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A Denver police SWAT team was called out at the end of Colorado State's 41-14 victory over No. 14 Colorado to control angry Colorado State fans. Police sprayed Mace at fans who threatened to come on the field to tear down the north goalpost after one of the biggest upsets in school history.

But the confrontation escalated when at least two tear gas grenades were thrown at police from the stands. Police and media who were gathered in that corner of the field were forced to retreat after the grenades hit in the north end zone.

"It was a riot," one unidentified Denver policeman said. "There was gas."

Colorado State was largely unaware of the incident because its locker room was at the opposite end of the stadium. Colorado players and coaches, however, had to run to their locker room through a gauntlet of plastic and glass bottles thrown from the stands by angry Rams fans.

The incident involved only a small portion of the 73,438 fans at the stadium. Most of the Colorado fans had cleared out after one of the worst opening-day losses in 20 years. Police blamed intoxicated Colorado State fans -- mostly students -- for escalating the confrontation. There were no serious injuries and a few arrests were reported.

"It's just a shame that this kind of stuff has to happen," Colorado coach Gary Barnett said. "That's somebody else's problem. I've got my own problems. I don't know everything. I'm just hearing bits and pieces of it now. It's disappointing that this game can't be conducted with more class by the participants."

Colorado State fans released a lot of emotion after a rare victory in the series; the Rams had lost 10 of the previous 11 games against their in-state rival. The Rams were 15½-point underdogs but used a school-record nine sacks and 190 rushing yards from Kevin McDougal to take a 41-0 lead.

Colorado players were told by coaches and stadium personnel to wear their helmets while exiting the field. The last 20 or so players had to wait to join their teammates inside until a barrage of thrown bottles let up.

"We had bottles and glasses flying at us, it was like a war or something," Colorado defensive back Ben Kelly said. "In a situation like that you do (fear for your safety). There's a certain few individuals in the stands leading it."

About 5,000 people were involved in either hurling debris or obscenities at the police. Several police and at least one still photographer were struck. After the confrontation, 200 to 300 bottles littered the northeast corner of the field.

The standard police presence for a game at Mile High is 50 officers, according to Denver police Lt. Tony Ryan. More officers were called in when "we heard there was going to be trouble" according to Ryan.

"It was a large disturbance that we probably kept from being a riot by using chemicals rather than wading in with sticks and whatever else," Ryan said. "It (Mace) kept a lot of people from being injured. I'm about out of voice because of some tear gas."

Ryan said the police had received several calls from paramedics who were treating people who had reactions to the Mace. Because of the increasingly agitated crowd, beer sales were cut off at the beginning of the second quarter, Ryan added. Police reported some fans then hopped over counters trying to actually tap unused beer kegs.

Police guard the Mile High Stadium field after discharging tear gas.(AP)

Schools with on-campus stadiums sometimes allow giddy fans to rush the field and take down the goal posts. This game was the second straight year the game was moved off campus and played at Mile High. Because Mile High is a public facility, it was more likely that police got involved in protecting what amounts to city property.

"It was either that or let them have the field," Ryan said. "Who knows which is best?"

Colorado State's cheerleaders were told by police to take refuge underneath the stands by the Colorado locker room with two minutes to play in the game.

"Right about when the SWAT team was in front us, they (crowd) started throwing bottles," said Jenny Ehm, a junior Colorado State cheerleader. "Some of them were hitting us. For our safety they thought they should take us in.

"A couple of minutes later everyone started coming in. A lot of people had been pepper sprayed and Maced."

Colorado trainers then treated "five or six players for pepper spray in the face" and about a dozen members of the media.

Barnett looked more upset by an inexplicable blowout in his debut at Colorado. His team turned the ball over five times despite outgaining the Rams 373 to 336. The game was essentially over at halftime after Colorado State took a 28-0 lead.

Buffs quarterback Mike Moschetti had one interception returned for a touchdown. He also had a lateral that was tipped and recovered, setting up another touchdown.

"I know it's commonplace to stand here and say we'll move onto the next game," Barnett said of the game. "It won't be that easy. I'm embarrassed for our team. I'm embarrassed for our coaches. I think we're more in shock than anything else."