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November 5th – at Kansas Colorado 34, Kansas 23
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Against the Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence, sophomore quarterback Derek Marshall received his first starting assignment.
In the second half of his first game as a starter, Marshall failed to complete a pass. Meanwhile, his counterpart, Kansas quarterback Frank Seurer, passed for a career-high 394 yards.
Still, the Buffs, managed to hold on for a 34-23 win, the Buffs first conference win of 1983, and only the second conference win in two years for Bill McCartney.
Fullback Chris McLemore, converted from halfback, had his best rushing game ever, 160 yards on 23 carries. McLemore’s 75-yard run early in the fourth quarter lifted the Buffs to a seemingly comfortable 31-12 lead. Just over three minutes later, however, and with 9:15 still left to play, the score was 31-23.
Placed in a position of protecting a rare advantage on the scoreboard, the Colorado offense failed to produce.
Kansas marched down the field with an opportunity to tie the score. Cornerback Cylde Riggins, though, saved the day, intercepting a Seurer pass in the end zone. It was Riggins’ second pick of the day, and one of five for the Buff secondary on the afternoon. “I think one of the reasons we won,” understated Bill McCartney, “was that we did not turn the ball over, and they did.”
Colorado head coach McCartney was impressed with the effort of his embattled team. “Our guys today wanted to show they’ve got pride. We could sense that everybody was losing confidence in our program, and that was part of our motivation today. We hear everything people say.”
There was one unusual aspect to the Kansas game (other than the Buffs winning, that is). Kansas kicker Bruce Kallmeyer had a streak of 53 straight extra points when he trotted on to the field after Kansas had scored to bring the score to 24-12. Initially wanting to go for a two-point conversion, Kansas couldn’t get the play off in time. Delay of game penalty; five yards. Kallemeyer was then sent in to attempt a 25-yard PAT. Two personal fouls against a Kansas player later (seemingly for attempting to trip the Buffs’ outside rusher on successive attempts), Kallemeyer tried his PAT from 55 yards out. The kick came up short, and the streak Kallemeyer had carried from his freshman year came to a end. “I asked the officials to keep putting him back till he missed” joked McCartney after the game.
For the first time since September, McCartney was in a position to be jovial after a game.
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Game Notes –
– The 75-yard scoring run by Chris McLemore was the longest run by a Colorado back since 1975 (a 74-yard touchdown run by David Williams against Nebraska).
– The Buffs rushed for a season-high 50 times and 235 yards against Kansas.
– Chris McLemore’s 160-yard effort was the best effort by a Colorado back since James Mayberry went for 168 yards against San Jose State in 1978.
– Kansas would go on to post a 4-6-1 record (2-5 in the Big Eight), in Mike Gottfried’s first season as head coach of the Jayhawks.
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