# 1989 Colorado Buffaloes football team

The 1989 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the Big Eight Conference 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 in thirteen years. The Buffaloes went undefeated in the regular season at 11–0 (7–0 in Big 8) and played for the national title, but lost to fourth-ranked 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 late March, and died at age 21 on September 23 due to complications from the disease.
For the first time in 28 years, Colorado defeated Oklahoma and Nebraska in the same season. In the 27 seasons in between, they had five wins over Oklahoma (1965, 1966, 1968, 1972, 1976) and two over Nebraska (1967, 1986).
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 in early November, Henry and his family were also invited to attend the national championship game in Miami as guests of the university. He 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.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 4 | 5:30 pm | Texas* | No. 14 | Folsom FieldBoulder, Colorado | ESPN | W 27–6 | 47,269 |
| September 9 | 1:30 pm | Colorado State* | No. 9 | Folsom FieldBoulder, Colorado (Rocky Mountain Showdown) | KCNC | W 45–20 | 44,921 |
| September 16 | 1:30 pm | No. 10 Illinois* | No. 8 | Folsom FieldBoulder, Colorado | CBS | W 38–7 | 46,747 |
| September 30 | 2:00 pm | at No. 21 Washington* | No. 5 | Husky StadiumSeattle | KCNC | W 45–28 | 69,152 |
| October 7 | 1:30 pm | Missouri | No. 3 | Folsom FieldBoulder, Colorado | | W 49–3 | 51,855 |
| October 14 | 1:00 pm | at Iowa State | No. 3 | Cyclone StadiumAmes, Iowa | KCNC | W 52–17 | 41,515 |
| October 21 | 1:30 pm | Kansas | No. 3 | Folsom FieldBoulder, Colorado | | W 49–17 | 50,057 |
| October 28 | 12:30 pm | at Oklahoma | No. 3 | Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, Oklahoma | KWGN | W 20–3 | 75,004 |
| November 4 | 12:30 pm | No. 3 Nebraska | No. 2 | Folsom FieldBoulder, Colorado (rivalry) | CBS | W 27–21 | 52,877 |
| November 11 | 12:30 pm | at Oklahoma State | No. 2 | Lewis FieldStillwater, Oklahoma | KCNC | W 41–17 | 41,000 |
| November 18 | 11:10 am | at Kansas State | No. 2 | KSU StadiumManhattan, Kansas (rivalry) | KCNC | W 59–11 | 20,117 |
| January 1, 1990 | 6:00 pm | vs. No. 4 Notre Dame* | No. 1 | Orange BowlMiami, Florida (Orange Bowl) | NBC | L 6–21 | 81,191 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||
    Source:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | 14 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 (2) | 3 (3) | 3 (1) | 2 (2) | 2 (4) | 2 (3) | 2 (3) | 1 (53) | 1 (55) | 1 (51) | 4 |
| Coaches | 14 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 (1) | 3 (1) | 3 (1) | 2 (2) | 2 (5) | 2 (4) | 2 (4) | 1 (39) | 1 (42) | — | 4 |

## Season summary
### At Oklahoma

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colorado | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
| Oklahoma | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma
* Date: October 28
* Game attendance: 75,004
* TV: KWGN
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
No scoring
Second quarter
CU – Ken Culbertson 30-yard field goal. Colorado 3–0. Drive: 11 plays, 50 yards.
CU – J.J. Flannigan 1-yard run (Ken Culbertson kick). Colorado 10–0.
Third quarter
No scoring
Fourth quarter
OU – R.D. Lashar 33-yard field goal. Colorado 10–3.
CU – Ken Culbertson 27-yard field goal, 9:49. Colorado 13–3. Drive: 9 plays.
CU – Darian Hagan 8-yard run (Ken Culbertson kick). Colorado 20–3.
Top rushers
CU –Darian Hagan – 21 rushes, 107 yards, TD :
* Colorado 8-0 for first time since 1927
* Culbertson's field goal in second quarter gave Colorado its first lead over Oklahoma in a game since 1976
* Colorado's first win in Norman since 1965
* J.J. Flannigan 25 rushes, 103 yards
* Arthur Walker 8 tackles, sack (Big 8 Defensive Player of Week)

### Nebraska

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cornhuskers | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| • Buffaloes | 14 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 27 |
Colorado honored their All-Century team at halftime

### Orange Bowl (vs. Notre Dame)

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Notre Dame | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 21 |
| Colorado | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
at Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida
* Date: January 1, 1990
* Game attendance: 81,190
* TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Bill Walsh
* Recap/Box
Game information :
First quarter
No scoring
Second quarter
No scoring
Third quarter
ND – Anthony Johnson 2-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 11:48. Notre Dame 7–0.
ND – Raghib Ismail 35-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 7:19. Notre Dame 14–0.
CU – Darian Hagan 39-yard run (kick failed), 0:01. Notre Dame 14–6.
Fourth quarter
ND – Anthony Johnson 7-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 1:32. Notre Dame 21–6.
Top passers
ND – Tony Rice – 5/9, 99 yards
CU – Darian Hagan – 4/13, 65 yards
Top rushers
ND – Anthony Johnson – 15 rushes, 89 yards, 2 TD
CU – Eric Bieniemy – 11 rushes, 66 yards
Top receivers
ND – Pat Eilers – 2 receptions, 47 yards
CU – Eric Kissick – 2 receptions, 33 yards :