Posts Tagged ‘Mickey Pruitt’

Oklahoma – High Five in the Produce Aisle

//posted 10.28.1989

October 28th – @ Oklahoma #3 Colorado 20, Oklahoma 3

Colorado used a stifling defense and just enough offense to take a 20-3 decision over Oklahoma in one of the biggest wins in Colorado football history. Raising its season record to 8-0 for the first time in sixty-two years, the Buffs gave notice to future opponents that its defense was just as good as its offense. Colorado held the Sooners to only 248 yards of total offense, including completions on only three-of-22 passes in the stiff afternoon breeze at Memorial Stadium.

For much of the first half, it appeared the game might end in a scoreless tie. Each team gained only 43 yards of total offense in the first stanza. Midway through the second quarter, though, the Buffs put together a drive of 50 yards in 11 plays, with Ken Culbertson connecting from 30 yards out to give the Buffs a 3-0 lead, their first lead over Oklahoma in 13 years.

(I’ll pause for a moment to let you read that again. You read it right – it was the Buffs first lead over Oklahoma in 13 years).

After the field goal, the Buff defense forced a three-and-out possession…

#5 Nebraska – Brad incites Cornhusker fans with rendition of “Boomer Sooner”

//posted 11.28.1987

(Post your own memories)

November 28th – Boulder #5 Nebraska 24, Colorado 7

Colorado had Nebraska right where they wanted them.

The Cornhuskers had lost the 1987 Game-of-the-Year to Oklahoma the week before. Nebraska, ranked No. 1 in the nation for the first time all season, fell to No. 2 Oklahoma (which had been ranked No. 1 every week previous) at home, by a final score of 17-7. Nebraska players could have been forgiven for not being up for playing Colorado after absorbing a natioanal championship run-ending defeat. Oklahoam was now heading for Miami, the Orange Bowl, and a shot at the National Championship, while Nebraska, though still playing on New Year’s Day, was relegated to the Fiesta Bowl and diminished national attention.

Colorado, angry at having been passed over for a bowl bid despite a 7-3 record, could take the opportunity to defeat hated Nebraska for the second consecutive year, tie the Cornhuskers and Oklahoma State for second place in the conference race, and earn for the Buffs much needed national respect.

The only problem was that, despite the loss to Oklahoma, Nebraska remained ranked in the top five in the country, and with good reason. Coming into the Colorado game, Nebraska was second in the nation…

Colorado State – Buffs take down the Rams in Ft. Collins

//posted 10.3.1987

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October 3rd – @ Colorado State Colorado 29, Colorado State 16

Exacting revenge for the 23-7 embarrassment in Boulder the year before, the Buffs traveled to Fort Collins for the first time since 1957, taking home a hard-fought 29-16 win.

Sal Aunese received his first start as quarterback for the Buffs, and responded with Colorado’s first 100+ yard passing effort of the season. Aunese’s stats: four-of-six passing, 139 yards and one touchdown. The 139 total yards were somewhat inflated, though, by a 79-yard touchdown pass to senior split end Drew Ferrando. Aunese also led the Buff rushing attack, running for 83 yards on 18 carries.

The final score was not indicative of how well the Buffs played, especially in the first half. Before many of the 38,129 who attended the game at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins (a new stadium record, besting the old mark by almost 6,000) could find their seats, Colorado had romped to a 19-0 first quarter lead. Michael Simmons scored on a 14-yard run, Ferrando sprinted to complete a 79-yard pass play, and Aunese ran the ball in from six yards out. By the time the Rams scored midway through the second quarter, it was already 26-0…

Washington State – Sal Aunese makes an impression

//posted 9.26.1987

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September 26th – Boulder Colorado 26, Washington State 17

Another day, another game, another Buff making an impression. This time it was sophomore quarterback Sal Aunese, subbing for injured starter Mark Hatcher, who made a splash. Aunese did not start, but played a significant role in leading Colorado to a 26-17 win over Washington State. Aunese carried the ball 22 times for 185 yards and one touchdown. Aunese also completed one of his three passes, a thirty-yarder to Eric Bieniemy.

Washington State, led by first-year coach Dennis Erickson, were 2-1 coming into the game, having beaten Fresno State and Wyoming before falling to Michigan. Erickson brought in a Cougar squad which had finished 3-7-1 in 1986.

In all, the Buffs accumulated a season high 425 yards on the ground against the Cougars. Still, the Buffs led only 19-17 after Washington State quarterback Timm Rosenbach connected on a 16-yard scoring pass to tight end Chris Leighton with 11:17 to play. After J.J. Flannigan bobbled a Sal Aunese pitch, fumbling at the Colorado 25, the Buffs were in a position to lose. The Colorado defense rose to the occasion, though, forcing a field goal attempt. The kicked sailed wide, and the Buffs retained…

Oregon – Just when it was getting good …

//posted 9.12.1987

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September 12th – Boulder Oregon 10, Colorado 7

For the season opener in 1987, Oregon returned to Boulder to finish out the four year home-and-home series with the Buffs. The Ducks had won two of the three previous games in the series, but this was 1987. Gone from the Ducks’ lineup was all-everything quarterback Chris Miller, who had accounted for 70 percent of the Oregon attack in 1986. Even with Miller’s talents, Oregon had finished the 1986 campaign 5-6, so the 1987 game would be the Buffs’ opportunity to exact a measure of revenge for the last-minute 32-30 loss in 1986.

Those in the know seemed to agree, as Colorado was installed as a 17 1/2 point favorite.

Before the game, thoughts were of avoiding the 0-4 start of 1986. “We lost the opener (in 1986, to Colorado State)”, said senior nose tackle Kyle Rappold, “and when we finally woke up, we were in a pit we couldn’t climb out of.” As to the possibility of a loss in the season-opener to Oregon, Rappold said, “It would put a cloud over the rest of the season.”

The game was played in ideal conditions, with a game time temperature of 71 degrees…

1987 Preseason – “Breaking Away” – Buffs hope to build on successful 1986

//posted 8.25.1987

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National and Big Eight recap – 1987

A pattern established in 1982-83 repeated itself in 1986-87. In 1983, the Miami Hurricanes won the school’s first national championship, a year after Penn State had won its first crown. In 1987, a year after Penn State recorded national championship No. 2, the 1987 Hurricanes again followed suit, giving both schools two titles in the 1980′s. Led by offensive stars quarterback Steve Walsh, running back Melvin Bratton, and wide receivers Michael Irvin and Brian Blades, Miami went 12-0 in 1987. The Hurricanes completed its undefeated season at home by defeating a previously unbeaten Oklahoma squad, 20-14, in the Orange Bowl. Despite going undefeated and having multiple stars, the Hurricanes were shut out of the national awards. Notre Dame flanker Tim Brown received the Heisman trophy, while Miami’s Big East rival Syracuse took home two awards, as Orangeman quarterback Don McPherson received the Maxwell award, while coach Dick MacPherson was named Coach of the Year.

In the Big Eight, it was the same-old same-old at the top. In 1987 Oklahoma, for the third consecutive year, went undefeated in conference play. For the third time in five seasons, the Sooners played for the national title. The…

No. 3 Nebraska – The Signature Win

//posted 10.25.1986

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1986 – Colorado v. Nebraska - Preface

In September 1989, almost three years after the Colorado/Nebraska game of 1986, Brad and I traveled to Seattle, Washington for the Colorado/Washington game. Colorado was in the midst of the most tumultuous season in its 100-year history, entering the game undefeated, but also on the heels of the loss of quarterback Sal Aunese, who had succumbed to cancer the week before. The game story will be retold in the appropriate chapter, but the relevance of that game to 1986 came just after the 1989 Washington game had ended.

It had rained for much of the second half, so, by the end of the game, the sellout crowd had thinned to a thousand or so Buff fans, soaked but jubilant over the Buffs’ 45-28 victory, separated only by a few pockets of the true Husky faithful. Walking through the parking lot after the game, Brad and I encountered a group of young Buff fans gathered around a van. They warmly greeted the sight of the black and gold we were wearing, and Brad and I in turn hailed the meeting of fellow travelers. In our brief conversation, Brad and I learned that this group of five or six…

Missouri – John Nairn saves the day

//posted 10.11.1986

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October 11th – @ Missouri Colorado 17, Missouri 12

The bye week between the non-conference slate and the commencement of Big Eight play could not have come at a better time for the Colorado Buffs. The Buffs were reeling at 0-4, though they could easily have been 3-1. “It (the bye week) gives us a chance to regroup and get a new perspective on the season”, said Coach Bill McCartney, “I think we need to regroup emotionally as much as anything.”

Whatever the coaching staff devised to rejuvenate the team, it worked.

Playing more like the 1985 team which had won seven games, the offense and defense came off of the Buffs’ week off to play well during the same game for the first time all season. Mark Hatcher and O.C. Oliver both scored in the second quarter with runs of 27 and five yards, respectively, to give Colorado all of the points it would need in a 17-12 victory.

Oliver’s touchdown run was set up by a trick play. On fourth-and-one at the Buffs’ own 29 yard line, punter Barry Helton threw a pass to safety Mickey Pruitt for a 17-yard gain. “You gotta take chances when you’re 0-4″,…

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Posts Tagged ‘Mickey Pruitt’

Oklahoma – High Five in the Produce Aisle

#5 Nebraska – Brad incites Cornhusker fans with rendition of “Boomer Sooner”

Colorado State – Buffs take down the Rams in Ft. Collins

Washington State – Sal Aunese makes an impression

Oregon – Just when it was getting good …

1987 Preseason – “Breaking Away” – Buffs hope to build on successful 1986

No. 3 Nebraska – The Signature Win

Missouri – John Nairn saves the day

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