1994 Colorado Buffaloes football
Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 41–24 vs. Notre Dame
ConferenceBig Eight Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 3
Record11–1 (6–1 Big 8)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorElliot Uzelac (2nd season)
Offensive schemeMultiple one-back
Defensive coordinatorMike Hankwitz (7th season)
Base defense5-2
Home stadiumFolsom Field
(Capacity: 51,748)
Seasons
← 1993
1995 →
1994 Big Eight Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Nebraska $ 7 0 0 13 0 0
No. 3 Colorado % 6 1 0 11 1 0
No. 19 Kansas State 5 2 0 9 3 0
Oklahoma 4 3 0 6 6 0
Kansas 3 4 0 6 5 0
Missouri 2 5 0 3 8 1
Oklahoma State 0 6 1 3 7 1
Iowa State 0 6 1 0 10 1
  • $ – Bowl Coalition representative as champion
    % – Bowl Coalition at-large representative
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1994 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the 1994 college football season. The Buffaloes offense scored 439 points while the defense allowed 235 points. The team was led by head coach Bill McCartney.

The Buffaloes' only loss of the season came on the road against eventual consensus national champion Nebraska. Colorado, ranked #2 at the time, was in line to play for the national title as part of the Bowl Coalition. They were leapfrogged in the polls by the Cornhuskers, who had been ranked #3, and finished the regular season ranked #4.

The Buffaloes competed in the 1995 Fiesta Bowl, which they won 41–24 over unranked Notre Dame.

The problem of scheduling bowl match-ups for top-ranked teams led to the dissolution of the Bowl Coalition and the creation of the Bowl Alliance (#2 ranked Penn State was not eligible as a member of the Big Ten Conference to play the #1 ranked team). Notre Dame, playing as an independent, had its own agreement with the Bowl Coalition, which allowed the Fiesta Bowl to choose them as an at-large opponent over more highly ranked teams.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 312:00 pmNE Louisiana*No. 8W 48–1348,114
September 177:45 pmNo. 10 Wisconsin*No. 7
  • Folsom Field
  • Boulder, CO
ESPNW 55–1753,457
September 241:30 pmat No. 4 Michigan*No. 7ABCW 27–26106,427
October 11:30 pmat No. 16 Texas*No. 5ABCW 34–3177,809
October 812:00 pmat MissouriNo. 5PSNW 38–2338,901
October 157:30 pmNo. 22 OklahomaNo. 4
  • Folsom Field
  • Boulder, CO
ESPNW 45–753,199
October 225:30 pmNo. 19 Kansas StateNo. 2
  • Folsom Field
  • Boulder, CO
ESPNW 35–2152,955
October 291:30 pmat No. 3 NebraskaNo. 2ABCL 7–2476,131
November 512:00 pmOklahoma StateNo. 7
  • Folsom Field
  • Boulder, CO
W 17–351,059
November 1212:00 pmat KansasNo. 7PSNW 51–2635,000
November 1912:00 pmIowa StateNo. 7
  • Folsom Field
  • Boulder, CO
PSNW 41–2046,113
January 22:30 pmvs. Notre Dame*No. 4NBCW 41–2473,968

Roster

1994 Colorado Buffaloes football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 1 Vance Joseph Sr
WR 2 James Kidd So
QB 10 Kordell Stewart Sr
WR 12 Michael Westbrook Sr
QB 14 Koy Detmer So
RB 19 Rashaan Salaam Jr
WR 21 Rae Carruth So
RB 26 Herchell Troutman Fr
C 64 Bryan Stoltenberg Jr
WR 80 Phil Savoy Fr
TE 88 Christian Fauria Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
FS 6 T. J. Cunningham Jr
LB 16 Matt Russell So
LB 46 Ted Johnson Sr
CB 47 Chris Hudson Sr
DT 92 Shannon Clavelle Jr
DT 93 Darius Holland Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 17 Neil Voskeritchian Jr
P 21 Ron Mayer Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
    Injured
  • Redshirt
    Redshirt

Roster

Rankings

Main article: 1994 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
( ) = First place votes.
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP887775 (1)5 (3)4 (4)2 (15)2 (16)7776543
Coaches77775 (1)5 (1)4 (1)3 (9)3 (9)7777553

Season summary

Northeast Louisiana

Northeast Louisiana at Colorado
1 234Total
Indians 3 307 13
No. 8 Buffaloes 7 21146 48
  • Date: September 3
  • Location: Folsom Field
  • Game attendance: 48,114

See also: 1994 Northeast Louisiana Indians football team

[1]

Wisconsin

See also: 1994 Wisconsin Badgers football team

Michigan

Colorado at Michigan
1 234Total
No. 7 Buffaloes 7 7013 27
No. 4 Wolverines 0 9170 26
     

Main article: Miracle at Michigan

See also: 1994 Michigan Wolverines football team

The Miracle at Michigan refers to the final play that occurred during the game played on September 24, 1994, between the Colorado Buffaloes and the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The game was decided on Colorado quarterback Kordell Stewart's 64-yard Hail Mary pass to Michael Westbrook, which gave the play its name.[2][3][4][5][6]

Texas

See also: 1994 Texas Longhorns football team

Missouri

See also: 1994 Missouri Tigers football team

Oklahoma

See also: 1994 Oklahoma Sooners football team

Kansas State

See also: 1994 Kansas State Wildcats football team

Nebraska

Colorado at Nebraska
1 234Total
No. 2 Buffaloes 0 070 7
No. 3 Cornhuskers 7 1070 24
  

See also: 1994 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Colorado–Nebraska football rivalry, and College GameDay (football)

Oklahoma State

See also: 1994 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team

Kansas

See also: 1994 Kansas Jayhawks football team

Iowa State

See also: 1994 Iowa State Cyclones football team

Fiesta Bowl

Colorado vs. Notre Dame
1 234Total
No. 4 Buffaloes 10 2137 41
Fighting Irish 3 777 24

See also: 1994 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team and 1995 Fiesta Bowl

Players drafted in the 1995 NFL Draft

Player Position Round Pick NFL Club
Michael Westbrook Wide Receiver 1 4 Washington Redskins
Rashaan Salaam Running Back 1 21 Chicago Bears
Christian Fauria Tight End 2 39 Seattle Seahawks
Ted Johnson Linebacker 2 57 New England Patriots
Kordell Stewart Quarterback 2 60 Pittsburgh Steelers
Darius Holland Defensive Tackle 3 65 Green Bay Packers
Chris Hudson Defensive Back 3 71 Jacksonville Jaguars
Derek West Tackle 5 149 Indianapolis Colts
Shannon Clavelle Defensive End 6 185 Buffalo Bills

[7]

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ Ocala Star-Banner. 1994 Sep 04. Retrieved 2018-Nov-17.
  2. ^ "On the Wing of a Prayer, Colorado Shocks Michigan". The New York Times. September 25, 1994. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  3. ^ "COLORADO STUNS MICHIGAN: MIAMI'S STREAK ENDS". The Washington Post. September 25, 1994. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  4. ^ "Colorado Rides on Stewart's Rocket". Los Angeles Times. September 25, 1994. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  5. ^ "'I Just Heaved It'". Sports Illustrated. October 3, 1994. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  6. ^ "Joy and pain: The Miracle at Michigan". ESPN. September 23, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  7. ^ "1995 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2007-12-21.
  8. ^ "Who Has Rushed for over 2,000 Yards in a Season?".
  9. ^ "Heisman.com - Heisman Trophy". Archived from the original on 2009-09-16. Retrieved 2007-04-16.
  10. ^ "Football".