This Day in History – October 17th
Colorado on October 17th – 8-4-1
1903 Kansas – L 12-11;
1914 Colorado State – W 33-6;
1931 Missouri – W 9-7;
1936 Colorado Mines – W 33-0;
1942 New Mexico – W 12-0;
1953 Kansas State – W 28-14;
1959 Iowa State – L 27-0;
1964 Iowa State – W 14-7;
1970 Oklahoma – L 23-15;
1981 Oklahoma State – W 11-10;
1987 Kansas – W 35-10;
1992 Oklahoma – T 24-24;
1998 Texas Tech – W 19-17.
October 17th – Colorado – best game on this date
Colorado v. Oklahoma State – October 17, 1981
A homecoming crowd of 36,101 came out to watch one of the most improbable finishes in Colorado football history. CU was stifled for most of the day by an Oklahoma State defense which came into the contest ranked #2 in the nation, having allowed a paltry 180 total yards per game. The Cowboys, coached by Jimmy Johnson (later of University of Miami, Dallas Cowboy, and Miami Dolphin fame), were 3-1 on the season, and held the Buffs to just three points for the first 59 minutes of the game.
Enter quarterback Steve Vogel.
Sophomore Steve Vogel had thrown precisely four passes in 1981 coming into the game, completing two for 14 yards. Starter Randy Essington went down early in the third quarter with bruised ribs, setting the stage for Vogel’s heroics. Taking over on the Buffs eight-yard line with 1:28 remaining in the game and down 10-3, Vogel engineered a ten-play drive, completing seven-of-ten passes, culminating in a nine yard touchdown pass to split end Brad Parker with 11 seconds remaining. Foregoing the tie (which probably would have been forgiven under the circumstances – Colorado had one win in 1980, only one win through the first half of 1981), Coach Fairbanks decided to go for two.
The play, which Oklahoma State coach Jimmy Johnson declared to be “illegal”, called for the Buff wingback to come in motion, and, upon the snap, cut into the middle of the Cowboy defense. Singleton, playing at halfback, ran out of the backfield and cut behind the wingback. The linebacker assigned to cover assigned to cover Singleton was, in effect, then blocked off by the wingback. Singleton sprinted to the corner of the endzone, where Vogel found him. Colorado had it’s second win of 1981, 11-10.
Coach Johnson was quoted in the Rocky Mountain News the next day as saying: “They pulled off an illegal pick on the play. You can’t block a defensive man in the manner they did in man-to-man coverage. It was a pretty good play, and I guess we’ll have to put that one in our playbook.” Singleton defended his score: “He (the wingback) can’t block anybody because it’s illegal. But the idea is he might clog up the linebacker and shut off that side, and then I can go outside.” It didn’t matter to the CU faithful. A win was a win. Homecoming could be celebrated with a win for the second year in a row.
The comeback -how exciting was it?
I would like to say that for the great comeback win, only the third in a season and a half of being a CU fan, that I was in the student section, cheering for every pass dear old Steve Vogel threw. I would like to say that I look back at this game as a turning point, or, at the least, as one of the highlights for an otherwise dismal period of Colorado football. In fact, as my season tickets for 1981 seasons attest, this was the one game I did not attend. As things turned out, it was the only Colorado home game I missed in my seven years at CU.
(Author’s note: yes, I was in Boulder for seven years. This is not to say that I was on the “six-credits-a-semester” plan. I received my B.A. in 1984 -with a double major in History and Political Science – and my J.D. in 1987. Now that you know the dirty details, let us proceed to find just why in the hell I wasn’t at Folsom Field for this special occasion.)
Where was I? Back home in Bozeman, Montana, or, more precisely, 16 miles down the road in Manhattan, Montana. I was home that weekend for a wedding. One of my best friends from high school, Bob Hoth, was getting married, and I had been asked to be the best man. Had the invitation to be in the wedding party occurred during a home game from 1989 on, there might have been second thoughts. Had it been against a ranked opponent from 1989 on, I would have had to discuss the choice of dates with Bob. As it was, CU on October 17, 1981, was 1-4, coming off a 59-0 thrashing by Nebraska, and playing against a 3-1 team with the second rated defense in the country.
It did not seem I would be missing much.
Perhaps, though, Bob can take some credit for the Buffs win. After all, the groom and his entourage (that’s a nice way of saying Bob’s brother and I) were dressed in -get this – baby blue tuxedos. While not at the game, I was at least in school colors. Looking at the wedding pictures, that is pretty much my only pleasant memory of the nuptials. I was 19, and wasn’t aware that the best man’s duties included more than just propping the groom up and not losing the ring.
I feel I can be forgiven for not organizing a bachelor party, as I only got into town the day before the wedding, and because I was underage to arrange for anything which would have been good at a bachelor party. But I still feel bad about the toast. I hadn’t been to a wedding since attending my uncle’s wedding when I was 10, so I was woefully unprepared to give the emotional sendoff to Bob and Sondra. Bob’s dad bailed me out with a more traditional rendition of the toast (as I recall, my speech went something along the lines of: “Best wishes. Thanks for inviting me.”). The reception was less than exhilarating, being held in basement of the church. I went home that night without any knowledge of -remember, this was pre-ESPN – nor real concern for, the outcome of the Colorado game.
The next morning, the sports pages of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle were primarily concerned with the account of the MSU Bobcat game the day before, but there was also this headline: “At last, CU’s a winner”. The Associated Press story opened with:
“Colorado’s football team had been working hard on the two minute drill for three weeks in practice, but when you get blown out 59-0, as the Buffs did last week against Nebraska, you don’t get much chance to use it. Saturday, the opportunity arose….”
Even in a wire service story, Colorado could not avoid being reminded of how far the program had fallen.
To this day, my feeling at the moment I read the Chronicle’s account of the Oklahoma State game has become my yardstick for defining “mixed emotions”. I was thrilled to read that CU had won a game, and excited by the means by which the upset was accomplished, but I knew that I would be hearing about it from my dorm-mates when I returned to Boulder. I was not disappointed. The accounts proved even more colorful than I had anticipated. “You had to be there” became the phrase of the next few weeks. I was often greeted in the hallway or the cafeteria with greetings such as “well, we finally won a close one” or “what about that comeback?”, soon followed with a “oh, I’m sorry. I forgot you weren’t there”, accompanied by a laugh and a slap on the back. Now, more than ever, I wanted CU to start a winning streak.
Yeah, right. Like that was going to happen any time soon.
[The Buffs would not win again until the final game of the season. The season finale win over Kansas State gave Colorado, in its final season under head coach Chuck Fairbanks, a 3-8 record.]
Best Games in College Football History – October 17th
1964 – #8 Arkansas 14, #1 Texas 13 – Just like in the CU/OSU game above, the game came down to a choice of whether or not to go for the win after a late score. Down 14-7 late, the top-ranked Longhorns drove 70 yards, scoring with 1:27 to play. Eschewing the tie, Texas head coach Darrell Royal went for a two-point conversion and the win. Texas quarterback Marv Kristynik missed tailback Hix Green with the two-point pass attempt, and the Longhorns had their dreams of a third straight unbeaten season dashed. Arkansas rode the win to a #2 finish in the final polls, while Texas finished 5th.
1970 – #14 Tennessee 24, Alabama 0 – The Crimson Tide suffered a shutout for the first time in 115 games, and it came at the hands of arch-rival Tennessee. Alabama found a unique way to be shut out, throwing a total of eight interceptions, most by starter Bobby Scott. Tennessee head coach Bill Battle became one of the few Bear Bryant disciples to ever beat their mentor. Tennessee would go on to an 11-1 season, finishing with a #4 ranking. Alabama, meanwhile, finished with a 6-5-1 record, tying Oklahoma 24-24 in the Bluebonnet Bowl.
1981 – Arkansas 42, #1 Texas 11 – You would have thought Texas would have learned not to play Arkansas on October 17th as the #1 team in the nation. Just as in 1964, the Longhorns fell to the Razorbacks, this time ending a stay of just one week in the top spot in the polls. The 42-11 shellacking was the worst defeat for Texas to their former Southwest Conference rivals since 1938. Texas would rebound from this defeat, however, concluding the 1981 season with a 10-1-1 record and a #2 ranking. Arkansas, meanwhile, did not build upon the upset, finishing with an 8-4 record and no mention in the final polls.
1987 – #13 Syracuse 48, #10 Penn State 21 – The Orangemen had played in the shadows of Penn State for decades, but for the first time in 16 games in the series, Syracuse won – and won big. Quarterback Don McPherson hit wide receiver Rob Moore for an 80-yard score on the first play of the game, and the rout was on. Penn State surrendered the most points in a game since 1966, while Syracuse went to 6-0 to start a season for the first time since the national championship campaign of 1959. At year’s end, Syracuse was ranked 4th, a perfect season denied by the first tie (16-16 with Auburn) in Sugar Bowl history. Meanwhile, Penn State concluded the 1987 season with an 8-4 record, and unranked.
1998 – #25 Georgia Tech 41, #7 Virginia 38 – Georgia Tech scored 24 unanswered points in the final 18 minutes to shock Virginia. The Cavaliers piled up 600 yards of total offense, but it was Yellow Jacket quarterback Joe Hamilton 288 yards passing and three touchdowns which carried the day. During the game, Georgia Tech also set an NCAA record by returning a fumble recovery for a touchdown for a fifth consecutive game. After the win, Georgia Tech continued its winning ways, including a 35-28 win over Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl, finishing with a 10-2 record and a #9 ranking. Virginia, meanwhile, failed to win its tenth game in its bowl, blowing a 21-0 lead in a 35-33 Peach Bowl loss to Georgia. The 9-3 Cavaliers concluded the 1998 season ranked 18th.
One Reply to “This Day in History – Oct. 17th”
I was fortunate to attend the OSU game which proved to be one of the few highlights of an otherwise diffcult four years of football for any 1984 graduate. I tried never to leave a game early even when losing by 5 or 6 touchdowns at halftime since as Buff fan we always tried to keep the faith. I also remember Derek Singleton passing away that winter from meningitis.
Rob