CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1985 Colorado

7–⁠5 (4–⁠3 Big Eight), coached by Bill McCartney.

Schedule and results

Colorado in 1985, game by game: won vs. Colorado State 23–10; won vs. Oregon 21–17; lost vs. No. 7 Ohio State 13–36; won at Arizona 14–13; won vs. Missouri 38–7; won at Iowa State 40–6; lost at No. 5 Nebraska 7–17; lost vs. No. 12 Oklahoma State 11–14; won at Kansas 14–3; lost at No. 7 Oklahoma 0–31; won vs. Kansas State 30–0; lost vs. Washington 17–20+34−31Won 23–10 vs. Colorado State+13Colorado StateWon 21–17 vs. Oregon+4OregonLost 13–36 vs. No. 7 Ohio State-23No. 7 Ohio StateWon 14–13 at Arizona+1ArizonaWon 38–7 vs. Missouri+31MissouriWon 40–6 at Iowa State+34Iowa StateLost 7–17 at No. 5 Nebraska-10No. 5 NebraskaLost 11–14 vs. No. 12 Oklahoma State-3No. 12 Oklahoma StateWon 14–3 at Kansas+11KansasLost 0–31 at No. 7 Oklahoma-31No. 7 OklahomaWon 30–0 vs. Kansas State+30Kansas StateLost 17–20 vs. Washington-3Washington
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7vsColorado StateW 23–⁠1053%
Sep 14vsOregonW 21–⁠1745%
Sep 21vs7Ohio StateL 13–⁠3629%
Sep 28atArizonaW 14–⁠1318%
Oct 12vsMissouriW 38–⁠761%
Oct 19atIowa StateW 40–⁠647%
Oct 26at5NebraskaL 7–⁠1714%
Nov 2vs12Oklahoma StateL 11–⁠1429%
Nov 9atKansasW 14–⁠335%
Nov 16at7OklahomaL 0–⁠3121%
Nov 23vsKansas StateW 30–⁠081%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvsWashingtonFreedom BowlL 17–⁠2032%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Washington 20–⁠17 in the Freedom Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big Eight.

In program history: The 89th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

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 1985.

Consensus All-AmericanBarry Helton, P

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Big Eight
AP final
Unranked
Points
228–⁠174
Coach
Bill McCartney
Elo
1488 +113 this season
SP+ rating
10.8 No. 31 of 106; offense No. 67, defense No. 13
SRS
7.6 No. 30 of 110 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Gerry DiNardo
Defensive coordinator
Lou Tepper
Captains
Junior Ili and Barry Remington
Most valuable player
Dan McMillen
Offense
Wishbone
Defense
3–⁠4

Drafted in 1986

The 1986 draft
Rd 5Dan McMillen DEPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 6Ron Brown WRNew York Giants

All-Big Eight

2 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

  • Eric CoyleCAP-2; UPI-2
  • Junior IliOGAP-2; UPI-2
  • Jim WebbOTUPI-2
  • Dan McMillenDEUPI-2
  • Barry RemingtonLBAP-2; UPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1985 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1985 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma7–⁠011–⁠11
Nebraska6–⁠19–⁠311
Oklahoma State4–⁠38–⁠4
Colorado4–⁠37–⁠5
Iowa State3–⁠45–⁠6
Kansas2–⁠56–⁠6
Kansas State1–⁠61–⁠10
Missouri1–⁠61–⁠10

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