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October 31st – at Iowa State Colorado 42, Iowa State 10
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The Cyclones came into the Halloween contest at home against Colorado with a 2-5 record, but with wins in two of its last three games.
While Colorado was hanging in against Oklahoma the previous Saturday, Iowa State was registering its first conference win of the year in outscoring hapless Kansas, 42-28.
After Iowa State jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter, the game was dominated by the Colorado offense. By the time the Cyclones posted another score early in the fourth quarter, Colorado was safely ahead, 35-7.
Quarterback Sal Aunese, in addition to passing for a score, ran in three more touchdowns in posting a 19-for-127 yard rushing effort. Fullback Erich Kissick also reached the century mark in accumulating 124 yards on 15 attempts.
A Joe Henderson ten-yard run gave the Cyclones the early lead, but the remainder of the first half was all Sal Aunese. After scoring on a five yard run to tie the score in the first quarter, Aunese scored on a 35-yard run in the second quarter to give Colorado a lead which it would not relinquish.
Later in the second quarter, Aunese connected with wide receiver Drew Ferrando on a 45-yard touchdown pass play to give the Buffs a 21-7 halftime advantage.
After the break, it was the Colorado rushing game which sent most of the 34,920 in attendance at Ames home unhappy. Two one yard scoring runs, the first by Eric Bieniemy; the second by Aunese, gave Colorado a 35-7 advantage. After an Iowa State field goal, senior halfback Sam Smith closed out the scoring with a three yard touchdown.
The Colorado defense held Iowa State to only 239 yards of total offense, allowing the Buffs to post its fifth win of the year. With the victory, Colorado raised its all-time record to 500-333-32, the 26th team in NCAA history to record 500 wins.
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Game Notes …
– Sal Aunese had 127 yards rushing for the Buffs, while Erich Kissick had 124 yards. The double 100-yard efforts marked the first time since the 1985 Oregon game (and only the 21st time in school history) that Colorado had two 100-yard rushers in the same game.
– Senior wide receiver Drew Ferrando had three of the Buffs’ five receiving touchdowns in 1987. In addition to the 45-yarder against Iowa State, Ferrando had a 79-yarder against Colorado State, and a “zero-yarder” against Kansas (when he recovered an Eric Bieniemy fumble in the endzone to complete a 28-yard touchdown “pass” play).
– Sophomore Jeff Campbell, the punt return / reverse for a touchdown hero against Nebraska in 1986, had his first catch of the season against Iowa State (for 16 yards). Campbell would only have three catches in 1987 (for 50 yards), but did return 20 punts on the season, for 169 yards.
– The 1987 Iowa State game was arguably the best game of Sal Aunese’s career at Colorado. Aunese rushed for 127 yards, the second (and final) game in his career in which he rushed for over 100 yards. Aunese also scored three times on the ground, also a career high. In addition, Aunese went four-of-eight passing, for 86 yards and yet another score.
– The 1987 season was the first for head coach Jim Walden at Iowa State. The Cyclones would go on to post a 3-8 record in 1987, after going 6-5 in 1986. In eight years in Ames, Walden would post a 28-57-3 overall record, with one winning season (6-5 in 1989).
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