Posts Tagged ‘Derek West’

#22 Oklahoma – An Evening in Paradise

//posted 10.15.1994

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October 15th – Boulder #4 Colorado 45, #22 Oklahoma 7

It was now official. What had been dreamed of since the “Miracle in Michigan” could now be spoken of openly. The Rocky Mountain News banner headline after Colorado dismantled Oklahoma 45-7 before a national ESPN audience said it all: “Buffs make a run for No. 1?. Not to be outdone, the Denver Post headline proclaimed: “Taking aim at No. 1?.

Before the Buffs took the field to set about defeating the Sooners by the largest margin in the history of the series, the players and fans all knew that the #1 team in the nation, Florida, had been defeated 36-33 by Auburn. The 45-7 thrashing of the Sooners before a night game crowd of 53,199 proved to the nation that the undefeated Colorado Buffaloes had to be reckoned with on the national stage. CU dominated the game from the outset, and the line score for the first half look like a series of misprints. The Buffs’ first three scores:

Salaam 7 yard run (Voskeritchian kick);

Salaam 7 yard run (Voskeritchian kick); and

Salaam 7 yard run (Voskeritchian kick).

For Colorado’s final score of the first half, the Buffs threw the …

Northeastern Louisiana – Break out the record books

//posted 9.3.1994

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Buffalo Sports News makes some eerily uncanny preseason predictions

In its two editions leading up to the start of the 1994 season, the Buffalo Sports News captured more about the upcoming year than could have been known at the time. In prophetic tones, the August 18th edition featured a cover photo of quarterback coach Rick Neuheisel giving directions to quarterback Kordell Stewart with the headline reading: “On Target: Rick Neuheisel has quarterback Kordell Stewart and CU’s passing attack aimed to win in 1994.” The next issue, dated August 29th, featured a photo of Rashaan Salaam, proclaiming: “A New Man: Fueled by a dramatic change in attitude, Rashaan Salaam is finally poised for his dream season.”

How true both statements would prove to be would be first tested in what amounted to the Buffs’ only “pre-season” game. For their opener, CU would face off against the Northeast Louisiana Indians, playing in their first ever game as a Division I-A school (after having some measure of success as a Division I-AA school). The heavily favored Buffs entered the game ranked #8 in the first poll of the 1994 season.

September 3rd – Boulder #8 Colorado 48, Northeast Louisiana 13

The good news …

Pre-season: 1994 – Adios, Southwest Conference – CU returns 16 starters

//posted 8.1.1994

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Adios, Southwest Conference

Quick – Name the last eight members of the Southwest Conference.

Not so easy, is it?

Entering the 1994 season, the long-anticipated demise of the SWC became official. The 1994 and 1995 campaigns would be the last for the storied conference. After 80 seasons, the Southwest Conference would fold up its tents; its teams left to a new future.

Arkansas, the only Southwest member outside of the state of Texas, had defected to the Southeastern Conference in 1990. Now Texas, Texas A & M, Baylor, and Texas Tech, commencing with the 1996 season, would join the Big Eight to form the Big 12. Southern Methodist, Rice, and Texas Christian, meanwhile, would join the Western Athletic Conference. The Houston Cougars, originally set adrift to fend for itself as an independent, would eventually settle upon an affiliation with Conference USA.

Why would a conference as steeped in history as the SWC fold? Several reasons were proposed: 1) the increased popularity of the NFL in Texas had eroded the state’s college fan base; 2) the widely-held belief that the conference was made up of two teams (Texas and Texas A&M) and a series of woeful second-tier teams; and 3) the …

No. 24 Baylor – Buffs cruise past Bears in 45-21 laugher

//posted 9.11.1993

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September 11th – Boulder #10 Colorado 45, #24 Baylor 21

Just like that, the would-be questionable Colorado Buffaloes looked like world-beaters.

After forcing six turnovers against Texas, the Buffs’ defense forced three first-half fumbles against Baylor, helping the Buffs cruise to a 21-0 first quarter lead. By half, it was a 35-0 laugher as Colorado went on to crush 24th-ranked Baylor, 45-21.

“Our defense is like a time bomb”, said wide receiver Michael Westbrook. “When we (the offense) get to the sidelines anymore, we don’t take our helmets off. We know we are going to go right back in.”

The first few series of the game gave evidence of the truth of Westbrook’s comments. On Baylor’s first possession of the game, senior cornerback Dennis Collier recovered a fumbled pitch by Bear quarterback J.J. Joe. Nine plays and 45 yards later, Lamont Warren scored from a yard out to put Colorado on top to stay, 7-0. After the Buffs’ defense forced a punt, the offense went 80 yards on just two plays, culminating in a 69-yard bomb from Stewart to Charles E. Johnson.

On Baylor’s very next offensive play, the Bears fumbled again. This time the ball was recovered by senior …

Preseason – 1993 – Buffs take on the most difficult schedule in the nation

//posted 8.17.1993

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Scouting the Nation

As the summer of 1993 wound down, (a great summer for me and my lady, thank you very much) the pre-season magazines appeared. There was little or no consensus as to which team would emerge from the upcoming season ranked No. 1 on January 1, 1994. Florida State received much of the ink, but Alabama was also getting support for a repeat of its 1992 National Championship.

When the pre-season Associated Press poll came out, five different teams received first-place votes. Included with Florida State, Alabama, Michigan, and Syracuse was Stanford, which was ranked no higher than 15th overall.

There was consensus as to the Colorado Buffaloes and their season, however, at least as to several issues.

First, everyone agreed that the Buffs’ 1993 schedule would be brutal. The non-conference slate included ranked Miami (No. 5 in the pre-season poll) and Stanford (15th), along with the nearly-ranked Texas (30th overall) and Baylor (31st). If Colorado could survive September, conference clashes against Oklahoma, improving Kansas, and, of course, Nebraska, loomed.

“Maximum Challenge” was the motto chosen by the team for the season, and a glance at the schedule explained why.

1993 Outlook – CU Roster

While there was …

Kansas State – Nerves of Spaghetti

//posted 10.26.1991

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October 26th- @ Kansas State #16 Colorado 10, Kansas State 0

The 1991 Kansas State team was different from the Wildcat teams which Big Eight teams had grown accustomed to playing.

Third year coach Bill Snyder was building a program in Manhattan. The joke of the conference throughout much of the ‘1980′s (and, in all honesty, for a number of decades), Snyder had taken a woeful team over in 1989, going 1-10 in first campaign. The second team improved to 5-6, and in 1991 the Wildcats were 4-2, falling only to #3 Washington and #9 Nebraska. The 38-31 scare put into the Cornhuskers in Lincoln put the world on notice that these Wildcats would have to be dealt with from here on as a serious threat.

It was all the Buffs could do to come away with a 10-0 win against a resilient Wildcat squad. The Colorado defense carried the day, posting a shutout for the second time in a season for the first time since 1977. Colorado sacked Wildcat quarterback Paul Watson nine times on the day, including three by sophomore defensive tackle Leonard Renfro.

Colorado’s offense could muster only one touchdown, and that coming after Kansas State’s Watson …

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Posts Tagged ‘Derek West’

#22 Oklahoma – An Evening in Paradise

Northeastern Louisiana – Break out the record books

Pre-season: 1994 – Adios, Southwest Conference – CU returns 16 starters

No. 24 Baylor – Buffs cruise past Bears in 45-21 laugher

Preseason – 1993 – Buffs take on the most difficult schedule in the nation

Kansas State – Nerves of Spaghetti

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