By Jason Gewirtz
Camera Staff Writer

University of Colorado football fans at Saturday's heartbreaking 33-30 loss to Nebraska had an uneasy feeling right from the start of the game.

Instead of running onto Folsom Field behind the pounding hooves of mascot Ralphie, the CU team had to run alone when the buffalo failed to make it out of her gate. After half-time, she marched to about the 20-yard-line before stopping.

"I guess you know you're going to have a bad day when the buffalo won't run," Coach Gary Barnett said after the game.

For CU fans, Saturday's overtime loss to the Cornhuskers indeed marked a bad day. But many in the sold-out Folsom Field said they are hopeful for the future, based on CU's performance, which included a 24-point fourth-quarter comeback.

"I'm definitely encouraged just because they played as well as they did," said Tyler Rogers of Littleton. "CU was expected to get blown out."

Outgoing CU President John Buechner, who has missed two home games in 36 years, said the game was perhaps the most difficult loss he's seen.

Buechner said he planned to send kicker Jeremy Aldrich — who narrowly missed the potential game-winning field goal with one second left to play — a note of encouragement this week.

"They played a great game," Buechner said. "This was about 5 inches off of a victory."

Kevin Rice of Colorado Springs said the loss hurt about "10-and-a-half" on a scale of 10. His friend, Charlie Stemler, summed up the sentiment of many die-hard CU fans.

"If it was anybody but Nebraska it would be different," Stemler said.

Despite the disappointing loss, and a mediocre 6-5 season record, many of the 52,946 fans at the stadium on Saturday said they were encouraged by Barnett's players and his coaching.

Some said the season had new significance after Barnett focused on Nebraska as a rival after former coach Rick Neuheisel downplayed the game for years.

"I think it's big he put an emphasis on this game," said Adam Stern, a CU sophomore. "This is the game today. This is the return to dominance."

Tera Sumner, a CU graduate from Denver, agreed.

"Barnett, he knows what football is all about," she said. "It's about fan participation, it's about rivalries."

In fact, many fans were quick to note the differences between Barnett's team and the CU Buffaloes of recent years, especially the current squad's resolve to come back in the fourth quarter.

"The discipline they displayed today was 1,000 percent better," said Rick Rogers of LaSalle.

Former CU Regent Jack Anderson said Buff fans have become familiar with winning, which makes losing that much tougher to handle.

"When they hired (former Coach) Bill McCartney, we really wanted to be competitive, but we never really dreamed it would be a national championship," he said. "Once we rose to that height, you get a little spoiled."

David Young, a Boulder High School graduate and CU fan since 1970, said he is optimistic about the team's future aspirations.

"I think they're playing better," he said. "We all know that nothing's going to be turned around in a year."