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October 24th – @Iowa State #14 Iowa State 17, Colorado 10
Steve Vogel, the hero of the Oklahoma State game, made his first start as a Buff in Ames against Iowa State. Vogel’s numbers indicate the ineffectiveness of the offense: 12-16 passing, but for only 89 yards and no touchdowns; two rushes for minus-3 yards. Colorado was lead by Junior halfback Richard Johnson, who ran for 84 yards and Colorado’s lone touchdown. It would be Johnson’s highest yardage total and only score of the year. The rest of the game was forgettable, including a failed fourth-and-goal from the Iowa State one yard line in the first quarter, and a fumble at the Cyclone 19 with five minutes to play in the game. “What could have been” was the common lament among Colorado players and fans.
Perhaps the most unusual aspect of the Iowa State clash is that Iowa State came into the game ranked #14 in the nation. It was the highest ranked Cyclone team the Buffs have ever faced. Iowa State came into the game with a 4-1-1 record, including a tie against Oklahoma in Norman and a 34-14 ambush of a previously unbeaten Missouri squad the week before the Colorado game. Perhaps the Buff game took something out of the vaunted Cyclone attack, though. Iowa State would lose its next three games, tumbling out of the polls and back into obscurity. The 1981 game represents the last game Colorado has played against a ranked Iowa State football team.
The Iowa State game also marked the date of the beginnings of a tragic story for Colorado athletics. On October 24th, Derek Singleton, the halfback who was the hero of the Oklahoma State game a week earlier, was diagnosed with meningitis. At the time, Singleton was expected to fully recover. After a ten week battle with the illness, however, Singleton succumbed on January 1st. His last play in a Colorado uniform was the one for which he provided the most lasting memory.
- Game Notes -
- On the afternoon, Iowa State running back Dwayne Crutchfield ran the ball 47 times, the most rushes by any opponent in a single game in Colorado history.
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