BOULDER — She was the Karl Dorrell of all Ralphies .

Poor Ember, bless her heart, had to be coaxed out of the trailer. She had to be coaxed to a trot. She had to be coaxed to the 30-yard line. She had to be coaxed to the turn.

At the 2024 Alamo Bowl, in what became her emblematic farewell, the poor girl’s pregame run was as disheartening as the game itself, the perfect omen for an awful evening.

Actually, it wasn’t a “run” so much as a tepid jog. At times, Ralphie VI, which was Ember’s stage name, resembled a puppy being dragged toward the bathtub.

The CU football team, to the chagrin of the thousands of Buffs fans on hand in San Antonio, eventually followed her lead, rolling over to let BYU tickle their collective bellies.

The university did the inevitable — and the merciful — on

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