Plati-'Tudes Folsom Turning 100: The 1920s

In this Plati-'Tudes series, we celebrate the 100th season of Folsom Field over the next 11 weeks looking back at the top game, moments, coaches and players of each decade. Today we begin with the beginning, the 1920s.

Folsom Field was originally called Colorado Stadium when it opened on Oct. 11, 1924. For the next 20 years would be referred to as both it and Norlin Stadium before it was altered to Folsom Field in 1944 following the death of legendary head coach Fred Folsom. Folsom coached Colorado teams three different times totaling 15 years between 1895 and 1915. His 76.5 winning percentage (77-23-2) is still tops among all coaches ever at CU. In addition, old 24th Street was also changed to Folsom Street to honor him.

CU had played its games at Gamble Field for two decades, where seating was limited to temporary bleachers. In the winter of 1923-24, CU President George Norlin studied the possibility of a new stadium, as the approaching completion of a sparkling new gymnasium (Carlson Gym), the inadequate number of seats at Gamble Field (roughly 9,000) and the growing interest in physical education and intercollegiate athletics demanded that a remedy needed to take place soon.

Investigation of a natural ravine just east of the site of the gymnasium as a site for the new stadium, suggested by professor Whitney Huntington, was not only a convenient location, but by using it a great expense could be avoided. After a financing plan was worked out, CU's own construction department began moving dirt with a steam shovel on January 14, 1924. Accounts at the time put the cost of the stadium at around $2.60 per seat (instead of $10 had concrete been used); the total cost was $65,000. By comparison, the cost to construct Carlson Gym two years earlier was $350,000. A press box was included in the cost for $2,000.

The new structure had an original capacity of 26,000 but could be expanded to as much as 30,000, featuring wooden bleacher seating over cement (which wasn't replaced by aluminum until 1976), and quarter-mile running track. A California red wood, dipped in creosote, was selected as the initial material. There were 22 sections divided by radial aisles installed, the same set-up in the lower bowl that remained the same until a slight alternation on the northeast side in 2015. An estimated 90 percent of the football players on the CU roster helped work on the stadium, including painting white numerals on all the seats, as many were putting themselves through school.

Upon its completion, it was the first structure of its kind in the Rocky Mountain region. The stadium was paid off in less than a decade, and would undergo several renovations and additions through the years; at present, the oldest thing in the stadium are the brick wall façades on the west side, the outside of Balch Fieldhouse which was built in 1936.

The 1920's

Record: 18-5-2

Game of The Decade: Colorado 39, Regis 0 (Oct. 11, 1924)
This was the first game ever in Folsom, then called Colorado Stadium; it was the second home game of the season as the Silver & Gold opened the year bidding farewell to Gamble Field with a 31-0 win over Western State. (The nickname Buffaloes was still a decade away.) The CU yearbook account didn't provide many details of the win over the "Fighting Irishmen," but made a point of writing that the game was played "before a fair-sized crowd that looked lost in the immense confines of the just completed athletic unit." As for the game itself, the summary said, "The teamwork exhibited was much smoother than it had been a week previous, and the team showed promise of developing into a powerful machine. The overhead game was not very successful, and most of the gains were made by straight football."

Other Top Folsom Games:
Colorado 3, Utah 0, Nov. 1, 1924: An important win on CU's way to win the Rocky Mountain Conference title; Earl Loser's 37-yard field goal was the lone score, coming late in the third quarter and then the Silver & Gold held off the "Red Devils" as Utah was called back in the day. The new stadium was officially dedicated on this day, with local and state officials on hand for the ceremony.

Colorado 39, Colorado Mines 0, Oct. 20, 1928: One of the first documented 100-yard rushing games in CU history – statistics were just starting to be maintained – was nearly a 200-yard game. Bill Smith had set the school mark a week earlier with 132 yards at Northern Colorado; on this afternoon, Bud Reagan gained 197 yards and scored twice before leaving the game with an injury in the fourth quarter.

Coach: Myron Witham (1924-29).

Top Performers:
Colorado Sports Hall of Fame members: Hatfield Chilson, Walter Franklin (athletic Manager/assistant coach)
CU Athletic Hall of Fame member: Hatfield Chilson, Lee Willard
First-Team All-RMAC: Chilson ('24), John Dozier ('24, '25)), Jack Healey ('24, '25), Earl Loser ('24), Bill McGlone ('25), Buck Smith ('27), Bernard Buster ('28), William Smith ('28, '29)

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