No. 10 Illinois – Jeff George falls / A Farewell to Sal


Posts Tagged ‘Sal Aunese’

—  September 16th – Boulder      No. 8 Colorado 38,  No. 10 Illinois 7 — The University of Colorado served notice to the football world that the 1989 Buffs were for real, dominating No. 10 Illinois, 38-7. For the third straight game, the Buffs scored on their first possession.  A 74-yard pass from Darian Hagan to wideout Jeff Campbell set up a one-yard scoring run by Eric Bieniemy to give Colorado the early lead, 7-0.  After the Illini tied the score on a two-yard run by Howard Griffith, Colorado took the lead …

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From the death of Sal Aunese … to CU’s run through non-conference ranked foes Illinois and Washington … to historic wins over Oklahoma and Nebraska (the pitch!) … The 100th year of Colorado football had everything but the storybook ending …

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— 1989 Season – “Things Have Changed” — Spring Optimism Optimism. For every college football team, spring is a time for optimism.  No team has sustained a defeat; the opportunity for a successful fall campaign is there for the taking.  Hard work, team unity, and a little luck is seemingly all that is required for success.  Of course, optimism takes different forms depending on the results of previous season. For those teams which competed for the national championship in 1988, the spring of 1989 was a time to find that missing …

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— December 28th – Freedom Bowl, Anaheim, California           BYU 20, Colorado 17 — The only lead BYU would enjoy the entire game would be when it counted most, as BYU defeated Colorado, 20-17, in the 1988 Freedom Bowl. BYU kicker Jason Chaffetz connected from 35 yards out with 2:33 remaining to give BYU its first lead and the victory. It was a frustrating loss for Colorado, as two costly turnovers and nine penalties relegated the Buffs to their fifth consecutive bowl loss. No doubt, Colorado had …

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— November 5th – at Missouri           Colorado 45, Missouri 8 — Six different Buffs scored touchdowns as Colorado routed Missouri, 45-8. In the most lopsided Colorado win in the history of the series, the Buffs amassed 479 yards of total offense, including 328 yards on the ground on 72 rushing attempts. Freshman tailback Marcus Reliford came off the bench to lead the Buffs with 114 yards, including a late 15-yard touchdown run. Colorado sensation Eric Bieniemy, already over 1,000 yards for the season, just kept it going, posting his seventh 100+ …

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— October 29th – Boulder           Colorado 24, Iowa State 12 — After playing lethargically for most of the first half, Colorado rebounded from its loss to Oklahoma to put away a decent Iowa State club, 24-12. Playing as if still in a haze from the Oklahoma game, the Buffs spotted Iowa State a 6-0 lead on two long distance field goals (49 and 52 yards) by Cyclone kicker Jeff Shudak. It was not until almost halftime that the Buffs took the lead, with a Ken Culbertson field goal and a …

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— Night Lights — October 22, 1988, marked a significant date in the history of Colorado football. On that date, the Buffs played a night game at home for the first time ever. Portable lights were brought in for the event, only serving to further hype the contest. The matchup, carried nationally by ESPN, pitted the 5-1 Buffs against another 5-1 team, the Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners were ranked 8th nationally, having lost only to 5th-ranked USC. Oklahoma, despite carrying the identical record as Colorado, was seen as a far …

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— October 15th – at Kansas           Colorado 21, Kansas 9 — If there was ever a team to provide a tonic for a 1988 Buff squad licking its collective wounds after a discouraging loss to Oklahoma State, it was Kansas. The Jayhawks were 0-5 on the season, coming off of a 63-10 rout at the hands of the No. 9 Nebraska Cornhuskers. Overall, the Jayhawks had won only one game out of their previous 23, and were being outscored in 1988 by an average margin of 48-16. While the CU/Kansas game …

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— October 8th – Boulder           No. 13 Oklahoma State 41, Colorado 21 — In Colorado=s earlier game against a ranked team (on the road v. Iowa), the Buffs raced to a 14-0 lead on their way to 24-21 upset. Versus 13th-rated Oklahoma State, Colorado again opened strong. A three-yard scoring run by quarterback Sal Aunese gave Colorado a 7-0 lead six minutes into the game. That was about it, however, for the Buffs’ chances at an upset. There were no fourth quarter heroics in Colorado’s Big Eight opener, …

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— October 1st – at 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 …

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  — September 24th – Boulder           Colorado 28, Oregon State 21 — Colorado took the lead against Oregon State just over three minutes into the game, and trailed for only 2:46 of the entire contest. Still, the Buffs struggled to contain and repel a competitive Oregon State squad, hanging on to defeat the Beavers, 28-21. Eric Bieniemy rushed for 211 yards and three touchdowns on the afternoon. His first score came on a 45-yard run on a fourth-and-one, putting the Buffs up 7-0 with 11:54 to play in the first quarter. Bieniemy scored …

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— September 17th – at Iowa           Colorado 24, No. 19 Iowa 21 — In pulling off Colorado=s first road win over a ranked team in CU’s seven seasons under Bill McCartney, the Buffs gave notice of their potential, upsetting Iowa, 24-21. Quarterback Sal Aunese plunged in from a yard out with 1:55 remaining to cap an 85-yard drive to give the Buffs the win. The final drive began with less than six minutes remaining after safety Dave McCloughan forced a Chuck Hartlieb fumble at the Colorado 15-yard line. On third-and-nine early …

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