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October 7th – Boulder #24 Kansas 40, #4 Colorado 24
A funny thing happened on the way to Colorado’s battle with Nebraska for the Big Eight title and the right to play in the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship.
The schedule called for a game against Kansas.
The Jayhawks served notice early that they were not intimidated by the Buffs or Folsom Field, scoring on a 35-yard field goal on the game’s first drive. Colorado’s first drive stalled, and after punter Andy Mitchell’s effort was blocked and run in for a touchdown, the Buffs were quickly down 9-0 (the PAT attempt was blocked by Ryan Olson). Five minutes into the game, Colorado was not looking like a national contender.
Colorado came back throughout the remainder of the contest, taking the leads of 14-9, 17-16, and 24-23. Two costly turnovers in the fourth quarter, though, led to two Kansas touchdowns and a 40-24 upset. The vaunted Buffs’ defense, which had throttled previous opponents, was dissected for 495 yards of total offense and 34:25 of playing clock. Running back June Henley ran over and around the Buffs for 137 yards and two scores, while quarterback Mark Williams completed 25 passes for 299 yards and a game-sealing touchdown pass with 9:27 left in the fourth.
What was worse for the Buffs was that Koy Detmer was lost for the season during the game. After June Henley had rambled through the defense for a 43-yard touchdown and a 33-24 Jayhawk lead, Neuheisel inserted Detmer to try and provide the Buffs with a spark. Detmer had some early success before throwing an interception which led to the Jayhawks’ final score. On the third play of the Buffs’ next drive, Detmer went down, this time for the season.
”My hat’s off to the Kansas team and the coaching staff”, said a diplomatic Neuheisel after the game. “We’ll have to rise up and play outstanding football the rest of the way.” What else was there to say? Neuheisel had tasted defeat for the first time in his coaching career, falling to 5-1 on the season, 1-1 in Big Eight play. Detmer was gone for the year, and Nebraska loomed on the horizon.
Colorado now had a bye week on the calendar before facing Iowa State. Colorado fell from4th to 9th in the polls with the loss, and was now sandwiched between #8 Kansas State and the new #10, Kansas.
The Buffs needed the rest. It was now time to refocus and establish a new set of goals for the season.
Game Notes -
- 1995 would prove to be the apex of the nine-year stint for Glen Mason as the head coach at Kansas. The Jayhawks would post an overall record of 10-2, 5-2 in Big Eight play. After a 51-30 win over UCLA in the Aloha Bowl, the Jayhawks concluded the 1995 with a #9 ranking.
- The Jayhawks would not sustain the momentum of 1995, however, going 4-7 in 1996, the inaugural season for the Big 12. Mason would move on to Minnesota after the 1996 season, posting an overall record of 47-54-1 in his nine years in Lawrence.
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