Colorado faces Arizona State next on November 22. It is expected to be one of the Buffaloes’ most emotional nights of the season, even if it may not have any bowl implications. This one hits different, like the final page of a long, chaotic book. The record won’t capture the story of the players who will enter Folsom Field for the last time, their emotions heavy but their helmets buckling, as Colorado stands at 3-7. Every locker room experiences Senior Night differently and performing one last time under the lights feels like a picture-perfect goodbye.

Before Senior Night, Colorado safety Ben Finneseth just dropped one of the season’s biggest surprises. When asked what the emotions would be like on Saturday, he shrugged in that honest, unfiltered way players do before the reality hits. “Yeah, so this… it’s actually not going to be my last game in Folsom because I have another year.” But it is. In a week full of goodbyes, Finneseth’s decision to stay completely flips the script. Because CU wants players returning who are familiar with the system, the grind, and this sort of loyalty move makes Deion Sanders happy right away.

Finneseth didn’t act as though this decision wasn’t emotionally painful. “It’s going to be emotional seeing a lot of my friends go… guys like Arden (Walker) and BJ (Green) and (Alejandro) Mata… it’s gonna be sad to see them go,” he admitted. These men are the ones he has spent numerous meetings with, sweated with, and rehabbed with. He has seen them take on starting positions, fight through tough seasons, and develop into the team’s heartbeat. He will enter a different locker room in next fall if he stays another year. But he made that decision. He stated, “It’s not going to be my last day. So I’m looking forward to it,” with the maturity and hope that CU badly needs.

Finneseth, who managed four different special teams units, played the fourth-most special teams snaps in 2024, had 12 tackles, and has been one of Colorado’s finest grinders. And before that? He overcame a season-ending injury in 2023, was named special teams captain as a redshirt freshman, and developed his whole persona around being the worker no one outworks. His narrative has always been about perseverance, from being a two-way high school standout in Durango to being the quiet glue guy at CU. He is now running it back for another year because the program still means a lot to him.

Colorado prepares for emotional senior night send-off

This week’s preparation for Colorado’s clash with Arizona State seems like one of those strange turning points of celebration and farewell. The locker room isn’t going into Saturday empty-handed, even though the Buffs aren’t going to a bowl at 3–7. After weeks of being tossed around, players like Julian Lewis, who is now starting at home in Folsom, have given the club a fresh start.

Although his 299-yard effort against West Virginia didn’t instantly make everything better, it did serve as a reminder to the fans that despite all the chaos, injuries, and late-night kicks, something is actually developing here. Now, under the spotlight once more, he has his first real opportunity to show Boulder what the future holds. But the emotion of the night isn’t really about the record or the matchup. It’s about the guys who won’t be walking out of that tunnel next year. That’s why Ben Finneseth’s words hit different.

Arden Walker turned himself into one of the top edge players in the Big 12. B.J. Green became the kind of defensive lineman every offense had to game-plan around. Alejandro Mata is 26 for 27 and has a 96.3 % XP for the season and gave CU its most stable kicking game in years. Losing players like that feels like losing pieces of the team’s soul.

And if Colorado can pull off one more Folsom magic moment, it’ll be a goodbye the seniors actually deserve.