1989 Colorado Buffaloes football
Big Eight champion
Orange Bowl, L 6–21 vs. Notre Dame
ConferenceBig Eight Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 4
APNo. 4
Record11–1 (7–0 Big 8)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGerry DiNardo (6th season)
Offensive schemeI-Bone option
Defensive coordinatorMike Hankwitz (2nd season)
Base defense5-2
MVPDarian Hagan (QB)
Captains
  • Sal Aunese (honorary)
  • Bill Coleman (OT)
  • Mike Jones (LB)
  • Erich Kissick (FB)
  • Bruce Young (S)
Home stadiumFolsom Field
1989 Big Eight Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 4 Colorado $ 7 –0 –011 –1 –0
No. 11 Nebraska 6 –1 –010 –2 –0
Oklahoma 5 –2 –07 –4 –0
Iowa State 4 –3 –06 –5 –0
Oklahoma State 3 –4 –04 –7 –0
Kansas 2 –5 –04 –7 –0
Missouri 1 –6 –02 –9 –0
Kansas State 0 –7 –01 –10 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1989 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the Big Eight Conference during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. Colorado finished with the most wins in school history, surpassing the 1971 team, and their first conference championship in thirteen years. The Buffaloes went undefeated in the regular season at 11–0 (7–0 in Big 8) and played for the national title, but lost to fourth-ranked Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl.[1]

The team dedicated the season to senior and former starting quarterback Sal Aunese, who was diagnosed with stomach cancer in late March,[2] and died at age 21 on September 23 due to complications from the disease.[3][4][5]

For the first time in 28 years, Colorado defeated Oklahoma and Nebraska in the same season.[6][7] In the 27 seasons in between, they had five wins over Oklahoma (1965, 1966, 1968, 1972, 1976) and two over Nebraska (1967, 1986).

In another feel-good story, the team was host to a Make A Wish recipient Chad Henry for the big game against Nebraska in Boulder. Henry was an up-and-coming high school football player from Indiana, Pennsylvania, and the son of college/NFL coach Jack Henry, who began following the Buffaloes after reading about Sal Aunese's battle with cancer while himself battling a very rare and dangerous form of abdominal cancer. After cheering on the Buffs to the biggest win in school history in early November, Henry and his family were also invited to attend the national championship game in Miami as guests of the university. He went on to defeat the disease and did play football for his high school again in 1990. Although his once promising football career was ended following that season due to complications with side effects from the intense chemotherapy he endured, Henry went on to coach football at his high school and became a scout for the NFL's Detroit Lions and is currently with the Indianapolis Colts.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 45:30 pmTexas*No. 14
ESPNW 27–647,269
September 91:30 pmColorado State*No. 9
KCNCW 45–2044,921
September 161:30 pmNo. 10 Illinois*No. 8
  • Folsom Field
  • Boulder, Colorado
CBSW 38–746,747
September 302:00 pmat No. 21 Washington*No. 5
KCNCW 45–2869,152
October 71:30 pmMissouriNo. 3
  • Folsom Field
  • Boulder, Colorado
W 49–351,855
October 141:00 pmat Iowa StateNo. 3
KCNCW 52–1741,515
October 211:30 pmKansasdaggerNo. 3
  • Folsom Field
  • Boulder, Colorado
W 49–1750,057
October 2812:30 pmat OklahomaNo. 3
KWGNW 20–375,004
November 412:30 pmNo. 3 NebraskaNo. 2
  • Folsom Field
  • Boulder, Colorado (rivalry)
CBSW 27–2152,877
November 1112:30 pmat Oklahoma StateNo. 2
KCNCW 41–1741,000
November 1811:10 amat Kansas StateNo. 2
KCNCW 59–1120,117
January 1, 19906:00 pmvs. No. 4 Notre Dame*No. 1
NBCL 6–2181,191
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Mountain time
Source:[8]

Personnel

1989 Colorado Buffaloes football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
RB Matt Bell
RB 1 Eric Bieniemy Jr
TE Jon Boman
WR 84 Jeff Campbell Sr
OT 77 Bill Coleman (C)
RB Dennis Collier
RB Scott DeGoler
RB J.J. Flannigan
G 62 Joe Garten Jr
QB 3 Darian Hagan So
FB George Hemingway
WR Mark Henry
QB Charles S. Johnson
FB Eric Kissick (C)
C 52 Jay Leeuwenberg So
G Darren Muilenberg
WR M.J. Nelson
RB O.C. Oliver
TE John Perak
WR 9 Mike Pritchard Jr
RB Tony Senna
RB Michael Simmons
OT 72 Mark VanderPoel Jr
QB Mark Walters
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
OLB Chad Brown
CB David Gibbs
DL Gary Howe
S Tim James
ILB Terry Johnson
ILB 59 Michael Jones (C)
CB 12 Dave McCloughan Jr
DE 96 Kanavis McGhee Jr
DT Okland Salavea
NG 93 Joel Steed So
DT Arthur Walker Sr
OLB 94 Alfred Williams
S Bruce Young (C)
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K Ken Culbertson
P Tom Rouen
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP14986533 (2)3 (3)3 (1)2 (2)2 (4)2 (3)2 (3)1 (53)1 (55)1 (51)4
Coaches141175544 (1)3 (1)3 (1)2 (2)2 (5)2 (4)2 (4)1 (39)1 (42)—4

Season summary

Texas

Colorado State

Illinois

At Washington

Missouri

At Iowa State

Kansas

At Oklahoma

#3 Colorado Buffaloes (6–0) at Oklahoma Sooners (5–1)
Period 1 2 34Total
Colorado 0 10 01020
Oklahoma 0 0 033

at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma

Game information
  • Colorado 8-0 for first time since 1927
  • Culbertson's field goal in second quarter gave Colorado its first lead over Oklahoma in a game since 1976
  • Colorado's first win in Norman since 1965
  • J.J. Flannigan 25 rushes, 103 yards
  • Arthur Walker 8 tackles, sack (Big 8 Defensive Player of Week)

[9]

Nebraska

#3 Nebraska at #2 Colorado
1 234Total
Cornhuskers 7 770 21
• Buffaloes 14 373 27
Scoring summary
113:30NEBBryan Carpenter 51 yard pass from Gerry Gdowski (Gregg Barrios kick)NEB 7–0
18:22COLJ.J. Flannigan 70 yard run (Ken Culbertson kick)Tie 7–7
15:04COLDarian Hagan 1 yard run (Ken Culbertson kick)COL 14–7
211:33NEBMorgan Gregory 12 yard pass from Gerry Gdowski (Gregg Barrios kick)Tie 14–14
20:12COLKen Culbertson 49 yard field goalCOL 17–14
38:00COLJ.J. Flannigan 2 yard run (Ken Culbertson kick)COL 24–14
31:04NEBChris Garrett 26 yard pass from Gerry Gdowski (Gregg Barrios kick)COL 24–21
48:47COLKen Culbertson 28 yard field goalCOL 27–21

[10] [11]

Colorado honored their All-Century team at halftime

At Oklahoma State

At Kansas State

Orange Bowl (vs. Notre Dame)

#1 Colorado Buffaloes (11–0) vs. #4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11–1)
Period 1 2 34Total
Notre Dame 0 0 14721
Colorado 0 0 606

at Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida

  • Date: January 1, 1990
  • Game attendance: 81,190
  • TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Bill Walsh
  • Recap/Box
Game information

[12]

References

  1. ↑ "No crown for Buffs". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. January 1, 1990. p. 1B.
  2. ↑ "Colorado quarterback stricken by cancer". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 31, 1989. p. 2B.
  3. ↑ "Colorado mourns quarterback's death". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 25, 1989. p. 2B.
  4. ↑ "2,000 bid farewell to Aunese". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 26, 1989. p. 6D.
  5. ↑ "Colorado tips Washington after memorial". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. October 1, 1989. p. 7B.
  6. ↑ "Colorado ends Oklahoma domination, 20-3". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. October 29, 1989. p. 5B.
  7. ↑ "Colorado nails Nebraska, 27-21". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. November 5, 1989. p. 1B.
  8. ↑ 2011 Colorado football information guide
  9. ↑ "Oklahoma – Getting a High Five in the Produce Aisle". CU at the Game. October 28, 1989. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  10. ↑ "A look back at Nov. 4, 1989: Colorado 27, Nebraska 21". Denver Post. November 22, 2010. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Nebraska vs. Colorado 1989". Husker Max. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Lackluster Colorado Leveled by Notre Dame". The New York Times. January 2, 1990. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
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