1988 Colorado Buffaloes football team

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1988 Colorado Buffaloes football
Freedom Bowl, L 17–20 vs. BYU
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Record	8–4 (4–3 Big 8)
Head coach	Bill McCartney (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Gerry DiNardo (5th season)
Offensive scheme	Wishbone, I-Formation
Defensive coordinator	Mike Hankwitz (1st season)
Base defense	3–4
MVP	Eric Bieniemy
Captains	Don DeLuzio Erik Norgard
Home stadium	Folsom Field
Seasons ← 1987 1989 →

1988 Big Eight Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 10 Nebraska $	7	–	0	–	0	11	–	2	–	0
No. 14 Oklahoma	6	–	1	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 11 Oklahoma State	5	–	2	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Colorado	4	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Iowa State	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Missouri	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	1
Kansas	1	–	6	–	0	1	–	10	–	0
Kansas State	0	–	7	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1988 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the Big Eight Conference during the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Bill McCartney, Colorado finished the regular season at 8–3 (4–3 in Big 8, fourth),^[1] and played their home games on campus at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.

The eight wins were the most by the Buffaloes since the 1976 season,^[1] with narrow losses to ninth-ranked Oklahoma and No. 7 Nebraska.^[2]^[3]

Ranked 20th in the Coaches Poll, Colorado was invited to the Freedom Bowl in Anaheim, California,^[4] but was upset 17–20 by BYU of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), led by redshirt freshman quarterback Ty Detmer.^[5]^[6]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 10	Fresno State*		Folsom Field Boulder, CO	KCNC	W 45–3	32,417	^[7]
September 17	at No. 19 Iowa*		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA		W 24–21	67,700	^[8]
September 24	Oregon State*		Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 28–21	41,297	^[9]
October 1	at Colorado State*		Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO (rivalry)		W 27–23	33,979	^[10]
October 8	No. 13 Oklahoma State		Folsom Field Boulder, CO	KCNC	L 21–41	41,854	^[11]
October 15	at Kansas		Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	KCNC	W 21–9	22,500	^[12]
October 22	No. 9 Oklahoma		Folsom Field Boulder, CO	ESPN	L 14–17	49,716	^[13]
October 29	Iowa State		Folsom Field Boulder, CO	KCNC	W 24–12	37,241	^[14]
November 5	at Missouri		Faurot Field Columbia, MO		W 45–8	36,931	^[15]
November 12	at No. 7 Nebraska	No. 19	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	KCNC	L 0–7	76,359	^[16]
November 19	Kansas State		Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry)	KCNC	W 56–14	32,617	^[17]
December 29	vs. BYU*		Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, CA (Freedom Bowl)	Raycom	L 17–20	35,941	^[18]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[19]^[20]^[21]

Games summaries

Fresno State

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At Iowa

Colorado at #19 Iowa

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Colorado	14	0	3	7	24
Iowa	0	14	7	0	21

Date: September 17
Location: Kinnick Stadium
Iowa City, Iowa
Game attendance: 67,700

Scoring summary

Q1	5:28	COL	Flannigan 5 yard run (Hannah kick)	COL 7–0

Q1	2:20	COL	Aunese 17 yard run (Hannah kick)	COL 14–0

Q2	6:44	IOWA	Hanks 8 yard blocked punt return (Skillett kick)	COL 14–7

Q2	2:42	IOWA	Hudson 3 yard run (Skillett kick)	Tie 14–14

Q3	9:13	COL	Hannah 28 yard field goal	COL 17–14

Q3	3:20	IOWA	Ward 19 yard pass from Hartlieb (Skillett kick)	IOWA 21–17

Q4	1:55	COL	Aunese 1 yard run (Hannah kick)	COL 24–21

Source:^[22]

Oregon State

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At Colorado State

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Oklahoma State

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At Kansas

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Oklahoma

#8 Oklahoma Sooners (5–1) at Colorado Buffaloes (5–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Oklahoma	7	7	0	3	17
Colorado	6	8	0	0	14

at Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado

Date: October 22, 1989
Game time: 8:00 p.m. EDT
Game attendance: 49,716
TV announcers (ESPN): Chris Fowler
^[23]

^[24]^[25]

External videos
Full game

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	OU	CU
1					Oklahoma	Charles Thompson 11-yard touchdown run, R.D. Lashar kick good	7	0
1					Colorado	35-yard field goal by Ken Culbertson	7	3
1					Colorado	26-yard field goal by Ken Culbertson	7	6
2					Colorado	Eric Bieniemy 24-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass good	7	14
2					Oklahoma	Anthony Stafford 2-yard touchdown run, R.D. Lashar kick good	14	14
4	8:15	14	71		Oklahoma	22-yard field goal by R.D. Lashar	17	14
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							17	14

Iowa State

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At Missouri

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At Nebraska

No. 19 Colorado at No. 7 Nebraska

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Colorado	0	0	0	0	0
• Nebraska	0	0	7	0	7

Date: November 12
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 76,359

^[3]

Kansas State

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Freedom Bowl (vs BYU)

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Roster

1988 Colorado Buffaloes football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB		Sal Aunese
RB	`1`	Eric Bieniemy	So
WR		Jeff Campbell
RB		J.J. Flannigan
QB		Darian Hagan
RB		George Hemingway
QB		Charles S. Johnson
WR		Eric Kissick
TE		John Perak
WR		Mike Pritchard

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB		Don DeLuzio
DB		Deon Figures
LB		Kanavis McGhee

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K		Pat Biottiaux
K		Ken Culbertson
P		Keith English
K		Eric Hannah
P		Mark Henry

Head coach

Bill McCartney

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

References

1 2 "Buffs win humbly, 56-14". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. November 20, 1988. p. 5B.
↑ "Oklahoma edges Buffs". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. October 23, 1988. p. 2B.
1 2 "Cornhuskers barely beat Buffaloes, 7-0". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. November 13, 1988. p. 3B.
↑ Robinson, Doug (December 29, 1988). "Cougars, Buffaloes both have plenty of questions Freedom Bowl will answer". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. D1.
↑ "BYU's Detmer decks CU, 20-17". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. December 30, 1988. p. 4D.
↑ Robinson, Doug (December 30, 1988). "BYU edges Colorado in Ty-pical fashion". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. D1.
↑ "Colorado tramples Fresno State, 45–3". The Salina Journal. September 11, 1988. Retrieved June 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Buffs stun Iowa with 24–21 upset". The Daily Nonpareil. September 18, 1988. Retrieved June 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Colorado gains 'high level' in 28–21 win". Omaha World-Herald. September 25, 1988. Retrieved June 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Colorado State bullies Buffaloes, but lose 27–23". The Salina Journal. October 2, 1988. Retrieved June 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Sanders' 4 TD carry Okla. St. by Colorado". Chicago Tribune. October 9, 1988. Retrieved June 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Kansas no test for Buffs". The Manhattan Mercury. October 16, 1988. Retrieved June 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Sooners outlast Colorado". The Olathe Daily News. October 23, 1988. Retrieved June 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Colorado topples Cyclones". The Daily Nonpareil. October 30, 1988. Retrieved June 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Colorado keeps Missouri in free fall". The Kansas City Star. November 6, 1988. Retrieved June 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Nebraska outlasts error-prone Buffs, sets up OU showdown". The Grand Island Independent. November 13, 1988. Retrieved June 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "K-State season ends with a thud". The Manhattan Mercury. November 20, 1988. Retrieved June 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Freshman Detmer rallies BYU for a 20–17 victory". The Los Angeles Times. December 30, 1988. Retrieved June 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "1988 Colorado Buffaloes Schedule and Results". College Football @ Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
↑ "1988 Football Schedule". University of Colorado Boulder. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
↑ "Colorado Football 2024 Record Book" (PDF). University of Colorado Boulder. p. 58. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
↑ "Colorado ambushes Iowa, 24-21". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. September 18, 1988. p. 3B.
↑ "1988 Oklahoma at Colorado box score". SoonerStats.com. 2022. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
↑ "Fourth quarter kick gives Oklahoma win." Gainesville Sun. 1989 Oct 23. Retrieved 2022-Dec-28.
↑ "Oklahoma 17, Colorado 14." Eugene Register-Guard. 1989 Oct 23. Retrieved 2022-Dec-28.

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