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September 25th – Boulder Wyoming 24, Colorado 10
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While Colorado and its neighbor 100 miles to the north hadn’t played since 1975, there seemed little reason for the Buff faithful to be concerned about continuing the domination Colorado had over the Wyoming Cowboys from the Western Athletic Conference. After all, a Colorado football team hadn’t lost to Wyoming since 1935, with an overall record of 21-1-1 against the Cowboys.
But this was 1982, and there were no certain wins.
Colorado had its chances, as Wyoming turned the ball over on fumbles each of its first three possessions. The Buffs could not take advantage, however, posting only one Tom Field goal. In fact, the Buffs’ offense came within 56 seconds of completing its second consecutive game without a touchdown, only obtaining a consolation score in the last minute of the Wyoming game to make the final score a more respectable 24-10.
Steve Vogel was ineffective – at best – completing only 11-of-34 passes with three interceptions (one of which was returned for a touchdown in the second quarter). The defense, again, had played well enough to register a win, but it was tough to win a game when the offense was surrendering points and failing to register any of its own.
Coach McCartney did not point fingers at his offense, instead taking the blame. “What you saw out there was a case of being out-coached, not out-played”, said McCartney. “I think everyone has a right to expect us to be able to execute by now, and we didn’t. You’ve got to be productive, and we were not.”
Colorado was now 1-2 in McCartney’s inaugural season. With two top ten teams coming to Boulder in the next two weeks, the future – which had appeared bright just seven days earlier, after the shutout of Washington State – did not appear bright for the young Buff squad.
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– Game Notes –
– Linebacker Ray Cone registered the same tackle total for the second week in succession. Against both Washington State and Wyoming, Cone posted 19 tackles. In each game, he had eight solo tackles and 11 assisted tackles.
– The Colorado offense was held under 300 yards for the third consecutive game, going for only 261 total yards against Wyoming.
– Red-shirt freshman quarteback Craig Keenan scored the Buffs’ only touchdown – a one-yard keeper late in the game. Keenan had only two rushing attempts, and one unsuccessful passing attempt, in his freshman season.
– The only previous loss to Wyoming came in 1935, a 6-0 shutout (the teams played to a 13-13 tie in 1926). Colorado’s record against Wyoming (24-2-1 after a 24-0 victory in 2009) is the best for Colorado against any opponent the Buffs have faced more than five times.
– Wyoming, which came to Boulder with a 1-2 record, did not receive much of a boost from the win over the Buffs. The Cowboys went on to finish the 1982 season with a 5-7 overall record, 2-6 in Western Athletic Conference play.
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