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	#4
AP	#4
1989 record	11–1 (7–0 Big 8)
Head coach	Bill McCartney (8th year)
Offensive coordinator	Gerry DiNardo (6th year)
Offensive scheme	I-bone
Defensive coordinator	Mike Hankwitz (5th year)
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
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#4 Colorado $	7	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
#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

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

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, although his once promising high school career was ended following his senior year in high school due to complications with side effects from the intense chemotherapy he endured. Henry went on to coach at his high school and became a scout for the NFL's Detroit Lions, where he been since 1998.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	5:30 PM	Texas*	#14	Folsom Field • Boulder, CO	ESPN	W 27–6	47,269
September 9	1:30 PM	Colorado State*	#9	Folsom Field • Boulder, CO (Rocky Mountain Showdown)		W 45–20	44,921
September 16	1:30 PM	#10 Illinois*	#8	Folsom Field • Boulder, CO	CBS	W 38–7	46,747
September 30	2:00 PM	at #21 Washington*	#5	Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA	KCNC	W 45–28	69,152
October 7	1:30 PM	Missouri	#3	Folsom Field • Boulder, CO		W 49–3	51,855
October 14	1:00 PM	at Iowa State	#3	Cyclone Stadium • Ames, IA	KCNC	W 52–17	41,515
October 21	1:30 PM	Kansas	#3	Folsom Field • Boulder, CO		W 49–17	50,057
October 28	12:30 PM	at Oklahoma	#3	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, OK	KCNC	W 20–3	75,004
November 4	12:30 PM	#3 Nebraska	#2	Folsom Field • Boulder, CO (Rivalry)	CBS	W 27–21	52,877
November 11	12:30 PM	at Oklahoma State	#1	Lewis Field • Stillwater, OK	KCNC	W 41–17	41,000
November 18	11:10 AM	at Kansas State	#2	KSU Stadium • Manhattan, KS	KCNC	W 59–11	20,117
January 1	6:00 PM	vs. #4 Notre Dame*	#1	Orange Bowl • Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	L 6–21	81,191
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Mountain Time.

^[1]

Game notes

Nebraska

#3 Nebraska at #2 Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Nebraska	7	7	7	0	21
• Colorado	14	3	7	3	27

Date: November 4
Location: Folsom Field, Boulder, CO
Game attendance: 52,877
Television network: CBS

Scoring summary

1	13:30	NEB	Bryan Carpenter 51 yard pass from Gerry Gdowski (Gregg Barrios kick)	NEB 7–0

1	8:22	COL	J.J. Flannigan 70 yard run (Ken Culbertson kick)	Tie 7–7

1	5:04	COL	Darian Hagan 1 yard run (Ken Culbertson kick)	COL 14–7

2	11:33	NEB	Morgan Gregory 12 yard pass from Gerry Gdowski (Gregg Barrios kick)	Tie 14–14

2	0:12	COL	Ken Culbertson 49 yard field goal	COL 17–14

3	8:00	COL	J.J. Flannigan 2 yard run (Ken Culbertson kick)	COL 24–14

3	1:04	NEB	Chris Garrett 26 yard pass from Gerry Gdowski (Gregg Barrios kick)	COL 24–21

4	8:47	COL	Ken Culbertson 28 yard field goal	COL 27–21

^[2]

References

↑ 2011 Colorado football information guide
↑ "Nebraska vs. Colorado 1989". Husker Max. Retrieved November 25, 2014.

Big Eight Conference football champions

1900s	Nebraska & Iowa (1907) Kansas (1908) Missouri (1909)

1910s	Nebraska (1910) Iowa State & Nebraska (1911) Iowa State & Nebraska (1912) Missouri & Nebraska (1913) Nebraska (1914) Nebraska (1915) Nebraska (1916) Nebraska (1917) Missouri (1919)

1920s	Oklahoma (1920) Nebraska (1921) Nebraska & Drake (1922) Nebraska (1923) Missouri (1924) Missouri (1925) Oklahoma A&M (1926) Missouri (1927) Nebraska (1928) Nebraska (1929)

1930s	Kansas (1930) Nebraska (1931) Nebraska (1932) Nebraska (1933) Kansas State (1934) Nebraska (1935) Nebraska (1936) Nebraska (1937) Oklahoma (1938) Missouri (1939)

1940s	Nebraska (1940) Missouri (1941) Missouri (1942) Oklahoma (1943) Oklahoma (1944) Missouri (1945) Kansas & Oklahoma (1946) Kansas & Oklahoma (1947) Oklahoma (1948) Oklahoma (1949)

1950s	Oklahoma (1950) Oklahoma (1951) Oklahoma (1952) Oklahoma (1953) Oklahoma (1954) Oklahoma (1955) Oklahoma (1956) Oklahoma (1957) Oklahoma (1958) Oklahoma (1959)

1960s	Missouri (1960) Colorado (1961) Oklahoma (1962) Nebraska (1963) Nebraska (1964) Nebraska (1965) Nebraska (1966) Oklahoma (1967) Kansas & Oklahoma (1968) Missouri & Nebraska (1969)

1970s	Nebraska (1970) Nebraska (1971) Nebraska (1972) Oklahoma (1973) Oklahoma (1974) Nebraska & Oklahoma (1975) Colorado, Oklahoma, & Oklahoma State (1976) Oklahoma (1977) Nebraska & Oklahoma (1978) Oklahoma (1979)

1980s	Oklahoma (1980) Nebraska (1981) Nebraska (1982) Nebraska (1983) Nebraska & Oklahoma (1984) Oklahoma (1985) Oklahoma (1986) Oklahoma (1987) Nebraska (1988) Colorado (1989)

1990s	Colorado (1990) Colorado & Nebraska (1991) Nebraska (1992) Nebraska (1993) Nebraska (1994) Nebraska (1995)

National championships in bold

Colorado Buffaloes football

Venues	Folsom Field (1924–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Colorado State: Rocky Mountain Showdown Nebraska Utah: Rumble in the Rockies

Culture & lore	Ralphie the Buffalo "CU Fight Song" University of Colorado "Golden Buffalo" Marching Band Fifth Down Game (1990) Miracle at Michigan

People	Head coaches Statistical leaders

Seasons	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

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