1989 Colorado Buffaloes football team

	1989 Big 8 football standings
	† – Conference champion ; Rankings from AP Poll

Colorado Buffaloes football
	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)
	Seasons ← 1988 1990 →

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.

Roster[]

RB Eric Bieniemy
OG #62 Joe Garten, Jr.
FB George Hemingway

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 Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^[1]

Game summaries[]

Texas[]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–4	1975	L 21–38

Colorado State[]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
48–14–2	1988	W 27–23

Illinois[]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Washington[]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–3–1	1985	L 17–20

Missouri[]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
17–33–3	1988	W 45–8

Iowa State[]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
32–10–1	1988	W 24–12

Kansas[]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
28–15–3	1988	W 21–9

Oklahoma[]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–34–1	1988	L 14–17

Nebraska[]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
12–34–1	1988	L 0–7

^[2] ^[3]

Oklahoma State[]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
15–15–1	1988	L 21–41

Kansas State[]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
32–12	1988	W 56–14

Notre Dame (Orange Bowl)[]

#4 Notre Dame vs. #1 Colorado

by Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
• Fighting Irish	0	0	14	7	21
Buffaloes	0	0	6	0	6

Date: January 1
Location: Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, FL
Game attendance: 81,190

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–2	1984	L 14–55

^[4]

References[]

↑ 2011 Colorado football information guide
↑ "A look back at Nov. 4, 1989: Colorado 27, Nebraska 21". Denver Post. November 22, 2010. https://www.denverpost.com/2010/11/22/a-look-back-at-nov-4-1989-colorado-27-nebraska-21/. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
↑ "Nebraska vs. Colorado 1989". Husker Max. http://www.huskermax.com/games/1989/09colorado.html. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
↑ "Lackluster Colorado Leveled by Notre Dame". The New York Times. January 2, 1990. https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/02/sports/lackluster-colorado-leveled-by-notre-dame.html.

External links[]

https://twitter.com/cubuffs

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[1] 2011 Colorado football information guide

[2] "A look back at Nov. 4, 1989: Colorado 27, Nebraska 21". Denver Post. November 22, 2010. https://www.denverpost.com/2010/11/22/a-look-back-at-nov-4-1989-colorado-27-nebraska-21/. Retrieved January 1, 2019.

[3] "Nebraska vs. Colorado 1989". Husker Max. http://www.huskermax.com/games/1989/09colorado.html. Retrieved November 25, 2014.

[4] "Lackluster Colorado Leveled by Notre Dame". The New York Times. January 2, 1990. https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/02/sports/lackluster-colorado-leveled-by-notre-dame.html.

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