CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1991 Colorado

8–⁠3–⁠1 (6–⁠0–⁠1 Big Eight), coached by Bill McCartney, finished No. 20 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Colorado in 1991, game by game: won vs. Wyoming 30–13; lost vs. No. 23 Baylor 14–16; won vs. Minnesota 58–0; lost at Stanford 21–28; won vs. Missouri 55–7; won at No. 12 Oklahoma 34–17; won at Kansas State 10–0; tied vs. No. 9 Nebraska 19–19; won at Oklahoma State 16–12; won vs. Kansas 30–24; won at Iowa State 17–14; lost vs. No. 8 Alabama 25–30+58−7Won 30–13 vs. Wyoming+17WyomingLost 14–16 vs. No. 23 Baylor-2No. 23 BaylorWon 58–0 vs. Minnesota+58MinnesotaLost 21–28 at Stanford-7StanfordWon 55–7 vs. Missouri+48MissouriWon 34–17 at No. 12 Oklahoma+17No. 12 OklahomaWon 10–0 at Kansas State+10Kansas StateTied 19–19 vs. No. 9 Nebraska0No. 9 NebraskaWon 16–12 at Oklahoma State+4Oklahoma StateWon 30–24 vs. Kansas+6KansasWon 17–14 at Iowa State+3Iowa StateLost 25–30 vs. No. 8 Alabama-5No. 8 Alabama
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7vsWyomingW 30–⁠1380%
Sep 14vs23BaylorL 14–⁠1676%
Sep 21vsMinnesotaW 58–⁠076%
Sep 28atStanfordL 21–⁠2871%
Oct 12vsMissouriW 55–⁠780%
Oct 19at12OklahomaW 34–⁠1744%
Oct 26atKansas StateW 10–⁠075%
Nov 2vs9NebraskaT 19–⁠1964%
Nov 9atOklahoma StateW 16–⁠1287%
Nov 16vsKansasW 30–⁠2485%
Nov 23atIowa StateW 17–⁠1485%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvs8AlabamaBlockbuster BowlL 25–⁠3055%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Alabama 30–⁠25 in the Blockbuster Bowl; No. 20 in the final AP poll; Big Eight champions.

In program history: The 8th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 13
  2. Wk 2: 12
  3. Wk 3: 12
  4. Wk 4: 19
  5. Wk 5: 17
  6. Wk 6: 25
  7. Wk 7: 25
  8. Wk 8: 22
  9. Wk 9: 16
  10. Wk 10: 15
  11. Wk 11: 14
  12. Wk 12: 16
  13. Wk 13: 15
  14. Wk 14: 15
  15. Wk 15: 15
  16. Final: 20

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 1991.

Big Eight champions6–⁠0–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Nebraska

Consensus All-AmericanJay Leeuwenburg, C

Record
8–⁠3–⁠1
Conference
6–⁠0–⁠1 shared first in Big Eight
AP final
No. 20 peak No. 12
Points
329–⁠180
Coach
Bill McCartney
Elo
1709 +25 this season
SP+ rating
16.3 No. 17 of 104; offense No. 29, defense No. 15
SRS
14.9 No. 14 of 107 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Gary Barnett
Defensive coordinator
Mike Hankwitz
Captains
Jay Leeuwenburg and Greg Thomas
Most valuable player
Darian Hagan
Offense
I-bone
Defense
3–⁠4

Drafted in 1992

The 1992 draft
Rd 3Joel Steed DTPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 6Rico Smith WRCleveland Browns

All-Big Eight

4 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1991 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1991 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Nebraska6–⁠0–⁠19–⁠2–⁠115
Colorado6–⁠0–⁠18–⁠3–⁠120
Oklahoma5–⁠29–⁠316
Kansas State4–⁠37–⁠4
Kansas3–⁠46–⁠5
Iowa State1–⁠5–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Missouri1–⁠63–⁠7–⁠1
Oklahoma State0–⁠6–⁠10–⁠10–⁠1

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