CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1970 Colorado

6–⁠5 (3–⁠4 Big Eight), coached by Eddie Crowder.

Schedule and results

Colorado in 1970, game by game: won at Indiana 16–9; won vs. No. 4 Penn State 41–13; lost at Kansas State 20–21; won vs. Iowa State 61–10; lost vs. Oklahoma 15–23; lost at Missouri 16–30; lost vs. No. 4 Nebraska 13–29; won vs. Kansas 45–29; won at Oklahoma State 30–6; won at No. 10 Air Force 49–19; lost vs. Tulane 3–17+51−16Won 16–9 at Indiana+7IndianaWon 41–13 vs. No. 4 Penn State+28No. 4 Penn StateLost 20–21 at Kansas State-1Kansas StateWon 61–10 vs. Iowa State+51Iowa StateLost 15–23 vs. Oklahoma-8OklahomaLost 16–30 at Missouri-14MissouriLost 13–29 vs. No. 4 Nebraska-16No. 4 NebraskaWon 45–29 vs. Kansas+16KansasWon 30–6 at Oklahoma State+24Oklahoma StateWon 49–19 at No. 10 Air Force+30No. 10 Air ForceLost 3–17 vs. Tulane-14Tulane
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 19atIndianaW 16–⁠957%
Sep 26vs4Penn StateW 41–⁠1342%
Oct 3atKansas StateL 20–⁠2162%
Oct 10vsIowa StateW 61–⁠1073%
Oct 17vsOklahomaL 15–⁠2372%
Oct 24atMissouriL 16–⁠3044%
Oct 31vs4NebraskaL 13–⁠2937%
Nov 7vsKansasW 45–⁠2968%
Nov 14atOklahoma StateW 30–⁠653%
Nov 21at10Air ForceW 49–⁠1932%
Dec 12Bowls & playoffvsTulaneLiberty BowlL 3–⁠1771%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tulane 17–⁠3 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Big Eight.

In program history: The 28th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 18
  2. Wk 4: 8
  3. Wk 5: 17
  4. Wk 6: 13
  5. Wk 7: 19
  6. Wk 12: 19

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1970.

Consensus All-AmericanDon Popplewell, C

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
3–⁠4 tied for 4th in Big Eight
AP final
Unranked peak No. 8
Points
309–⁠206
Coach
Eddie Crowder
Elo
1624 +45 this season
SP+ rating
17.9 No. 19 of 117; offense No. 16, defense No. 35
SRS
20.6 No. 14 of 123 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Chet Franklin
Defensive coordinator
Don James
Captains
Phil Irwin and Don Popplewell
Most valuable player
Don Popplewell
Offense
Switching T / Slot-I Triple option
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1971

The 1971 draft
Rd 7Jim Cooch DBSt. Louis Cardinals

All-Big Eight

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Phil IrwinLBUPI-2
  • Pat MurphyDBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1970 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1970 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Nebraska7–⁠011–⁠0–⁠11
Oklahoma5–⁠27–⁠4–⁠120
Kansas State5–⁠26–⁠5
Colorado3–⁠46–⁠5
Missouri3–⁠45–⁠6
Kansas2–⁠55–⁠6
Oklahoma State2–⁠54–⁠7
Iowa State1–⁠65–⁠6

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.