SAN ANTONIO – Ben Finneseth was a senior at Durango High School when his father took him to Golden to visit the Colorado School of Mines.
“I asked my dad, I was like, ‘Can we just drive up to Folsom Field? I just want to see it. I’ve never seen it,’” Finneseth said this week. “We drove up, and I looked through the gate, and I was like, ‘Dad, I want to play here.’ And then a couple weeks later, I ended up getting the call. And since then, it’s been a dream lived out ever since.”
Now in his fourth season with the Colorado Buffaloes, Finneseth is one of the few “OBs” – original Buffs who were on the team before head coach Deion Sanders was hired in December of 2022 – who are enjoying the opportunity to participate in the Valero Alamo Bowl with the 20th-ranked Buffs on Saturday against No. 17 BYU.
“It means the world,” said Finneseth, a walk-on safety and special teams standout. “Obviously, two years ago, we were 1-11, and then last year, we were 4-8 and now we’re 9-3 and could potentially have a double-digit win season. So it means a lot, especially being an in-state guy.”
This season, just 10 OBs were on the roster, including linebacker Trevor Woods, who recently entered the transfer portal and won’t participate in the Alamo Bowl.
Running back Charlie Offerdahl, a former walk-on, is the lone scholarship OB, with Finneseth leading a group of eight walk-on OBs.
All of them joined the Buffs after the program went to the Alamo Bowl at the end of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but had never experienced success as Buffs before this year.
Offerdahl, Finneseth, Camden Dempsey and Ben Reznik are all fourth-year Buffs who went a combined 9-27 in their first three years with the program.
“All that I gotta say is it’s just such a blessing to be here,” said Offerdahl, who came to CU from Dakota Ridge High School. “Being with this team, with the players we got on this team, with Coach Prime, having the family come out here, it’s just so special.”
The vast majority of the players Finneseth got to know in his first two seasons at CU are gone, but he’s adapted to change and embraced what the program has become under Coach Prime.
“The way that we’ve come together has been super cool, and it’s been amazing to see the family that we’ve built and the brotherhood,” he said. “So, yeah, it’s meant everything, the way that we’ve played for each other and played with each other this season.”
Finneseth redshirted in 2021 and missed the last 10 games of 2023 with an injury, but he’s been a special teams standout this year, recording 10 tackles and bringing loads of energy.
“I’m more of the spark and the energy that this team needs, because I talk a lot and got a lot of energy, and I’m always dancing and stuff,” he said. “It took me a while to figure out my role, and last year, I didn’t know how to play that role, and that was my problem.
“I think I’ve benefited from the things that I went through last season because of that. This season, I’ve learned that I have to be the special teams leader and be the special teams captain, and I’ve stepped up. I’ve taken pride in that role and it’s been a huge blessing to see how the team has benefited from it as well. So it’s been cool.”
Offerdahl is also one of the inspirational leaders of the team. He earned a scholarship in the spring and has been in the backfield rotation at times. He’s rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown.
“Kind of being a leader on this team with the position that Coach Prime put me in as a walk on, getting put on scholarship, I wouldn’t say I’m the most vocal type,” he said. “I’m definitely one of the more quiet ones on the team. I’m gonna just try and lead by example and set the best example for the rest of my team and the younger guys coming in.”
Finneseth and Offerdahl have done that. So has Dempsey, nicknamed “The Governor” by Coach Prime. A former starter, Woods was a key player, too, while Reznik had a chance to play a key role at right tackle in the Buffs’ regular season finale against Oklahoma State.
Walk-ons Colton Allen, Braden Keith, Brady Kopetz, Cristiano Palazzo and Christian Sarem have filled their roles, as well.
As a group, the OBs are like the rest of the team – enjoying the opportunity to play in a bowl, while aiming to come away with a win.
“We’re ready to play, we’re ready to play a Big 12 opponent in BYU,” Offerdahl said. “It’s been exciting.”
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.