30 YEARS AGO THIS SEASON, the 1994 season was memorable as both Colorado and Colorado State posted double-digit win totals, and the Buffs’ Rashaan Salaam won the Heisman Trophy. Salaam’s New York appearance capped a remarkable campaign for CU as the t Buffs won the fall’s most memorable game with a 27-26 contest at Michigan. The “Miracle at Michigan” on September 24 saw the Buffaloes trailing 26-14 with 2:16 remaining in the game. Colorado scored two touchdowns in the final minutes, the last being a 64-yard pass from Kordell Stewart to Michael Westbrook on the last play of the game. CU finished the season with an 11-1 record and No. 3 in the polls behind Nebraska and Penn State as the Buffs posted a 41-24 Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame in Coach Bill Mcartney’s last game for the Boulder school. Salaam had one of the best individual seasons in college football history, rushing for a school-record 2,055 yards and becoming only the fourth college running back to run for more than 2,000 yards in a season. He also amassed 24 touchdowns. In winning its first of three Western Athletic Conference titles under Coach Sonny Lubick, Colorado State entere
d the post-season as the 10th-ranked team in the nation and fell to No. 16 after losing 24-14 to Michigan in the Holiday Bowl. In Lubick’s second season in Fort Collins, his 1994 Rams also posted the school’s 10-win season as the Rams posted upset road wins at then-No. 22 BYU (28-21) and then-No. 6 Arizona (21-16). Western Colorado was the top college division team in Colorado as the Mountaineers won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title with an 8-3 record and advanced to the NCAA Division II playoffs, where Coach Carl “Duke” Iverson lost to eventual national runner-up Texas A&M Kingsville.
40 YEARS AGO THIS SEASON, Fort Lewis College won its only conference championship as the Skyhawks posted a 7-2-1 record. Coached by first-season mentor Bill Cooke, FLC tied the school record for wins in a season with one of the two losses to Football Championship Subdivision school Weber State. The 1984 Skyhawks finished the season with a 6-0-1 record highlighted by a 30-29 victory over New Mexico Highlands in the season finale (Nov. 10, 1984) to secure the RMAC title. Team leaders were Kevin Hula, who finished with a school record of 17.5 sacks, and other All-RMAC picks Rob Groetzinger, Tom Rieber, and Randy Wells. A total of 15 players from the 1984 team received All-RMAC recognition. “The one thing about the 1984-85 team is they are the toughest kids I’ve ever coached, and I’ve seen a lot of great ones,” said Cooke, who replaced Gary Barnett as the FL coach. “After we lost to Eastern New Mexico (Week 3), Hula was fired up. He greeted everyone off the bus when we returned to the hotel and said, ‘We’re not going to lose another game.’ And we didn’t. We had tough kids. Having coached for over 40 years, those were the toughest and most disciplined players I’ve ever coached in my life.“
50 YEARS AGO THIS SEASON, ONLY three of the 11 schools playing college football in Colorado had winning records: Colorado College 8-1, Northern Colorado 8-1, and Western Colorado 6-3. Two of the three coaches with winning records that season – Bob Blasi at UNC and Bill Noxon at then-Western State, are in the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. Gerry Carle, the Colorado College coach in 1974, led the Tiger program for 33 seasons (1957-1989) and compiled a 137-150-5 record. Carle coached more seasons and games than any other football coach in the history of Colorado collegiate football.
