Article Archive

Preseason, 1998 – Buffs In Search of Redemption

//posted 8.24.1998

In Search of …. Redemption The 1998 season could not start soon enough for Colorado. The 1998 campaign would allow the Buffs coaches and players, not to mention their fans, a chance at redemption. The 1997 campaign had been a season with too many firsts: the first losing record since 1984; the first conference finish lower than 2nd since 1988; the first time out of the polls since the start of the 1989 season. It had all just been a bad dream; an anomaly. Hadn’t it? While anxious to kickoff the …

National and Big 12 recap for 1997 Season – “Ralphie” and Me

//posted 12.31.1997

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National and Big 12 Recap – 1997 For the third time in eight seasons, the national polls split the National Championship. For the Associated Press, the National Champion was the 12-0 Michigan Wolverines. Michigan, which had been ranked No. 1 in both polls heading into the bowls, defeated Cinderella Washington State 21-16 in the Rose Bowl to claim its first national title since 1948. In the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll, however, 13-0 Nebraska changed the vote of just enough coaches to claim its third national championship in four years. The …

Tags: Libby Hall, Ralphie
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Dr. Tom retires / Buffs forfeit the 1997 season

//posted 12.1.1997

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— Dr. Tom — In everyone’s life, there are “remember where you were when” days. For better or worse, you always seem to remember where you were when you heard President Kennedy was shot, when man first walked on the moon, or when the Challenger disaster first crossed the television screen. For Colorado college football fans – okay, maybe only the Colorado college football fans I know – we can always remember two dates. The first, November 19, 1994, was when Coach Bill McCartney announced, immediately after CU running back …

Preseason – CU choice for No. 1 in The Sporting News

//posted 2.9.1997

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Preseason – 1997 Unlike 1996, when two-time defending national champion Nebraska was the undisputed choice for the No. 1 team in the nation, there was little consensus as to who would finish as the No. 1 team at teh conclusion of the 1997 season. Florida was given by some an excellent chance at repeating, but there were also those who found merit in the chances of others. Penn State, Washington, Tennessee, Florida State, Nebraska, North Carolina, and yes, even Colorado, received votes for No. 1 in the Associated Press preseason …

National and Big 12 recap – 1996

//posted 1.5.1997

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National and Big 12 recap – 1996 The Florida Gators captured their first-ever National Championship under head coach Steve Spurrier with a dominating 52-20 win over arch-rival Florida State in the Sugar Bowl. Florida, 24-21 losers to the Seminoles late in the regular season, would not have had the chance for the re-match and the opportunity for the national title had it not been for some late season fades by other title hopefuls. Ohio State saw its undefeated season go by the boards with a late season loss to …

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The $8 Million Dollar Extra Point / Rooting for Nebraska??

//posted 12.3.1996

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— The Eight Million Dollar Extra Point — The fallacies of the Bowl Alliance were never more acutely displayed than in the final weeks of 1996. Notre Dame, Syracuse, Wyoming, BYU and yes, even Colorado were victims of the system which was designed to end arguments over polls and bowls. Notre Dame played Southern Cal in its regular season finale. The Fighting Irish were 8-2, ranked No. 8 in the country, and poised to play in either the Fiesta or Orange Bowl. Either of the two Alliance Bowls would have …

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Preseason 1996 – Mission: Possible

//posted 8.1.1996

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— Preseason – 1996 — The August 16, 1996, edition of the Buffalo Sports News had quarterback Koy Detmer and linebacker Matt Russell on its cover. Modeling the Buffs’ new uniforms, Detmer and Russell were posed wearing uniform numbers 19 and 96. The headline read: “Is this the Year?” It was a question which was being asked often about the 1996 Buffs, and not just in Boulder. Nebraska was the two-time defending national champion, but the consensus of the preseason prognosticators was that Colorado had the talent to win it …

A Look Back: A Game-by-Game Snapshot of the 1996 Season

//posted 7.20.1996

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The title for my 1996 CU season history is “Oooh, so close” … The Buffs finished the season with a 10-2 record, only two close losses keeping CU from a shot at a national title … Karl Dorrell as offensive coordinator as CU posts third straight ten-win season …

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CU at the Game – Birth of a Notion

//posted 4.10.1996

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— CU at the Game – Birth of a Notion — While many of the materials – programs, newspaper clippings, etc., – used for this work had been accumulating in my basement for over 15 years, the idea for using these treasures for a book did not come to fruition until 1996. I have always read sports-related (that is to say mostly football-related) books, but for me, in the off-season between the 1995 and 1996 campaigns, the topic of college football became an obsession. Perhaps it was the heightened anticipation …

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A Look Back: A Game-by-Game Snapshot of the 1995 Season

//posted 7.12.1995

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In the final season of the Big Eight, CU’s surprising choice for head coach, Rick Neuheisel, rode a backup quarterback (John Hessler) all the way to a ten-win season and a No. 5 final ranking …

A Look Back: A Game-by-Game Snapshot of the 1993 Season

//posted 7.7.1993

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The Buffs take on the nation’s most difficult schedule … The brawl with the Miami Hurricanes in Boulder … Lamont Warren and Charles E. Johnson connected on the “national play-of-the-year” to take down No. 9 Oklahoma … Satisfying Aloha Bowl win to cap the season …

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1992 Season Preview – “Air Bill”

//posted 6.28.1992

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— 1992 -“Air” Bill — National and Big Eight Recap – 1992 The 1992 college football season was dominated by the Miami Hurricanes. That is to say, at least Miami dominated all the way up to its National Championship showdown against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. There, the Crimson Tide throttled Miami, 34-13, to win Alabama’s sixth national title, the first for head coach Gene Stallings. Alabama finished the season 13-0, claiming the nation’s first undisputed title since 1979. Miami’s quarterback Gino Toretta, despite having a quarterback rating of …