No. 2 Oregon – 2002 Fiesta Bowl – Duck Soup


2001 Season Archive

  — Colorado v. Oregon – January 1, 2002 – Fiesta Bowl — Now What? When the Associated Press poll came out the weekend after the Colorado win over Texas game, in the Big 12 championship game, the Buffs had moved up from #9 in the polls to No. 4.  Ahead of the Buffs were unanimous No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Tennessee (up from No. 5 after defeating then No. 2 Florida), and No. 3 Oregon.  Just behind the Buffs at No. 5 was Nebraska.  In the Bowl Championship Series …

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— No. 9 Colorado v. No. 3 Texas – Big 12 Championship – Irving, Texas —  BCS The Bowl Championship Series, with a mixture of polls, computer computations, and a little confusion, had taken a body blow with the CU upset of Nebraska.  The Cornhuskers had been ranked No. 1 in the BCS standings, with undefeated Miami ranked No. 2.  Had Nebraska taken care of business against the Buffs, and handled the (presumed) rematch with Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game, the computers would have matched the best two …

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— No. 14 Colorado v. No. 2 Nebraska – November 23, 2001 —  Nebraska – Pre-game Everyone who knows me knows that when it comes to CU football games, I am a “glass is half empty” fan.  I can usually find a dozen reasons to worry about any opponent the Buffs face.  If you had asked me the week of the San Jose State game whether I was concerned, I would have countered with details of a  team with a Heisman candidate in Deonce Whittaker and a 7-5 2000 record.  …

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— November 10th – at Iowa State                    No. 21 Colorado 40, Iowa State 27 — Senior tailback Cortlen Johnson became the first player in CU history to have over 100 yards rushing and receiving in the same game, leading the Buffs to a 40-27 win over Iowa State.  Johnson had 27 carries for 172 yards and six catches for 105 yards in leading the Buffs to a showdown with Nebraska for the Big 12 North Division championship. After Colorado opened the scoring …

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— November 3rd – at Boulder          No. 25 Colorado 38, Missouri 24 — Colorado spotted the Missouri a 14-0 second quarter lead before roaring back to take a 38-24 win at home over the Tigers.  Bobby Pesavento, Cortlen Johnson, Bobby Purify, and Roman Hollowell each took turns leading the Buffs, who improved to 7-2 overall, 5-1 in the Big 12. Bobby Pesavento completed 16-of-19 passes in the first half for 252 yards and two scores to lead the Buffs to a 17-14 halftime lead.  In the second …

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—  October 27th – at Oklahoma State          No. 25 Colorado 22, Oklahoma State 19 — Against Oklahoma State, Colorado continued what was becoming an agonizing pattern for the 2001 season: play well early; let the opposition control the game for a significant portion of the mid-section of the game; then finish with a flourish. The formula had worked well against Kansas, Kansas State, Texas A&M, and now was a successful formula against the Cowboys.  The net result was a hard-fought 22-19 win in Stillwater. On CU’s opening …

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—  October 20th – at Texas          No. 9 Texas 41,  No. 14 Colorado 7 — Looking to secure their return to the national spotlight, the Colorado Buffaloes instead stumbled badly, falling to No. 9 Texas in Austin, 41-7. With the loss, the Buffs absorbed their worst drubbing since a 52-7 disaster against Nebraska on Halloween, 1992.  Freshman Longhorn running back Cedric Benson rushed for 100 yards and two scores as Texas cruised to 425 yards of total offense. Three first half turnovers and a missed field goal …

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— October 13th – Boulder          No. 20 Colorado 31, No. 25 Texas A&M 21 — Ranked for the first time in season under Gary Barnett, the Buffs endured a late Texas A&M rally to defeat the Aggies on Homecoming weekend, 31-21. With less than a minute to play, the Aggies trailed only 24-21 and had the ball deep in CU territory.  A game-tying field goal attempt seemed imminent.  Then linebacker Joey Johnson, making his second start in place of injured star Jashon Sykes, scooped up a fumble …

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—  October 6th – at Kansas State         Colorado 16, No. 12 Kansas State 6 — The Buff players handed 3rd-year head coach Gary Barnett his first big win as CU head coach, manhandling Kansas State, 16-6. The Buffs allowed only a late fourth-quarter touchdown to a team which had torched the Sooners for 37 points in Norman a week earlier.  In moving to 2-0 in Big 12 play, the Buffs made a statement.  “I felt like we dominated them all around,” said CU redshirt-freshman defensive tackle Brandon …

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— September 22nd – Boulder             Colorado 27, Kansas 16 — “The first thing you have to say,” said a relieved Gary Barnett after his Buffs had finally put away the Kansas Jayhawks, 27-16, before 47,495 on a beautiful fall afternoon in Boulder, “is that it looked like we took two weeks off.” For much of the game, the 2001 Buffs looked like their much-maligned 2000 counterparts.  Dropped passes, mental errors, and penalties – especially the penalties – kept Kansas in the game until very late in the second half. …

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— September 15th – at Washington State          Cancelled — It was supposed to be a test. Two teams who had struggled in 2000 were to use the September 15th match-up to make a statement to the rest of the college football world that they were back.  Colorado was 2-1 on the young season, coming off of two dominating performances.  Washington State was 2-0, shaking off the effects of a 4-7 campaign in 2000 with two easy wins over local rivals Idaho and Boise State. Both teams wanted to use the …

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—  September 8th – Boulder            Colorado 51, San Jose State 15 — Colorado demonstrated that the convincing victory over Colorado State was no fluke, amassing 560 yards of total offense in dominating San Jose State, 51-15.  Sophomore Chris Brown scored three touchdowns in leading the Buffs’ balanced attack.  In all, CU, improving to 2-1 on the young season, put up 297 yards through the air and 263 yards on the ground. “Our plan was just to go out and run the ball first and see how they were going to adjust …

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