Posts Tagged ‘Jo Jo Collins’

 

October 1st – @ Colorado State           Colorado 27, Colorado State 23

For the third straight game, Colorado rallied from a fourth quarter deficit to pull out a win, this time a 27-23 win over Colorado State in Fort Collins.

Hosting the Buffs for only the second time since 1957, the Rams were not gracious to their guests, running out to a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter. It took a 58-yard interception return for a touchdown by senior Buff linebacker Don DeLuzio to put the Buffs on the board, making the score 13-7. By half, the Coloradso ship had apparently been righted, with a 22-yard touchdown run by Eric Bieniemy and a 28-yard field goal by Ken Culbertson giving the Buffs a 17-13 advantage.

After a second Culbertson field goal, this time from 48 yards out, gave Colorado a 20-13 advantage late in the third quarter, the Rams scored the next ten points of the game. A 49-yard filed goal and a 34-yard touchdown halfback pass off of a reverse gave Colorado State a 23-20 lead. Just 9:13 remained.

Matters looked bleak for the Buffs as the Rams were driving with just over four minutes remaining. A decision to go…

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 September 6th – Boulder          Colorado State 23, Colorado 7

All signs pointed toward an opening day victory for Colorado in their game against Colorado State.

Colorado had gone 4-0 at home in 1985 against unranked opponents.  Colorado State was predicted to be a good team in 1986, having gone 5-7 in 1985, but the Rams were not considered a threat to BYU’s dominance in the Western Athletic Conference, and was certainly was not a Top 20 team.  What was more, the Buffs came into the game against the Rams with a 45-15-2 advantage in the series, including a 31-3 win in 1983.  The stars were aligned for a great start to the 1986 season. 

Unfortunately for Buff fans, the game would not be played on paper.

Frustrating is the only word to describe the 23-7 loss to Colorado State in the 1986 season opener.  The Buffs moved the ball, racking up 304 yards of total offense and an average of five yards per play.  The defense held up its end, surrendering only one touchdown drive all afternoon (and that coming on an eight yard drive).  Then what went wrong?

Six turnovers.

Four fumbles and a pair of interceptions, the last…

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November 23rd – Boulder           Colorado 30, Kansas State 0

Just a year earlier, Colorado limped into its finale against Kansas State. Demoralized, cold, and playing before just 17,600 Wildcat fans, the Buffs had nothing to play for, and it showed. The resulting 38-6 humiliation was a fitting end to a 1-10 disaster.

What a difference a year makes.

The weather was not much better (20 degrees for the 11:00 a.m. kickoff), and the smallest home crowd since the 1983 finale against the same Kansas State squad (28,210 paid, 20,777 actual), were in attendance. But the game was light years away from the 1984 game.

This year, it was the Buffs who would send the visiting team home with a 1-10 record on the heels of a rout. The Buffs were in control from the outset, as the offense complimented the defense for the first time in over a month. After junior safety Steve Beck intercepted a Randy Williams pass on the Wildcats’ opening possession, Colorado needed just three plays to move 43 yards and a 7-0 lead. Halfback Ron Brown, who would pick up 72 yards on the day, did the honors with a 20-yard touchdown run.

Two possessions later, the…

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October 12th – Boulder           Colorado 38, Missouri 7

After a two week layoff to contemplate their 3-1 record, Colorado played its homecoming game against the Missouri Tigers.

For a change, Homecoming played out the way it was supposed to: the home team beating up against an inferior opponent. True, Colorado had won its homecoming game against Iowa State in 1984, but that came in the last minute, and proved to be the Buffs only win of the year.

In 1985, all cylinders were clicking in a 38-7 rout of the Tigers.

The Tigers of 1985 were merely paper tigers, but the Buffs didn’t care. Missouri was winless coming into the game against the Buffs, struggling to an 0-4 non-conference record. All the better for the win-hungry Buffs. Quarterback Mark Hatcher had his best game of the season, running for 151 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries, while completing three-of-six passes for 110 yards and a fourth score. On the afternoon, Colorado rolled up 505 yards of total offense, including 390 on the ground. In mauling the winless Tigers, the Buffs defeated Missouri for the first time since 1978, while scoring the most points and posting the largest margin of…

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 October 13th – Boulder           Colorado 23, Iowa State 21

Only 36,762 came out for Colorado’s Homecoming game against Iowa State.

Who could blame the fans for their apathy?

The game wasn’t much of a draw. The Buffs were 0-5. The Cyclones were 2-3, with both wins coming over inferior opponents (West Texas State and Drake). Unbeknownst to the faithful, however, as they filed into Folsom on the 55-degree, Chamber of Commerce postcard fall day, it would be the Buffs’ most exciting game of the year.

It started as ominously as most of the others. Jo Jo Collins fumbled the opening kickoff, falling on the ball on the Buffs’ one yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, halfback Lee Rouson was tackled in the end zone.

Safety.

Down 2-0 just ten seconds into the game. Not exactly an auspicious start.

Colorado was behind 5-0 just a few minutes later. A 25 yard return of the Buffs’ free kick gave the Cyclones the ball at the Colorado 47 yard line. Six plays later, ISU had a 48-yard field goal.

Behind 5-0, the Buffs, who had actually been favored to win the game, began to play better.

Not well, mind you. Better.

Colorado took…

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Cautious Optimism

The 1984 season presented an excellent opportunity for third-year coach Bill McCartney to demonstrate that the building process was continuing.

Bill McCartney’s inaugural squad, consisting of nary a single player recruited by McCartney, had finished 2-8-1. In 1983, the mark had improved to 4-7. Now, with two full seasons under his belt, and two recruiting classes to call his own, whispers of a winning season were heard around campus. Not Orange Bowl, mind you. No one was oblivious to the fact that there were top ten teams residing in Lincoln and Norman. Still, McCartney had doubled the win total from his first season to his second. An additional two wins in ’84 would mean a 6-5 season.

Fans of Colorado were not asking for miracles, just continued improvement.

The enthusiasm could be seen in an editorial in January, 1984, by Boulder Daily Camera Sports Editor Ralph Routon. The piece was entitled: “How to Recruit, McCartney-style”, and relayed the story of how McCartney had “mesmerized” a Colorado Springs gathering a few evenings before. McCartney: “I can guarantee you we will have one of the greatest classes of recruits in the nation”, and “What I want everyone to know is that the Colorado program…

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