BOULDER, Colo. — The mass of Colorado fans spilled out of the seats and onto the field after a 24-17 victory over No. 22 Iowa State on Saturday.
It was a sight that Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders loved to see. It might very well lead to a reprimand, a fine or both. Either way, it’s the second straight home game with an incident involving the crowd at Folsom Field.
The school drew a $50,000 fine and a rebuke by the Big 12 for derogatory chants toward the BYU crowd on Sept. 27. The Big 12 might take a hard look at this episode too, given that conferences are cracking down on students rushing the field.
“Is it a fine?” Sanders asked after the game. “Come on, man. That ain’t right. I want to see the kids rush the field. I absolutely love it.”
A crowd began gathering near the railing of the end zone with “Colorado” printed along the sloped bank as the clock approached zeroes. The public address announcer warned the fans that entering the field could result in a fine for the school and possibly arrests for them.
But when Buffaloes quarterback Kaidon Salter took a final knee to end the game, the crowd headed toward the midfield logo.
“I mean, hats off to our security team. They do a good job ushering me in [to the locker room],” said Sanders, who notched his second win over an AP Top 25 team since taking over in Boulder. “But I love to see it. I really do.”
Sanders noted the school lowered the goalpost so it didn’t go home as a souvenir.
“What are you going to do with the field goal if you take it down anyway? What are you going to do with it?” Sanders said. “Put it in your front yard? Your frat house? Then you’re telling on yourself. I don’t understand that, but I love it.”
Two weeks ago at Folsom Field, fans directed expletives and religious slurs toward Mormons as BYU beat Colorado 24-21. The school was issued a $50,000 fine, and Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark condemned the chants.
Sanders apologized too, saying at the time: “Our student body, our kids are phenomenal, so don’t indict us just based on a group of young kids that probably was intoxicated and high simultaneously.”
In November, the Big 12 fined Arizona State $25,000 and issued a reprimand following a premature field storming by Sun Devils fans that took roughly 15 minutes to clear before BYU heaved a final Hail Mary that fell incomplete. Colorado received a $25,000 fine last season after a win over Baylor on a Hail Mary play when the crowd rushed the field.
Sanders seemed shocked when told Saturday that the fine for storming the field could be $50,000.
“How is it $50,000 for rushing the field?” Sanders said. “Wow. Shoot. I’m sorry. Wow, fifty grand.”
