1981 Season Archive

Buffs lose a coach in May – “The End of an Error”

//posted 5.31.1982

Fair weather Fairbanks

Despite compiling a 7-26 record over three seasons, and recording Colorado’s first string of three consecutive losing campaigns in almost twenty years, head coach Chuck Fairbanks still had a job as the 1981 season came to a close. With this record, when combined with the off the field difficulties the program had endured, few would have been shocked if Fairbanks had been sent on his way. Still, athletic director Eddie Crowder remained loyal to his coach.

As things turned out, it was Fairbanks who was to demonstrate a lack of loyalty

Most coaching changes occur, if they are to occur, at the end of the regular season. Athletic Directors want to have as much time as possible to interview potential candidates, with the goal to have a coaching staff in place by the end of the January bowl games, when the recruiting race really kicks in. After studying films and making initial contacts with high school prospects during the season (and, in many cases, for several seasons), coaches start fanning out all over the country after New Year’s Day to personally woo high school seniors in advance of the February signing date. Assistants are sent out to…

Kansas State – Fairbanks goes out a winner

//posted 11.21.1981

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November 21st – Boulder Colorado 24, Kansas State 21

There was little to entice a crowd to Folsom Field for the last game of 1981. Colorado limped into the game 2-8 and 1-5 in Big Eight play. Kansas State came into the contest with similar 2-8 and 1-5 marks. Kansas State had even lost that year to the seemingly mighty Drake Bulldogs, at home, 18-17.

The only issue to be decided on this day was which team would finish 7th in the Big Eight, and who would finish last. But, as the program for the game reminded the 23,921 faithful who bothered to show up, the game gave Colorado the “chance of equaling Coach Chuck Fairbanks’ best record at CU of 3-8″. Go, Buffs!

Perhaps inspired by the opportunity to equal the efforts of the 1979 team, the Buffs came through on the ground in securing a 24-21 win. Lee Rouson rushed for a career high 149 yards on 32 carries. Rouson scored his sixth rushing touchdown of the season, finishing the year with 656 yards on the ground, a freshman CU record.

The Colorado Buffaloes finished their season 3-8. So few were the crumbs of success that the Buffs…

Tags: Chuck Fairbanks, Lee Rouson
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Kansas – “A sorry state”

//posted 11.14.1981

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November 14th – @Kansas Kansas 27, Colorado 0

Kansas came into the game 6-3, but only 2-3 in the Big Eight. As had become custom for Colorado, the defense made an effort, and the score was only 10-0 at half. The Buffs, though, made the Jayhawks look like worldbeaters, completing a second consecutive year without a road win.

Colorado loss was its fourth in a row. Leading ground-gainer Lee Rouson did his part, gaining 73 yards on 19 carries, but the passing game continued to be pathetic. Randy Essington was successful on just eight-of-23 passes for 56 yards and one pick.

Enough said.

A Sorry State

“A Sorry State” was the headline in the Rocky Mountain News on November 15th. The Buffs had fallen to 2-8, while at the same time Air Force was losing to Notre Dame 35-7. Even lower on the scale were the Colorado State Rams, losing at home to lowly New Mexico, 28-16. CSU fell to 0-10 before only 10,149 loyal fans.

A sorry state of affairs – and football – indeed.

- Game Notes -

- Lee Rouson, as a freshman, would lead the Buffs in rushing in 1981, carrying the ball 159…

Missouri – Essington back as starter … not a good move

//posted 11.7.1981

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November 7 – Boulder Missouri 30, Colorado 14

The Missouri game offered the Buffs an opportunity to rise above the depths of the past season and a half. Missouri had gotten off to a fast 5-0 start, but had lost their last three, scoring only 8.3 points per game in those contests. Colorado had shown some signs of life prior to the Sooner debacle, especially on defense. Still, the Missouri defense had been more consistent on defense, allowing more than 20 points just once all season.

A less than capacity crowd of 35,782 came to Folsom Field that afternoon (or, as Skip Carey of WTBS would say during Atlanta Braves baseball games during that era, when the Braves were less than stellar in the field: the Colorado crowd represented “a partial sell-out”).

Early, it looked as if it might be Colorado’s day. An interception and a fumble recovery by the Buffs led to drives of 27 and 25 yards and a 14-0 lead early into the second quarter. Thereafter, though, matters just went from frustrating to humiliating.

Randy Essington, healed from bruised ribs suffered in the Oklahoma State game, returned to action, but he was no more effective than Steve…

#19 Oklahoma – Buffs hold Sooners under 50!

//posted 10.31.1981

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October 31st – @Oklahoma #19 Oklahoma 49, Colorado 0

The Oklahoma blowout was, unfortunately, more familiar territory for the Buffs.

Having started out uncharacteristically slow at 1-2-1, the Sooners faced the Buffs with a 3-2-1 record, coming off consecutive romps over Kansas (45-7) and Oregon State (42-3). The game represented the 10th consecutive game Colorado faced a ranked Oklahoma team. Steve Vogel received his second (and last) start of the 1981 season, passing for a paltry 64 yards, completing only eight of 29 attempts, with three interceptions. Vogel’s 41 rushing yards (scrambling, run for your life sort of yards) were second on the team, with Lee Rouson leading the team with 57 yards on 15 carries.

Combined with the 82-42 embarrassment of a year before and a 49-24 romp in 1979, Chuck Fairbanks’ record against Oklahoma, the team he had led to three Big Eight titles in six seasons from 1967-72, fell to 0-3, with the Buffs being outscored by a total of 180 to 66 (that, for those of you scoring at home, is an average defeat of 60-22).

Looking for a stat of a more positive nature? Well, while it could be considered a mixed message (after all, Oklahoma…

Tags: Lee Rouson, Steve Vogel
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#14 Iowa State – Buffs face a ranked Cyclone team

//posted 10.24.1981

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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…

Oklahoma State – Steve Vogel leads improbable comeback

//posted 10.17.1981

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October 17th – Boulder Colorado 11, Oklahoma State 10

A homecoming crowd of 36,101 came out to watch one of the most improbable finishes in Colorado football history. CU was stifled for most of the day by an Oklahoma State defense which came into the contest ranked #2 in the nation, having allowed a paltry 180 total yards per game. The Cowboys, coached by Jimmy Johnson (later of University of Miami, Dallas Cowboy, and Miami Dolphin fame), were 3-1 on the season, and held the Buffs to just three points for the first 59 minutes of the game.

Enter Steve Vogel.

Sophomore Steve Vogel had thrown precisely four passes in 1981 coming into the game, completing two for 14 yards. Starter Randy Essington went down early in the third quarter with bruised ribs, setting the stage for Vogel’s heroics. Taking over on the Buffs eight yard line with 1:28 remaining in the game and down 10-3, Vogel engineered a ten-play drive, completing seven of ten passes, culminating in a nine yard touchdown pass to split end Brad Parker with 11 seconds remaining. Foregoing the tie (which probably would have been forgiven under the circumstances – one win in 1980, only…

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Nebraska – Turner Gill makes his debut

//posted 10.10.1981

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October 10th – @ Nebraska Nebraska 59, Colorado 0

The Nebraska thrashing, 59-0, was not unique for the result, as Colorado went into the game on a thirteen game losing streak against the Cornhuskers (average score: 34-8). What was unique was that, of the three losses suffered after the Washington State game, this was the lone loss Buff loss against an unranked team. Nebraska began the 1981 campaign 1-2, losing to Iowa 10-7 in Iowa City, and 30-24 to Penn State in Lincoln. Shortly after the demolition of Colorado, Nebraska regained a national ranking, and did not lose it until 2002. The streak of being ranked, which lasted 348 polls, is an NCAA record.

How bad was the game? Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne was quoted after the game as saying: “Actually, in the fourth quarter there we were trying to run plays that would not result in points”, said Osborne. ”But it was hard to run some plays and not end up gaining five yards.”

Sad. And this was from the lips of a coach with a team which entered the game with a 1-2 record.

What had become of the respectable Colorado defense? Gone with the wind of the Nebraska speed…

Tags: Tom Osborne, Turner Gill
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1981 Season Archive

Buffs lose a coach in May – “The End of an Error”

Kansas State – Fairbanks goes out a winner

Kansas – “A sorry state”

Missouri – Essington back as starter … not a good move

#19 Oklahoma – Buffs hold Sooners under 50!

#14 Iowa State – Buffs face a ranked Cyclone team

Oklahoma State – Steve Vogel leads improbable comeback

Nebraska – Turner Gill makes his debut

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