1970 Colorado Buffaloes football team

American college football season

1970 Colorado Buffaloes football

Liberty Bowl, L 3–17 vs. Tulane

Conference| Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches| No. 16
Record| 6–5 (3–4 Big 8)
Head coach|

* Eddie Crowder (8th season)

Offensive coordinator| Chet Franklin (2nd season)
Offensive scheme| Switching T / Slot-I
Triple option
Defensive coordinator| Don James (3rd season)
Base defense| 4–3
MVP| Don Popplewell
Captains|

* Phil Irwin
* Don Popplewell

Home stadium| Folsom Field

Seasons

<- 1969

1971 ->

1970 Big Eight Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

Team | W |  | L |  | T |  |  | W |  | L |  | T
No. 1 Nebraska $  | 7  | - | 0  | - | 0 |  |  | 11  | - | 0  | - | 1
No. 20 Oklahoma | 5  | - | 2  | - | 0 |  |  | 7  | - | 4  | - | 1
Kansas State | 5  | - | 2  | - | 0 |  |  | 6  | - | 5  | - | 0
Missouri | 3  | - | 4  | - | 0 |  |  | 5  | - | 6  | - | 0
Colorado | 3  | - | 4  | - | 0 |  |  | 6  | - | 5  | - | 0
Kansas | 2  | - | 5  | - | 0 |  |  | 5  | - | 6  | - | 0
Oklahoma State | 2  | - | 5  | - | 0 |  |  | 4  | - | 7  | - | 0
Iowa State | 1  | - | 6  | - | 0 |  |  | 5  | - | 6  | - | 0

* $ - Conference champion

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1970 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado in the Big Eight Conference during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. Led by eighth-year head coach Eddie Crowder, the Buffaloes were 6–4 in the regular season (3–4 in Big 8, fourth), and played their home games on campus at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.

In a nationally televised game on ABC, #18 Colorado upset fourth-ranked Penn State 41–13 in Boulder in late September, breaking a 23-game winning (and 31-game undefeated) streak.[1][2] The Buffaloes moved up to eighth in the AP poll, but were upset the next week by a point at Kansas State, led by quarterback Lynn Dickey.[3]

Invited to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee, the #19 Buffaloes were upset by Tulane to finish at 6–5.[4][5]

In December, CU defensive coordinator Don James became the head coach at Kent State in Ohio;[6] four years later he was hired at Washington in Seattle. He led the Huskies for eighteen seasons, including a shared national championship in 1991.

## Schedule

[edit]

Date| Opponent| Rank| Site| TV| Result| Attendance| Source

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

September 19| at Indiana*| |

* Memorial Stadium
* Bloomington, IN

| | W 16–9| 42,174|
September 26| No. 4 Penn State*| No. 18|

* Folsom Field
* Boulder, CO

| ABC| W 41–13| 42,850|
October 3| at Kansas State| No. 8|

* KSU Stadium
* Manhattan, KS (rivalry)

| | L 20–21| 40,200|
October 10| Iowa State| No. 17|

* Folsom Field
* Boulder, CO

| | W 61–10| 40,840|
October 17| Oklahoma| No. 13|

* Folsom Field
* Boulder, CO

| | L 15–23| 47,700|
October 24| Missouri| No. 19|

* Memorial Stadium
* Columbia, MO

| | L 16–30| 57,000|
October 31| No. 4 Nebraska| |

* Folsom Field
* Boulder, CO (rivalry)

| ABC| L 13–29| 50,881|
November 7| Kansas| |

* Folsom Field
* Boulder, CO

| | W 45–29| 37,250–38,445|
November 14| at Oklahoma State| |

* Lewis Field
* Stillwater, OK

| | W 30–6| 18,000|
November 21| at Air Force*| |

* Falcon Stadium
* Colorado Springs, CO

| | W 49–19| 45,447|
December 12| vs. Tulane*| |

* Memphis Memorial Stadium
* Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)

| ABC| L 3–17| 44,640| [4][5][7]

* *Non-conference game
* Homecoming
* Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[8][9][10]

## Roster

[edit]

1970 Colorado Buffaloes football team roster

Players  | Coaches
Offense | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

SE | `23` | Cliff Branch | Jr
QB | `10` | Jim Bratten
TB | `` | Jon Keyworth | So
TB | `32` | John Tarver | Jr
FB | `41` | Ward Walsh | Sr
Defense | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

S | `15` | Jim Cooch
CB | `29` | Pat Murphy
LB | `89` | Rick Ogle
DE | `88` | Herb Orvis | Jr
S, P | `12` | John Stearns | So
Special teams | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

Head coach

* Eddie Crowder (8th year)

Coordinators/assistant coaches

* Chet Franklin (OC)
* Don James (DC)

* * *

Legend

* (C) Team captain
* (S) Suspended
* (I) Ineligible

* Injured
* Redshirt

* * *

Roster

Source:[2][11]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Colorado ends Penn State's victory string". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 27, 1970. p. 9B.
2. ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (October 5, 1970). "For Easterners, prospecting doesn't pay off". Sports Illustrated. p. 46.
3. ^ "Wildcats shock Colorado". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 4, 1970. p. 6B.
4. ^ a b "Colorado, Tulane clash in Leiberty Bowl game". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. December 12, 1970. p. 26.
5. ^ a b "Tulane surprises Colorado, 17-3". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 13, 1970. p. 1B.
6. ^ "Named Kent State coach". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). (photo). December 13, 1970. p. D2.
7. ^ "Abercrombie leads Tulane over Colorado in Liberty". The Clarion-Ledger. December 13, 1970. Retrieved October 1, 2021 - via Newspapers.com.
8. ^ "1970 Colorado Buffaloes Schedule and Results". College Football @ Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
9. ^ "1970 Football Schedule". University of Colorado Boulder. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
10. ^ "Colorado Football 2023 Record Book" (PDF). University of Colorado Boulder. p. 39. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
11. ^ Woodling, Chuck (November 6, 1970). "Probable starters". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). p. 16.

* v
* t
* e

Colorado Buffaloes football

Venues|

* Campus fields (1890–1901)
* Gamble Field (1901–1924)
* Folsom Field (1924–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Colorado State: Rocky Mountain Showdown
* Kansas State
* Nebraska
* Utah: Rumble in the Rockies

Culture & lore|

* Ralphie the Buffalo
* "CU Fight Song"
* "Golden Buffalo" Marching band
* Fifth Down Game
* Miracle at Michigan

People|

* Head coaches
* Statistical leaders
* NFL draftees

Seasons|

* 1890
* 1891
* 1892
* 1893
* 1894
* 1895
* 1896
* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
* 1900
* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943
* 1944
* 1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

National championship seasons in bold

This college football 1970s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

This article about a sports team in Colorado is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[T]: Ties
*[No.]: Number