1996 Season Archive

National and Big 12 recap – 1996

//posted 1.5.1997

National and Big 12 recap – 1996 The Florida Gators captured their first-ever National Championship under head coach Steve Spurrier with a dominating 52-20 win over arch-rival Florida State in the Sugar Bowl. Florida, 24-21 losers to the Seminoles late in the regular season, would not have had the chance for the re-match and the opportunity for the national title had it not been for some late season fades by other title hopefuls. Ohio State saw its undefeated season go by the boards with a late season loss to …

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Holiday Bowl – Buffs take down No. 13 Washington Huskies

//posted 12.30.1996

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— Holiday Bowl, 1996 — Good Bowl, Good Result The Holiday Bowl was supposed to take the third-place team from the Big 12, after the Cotton Bowl had taken the second-place team. With Texas and Nebraska already in the Bowl Alliance, they would not be considered. This left Colorado, with a 9-2 overall record, and, more imporantly, with 7-1 conference record, as the logical choice for the Cotton. After all, the Colorado Buffaloes were the only team other than Nebraska with fewer than two conference losses. So the Cotton Bowl, of …

The $8 Million Dollar Extra Point / Rooting for Nebraska??

//posted 12.3.1996

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— The Eight Million Dollar Extra Point — The fallacies of the Bowl Alliance were never more acutely displayed than in the final weeks of 1996. Notre Dame, Syracuse, Wyoming, BYU and yes, even Colorado were victims of the system which was designed to end arguments over polls and bowls. Notre Dame played Southern Cal in its regular season finale. The Fighting Irish were 8-2, ranked No. 8 in the country, and poised to play in either the Fiesta or Orange Bowl. Either of the two Alliance Bowls would have …

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No. 4 Nebraska – “Ooh, so Close”

//posted 11.29.1996

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— November 29th – at Nebraska No. 4 Nebraska 17, No. 5 Colorado 12 — The headlines said it all. From the Buffalo Sports News: “Ooh, So Close”. From the Billings Gazette: “Huskers outlast Buffs”. Both statements were true. The Buffs had their chances in the 17-12 loss to Nebraska on a cold 33-degree day in Lincoln. Rain turned to snow in the late afternoon as Colorado saw the light fade on its chances to beat the Cornhuskers for the first time since 1990. The game started with great promise. …

No. 9 Kansas State – Despite victory, Buffs still in search of R-E-S-P-E-C-T

//posted 11.16.1996

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— November 16th – Boulder No. 6 Colorado 12, No. 9 Kansas State 0 — The Colorado Buffaloes wanted nothing more than to play Nebraska on Thanksgiving weekend for the opportunity to play in the inaugural Big 12 Championship game. For this hope to become reality, though, the Buffs first had to establish that they were at least the second-best football team in the Northern Division. Enter the Kansas State Wildcats. Both teams came into the contest in Boulder with 8-1 records; both were ranked in the top ten. Colorado had …

Iowa State – Second half scoring blitz allows Buffs to pull away

//posted 11.9.1996

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— November 9th – Boulder No. 7 Colorado 49, Iowa State 42 — Iowa State brought to Boulder running back Troy Davis, on his way to a season in which he would post 2,185 rushing yards. Iowa State also brought to Boulder a team with a 2-6 overall record. For the Colorado Homecoming game, the Cyclones tried to keep it close, but could not compete with the combination of Detmer and Carruth. Two touchdowns in the final 2:24 of the game by Iowa State gave the final score a dramatic feel, …

Missouri – Detmer and Carruth set records in rout

//posted 11.2.1996

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— November 2nd – at Missouri No. 7 Colorado 41, Missouri 13 — By the time the Colorado/Missouri game rolled around the first week of November in 1996, the Missouri Tigers had already matched their win total for all of 1995. For head coach Larry Smith, that was the good news. The bad news was that the Tigers had only won three games in 1995, posting a 3-8 record. Missouri was 3-4 in 1996, and faced the Buffs with a 1-3 record in Big 12 play. Still, that one Big 12 victory …

Texas – Hessler & Rosga lead Buffs to comeback win over Longhorns

//posted 10.26.1996

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— October 26th – Boulder No. 8 Colorado 28, Texas 24 — The Texas Longhorns, who in 1995 closed out the final season of the Southwest Conference with a 10-2-1 record, including a 7-0 record in conference play, bottomed out in 1996 on the last Saturday in October in Boulder, Colorado. After succumbing to the Buffs, 28-24 in Boulder, Texas fell to 3-4 on the 1996 season. No one knew at the time that the next loss for the Longhorns would not come until New Year’s Day in the Fiesta Bowl. Early …

Kansas – “Just Win, Baby!”

//posted 10.19.1996

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— October 19th – at Kansas No. 9 Colorado 20, Kansas 7 — The Kansas Jayhawks in 1995 had come to Boulder with a 4-0 record in search of respect. The Jayhawks left Boulder with much, much, more. In addition to respect, Kansas came away with a stunning 40-24 win over the Buffs. In 1995, both Colorado and Kansas went on to post 10-2 records and top ten final rankings. In 1996, however, the two teams were heading in different directions. Memories of the 1995 loss to the Jayhawks had to be in …

Oklahoma State – Rosga’s 105-yard interception return seals win

//posted 10.12.1996

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— October 12th – Boulder No. 9 Colorado 35, Oklahoma State 13 — Former Colorado assistant head coach Bob Simmons brought his 3-2 Oklahoma State Cowboys to Boulder for Colorado’s first-ever Big 12 Conference home game. Simmons was in his second season at Oklahoma State (7-10 overall), and was building for the future. His young team (on defense, OSU listed nine freshman and seven sophomores on the two-deep chart) was 3-0 against the likes of Southwest Missouri State, Utah State, and Tulsa, but 0-2 against conference foes, including a 71-14 humiliation …

Texas A&M – First-ever game in the Big 12 a Big success

//posted 9.28.1996

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— September 28th ‑ at Texas A&M No. 12 Colorado 24, Texas A&M 10 — In the 1996 pre‑season Associated Press poll, the Aggies of Texas A&M were ranked 13th, two spots higher than A&M had been ranked at the close of the 1995 campaign. The pre‑season ranking, though, proved to be the high‑water mark for the 1996 Aggies. An opening game loss to BYU, 41‑37 in the Pigskin Classic, was followed by a stunning defeat at the hands of the Ragin’ Cajuns of Southwestern Louisiana, 29‑22. A win …

No. 11 Michigan – ESPN GameDay crew on hand for Wolverines’ revenge

//posted 9.14.1996

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— September 14th – Boulder No. 11 Michigan 20, No. 5 Colorado 13 — The college football world turned its focus on Boulder, Colorado, for the season’s third weekend. As it turned out, the Colorado/Michigan game was be the only game in the country between two ranked teams, so the national media, including the Gameday crew from ESPN, were on hand for the game. A crowd of 53,788, the third-largest in Folsom Field history, crammed into the stadium to see the second game of the three game series. If the …