Colorado University Athletics
Buff Bowl No. 2 - '71 Bluebonnet
Dec. 31, 1971
The bad news? The Buffs finished No. 3 in the Big Eight. The good news? The Buffs finished No. 3 in the nation. The first, and only, time a conference has finished 1-2-3 in the final polls. At 10-2, the Buffs only lost to National Champ Nebraska and No. 2 Oklahoma. The 1971 Bluebonnet comes in at No. 2 on CU's list of its Top 10 Bowl Games. Behind 202 yards rushing and two touchdowns from Charlie Davis, and some heroics from John Stearns, the Buffs defeated Houston 29-17.
HOUSTON, Texas - Colorado sophomore tailback Charlie Davis returned to his hometown and ripped host Houston for a whopping 202 yards on 37 carries as the Buffs whipped the Cougars, 29-17, in the 13th annual Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl Classic at the Astrodome.
Davis scored twice and was a one-man show in the first half. CU took a 23-14 lead into the dressing rooms. CU marched 70 yards in nine plays on the games first possession, and thanks to a 27-yard run by Davis, took a 7-0 lead less than four minutes into the game. After a pair of Robert Newhouse runs spotted Houston a 14-7 after the first quarter, but CU answered with a 16-point second quarter. A touchdown pass of five yards from Ken Johnson to Larry Brunson, a 32-yard field goal by J. B. Dean, and another TD run by Davis enabled the Buffs to take the nine-point halftime lead.
Houston, behind the running of Newhouse, roared back to narrow the margin to 23-17 with 2:16 left in the third quarter as Mike Terrell kicked a 29-yard field goal. Newhouse, who lost out to Davis for the game's MVP Award, had 168 yards on 35 carries and also scored twice.
Safety John Stearns was a Colorado hero in the fourth period, making the gutsiest fourth down play in school history. On a fourth-and-9 from the Buff 10, he surprised everyone, including the Buff coaching staff, by sprinting 12 yards for a crucial first down after Houston had turned the momentum around and narrowed the margin to just a touchdown on the Terrell field goal. Stearns then knocked down a sure TD pass on fourth down with the Cougars at the CU nine. The Buffs turned that one around and marched for the clinching tally with 3:48 left in the game.
CU finished the season with a 10-2 mark, its only setbacks coming at the hands of national champion Nebraska and to No. 2 Oklahoma. In the Associated Press poll, the Buffs rose to No. 3 in the final balloting with the victory over No. 15 Houston (9-3), marking the first and only time one conference had three schools finish 1-2-3.
| Colorado | 7 | 16 | 0 | 6 | -- | 29 |
|
Houston |
14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -- | 17 |
| Colorado | Davis 27 run (Dean kick) |
7- 0
|