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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781641253345 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Triumph Books |
| Publication date: | 09/03/2019 |
| Series: | 100 Things...Fans Should Know Series |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 256 |
| File size: | 3 MB |
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CHAPTER 1
National Champs
Four Buffaloes got their hands on The Rocket, but the most electric player in college football escaped and raced down the sidelines. Notre Dame's Raghib "The Rocket" Ismail fielded a Colorado punt at his own 9-yard line and during his 91-yard journey to the end zone, he ripped the hearts out of the Buffaloes.
"When I saw the ball going right to him, that's scary," Darian Hagan, CU's quarterback, said years later. "You've got the best returner in the game — one of the best players in college football — you give him the ball in open space, things can happen, and not good things."
Only 65 seconds remained in the Orange Bowl in Miami on January 1, 1991, when Colorado's Tom Rouen punted the ball to Ismail. Leading 10–9, all CU needed to do was hold on to win the game and the national championship. When The Rocket crossed the goal line, it appeared CU's dream had turned into a nightmare.
"It's a huge downer," said Hagan, who had left the game just before halftime with a knee injury. "You're just like, 'Wow I can't believe this. I can't believe we gave this guy a chance to do the things he's been doing his whole career — make big plays.'
"I just sat there on my crutches and wanted to start crying. Then I looked over at coach [Bill] McCartney and he was pointing to the flag."
More than 70 yards away from Notre Dame's celebration in the end zone, a yellow penalty flag rested on the field. A clipping penalty on the Irish negated the Ismail touchdown and preserved the Colorado lead. Six plays later, the Buffs' Deon Figures intercepted a Notre Dame pass and ran around until the clock expired. McCartney and the Buffaloes, who finished with an 11–1–1 record, exploded onto the field in celebration, as the 10–9 victory in the Orange Bowl secured the Associated Press national championship and put Colorado at the top of the mountain in college football.
"Our focus [during the season] was to get better and it ended up just perfect," center Jay Leeuwenburg said.
Unfortunately for the Buffs, they had to share the throne. Long before the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and College Football Playoff (CFP) began crowning the Division I champion on the field, it was two major polls deciding the winner. College football writers voted in the Associated Press (AP) poll, while head coaches voted in the United Press International (UPI) poll. CU was No. 1 in both polls going into the bowl games. Following all the bowls, CU narrowly won the AP vote over Georgia Tech (11–0–1), while the Yellow Jackets narrowly won the UPI vote. CU's main rival, Nebraska, was the only team in the country to play both teams, losing to CU 27–12 and then to Georgia Tech, 45–21, in the Citrus Bowl. Cornhuskers head coach Tom Osborne put Georgia Tech at the top of his ballot for the UPI poll.
"I feel we were slighted, and we were slighted by the guys up north," Hagan said. "I don't know if they thought they were better than us and they deserved to be in that [Orange Bowl] game, but they didn't beat us. We beat them handily in their stadium. To not get a vote from them, that kind of hurt us a little bit. But we're not bitter. We still went out there and strapped it on and played with our emotions and our heart and we won games and were there right where we should have been."
For the Buffs, the 1990 season was, in many ways, an extension of 1989, when they went 11–0 during the regular season and lost to Notre Dame, 21–6, in the Orange Bowl. The 1989 squad was fueled not only by its talent, but by the memory of their fallen teammate, Sal Aunese. The starting quarterback in 1988, Aunese would have been a senior in 1989, but was stricken with inoperable stomach cancer and passed away on September 23, 1989 — three games into the Buffs' season. In honor of Aunese, the 1989 team set a goal of winning the national championship. That team was arguably better than the 1990 Buffs, but the loss to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl left the Buffs with unfinished business. Although several key players from 1989 had graduated, the Buffs were still loaded with talent in 1990.
"I think we still had a lot of confidence in our ability to get back to the national championship game and this time to get it," Hagan said of the 1990 team.
With the exception of the loss to Notre Dame, the Buffs were dominant in 1989. Eight wins in 1989 came by 21 points or more and 10 of them by at least 17 points. Hagan said the Buffs got a little too confident with their 1989 dominance and, coming into 1990, "I guess I thought we felt we were invincible." The 1990 season was anything but easy for the Buffaloes, who faced adversity from the start.
Ranked No. 5 by the AP to start the season, the Buffs tied No. 8 Tennessee, 31–31, in the opener. After a four-point win against an average Stanford team, the Buffs lost at No. 21 Illinois, 23–22. Three games in, the Buffs had slipped to No. 20 in the rankings with a 1–1–1 record. Losing to Illinois was a wake-up call for the Buffs.
"I think it really turned our season around," tight end Sean Embree said. "We knew after that we weren't going to be beat and we couldn't be beat."
CU didn't lose again, but had to battle nearly every week. After the loss to Illinois, the Buffs won the next three by a combined 15 points — including a narrow escape at Missouri. The famous "5 Down Game" allowed CU to pull off a 33–31 victory.
"We pretty much got everyone's best effort that year," linebacker Chad Brown said.
For the players, the 1990 season was an eye-opening experience, as they realized the difficulty of winning each week.
"It was a season of trials and tribulations," backup quarterback Charles Johnson said. "But, it was a season of incredible growth and maturity of a program. We won in '89 because we had great coaches and great talent. In '90, we won a national championship because we had matured as a team that wasn't the hunter; we were the huntee at that point. We didn't realize it at first, but we quickly discovered it."
Each step along the way, the Buffs found a way to get a win. Running back Eric Bieniemy scored a touchdown in the final minutes to win at Texas. Figures had two interceptions, including one in the end zone at the end of the game, to secure a six-point win against Washington. Johnson, playing for the injured Hagan, scored on the final play at Missouri. After escaping at Missouri, the Buffs seemed to hit their stride, rolling past Iowa State and Kansas. Rising to No. 10 in the rankings, the Buffs then knocked off No. 22 Oklahoma at Folsom Field. Hagan's 85-yard touchdown pass to Rico Smith in the fourth quarter solidified that victory.
The pivotal day in the season came the following week, on November 3, when the Buffs visited third-ranked Nebraska. Ranked No. 9, and with only three weeks to play in the season, the Buffs needed help to get back into the national title picture. On that day, No. 1 Virginia was upset by Georgia Tech (a key victory in the Yellow Jackets' title run), and the Cavaliers lost three more times to fall out of the title picture. In addition, No. 4 Auburn lost by 41 at Florida and No. 5 Illinois lost by 26 to Iowa.
CU did its part by upsetting the Cornhuskers on a rainy and miserable day in Lincoln, Nebraska. Down 12–0 going into the fourth quarter, the Buffs got four Bieniemy touchdowns in the final 15 minutes to win 27–12. Bieniemy, who finished third in Heisman Trophy voting that season, had fumbled five times in the first three quarters. CU, as a team, had seven fumbles (losing three) and an interception.
"We go in at halftime and, as a man on the offensive line, coaches start talking about changes," Leeuwenburg said, "and we all just said, 'No. We are kicking their ass; we're not changing a damn thing. All we're changing ... 'and we all just kind of looked at EB and said, 'Hold onto the damn ball and we'll win.' That was pretty much halftime. Then we went out and we did the same damn thing and he scored four touchdowns in the fourth quarter and we win."
With four of the top five teams in the country losing on November 3, CU vaulted to No. 4 in the AP poll. The next week, the Buffs rolled past Oklahoma State, while No. 2 Washington and No. 3 Houston both lost. After No. 1 Notre Dame lost the following week, the Buffs vaulted to No. 1 heading into the Orange Bowl. For the second year in a row, it was the Fighting Irish standing in CU's way of a national title.
"It was definitely some revenge," Hagan said. "It was a chance for us to make it up to Sal and get the victory. It was an opportunity for us to know that we could play with anybody in the country now. We thought we were a better team than the previous year. We were rolling, everybody was healthy. We were really, really excited for the game."
Early on the morning of the game, Hagan was jolted from a deep sleep and had to wake up his roommate, Johnson. "I had a dream I'm going to get hurt and you've got to finish the game," Hagan told Johnson. "We're going to win, but you've got to finish the game." Johnson brushed it off and went back to sleep.
When Hagan went down with his knee injury at the end of the first half, he and Johnson couldn't believe the dream was coming true. "All my teammates and coaches were saying, 'CJ you ready for it?'" Johnson said. "I'm thinking, 'Nope, Hagan is going to come out and lead us to victory.' The realization that that wasn't going to be the case and I had to step in was a big moment for me — it was a big moment for our team and of course the history of our program."
Notre Dame led 9–3 when Johnson took over, and his first pass badly missed the mark. He was perfect from there, finishing the game 5-for-6 for 80 yards. Johnson also led the Buffs on their lone touchdown drive, as Bieniemy scored on a one-yard run with four minutes and 26 seconds to play in the third quarter to give CU a 10–9 lead that would hold up as the winning margin. To win, CU took advantage of five Notre Dame turnovers, but also had several unexpected heroes, such as Johnson.
With 7:32 to play in the second quarter, Notre Dame scored its only touchdown, but CU's Ronnie Bradford blocked the extra point. That proved to be the difference in the final score.
"I came off the edge and I didn't get touched and when I took that third step and flattened out, I saw the holder still had the ball in his hand and he hadn't quite put it down," Bradford said. "I laid out and I'm thinking, 'Okay, I've got a good chance to block this thing.' I went to a spot and that's the thing we always practiced. It was just a great get-off, good timing, and I came off the edge and ended up blocking it.
"It's always a good feeling to know that you contributed to the success of that game and made a difference."
The fact that so many players contributed throughout that season made it special then, and perhaps more so as time has passed. More than a quarter century after claiming the only football national championship in CU history, those Buffs are still connected by what they did that season.
"Guys who were on that team, they were groomsmen in my wedding, they were there when my kids were born," Brown said. "It's not just something that we talk about. It's something that's actually real and profound and lifelong."
That team was a star-studded lineup that included Hagan, Bieniemy, Mike Pritchard, and several NFL linemen on offense. The greatest collections of linebackers in CU history — Alfred Williams, Kanavis McGhee, Greg Biekert, and Brown — teamed with Figures, Leonard Renfro, Joel Steed, and others on defense. Nine players from that team were selected in the 1991 NFL Draft, including Pritchard (13 overall) and Williams (18) as first rounders. Four more were drafted in 1992 and five more in 1993. That list doesn't include Rouen, who had a 13-year NFL career. Of course, the team was also led by McCartney, the legendary head coach who took CU to a place it had never been before — and hasn't been since.
On talent, alone, that was one of the greatest teams to ever suit up at Colorado. But it was the ability to fight through adversity, take everyone's best shot and find a way to stay standing that made that group a special team that is still revered by Buff Nation.
"It was very magical," Hagan said. "We just played all together and we played for each other. We played with one heartbeat. That was our slogan. We didn't really talk about Sal a lot, but in the back of our minds, that's what we were playing for. We were playing for Sal. We wanted to get back to that grand stage and get that victory, because of the letdown the year before. You don't get second chances in life and when we got that second chance, we took advantage. I just thank God we were able to do what we did."
5th Down
Colorado's title dream nearly came to an end on the slippery turf of Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri, on October 6, 1990. Despite being heavy favorites against Missouri — a team that finished 4–7 that season — CU trailed 31–27 in the closing minutes.
With 38 seconds to play, CU's Charles Johnson completed a pass to tight end Jon Boman, who was wide open, but slipped at the 3-yard line. "I'm thinking, 'Man, I'm going to score a touchdown here,'" Boman said. "And the next thing I know, it was like someone shot my legs out from underneath me from the stands. You had no chance on that turf; it was just terrible. It would have probably been a touchdown."
The awful condition of the field neutralized the game for Missouri and made life difficult on the Buffs. "I think we switched our cleats two or three times to try to find the right shoe that could give us traction and we never found that," Boman said.
Boman's slip set up the final, wild sequence. From the 3-yard line, Johnson got the Buffs lined up on first-and-goal and spiked the ball to stop the clock with 28 seconds to play. On second down, Eric Bieniemy ran up the middle and was stopped at the 1-yard line. CU called timeout with 18 seconds to play and head coach Bill McCartney told the team the plan to run a play, spike the ball to stop the clock if needed, and then run a final play. Center Jay Leeuwenburg said, "Coach, we can't do that, because that will be fifth down." McCartney told Leeuwenburg to "shut up and play center." Leeuwenburg, as it turned out, was one of the few in the stadium who knew what was going on.
After the timeout, Bieniemy was stuffed at the 1-yard line on what should have been third down, but the down marker still showed "2." Johnson then spiked the ball to stop the clock with 2 seconds left. The game should have been over, but officials all thought the spike came on third down. The 1990 season was the first in which college teams could stop the clock by spiking the ball, and confusion took over in that moment.
The Buffs got a fifth down, and Johnson took the snap and dove toward the end zone, barely getting the ball across the goal line. Missouri fans celebrated the win, but officials signaled touchdown. Colorado got the controversial 33–31 victory and continued the title quest. CU has always maintained that if the field was in good shape, the game never would have come down to that controversial finish. It did, however, and it produced one of the most remarkable finishes in college football history.
"I was just glad [Johnson] made it in," Boman said.
CHAPTER 2Coach Mac
Hagan, Bieniemy, Williams, and a host of other stars led Colorado to the 1990 national championship and it was a spectacular year. The real star of that team, however, may have been the head coach.
"We had a special leader in Bill McCartney," quarterback Charles Johnson said. "He was uncompromising. He was just a special leader. And two, he recruited special guys. We came from all kinds of backgrounds, but special guys who bought into something an incredible, superior leader sort of put out as a vision. The nerve of Bill McCartney to put out, as a goal, or his vision, to win a championship. What right did he have to do that at the University of Colorado? But he recruited guys who bought in, who wanted the exact same thing, and the result of it was a national championship."
The 1990 national title was the pinnacle of McCartney's head coaching career — and of CU football history — but it was part of an exceptional 13-year run, from 1982 to 1994. McCartney is CU's all-time leader in games coached (153) and wins (93). He led the Buffaloes to three Big Eight Conference titles, nine bowl game appearances, and six top-20 finishes in the national rankings.
At the time he was hired, though, McCartney's vision for CU seemed more like an unattainable dream. The Buffaloes had just been through the dismal, three-year tenure of Chuck Fairbanks, who went 7–26 and then abruptly resigned on June 1, 1982, to take over the New Jersey Generals of the newly formed United States Football League.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "100 Things Colorado Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Brian Howell.
Excerpted by permission of Triumph Books LLC.
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Table of Contents
Introduction,
1. National Champs,
2. Coach Mac,
3. Whizzer,
4. Rashaan Salaam,
5. Darian Hagan,
6. Eric Bieniemy,
7. Anderson Brothers,
8. Mr. Big Shot,
9. Sal Aunese,
10. Inspired by Sal,
11. Miracle at Michigan,
12. Skiing Dynasty,
13. Nebraska Rivalry,
14. Joining the Pac-12,
15. Joe Romig,
16. Alfred Williams,
17. John Wooten,
18. Herb Orvis,
19. The Rise,
20. Ralphie,
21. Eddie Crowder,
22. Hale Irwin,
23. Mark Wetmore,
24. Dave Logan,
25. Barry's Run of Success,
26. The Father of CU Football,
27. Carroll Hardy,
28. 1942 Final Four,
29. Burdie Leads the Buffs,
30. Falling Short in 1994,
31. Neuheisel Takes Over,
32. Barnett's Rise and Fall,
33. Football Facilities,
34. Bill Marolt,
35. Buffs Upset the Nittany Lions,
36. Reaching 10 Wins,
37. Dal Ward,
38. Cliff Meely,
39. Seven Sports Get the Axe,
40. Sox,
41. Rocky Mountain Showdown,
42. Jeremy Bloom,
43. Kordell Stewart,
44. 62–36,
45. Sefo Liufau,
46. Holidays in Hawaii,
47. Chilly Chilson,
48. Brock Brothers,
49. Jenny Simpson,
50. Frank Potts,
51. Roll Tad,
52. Bolder Boulder,
53. Michael Westbrook,
54. Kayo Lam,
55. Buffs Finally Go Bowling,
56. Deon Figures,
57. Joel Klatt,
58. Chris Hudson,
59. Tasmanian Devil,
60. Mike Pritchard,
61. Jon Embree,
62. MacIntyre Years,
63. Mason Crosby,
64. Matt Russell,
65. Nelson Spruce,
66. Steve Jones,
67. Bill Mallory,
68. Pearl Street Mall,
69. Women's Lacrosse,
70. Daniel Graham,
71. Walton Breaks the Barrier,
72. Frosty Cox,
73. In the Trenches,
74. Cliff Branch,
75. Boyd Dowler,
76. Women's Basketball Stars,
77. Hike the Flatirons,
78. The Hawk Era,
79. Rae Carruth,
80. Cross Country & Track Olympians,
81. Big 8 Champs ... and A Scandal,
82. Mark Haynes,
83. Zimmer and KOA,
84. Linebacker U,
85. Don Campbell,
86. Nate Solder,
87. Chuck Fairbanks,
88. Folsom Field Concerts,
89. Bad Dude,
90. Legendary SIDs,
91. Bill Brundige,
92. Frank Prentup,
93. Women's Soccer,
94. Bo Goes No. 2,
95. Wrestling,
96. Vogel & Singleton Stun Cowboys,
97. Skiing at Eldora,
98. Kelly Campbell and Volleyball,
99. Big Van Vader,
100. P-Rich,
Acknowledgments,
Sources,