1970 Colorado Buffaloes football team

1970 Colorado Buffaloes football
Liberty Bowl, L 3–17 vs. Tulane
ConferenceBig Eight Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 16
Record6–5 (3–4 Big 8)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorChet Franklin (2nd season)
Offensive schemeSwitching T / Slot-I
Triple option
Defensive coordinatorDon James (3rd season)
Base defense4–3
MVPDon Popplewell
Captains
  • Phil Irwin
  • Don Popplewell
Home stadiumFolsom Field
Seasons
← 1969
1971 →
1970 Big Eight Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Nebraska $ 7 – 0 – 0 11 – 0 – 1
No. 20 Oklahoma 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 1
Kansas State 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Missouri 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Colorado 3 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Kansas 2 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Oklahoma State 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Iowa State 1 – 6 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1970 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado in the Big Eight Conference during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. Led by eighth-year head coach Eddie Crowder, the Buffaloes were 6–4 in the regular season (3–4 in Big 8, fourth), and played their home games on campus at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.

In a nationally televised game on ABC, #18 Colorado upset fourth-ranked Penn State 41–13 in Boulder in late September, breaking a 23-game winning (and 31-game undefeated) streak.[1][2] The Buffaloes moved up to eighth in the AP poll, but were upset the next week by a point at Kansas State, led by quarterback Lynn Dickey.[3]

Invited to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee, the #19 Buffaloes were upset by Tulane to finish at 6–5.[4][5]

In December, CU defensive coordinator Don James became the head coach at Kent State in Ohio;[6] four years later he was hired at Washington in Seattle. He led the Huskies for eighteen seasons, including a shared national championship in 1991.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 19at Indiana*
W 16–942,174
September 26No. 4 Penn State*No. 18
ABCW 41–1342,850
October 3at Kansas StateNo. 8
L 20–2140,200
October 10Iowa StateNo. 17
  • Folsom Field
  • Boulder, CO
W 61–1040,840
October 17OklahomadaggerNo. 13
  • Folsom Field
  • Boulder, CO
L 15–2347,700
October 24MissouriNo. 19
L 16–3057,000
October 31No. 4 Nebraska
ABCL 13–2950,881
November 7Kansas
  • Folsom Field
  • Boulder, CO
W 45–2937,250–38,445
November 14at Oklahoma State
W 30–618,000
November 21at Air Force*
W 49–1945,447
December 12vs. Tulane*
ABCL 3–1744,640[4][5][7]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[8][9][10]

Roster

1970 Colorado Buffaloes football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
SE 23 Cliff Branch Jr
QB 10 Jim Bratten
TB Jon Keyworth So
TB 32 John Tarver Jr
FB 41 Ward Walsh Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
S 15 Jim Cooch
CB 29 Pat Murphy
LB 89 Rick Ogle
DE 88 Herb Orvis Jr
S, P 12 John Stearns So
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

Source:[2][11]

References

  1. ^ "Colorado ends Penn State's victory string". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 27, 1970. p. 9B.
  2. ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (October 5, 1970). "For Easterners, prospecting doesn't pay off". Sports Illustrated. p. 46.
  3. ^ "Wildcats shock Colorado". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 4, 1970. p. 6B.
  4. ^ a b "Colorado, Tulane clash in Leiberty Bowl game". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. December 12, 1970. p. 26.
  5. ^ a b "Tulane surprises Colorado, 17-3". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 13, 1970. p. 1B.
  6. ^ "Named Kent State coach". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). (photo). December 13, 1970. p. D2.
  7. ^ "Abercrombie leads Tulane over Colorado in Liberty". The Clarion-Ledger. December 13, 1970. Retrieved October 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "1970 Colorado Buffaloes Schedule and Results". College Football @ Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  9. ^ "1970 Football Schedule". University of Colorado Boulder. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  10. ^ "Colorado Football 2023 Record Book" (PDF). University of Colorado Boulder. p. 39. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  11. ^ Woodling, Chuck (November 6, 1970). "Probable starters". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). p. 16.


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