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Sanctions imposed by the university will limit Colorado to about a dozen recruits next year, while the investigation into rape allegations continues.

Caught in the middle of all the uncertainty created by a paid administrative leave for Barnett was the assistant given the temporary reins, Brian Cabral. While awaiting a decision whether to reinstate Barnett (an independent Investigative Committee established by the Colorado Board of Regents has that authority), Cabral sensed the ordeal unified the Colorado squad during spring practice.

"Everybody stood up," said Cabral, who also credited the Colorado assistants for instilling leadership.

Buffaloes

The buffalo first appeared in 1934, three weeks after a contest to select an official school nickname by the Silver and Gold newspaper had come to an end and "Buffaloes" was the winning entry. The nickname was officially bestowed upon the school's teams at halftime of the Homecoming game against Utah. For the final game of the '34 season, some students paid $25 to rent a buffalo calf mascot along with a real cowboy as his keeper. It took the cowboy and four students to keep the calf under control on the sidelines, a 7-0 win over the University of Denver on Thanksgiving Day.

Prior to 1934, CU athletic teams usually were referred to as the "Silver and Gold", but other nicknames teams were sometimes called included Silver Helmets, Yellow Jackets, Hornets, Arapahoes, Big Horns, Grizzlies and Frontiersmen. The campus newspaper announced the contest in the fall of 1934, with a $5 prize to go to the author of the winning selection. Claude Bates of New Madrid, Mo., and James Proffitt of Cincinnati, Ohio, were co-winners for the prize as both submitted Buffaloes as their entry. Athletic Director Harry Carlson, graduate manager Walter Franklin and Kenneth Bundy of the Silver and Gold were the judges. Through the years, synonyms which quickly came into use included "Bison", "Buffs", "Thundering Herd", "Stampeding Herd", "Golden Avalanche", and "Golden Buffaloes".

The "Ralphie" tradition began October 1, 1966 when Buddy Hays of Boulder's Hidden Valley Ranch first brought a six-month old buffalo calf to Folsom Field. The parade around the then-existing cinder track was relatively inconspicuous. From that time on, the pre-game and second half charges of Ralphie around the perimeter of the playing field (and often through the ranks of visiting teams) has been one of the great spectacles of college athletics.

Ralphie

The University of Colorado has the most unique mascot in all of intercollegiate atheltics, a real buffalo named Ralphie. The live buffalo mascot, actually "Ralphie IV," will continue the tradition of leading the football team out on the field both at the start of the game and the second half.

It is truly one of the special sights that exists anywhere in college or professional sports, especially for opposing teams, who often stop in their tracks watching the massive buffalo round the end zone and head directly at their sideline.

Chip Named All-American

"Chip", the University of Colorado's costumed mascot, was named to the 2003 Capital One All-America Mascot Team. One of 12 mascots named to the second annual team, Chip is now a finalist for National Mascot of the Year honors, which will be announced in January. The All-America team is comprised of Albert (Florida), Aubie (Auburn), Big Red (Western Kentucky), Brutus Buckey (Ohio State), Chip (Colorado), Cocky (South Carolina), Hairy Dawg (Georgia), Harry the Husky (Washington), Monte (Montana), Scratch (Kentucky), Smokey (Tennessee) and YoUDee (Delaware). Each member of the mascot team is awarded $5,000 for the school's mascot program. This year's All-America team was chosen from Division IA and IAA athletic programs. A panel of judges, including original Phillie Phanatic David Raymond; mascot guru and historian, Dr. Roy Yarbrough; and representatives from ESPN and Capital One, selected and notified the 12 finalists in June. Judging criteria included interaction with fans, sportsmanship and community service. The selection of the team sets the stage for a fierce battle for the coveted Capital One National Mascot of the Year title beginning in early September. Fans across the country will be able to vote for their favorite mascot of the 12 through real-time, online polling at www.capitalonebowl.com. The winner will be selected based on the judges' ranking (50 percent) and the on-line voting results (50 percent). The Capital One National Mascot of the Year will be announced during the Capital One Bowl on January 1, 2004, and will receive an additional $5,000 (for a total of $10,000) for its school's mascot program. Looking back to last fall and the day after Thanksgiving, when Colorado saw Nebraska rally with 10 fourth quarter points and post a 31-22 win, ending CU’s hopes of becoming bowl eligible, the expected disappointment and frustration was there as the Buffs finished with just their third losing record (5-7) in the past 19 seasons.

What has transpired in the off-season has made the above a distant memory. Allegations raised about the CU football program’s recruiting practices in conjunction with three Title IX lawsuits eventually led to head coach Gary Barnett being placed on paid administrative leave until an independent investigative panel completes an in-depth report and his future is decided by the end of May.

In his absence, Barnett cannot direct any aspect of the program, thus university officials named assistant head coach Brian Cabral as the interim head coach on February 20. Cabral considers himself on “administrative assignment” and has tried his best to take over the reins of a program that is excited to get back on the field and prove that the 2003 season was an aberration following the school’s 2001 Big 12 Conference title and 2002 North Division crown. “There was a lot of excitement,” Cabral said of spring drills. “They came in very excited about the gains made through the winter, and as a result, we’re farther ahead than they we were at this time last year. That, and the desire to go practice, get away from everything and play some ball. We can say that we have got a really solid foundation right now, on both offense and defense. We needed to do that; we needed to get back to basics. For a young team we needed to do a lot of things better, and we did that.”

CU returns 42 lettermen and 14 starters from last season, which started off well enough with an exciting 42-35 win over rival Colorado State. It was a coming out party for sophomore quarterback Joel Klatt, who was named the national player of the week for his 402-yard, 4-TD effort in the game, which saw Bobby Purify score the game winning score on a 9-yard run in the game’s final minute. The Buffs followed that win with a 16-14 triumph over UCLA in Boulder to go to 2-0 on the season.

But things went sour shortly thereafter, as CU struggled on defense, allowing 42 or more points in five straight games as the Buffs dropped six of their next seven games. A late-season turnaround produced convincing wins over Missouri and Iowa State, after battling No. 1 Oklahoma and then Texas Tech to the wire, but the year came to a sudden close with the loss to Nebraska.

Barnett made one change in his coaching staff, bringing back former CU assistant Mike Hankwitz in his old role of defensive coordinator, one he held for seven years in Boulder between 1988 and 1994.

The biggest change for the Buffs in 2004 will be the return to a 4-3 base defense (pro style), as CU had been running a 4- 2-5 the last two seasons, one that had success at times but overall didn’t produce the results Barnett & Co. desired. The biggest challenge might well lie on the offensive side of the ball. “The challenge for us is to get back to the identity that we want to have, and that’s to be an efficient, effective rushing team,” offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. “At the same time, we want to maintain the efficiency we created and have as a passing team. Last year at this time, we set out to become a better passing team and we accomplished that goal. We want to improve on that level because you never want to stay the same, but most importantly, we want to get our running game back to where it has been.”

Colorado has the nucleus for an explosive offense, based on the depth at quarterback, running back and tight end. Klatt has five talented players behind him who all want his job, raising the ante at the position as Watson has stated, and coaches love that kind of competition, especially for the most important position on the team. Quarterback is the deepest position on the team, with tight end right there with the likes of junior Joe Klopfenstein and seniors Quinn Sypniewski and Jesse Wallace. But what might prove to be the most intriguing situation is how the roles at tailback and fullback play out.

Purify, a senior, is back after being granted a medical redshirt for 2003, as he suffered a nasty high ankle sprain in the third game of the year against Washington State, one that eventually required surgery. Pair him with junior Brian Calhoun, one of the team speedsters, and that’s a heckuva 1- 2 punch as the duo has combined for 3,107 career rushing yards. But it gets better, as junior Lawrence Vickers and sophomore Daniel Jolly will line up 1-2 at fullback, with the twist being that both can and will play some tailback as well. Add to that mix a talented redshirt freshman in Isaiah Crawford and two incoming recruits, there’s almost no end to the creativity the offensive coaches can employ this fall. On one condition, that is.

The graduation of receivers D.J. Hackett and Derek McCoy, who combined for 141 catches, 1,896 yards and 18 touchdowns last fall, combined with the unknown status of junior Jeremy Bloom, has left a void at the position. (Bloom has started accepting endorsements to finance his pursuit of a medal in moguls skiing in the 2006 Olympics, at present not allowed by the NCAA but an appeal has been filed in his behalf.) While the coaches know they have a lot of raw talent at receiver, experience is lacking for most, other than senior Ron Monteilh, who will likely become a go-to guy for the quarterbacks and be called upon to provide leadership for the younger guys. If the group can develop as hoped, the coaching staff will have what it needs to incorporate the creativity they want for a bevy of multiple sets and formations. The offensive line will of course play an integral role if the offense is to succeed, and it had its struggles a year ago as the Buffs battled through a nasty schedule with just one returning starter from its two-year run of dominating the nation in rushing yards gained out of the tailback position. The difference this time around is that three starters are back, along with a total of 2,851 snaps of experience, almost four times the figure at this time last year.

Senior Sam Wilder, who switched from defense to offense just two weeks before the season opener in 2003, and super soph Brian Daniels figure to anchor a maturing group of linemen who are looking to become the force they were as recent as two years ago.

Colorado Buffaloes college football tickets. Colorado Buffaloes college football tickets to see the Colorado Buffaloes college football team play at Folsom Stadium in Boulder, Colorado. Colorado Buffaloes college football tickets.

Colorado Buffaloes college football tickets.