Colorado University Athletics
Buff Bowl No. 6 - '69 Liberty
Dec. 13, 1969
Memphis, Tenn. - All-American tailback Bobby Anderson and his herd of Bison stampeded into Memphis and outslugged Alabama, 47-33, before 50,042 fans and a nationwide television audience in the 11th annual Liberty Bowl.
The 80 combined points by the teams marked the most ever scored In a major bowl game, and the second most at the time in any NCAA postseason game, surpassed only by the 91 points scored in the 1968 Tangerine Bowl (a 49-42 Richmond win over Ohio U.).
Anderson, a bullish 6-0, 208-pounder, capped his All-America campaign by rushing for a Liberty Bowl record 254 yards and scoring three touchdowns. It gave him a total of 5,017 yards in total offense for his career and enabled him to become the first Big Eight player ever to hit the 5,000-yard mark for a career, including bowl games.
Fullback Ward Walsh scored twice on short runs, Dave Haney kicked a 30-yard field goal, Anderson scored from the two, and Steve Engel and Bob Masten collaborated on a 91-yard kickoff return as CU stormed to a 31-19 halftime lead. The Crimson Tide rallied to take a 33-31 lead with two third quarter touchdowns, but CU blitzed `Bama for 16 unanswered points in the final stanza to post the win.
Defensively, the Buffaloes harassed two Tide quarterbacks all afternoon, posting eight sacks, several knockdowns and seven pass deflections. End Bill Brundige was in on five sacks for 41 yards in losses.
It was the only match up between college coaching legends, as Eddie Crowder's Buffaloes prevailed over Paul "Bear" Bryant's Crimson Tide. It was a classic, as 'Bama stormed back from 17- and 12-point deficits, but CU's resiliency won out.
A total of 16 new Liberty bowl records were set in the long and exciting afternoon in Memphis Memorial Stadium before the ABC-TV cameras.
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