The 1990 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

as a member of 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 Associati ...

during the

1990 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with a split national championship and the ensuing controversy helped lead to the creation of the Bowl Coalition, a precursor to the Bowl Championship Series. The national title was split between th ...

. The Buffaloes offense scored 338 points while the defense allowed 160 points. Led by head coach

Bill McCartney William Paul McCartney (born August 22, 1940) is a former American football player and coach and the founder of the Promise Keepers men's ministry. He was the head coach at the University of Colorado Boulder for thirteen seasons (1982–1994), ...

, Colorado defeated Notre Dame 10–9 in the

1991 Orange Bowl The 1991 Orange Bowl was the 57th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday, January 1. Part of the 1990–91 bowl game season, it matched the independent and fifth-ranked Notre Dame ...

to conclude the season. Despite

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, Colorado was selected

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by AP, Berryman, Billingsley, DeVold, FB News, Football Research, FW,

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, NFF,

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, and USA/CNN, and co-champion by both

FACT A fact is a datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance, which, if accepted as true and proven true, allows a logical conclusion to be reached on a true–false evaluation. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scie ...

and NCF -all NCAA-designated major selectors.

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

took the UPI Coaches poll title, with both

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and

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receiving national titles from other selectors. Georgia Tech finished the season undefeated (with its record only blemished by a tie), and subsequently split the national championship with Colorado. The victory in the Orange Bowl was Colorado's first bowl win in nineteen years.

Schedule

Personnel

Rankings

Season summary

vs. Tennessee

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Each team dominated with its offensive strength.

Mike Pritchard Michael Robert Pritchard (born October 26, 1969) is a former American football player who played college football at the University of Colorado and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos, Se ...

ran for 217 yards and 2 touchdowns as Colorado outgained Tennessee 368-135 on the ground (even with Eric Bienemy sitting out due to a one-game suspension). The Volunteers passed for 368 yards (to Colorado's 68 passing yards), and future NFL wide receivers

Carl Pickens Carl McNally Pickens (born March 23, 1970) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cincinnati Bengals and Tennessee Titans. Early life Pickens attended Murphy High School in Murphy, ...

and

Alvin Harper Alvin Craig Harper (born July 6, 1967) is a former football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins and New Orleans Saints. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the first ...

each had over 100 yards receiving and a touchdown.

Stanford

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at Illinois

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at Texas

Washington

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at Missouri

Iowa State

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at Kansas

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Oklahoma

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at Nebraska

Eric Bieniemy Eric M. Bieniemy Jr. (born August 15, 1969) is an American football coach and former running back who is the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs. He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes and was recognized as a consens ...

38 Rush, 137 Yds, 4 TD

Oklahoma State

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Kansas State

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The Buffs scored early and often while totaling 634 yards of total offense (360 rushing).

Notre Dame (Orange Bowl)

*Source
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Team players drafted into the NFL

Awards and honors

*Alfred Williams,

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

References

{{Big Eight Conference football champions

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

Colorado Buffaloes football seasons College football national champions Big Eight Conference football champion seasons Orange Bowl champion seasons Colorado Buffaloes football