Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: '90 Buffs Put A 'W' Away Early - Finally
October 13, 2010 | Football, B.G. Brooks
To commemorate CU's national championship, secured that season in the Orange Bowl against Notre Dame, CUBuffs.com will take a look back at each game of the '90 season. Game stories that appeared in the Rocky Mountain News and were written by B.G. Brooks, now Contributing Editor for CUBuffs.com, will be reprinted each Wednesday on the website.
In the week following "Fifth Down," Colorado found itself largely out of favor with most of the nation's college football fandom.
So how did the Buffs react?
Befitting the bandits they were being portrayed as in the national media, they donned all black uniforms.
In truth, that wasn't the reason at all for the wardrobe change. Coach Bill McCartney wanted a change of pace - more early dominance, fewer last-minute theatrics - and believed a different look might help produce different results.
At least against Iowa State, it worked.
CU overcame a shaky start - a 9-0 deficit - to finish strong and blow out the Cyclones. The Buffs that would make their way to Miami were beginning to take shape.
Buffs run down Iowa State
Change of clothes changes CU's luck
By B.G. Brooks
Rocky Mountain News
BOULDER - Befitting their new national image, Colorado's Buffaloes wore all black uniforms yesterday. It had nothing to do with a week of mourning for Missouri. But it was a wardrobe trade America might have anticipated, for bad guys and bandits rarely wear white.
In truth, said head coach and haberdasher Bill McCartney, the Buffs went back to black "to shake things up" in their second week of Big Eight Conference play. No more last-minute victories -- and please, please, no more fifth downs.
At a windy Folsom Field, black was functional if not exactly beautiful. In wearing down Iowa State 28-12 and winning their fifth consecutive game, the No. 14 Buffs finally achieved the change of pace McCartney wished. They used three quarterbacks -- not by choice -- and finally quieted the Cyclones with a monster of a third quarter. They carried a rare 16-point cushion into the game's final 60 seconds.
Never mind that CU was a 22-point favorite. In a season as perilous as 1990, winning by more than seven points is tantamount to a landslide for the Buffs (5-1-1 overall, 2-0 in the Big Eight).
"The whole nation is looking down on us after what happened last week. Last year, the nation loved us. Now, I think the nation hates us," said defensive tackle Garry Howe in explaining one of the reasons he and his teammates elected to heed McCartney's wish and wear black pants with their black jerseys for the first time since 1988.
"We wanted to make a statement," Howe continued. "This is no fluke. We're playing our hearts out."
At the outset, the Buffs' fashion statement meant zilch to the Cyclones (2-3-1, 0-2).
Quarterback Chris Pedersen (12 of 19, 116 yards, one touchdown) drove ISU 80 yards in eight plays, capping the march with a 6-yard pass to fullback Sundiata Patterson.
The extra point attempt was botched, but the Cyclones led 6-0 with only 3:26 gone in the first quarter.
"I can't explain why they went through us in the opening drive. They didn't do anything we weren't expecting," McCartney said.
Neither could he explain why tailback Eric Bieniemy (21 carries, 131 yards, one TD) fumbled on his first carry. Cornerback Andrew Buggs recovered at the CU 21-yard line, and four plays later Jeff Shudak's 36-yard field goal gave the Cyclones a 9-0 lead.
"When they went up 9-0 like that, I said, 'Here we go again,'" McCartney said.
But just as quickly as his defense had been zapped for nine points, it began zapping the Cyclones. After Shudak kicked a 46-yard field goal with 2:15 left in the first half, ISU didn't threaten again.
On their two third-quarter possessions, the Cyclones didn't advance past their own 20-yard line, and even punted once on third down. The Buffs outgained them 177 yards to 11 in the third period.
Explained ISU coach Jim Walden of the third-down punt from his own 15-yard line: "I didn't want to get slam-dunked (for a loss) on third down." That would have resulted in his team punting from its end zone and would have allowed the Buffs even better field position.
After spotting ISU its 9-0 lead, CU retaliated with an 84-yard, 10-play drive. Quarterback Charles S. Johnson, making his second straight start, lobbed a 29-yard pass to wingback Michael Simmons for the touchdown with 4:55 left in the first quarter.
Then the Buffs began their unplanned QB shuffle. Johnson suffered a pulled thigh muscle and was replaced by unused freshman Vance Joseph for CU's first possession of the second quarter. Joseph marched the Buffs to the ISU 12, where Jim Harper's 29-yard field goal attempt was blocked.
Until the final quarter, Joseph wouldn't be seen again.
Enter Darian Hagan, who wasn't supposed to enter the game at all. McCartney wanted to give Hagan's sprained left shoulder another week to heal. It didn't happen. With 5:55 left in the half, CU was using its third quarterback.
The Buffs were going through QBs like George Steinbrenner went through managers. "You have different things you want to do with each one of them," McCartney said. "It hurt our continuity."
The Buffs' first possession under Hagan was botched by a George Hemingway fumble that was recovered by Cyclones defensive tackle Matt Grubb at the CU 47. Five plays later, Shudak's 46-yard field goal moved ISU ahead 12-7.
Hagan answered immediately, driving the Buffs 61 yards in 12 plays and tossing a 3-yard TD pass to tight end Sean Brown that gave CU a 14-12 lead with six seconds left in the first half.
Next up was the decisive third quarter, and ISU was finished.
Bieniemy finalized CU's first second-half possession (80 yards, nine plays) with a 1-yard run that gave the Buffs a 21-12 lead. Two series later, Mike Pritchard -- again putting it in reverse -- ran 30 yards to cap another lengthy (84 yards, eight plays) drive. The Buffs led 28-12 with less than 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
The rest was up to CU's defense -- and resting was out of the question.
"We just wore them down," McCartney said. "Our defense was dominant, and we just took over the game."
So dominant were the Buffs that All-America candidate Blaise Bryant, the nation's No. 4 rusher last year, was held to 34 yards, his lowest total at ISU. His previous low was the 66 yards the Buffs allowed him in 1989.
"We knew he was a great back," said CU outside linebacker Kanavis McGhee. "We had to keep him under control. Except for the first drive, we were able to shut him down."
Indeed, half of Bryant's total came on one run in the Cyclones' opening march.
"We got beat by the best football team we've played," Walden said. "I don't think we want to play many better football teams than them. They're just unbelievable."
Walden might have been stretching the truth, but the Buffs wouldn't mind. For the first time this season, they hadn't stretched themselves to the final seconds.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
