The Buffaloes & Cyclones: Another Most Interesting History

Colorado and Iowa State meet this afternoon for the first time since 2010 when both were original members of the Big 12 Conference; during CU's 13-year hiatus as a member of the Pac-12, the two never met on the gridiron and were not scheduled last year when the Buffaloes rejoined the league.

Long-standing series did resume last year with the Cyclones in five sports – men's and women's basketball, soccer, tennis and volleyball, with ISU winning five of eight times head-to-head. Those were eight of just 13 times the two have faced each other since the 2010-11 season. Two of those meetings were in the postseason, CU winning both in the first round of the 2013 NCAA volleyball tournament and last year in the first round of the Big 12 women's tennis championship.

But despite the few times our paths have crossed in the last 14 years, our history with Iowa State is actually rather interesting. Boulder and Ames are just 613 miles apart (in the old Big Eight, only the University of Missouri in Columbia was further out – 689 miles). Yet the two never played in football until the 1946 opener and in (men's) basketball a year later; CU started series with all six other football-playing members in 1930 or well before, and all but Oklahoma State in 1938 or previously (CU and OSU first met on the basketball court in '48).

Yet our history with Iowa State has as many if not more oddities than any other of former Big Eight or Big 12 rivals.

In football, the most consecutive wins the Buffaloes have against any opponent is 16 – versus Iowa State from 1984 through 1999.
In the '47 season opener, a 45-yard pass from Dick Schrepferman to Ed Pudlik was the second-longest play from scrimmage in a season opener in school history (and still ranks in the top 10) – in a 7-0 win over Iowa State in Ames.
On Nov. 19, 1995, in a CU 40-0 win over ISU in Boulder, the Cyclones were held to the fewest passing yards by an opponent in Colorado history: their quarterbacks completed 2-of-9 passes for minus-1 yard (with three interceptions).
On Feb. 27, 1960 in Boulder, the CU men played most overtimes in a game in its history – with Iowa State escaping Balch Fieldhouse with an 83-80 win in five overtimes.
The longest conversion CU has ever made came against ISU in Ames on Oct. 14, 1989: Darian Hagan completed a 36-yard pass to M.J. Nelson for a first down. After two penalties, the Buffs converted on a 1st-&-30. CU's 45 points in the first half remain the most in a road game for a half as well (CU won, 52-17).
The longest field goal made on the road by a Buff is a 58-yarder by Jerry Hamilton – in Ames on Oct. 24, 1981; Mason Crosby would eventually match that in Miami in 2005. However, Crosby has the longest field goal made by a Buff anywhere – a 60-yard kick he made on Oct. 16, 2004 in Boulder, and yes, against Iowa State (he made a 57-yarder a year in later in Ames, with a horrific wind, that might have been good from 75 yards).
On Nov. 23, 1991, in one of the most miserable conditions of which Colorado has ever played a game, the Buffs defeated Iowa State in Ames. Of the 36,256 tickets that were distributed for the game, there could not have been 2,000 people in the stands during a blizzard that raged most of the afternoon, with the temperature 17 degrees at kickoff (minus-8 wind chill), with the winds gusting constantly from 15 to 20 miles per hour. Passing the ball was a rarity – and an adventure – the teams combined to complete 11-of-23 passes for 118 yards, though the game winner was an 8-yard TD pass from Darian Hagan to Sean Brown midway through the third quarter. Lamont Warren scored CU's other touchdown, running up the middle for 74 yards early in the second quarter, and how Pat Blottiaux managed to convert two PAT kicks and a 22-yard field goal was something to behold.
In our history, we have had one player rush for 100 or more yards with 100 or more receiving yards in a game: running back Cortlen Johnson, on Nov. 10, 2001. He had – rushing attempts for 172 yards and caught six passes for 105 yards – against the Cyclones in a 40-27 Buff victory in Ames.
And then there's Nov. 19, 1994. Iowa State the opponent at Folsom Field, and by the end of CU's 41-20 win, Rashaan Salaam had rushed for 259 yards to reach 2,055 for the season, with Kordell Stewart taking over and eventually finishing as the Big Eight's all-time total offense leader. Oh, and by the way, Bill McCartney announced postgame that he was retiring from coaching. (That was also the last time CU has not punted in a game.)
There are a couple of tragedies as well – in late October 1981, on the Friday before a game against the Cyclones in Ames, in the team hotel sophomore running back Derek Singleton fell ill with what would be diagnosed the following Monday as a severe meningitis infection. He didn't return to Boulder until November 5, still weak, and would fight the illness the remainder of the year eventually succumbing on New Year's Day 1982 at the age of 19. And prior to the '94 game in Boulder, ISU sophomore fullback Jeff Soucie was riding in a car, driving to the game but was killed in a hit-and-run car crash in Lincoln, Neb.
One of the first "buzzer-beaters" in school history occurred on February 6, 1954 in Ames. After CU's Wilbert Walter made a free throw with one second left on the clock, his second shot missed but Jim Ranglos was there to tip the ball in as the final gun sounded, giving the Buffaloes a 67-65 win over host Iowa State. And there were a few others:
On Jan. 28, 1961 in Boulder, Joe Beckner made a 25-foot jumper in overtime with :01 on the clock to give the Buffaloes a 67-65 victory over Iowa State.
On Jan. 16, 2002 in Boulder, Stephane Pelle connected on a short fade away jumper with :02.9 left, giving CU an 63-61 win over Iowa State -- the 100th win for head coach Ricardo Patton.
Let's not forget three by the women. First, on Jan. 14, 1987 in Ames, after Iowa State went ahead 71-70 with 12 seconds to go, Bridget Turner was fouled with :02 to play and made both free throws to rally CU to a 72-71 win over the Cyclones.
Then, almost exactly a decade later on Jan. 18, 1997, also in Ames, Iowa State had tied the game with 12.7 seconds left in the second overtime. LaShena Graham took off from the top of the key and tossed up a short jumper that banked off the glass. It bounced twice on the rim and then fell through the net as time expired to give CU a 68-66 win.
And on Jan. 8, 2003 at the Coors Events Center, Amber Metoyer made the go-ahead basket with 1.5 seconds remaining, rallying Colorado from a 12-point deficit (50-38) to a 64-63 win over visiting Iowa State.

But the real oddity is when CU needed a win, the Cyclones came to the rescue:

In 1980, after dropping the first seven games of the season, the Buffaloes finished with a 1-10 record in football; the lone win came against Iowa State at Folsom Field, 17-9. CU frustrated the Cyclones all afternoon, possessing the ball for 36:03, forcing three turnovers and converting 8-of-16 on third downs.
In 1984, practically in the same identical situation after starting the year 0-5 en route to a 1-10 record, the single triumph was a 23-21 verdict over the Cyclones in Boulder (although CU held after ISU missed a 26-yard field goal wide right with 2:17 to play).
In 1990, with what seemed like the entire world hating CU for its win at Missouri the week before in what has since become the infamous "Fifth Down Game," the Buffs righted the ship with a 28-12 win over Iowa State in Boulder, their fourth straight win at the time out of 10 in a row that led to the school's consensus national title.
Later that same athletic year (Feb. 16, 1991), the CU's men's basketball team had matched the most famous number when it came to streaks in sports: Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak in 1941. Except the Buffaloes had lost 56 straight Big Eight Conference road games. But CU's streak would end this day – where else, but in Ames, with an 84-78 win. The Buffaloes were focused from the get-go, spurting out to a 13-4 lead, led 45-31 at the half, and were ahead by as many as 18 points in the second half; ISU would get no closer than the final score. All five CU starters scored in double figures, with Shaun Vandiver leading the way with 17 points along with grabbing nine rebounds.

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The Buffaloes & Cyclones: Another Most Interesting History

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