Saturday, December 1
Irving, Texas
TBA

Colorado

39
vs
37

Texas

Buffs Are Big 12 Champs!! Defeat Texas 39-37

December 01, 2001 | Football

IRVING, Texas - Just call the Colorado Buffaloes the Rose Bowl elimination squad. One week after erasing Nebraska's road to the national title game, they knocked Texas out of the way, too.

Chris Brown ran for three touchdowns as the No. 9 Buffs turned Texas quarterback Chris Simms' four first-half turnovers into 26 points, then held off a rally to beat the No. 3 Longhorns 39-37 Saturday night for their first Big 12 championship.

Colorado (10-2) fulfilled the vision coach Gary Barnett had for the Buffs this summer when no one else expected much from them after a 3-8 season. Their stunning turnaround will continue in a Bowl Championship Series game, likely the Fiesta Bowl. Representatives from the bowl were in the locker room right after the win.

"When we left the hotel today, I told them we are a team of destiny," Barnett said. "No one is playing with more heart right now. Whoever we play next, they're going to face one heck of a football team."

Simms' meltdown prevented Texas (10-2) from its own storybook season.

Texas knew before kickoff that if it won, it would be in position to move up to No. 2 in the second-to-last BCS standings because Florida lost to Tennessee. Early arriving Longhorns fans cheered wildly when that result was announced and several waved red roses.

Instead, the Longhorns are likely headed to the Holiday Bowl for the second straight year, this time against No. 19 Washington.

"The Rose Bowl was right there," said receiver B.J. Johnson, who scored the first and last touchdowns in Texas' comeback bid. "All we had to do was beat Colorado and we didn't get it done."

Simms threw two early interceptions, letting Colorado turn a 7-0 deficit into a 16-7 lead. After the Longhorns regained some momentum, Simms blew it again with a fumble and another interception that helped put the Buffs up 29-10.

"I was stunned with what happened to me," said Simms, who threw four interceptions in Texas' only other loss - to Oklahoma. "We had a chance to go to the Rose Bowl. I don't know what happened."

Simms dislocated a finger on his throwing hand on his next play after his fourth turnover and the Longhorns turned to forgotten fan favorite Major Applewhite.

The senior quarterback went in to cheers of "May-jor! May-jor!" and nearly pulled them out of their biggest hole of the season,

Applewhite threw a 79-yard touchdown pass on his second play and led two more drives that ended in field goals. Then Roderick Babers intercepted a fake punt and returned it 54 yards for a touchdown and the Buffs' lead was down to 36-30 with 9:10 left.

Barnett later joked that the gamble nearly cost him. He was saved from the criticism when Colorado answered by taking 7:12 to move 51 yards for a 43-yard field goal by Jeremy Flores with 1:58 left.

That drive was kept alive with a fourth-and-1 dive by quarterback Bobby Pesavento and a roughing-the-punter penalty against Texas. The Buffs added to the drama by taking a delay of game penalty when Flores was set up for a 38-yarder.

Applewhite threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Johnson with 31 seconds left, but Colorado recovered an onside kick and was soon celebrating with its small cluster of fans.

"We always thought we were a great team," said Buffs linebacker Aaron Killion, who caught Simms' first interception and returned it 72 yards. "I believe we wanted it more."

Colorado avenged a 41-7 loss to the Longhorns in Austin six weeks ago. The Buffs had won four straight since that game, which they gave away with three first-half turnovers and a touchdown they allowed just before halftime that put them behind by 17.

Sound familiar?

In returning the favor, the Longhorns lived up to a lot of bad precedents.

They lost a championship game rematch of a regular-season victory, just like they did to Nebraska in 1999.

Simms mirrored his pratfall in Texas' only other big game this season, a 14-3 loss to Oklahoma in which he threw four interceptions. He'd thrown 16 touchdowns and two interceptions in the six games since, all victories.

And, Longhorns coach Mack Brown once again will hear about losing the big one. Since beating the Cornhuskers in '99, his teams have lost two Big 12 title games, two bowls games and two games against the Sooners. Although he's among the highest-paid coaches in the country, he remains without a conference title in 18 years as a head coach.

Chris Brown, who had six touchdowns in Colorado's 62-36 victory over Nebraska, ran 33 times for 182 yards. He alone had more yards rushing than any team did this season against Texas, which came in allowing the second-fewest total yards in the country.

With Bobby Purify adding 62 yards, the Buffs gained 223 on the ground on 53 carries. Pesavento was 8-of-18 for another 111 yards.

Colorado has its most wins since 1996 and its first conference championship since winning the Big Eight in 1991, the season after their national championship.

Applewhite was 15-of-25 for 240 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions. He was especially impressive considering he was without his best lineman (Mike Williams) and best running back (Cedric Benson).

Williams and Benson were hurt when they slammed into each other trying to chase Medford Moorer from returning Simms' final interception 64 yards for a touchdown. Moorer juked Benson, causing him to hit Williams instead.

Benson gained 79 yards, breaking Ricky Williams' school record for a freshman and putting him over 1,000 for the season. He did most of it in the last seven games, when he became a starter a week after not getting a carry against Oklahoma.

The Sooners' loss to Oklahoma State last week put Texas into this game, which seemed like a good thing because it kept alive Rose Bowl chances. However, the Longhorns likely had an at-large berth into the BCS already wrapped up.

Texas started out great, stuffing the Buffs then driving 85 yards in five plays for a quick 7-0 lead. Two series later, the Longhorns drove to the Colorado 22 - and everything started to fall apart.

"There's a lot of very upset players coming out of that locker room," Mack Brown said. "We knew what was at stake. It's a very hard loss to take."

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