Delaware Represents The 36th State For A CU Opponent

The University of Delaware was added to the schedule after Colorado rejoined the Big 12 Conference last year; originally CU was scheduled to play at Houston, which became a conference game. The Blue Hens are in their first year as an FBS program after a long and successful history in the FCS. They also represent the 36th state that has a collegiate football team that CU will line up across. Colorado is 20-14-1 in their first such games heading into this afternoon.

Here are the first college teams the Buffaloes (or in many cases before 1934, the "Silver & Gold" as we were known by) first played from each state, with a note or two from that first meeting:

Alabama
In the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, the Buffs bounced Bear Bryant's Alabama Crimson Tide, 47-33. It was well-documented that Alabama (and its fans) were not pleased about playing a team with seven African-American players; one of those players, the late Bill Collins, is being honored today. One of CU's tri-captains, he greeted over 40 white Tide players at the coin toss to show that he and his teammates were not intimidated by their racist antics. The Buffs recorded eight quarterback sacks in the game, five by the late Bill Brundige, with Collins making 14 tackles with a sack. (Dec. 13, 1969)

Arizona
George Grosvenor threw two touchdown passes to Paul Bradley and returned the second half kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown to lead the Silver & Gold to a 27-7 win over Arizona in Tucson on Thanksgiving Day. (Nov. 26, 1931)

California
On Thanksgiving Day at Broadway Park in Denver, 11,000-plus fans saw Stanford defeat Colorado, 33-0. (Nov. 25, 1904)

Colorado
Not the most memorable moment in Colorado athletic history, as a veteran Colorado Mines team visited Boulder in CU's inaugural season and left town with a 103-0 victory. It was just the second game in program history, and fortunately, that margin of defeat has not been contested since. (Nov. 22, 1890)

Florida
On a warm, humid night in Miami (80 degrees, 76 percent humidity), the Buffaloes forced four Hurricane turnovers in building a 9-0 lead; UM scored a touchdown with 4:14 remaining to avert the shutout as CU won, 9-7. (Oct. 14, 1961)

Georgia
The match-up on the side were between the mascots, Ralphie IV and UGA, but on the field in Athens, the University of Georgia rallied late to upend the Buffaloes, 14-13. (Sept. 23, 2006)

Hawai'i
Following a 7-0-1 regular season, Colorado traveled to the Hawaiian Islands for the holiday season; after defeating the Hawai'i-Navy All-Stars on Christmas, CU lost to the University of Hawai'i, 13-0, on New Year's Day. (Jan. 1, 1925)

Idaho
Five different Buffaloes scored touchdowns as CU rolled up 597 yards on offense while limiting the Bengals' to only 96 yards, as Colorado easily defeated Idaho State, 56-7, at Folsom Field. (Sept. 10, 2016)

Illinois
Colorado made its furthest road trip east to date, traveling by train to take on the University of Chicago, falling 35-0 to the Maroons at Stagg Field. (Oct. 29, 1921)

Indiana
An early snowfall and 32 degree temperatures struck on game day, when Bobby Anderson was moved from quarterback to tailback and shined in CU's 30-7 win over Indiana University. Anderson rushed for 161 yards and three scores in the snow and mud on Folsom Field. (Oct. 4, 1969)

Iowa
In a season opener that lacked offense (278 yards combined), Colorado bested Iowa State in Boulder, 13-7. Trailing 7-6 in the fourth quarter, Roland Gregory's 2-yard run provided the winning points. (Sept. 21, 1946)

Kansas
The difference was a missed extra point, as after CU took a 5-0 lead, Kansas scored two times and made both conversions for a 12-5 lead; the Silver & Gold scored late but time ran out and KU left Boulder with a 12-11 victory. (Oct. 17, 1903)

Louisiana
The No. 6 Buffaloes earned the Orange Bowl berth as the Big Eight Conference champions opposite SEC champion and No. 4 Louisiana State. Loren Schweninger returned an interception 59 yards for a touchdown that gave CU its only lead, 7-5, in the second quarter before LSU scored 20 unanswered points to take a 25-7 victory. (Jan. 1, 1962)

Massachusetts
In the Insight.com Bowl in Tucson, the Buffaloes routed Boston College, 62-28. CU built a 45-7 halftime lead on the strength of interception returns for touchdowns by Jashon Sykes and Rashidi Barnes, with Ben Kelly adding an 88-yard punt return for a score, at the time the longest in bowl game history. (Dec. 31, 1999)

Michigan
CU clinched second in the Big Seven the week before and was set to finish the season at undefeated Michigan State. The Spartans had risen to No. 1 two weeks earlier, but a narrow win at Indiana saw them drop to No. 2. They took their vengeance out on the Buffaloes, winning 45-7. (Nov. 24, 1951)

Minnesota
The No. 3 Buffaloes hit the road to "The Land of 10,000 Lakes" and left with a convincing 38-6 trouncing of the University of Minnesota. (Sept. 23, 1972)

Missouri
Colorado shocked the Columbia crowd early, scoring on a 51-yard pass from Pete Middlemist to Warren McKelvey as the Silver & Gold shutout host Missouri, 9-0, in the season opener for both teams. (Oct. 4, 1930)

Montana
Jack Healy accounted for 11 points with a touchdown, field goal and two extra points to lead CU to a 23-3 win over Montana State in Colorado Stadium. (Oct. 3, 1925)

Nebraska
Thanksgiving was still a week away, but most Boulder businesses closed by 2 p.m. to give their employees a chance to witness the first college team from out of state to visit town. The opponent? Eventual long-time rival Nebraska, then known as the Bugeaters who would defeat CU, 23-10. (Nov. 17, 1898)

New Hampshire
Travon McMillon ran for 162 yards and two touchdowns, including a 75-yard sprint to open the second half, as CU built a 35-0 lead on its way to a 45-14 win over FCS powerhouse, the University of New Hampshire in Boulder. (Sept. 15, 2018)

New Mexico
Frank Gilligan scored twice and was joined by six others who had touchdowns as CU routed the University of New Mexico in Boulder, 53-0. (Nov. 6, 1909)

New York
The Buffaloes traveled to the East Coast for the first time, dropping a 47-0 decision to unranked Army at Michie Stadium, who vaulted to No. 5 in the nation after the win. (Oct. 4, 1947)

North Dakota
The Buffaloes spotted perennial FCS powerhouse North Dakota State a 20-17 halftime lead, but rallied for a 31-26 win over the Bison before a national TV audience on ESPN. (Aug. 29, 2024)

Ohio
The unranked Buffaloes had opened the '71 season with a 31-21 win at No. 9 LSU, and two weeks later had zoomed to No. 10 in the polls with a daunting task of traveling to Columbus to face No. 6 Ohio State. Quarterback Ken Johnson scored on touchdown runs of 6 and 39 yards, with Cliff Branch returning a punt 68 yards for a score as the Buckeyes never led in CU's 20-14 victory. Bud Magrum led a stout defense with 20 tackles, with Randy Geist making 17 stops with two passes broken up. (Sept. 25, 1971)

Oklahoma
On Thanksgiving Day at Denver's Broadway Park, after spotting the University of Oklahoma a 12-0 halftime lead, two touchdowns by Frank Kemp with conversion kicks by Ed Glendenning rallied CU for a 14-12 win. (Nov. 28, 1912)

Oregon
It was CU's first-ever night game as the Silver & Gold traveled to Portland, where Oregon State handed CU a 16-0 defeat.
(Sept. 26, 1931)

Pennsylvania
Colorado hit the road east to State College to take on No. 2 Penn State; the Nittany Lions had won 12 in a row and were unbeaten in their last 20, and would extend those numbers with a 27-3 win over the Buffs. (Sept. 27, 1969)

South Carolina
In the Orange Bowl in Miami, the Buffaloes took a 20-0 halftime lead over Clemson, only to see the Tigers rally to take a 21-20 lead early in the fourth quarter. But a 1-yard touchdown run by John Bayuk with 7:13 remaining provided the winning points as CU won it's first bowl game, 27-21. (Jan. 1, 1957)

Tennessee
No. 5 Colorado was pitted opposite No. 8 Tennessee in the second annual Disneyland Pigskin Classic to kickoff the 1990 football season. Despite Mike Pritchard rushing for 217 yards and two touchdowns replacing a suspended Eric Bieniemy, the Volunteers rallied from being down 31-17 in the fourth quarter to tie the Buffaloes, 31-31. (Aug. 26, 1990)

Texas
Ranked for the first time in its history, No. 16 Colorado (8-0) behind the publicity created by Byron "Whizzer" White, the Buffaloes earned their first bowl bid, opposite Rice University in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. White threw a TD pass and returned an interception for a second score and a 14-0 CU lead, but the Owls rallied for a 28-14 win. (Jan. 1, 1938)

Utah
Everett Owens scored two first half touchdowns as the Silver & Gold had little problem in defeating Utah before a huge crowd at Gamble Field in Boulder, 22-0. (Oct. 3, 1903)

Washington
In its 26th season of varsity football, the Buffaloes made their longest road trip – traveling over 1,000 miles by train to Seattle, where the hometown Washington Huskies got the better of CU, 46-0. (Nov. 6, 1915)

West Virginia
After West Virginia University rallied from a 14-0 deficit, Aric Goodman's 25-yard field goal in overtime gave the Buffaloes a 17-14 win over the Mountaineers before a Thursday night national TV audience on ESPN. (Sept. 18, 2008)

Wisconsin
There were several 0-0 ties in college football in its first 100 years – including 16 games involving CU. Well, the last one in the books for the Buffs occurred in Boulder on this day, a scoreless draw against Wisconsin. (Sept. 18, 1965)

Wyoming
In CU's first game played out of state, after spotting Wyoming a 6-0 lead, touchdowns (worth five points at the time) scored by John Affolter and Harry O'Conner rallied the Silver & Gold to a 10-6 win in Laramie. (Nov. 10, 1900)

(Note: CU has never lined up against a team from Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont or Virginia.)

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