The 1971 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

that featured the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado. The university sponsors 17 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden Buffalo ...

and the

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education instr ...

Background

Colorado finished third in the

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

. This their fourth bowl game appearance in five seasons and their first Bluebonnet Bowl since 1967. As for the Cougars, this was their second Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl in three seasons.

Game summary

Robert Newhouse Robert Fulton Newhouse (January 9, 1950 – July 22, 2014) was an American professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys for twelve seasons. He played college football for the Hous ...

had 35 carries for 168 yards for Houston. Charlie Davis had 202 yards on 37 carries for Colorado.

Scoring summary

* Colorado – Charlie Davis 27-yard touchdown run (Dean kick) – 11:24 remaining in the 1st quarter * Houston – Robert Newhouse 2-yard touchdown run (Terrell kick) – 5:22 remaining in the 1st quarter * Houston – Robert Newhouse 5-yard touchdown run (Terrell kick) – 1:14 remaining in the 1st quarter * Colorado – Larry Brunson 5-pass from Ken Johnson (kick failed) – 13:20 remaining in the 2nd quarter * Colorado – Dean 32 yard field goal – 5:03 remaining in the 2nd quarter * Colorado – Charlie Davis 1 yard-touchdown run (Dean kick) – 1:13 remaining in the 2nd quarter * Houston – Ricky Terrell 29 yard-field goal – 2:16 remaining in the 3rd quarter * Colorado – Ken Johnson 1-yard touchdown run (pass failed) – 3:48 remaining in the 4th quarter

Aftermath

The Buffaloes finished third in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

. They went to three more bowl games in the decade, including an Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl appearance in 1975. The Cougars (who finished 17th in the final poll) returned to the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, en route to four more bowls in the decade.

Statistics

References

Bluebonnet Bowl The Bluebonnet Bowl was an annual college football bowl game played in Houston, Texas. A civic group was appointed by the Houston Chamber of Commerce Athletics Committee in 1959 to organize the bowl game. It was held at Rice Stadium from 1959 ...

Bluebonnet Bowl Colorado Buffaloes football bowl games Houston Cougars football bowl games Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl Astro-Bluebonnet {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub