favorite bites to eat. At the BYU Alumni tailgate, booths were set up for attendees to pick up free swag or take pictures in gear.
Jennifer Wise, chapter chair for the BYU alumni association in Denver, shared her favorite table is the CougsCare project as they were collecting donations for books and phonics games for the Family Learning Center in Boulder.
“People are donating books and phonics games and toys, things to the center that will help them sort of bridge that gap between Spanish and English and be able to, sort of take advantage of all of the amazing cognitive benefits that bilingualism gives them,” Wise said.
When interviewing Wise, she said there were 300 items on their Amazon wishlist, and at last check, there were 253 donations. While the CougsCare project started back in 2019, Wise explained this was the first time for this tailgating tradition here in Colorado.
"It is definitely a distinctively BYU thing to do, so yeah, I love it. It's fun to be a part of," Wise said.
Next up, the Buffs will play Texas Christian University away in Fort Worth, and BYU will play at home against West Virginia.
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