CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1988 Colorado

8–⁠4 (4–⁠3 Big Eight), coached by Bill McCartney.

Schedule and results

Colorado in 1988, game by game: won vs. Fresno State 45–3; won at No. 19 Iowa 24–21; won vs. Oregon State 28–21; won at Colorado State 27–23; lost vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State 21–41; won at Kansas 21–9; lost vs. No. 8 Oklahoma 14–17; won vs. Iowa State 24–12; won at Missouri 45–8; lost at No. 7 Nebraska 0–7; won vs. Kansas State 56–14; lost vs. BYU 17–20+42−20Won 45–3 vs. Fresno State+42Fresno StateWon 24–21 at No. 19 Iowa+3No. 19 IowaWon 28–21 vs. Oregon State+7Oregon StateWon 27–23 at Colorado State+4Colorado StateLost 21–41 vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State-20No. 13 Oklahoma StateWon 21–9 at Kansas+12KansasLost 14–17 vs. No. 8 Oklahoma-3No. 8 OklahomaWon 24–12 vs. Iowa State+12Iowa StateWon 45–8 at Missouri+37MissouriLost 0–7 at No. 7 Nebraska-7No. 7 NebraskaWon 56–14 vs. Kansas State+42Kansas StateLost 17–20 vs. BYU-3BYU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 10vsFresno StateW 45–⁠357%
Sep 17at19IowaW 24–⁠2139%
Sep 24vsOregon StateW 28–⁠2179%
Oct 1atColorado StateW 27–⁠2375%
Oct 8vs13Oklahoma StateL 21–⁠4153%
Oct 15atKansasW 21–⁠982%
Oct 22vs8OklahomaL 14–⁠1738%
Oct 29vsIowa StateW 24–⁠1274%
Nov 5atMissouriW 45–⁠868%
Nov 12at7NebraskaL 0–⁠724%
Nov 19vsKansas StateW 56–⁠1493%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvsBYUFreedom BowlL 17–⁠2056%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to BYU 20–⁠17 in the Freedom Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Big Eight.

In program history: The 43rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. 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 1988.

Consensus All-AmericanKeith English, P

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠3 4th in Big Eight
AP final
Unranked peak No. 19
Points
322–⁠196
Coach
Bill McCartney
Elo
1593 +43 this season
SP+ rating
13.1 No. 25 of 102; offense No. 34, defense No. 22
SRS
9.8 No. 27 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Gerry DiNardo
Defensive coordinator
Mike Hankwitz
Captains
Don DeLuzio and Erik Norgard
Most valuable player
Eric Bieniemy
Offense
Wishbone, I-Formation
Defense
3–⁠4

All-Big Eight

3 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1988 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1988 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Nebraska7–⁠011–⁠210
Oklahoma6–⁠19–⁠314
Oklahoma State5–⁠210–⁠211
Colorado4–⁠38–⁠4
Iowa State3–⁠45–⁠6
Missouri2–⁠53–⁠7–⁠1
Kansas1–⁠61–⁠10
Kansas State0–⁠70–⁠11

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