1989 Colorado Buffaloes football team
| 1989 Colorado Buffaloes football | |
|---|---|
Big Eight champion | |
Orange Bowl, L 6–21 vs. Notre Dame | |
| Conference | Big Eight Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 4 |
| AP | No. 4 |
| 1989 record | 11–1 (7–0 Big 8) |
| Head coach | Bill McCartney (8th season) |
| Offensive coordinator | Gerry DiNardo (6th season) |
| Offensive scheme | I-Bone option |
| Defensive coordinator | Mike Hankwitz (2nd season) |
| Base defense | 3–4 |
| MVP | Darian Hagan |
| Captain |
Sal Aunese (honorary) Bill Coleman Mike Jones Erich Kissick Bruce Young |
| Home stadium |
Folsom Field (Capacity: 51,463) |
| 1989 Big 8 football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 4 Colorado $ | 7 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 11 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 11 Nebraska | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oklahoma | 5 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa State | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oklahoma State | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Missouri | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas State | 0 | – | 7 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 10 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1989 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. Colorado finished with the most wins in school history, surpassing the 1971 team, and their first conference championship since 1976. The Buffaloes played for the national title but lost to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl. The team dedicated the season to senior and former starting quarterback Sal Aunese, who was diagnosed with stomach cancer in February and died on September 23 due to complications from the disease.
In another feel good story, the team was host to a Make A Wish recipient Chad Henry for the big game against Nebraska in Boulder. Henry was an up-and-coming high school football player from Indiana, Pennsylvania and the son of college/NFL coach Jack Henry, who began following the Buffaloes after reading about Sal Aunese's battle with cancer while himself battling a very rare and dangerous form of abdominal cancer. After cheering on the Buffs to the biggest win in school history, Henry and his family were also invited to attend the National Championship game as guests of the university. Henry went on to defeat the disease and did play football for his high school again in 1990. Although his once promising football career was ended following that season due to complications with side effects from the intense chemotherapy he endured, Henry went on to coach football at his high school and became a scout for the NFL's Detroit Lions and is currently with the Indianapolis Colts.
Schedule
| Date | Time | Opponent# | Rank# | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 4 | 5:30 PM | Texas* | No. 14 | Folsom Field • Boulder, Colorado | ESPN | W 27–6 | 47,269 | ||
| September 9 | 1:30 PM | Colorado State* | No. 9 | Folsom Field • Boulder, Colorado (Rocky Mountain Showdown) | W 45–20 | 44,921 | |||
| September 16 | 1:30 PM | No. 10 Illinois* | No. 8 | Folsom Field • Boulder, Colorado | CBS | W 38–7 | 46,747 | ||
| September 30 | 2:00 PM | at No. 21 Washington* | No. 5 | Husky Stadium • Seattle | KCNC | W 45–28 | 69,152 | ||
| October 7 | 1:30 PM | Missouri | No. 3 | Folsom Field • Boulder, Colorado | W 49–3 | 51,855 | |||
| October 14 | 1:00 PM | at Iowa State | No. 3 | Cyclone Stadium • Ames, Iowa | KCNC | W 52–17 | 41,515 | ||
| October 21 | 1:30 PM | Kansas |
No. 3 | Folsom Field • Boulder, Colorado | W 49–17 | 50,057 | |||
| October 28 | 12:30 PM | at Oklahoma | No. 3 | Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, Oklahoma | KCNC | W 20–3 | 75,004 | ||
| November 4 | 12:30 PM | No. 3 Nebraska | No. 2 | Folsom Field • Boulder, Colorado (Rivalry) | CBS | W 27–21 | 52,877 | ||
| November 11 | 12:30 PM | at Oklahoma State | No. 1 | Lewis Field • Stillwater, Oklahoma | KCNC | W 41–17 | 41,000 | ||
| November 18 | 11:10 AM | at Kansas State | No. 2 | KSU Stadium • Manhattan, Kansas | KCNC | W 59–11 | 20,117 | ||
| January 1 | 6:00 PM | vs. No. 4 Notre Dame* | No. 1 | Orange Bowl • Miami (Orange Bowl) | NBC | L 6–21 | 81,191 | ||
| *Non-conference game. | |||||||||
Game summaries
Nebraska
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References
- ↑ 2011 Colorado football information guide
- ↑ "Nebraska vs. Colorado 1989". Husker Max. Retrieved November 25, 2014.