Posts Tagged ‘Chuck Fairbanks’

Drake – Beneath Nadir – “Who the Hell is Drake?”

//posted 10.11.1980

October 11th – Boulder Drake 41, Colorado 22

Colorado responded from the Oklahoma debacle by out-gaining the supposedly out-manned Drake Bulldogs, 379-347. This was not sufficient, however, to prevent a loss to a team the Buffs had surely scheduled as a breather game between games against ranked Big Eight opponents. Colorado certainly had no reason to be overconfident against any team, but they played as if they only needed to put on their pads in order to record their first win of 1980. Seven turnovers later, however, and the Buffs had qualified as one of the worst teams in the country, falling 41-22, to drop the 1980 season record to 0-5.

Colorado actually enjoyed its first lead of the season in this game, as quarterback Charlie Davis led the Buffs to an early 14-3 advantage. Unfortunately for the Buffs, Charlie Davis was injured after scoring the second Colorado touchdown. With back-up quarterback Randy Essington suspended for one game for “disciplinary reasons”, the Buffs attack was placed in the hands of Scott Kingdom. Kingdom failed to come through, though, completing only 10-of-25 passes for130 yards, zero touchdowns and 4 interceptions. By halftime, the Buffs were down 24-14, well on their way…

No. 12 Oklahoma – 82-42 – Open up the record books

//posted 10.4.1980

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October 4th – Boulder #12 Oklahoma 82, Colorado 42

The score says it all. 82-42.

If you have never seen these numbers before, consider yourself fortunate. The headline in the October 5, 1980, Rocky Mountain News was: “Buffs humiliated by Sooners 82-42″. The statistics border on the unbelievable. The total number of points scored by two teams, 124, set the modern day NCAA record, as did the total number of touchdowns by both teams (18). In all, at least 51 NCAA, Big Eight Conference, Colorado/Oklahoma team, or Folsom Field records were broken – and five more tied.

No one was disillusioned with the belief that 0-3 Colorado was going to upset 12th-ranked Oklahoma. Still, for an ever so brief moment, it looked as if the Buffs, though reeling, might stay with the Sooners. After Oklahoma had gone up 14-0, Buff freshman Walter Stanley ran the ensuing kickoff back 100 yards for a touchdown to make the score 14-7 with 3:07 left in the first quarter. The Sooners quickly responded with a 20-yard touchdown run by Buster Ryhmes to run the score to 21-7, but, with the aid of a pass interference penalty taking the ball to the Sooner three-yard line,…

Indiana – First home game / Sports Illustrated & Chuck Fairbanks’ desk

//posted 9.27.1980

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September 27th – Boulder Indiana 49, Colorado 7

Fresh off the near comeback at Baton Rouge, there was at least some cause for hope against visiting Indiana. After all, the Buffs had beaten the Hoosiers the previous year in Bloomington, 17-16. In the 1979 game, Colorado had given Chuck Fairbanks his first win as the Buffs’ head coach. On that day, an 0-3 CU squad had beaten a 3-0 Indiana team, and had done so on the road. With that backdrop of cautious optimism, a crowd of 40,219 came to Folsom Field to see if the Buffs could again achieve its first win of the season against the visiting Hoosiers.

Can statistics be misleading? How’s this: against the visiting Hoosiers, the Buffs set a school record for time of possession. For the game, CU held the ball for 42:17 of the game clock to 17:43 for Indiana. That sounds good, at least until the remaining game statistics are considered. In the most important statistic, the final score, Indiana rolled, 49-7. At halftime, the score was 35-0. Unlike the LSU game, though, this week there would be no comeback by the Buffs.

Indiana quarterback Tim Clifford, who was voted the Most…

1980′s Fanaticism – 1970′s overview – Chuck Fairbanks

//posted 8.26.1980

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CU at the Game – Background for 1980

“Fanaticism”

“A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.” -Winston Churchill

Before winding the clock all the way back to 1980, we first need to make a brief stop in September, 1985. It was then, without knowing it at the time, that I acquired what would become the symbol of my “fanaticism” for Colorado football.

It remains in my dresser drawer to this day. It is my proof of purchase, if you will, for demonstrating my “belief without evidence” in the Buffs. (“Belief without evidence” was a catch phrase Northwestern head coach -and future CU head coach – Gary Barnett would use to inspire his players during the Wildcats improbable run from doormats to the Big 10 Championship in 1995).

In September, 1985, it served as little more than an advertising ploy, a means by which the Coors Brewing Company of Golden, Colorado, could utilize me as a walking billboard for its products.

“It” is a simple t-shirt, so lacking in inherent value that they gave them away. Gold in color, sponsored by Coors, it came with the slogan “Back to Black” imprinted on the back.…

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