CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2002 Colorado

9–⁠5 (7–⁠1 Big 12), coached by Gary Barnett, finished No. 20 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Colorado in 2002, game by game: lost vs. Colorado State 14–19; won vs. San Diego State 34–14; lost vs. No. 17 USC 3–40; won at No. 20 UCLA 31–17; won vs. No. 13 Kansas State 35–31; won at Kansas 53–29; won vs. Baylor 34–0; won vs. Texas Tech 37–13; lost at No. 2 Oklahoma 11–27; won at Missouri 42–35; won vs. Iowa State 41–27; won at Nebraska 28–13; lost vs. No. 8 Oklahoma 7–29; lost vs. Wisconsin 28–31+34−37Lost 14–19 vs. Colorado State-5Colorado StateWon 34–14 vs. San Diego State+20San Diego StateLost 3–40 vs. No. 17 USC-37No. 17 USCWon 31–17 at No. 20 UCLA+14No. 20 UCLAWon 35–31 vs. No. 13 Kansas State+4No. 13 Kansas StateWon 53–29 at Kansas+24KansasWon 34–0 vs. Baylor+34BaylorWon 37–13 vs. Texas Tech+24Texas TechLost 11–27 at No. 2 Oklahoma-16No. 2 OklahomaWon 42–35 at Missouri+7MissouriWon 41–27 vs. Iowa State+14Iowa StateWon 28–13 at Nebraska+15NebraskaLost 7–29 vs. No. 8 Oklahoma-22No. 8 OklahomaLost 28–31 vs. Wisconsin-3Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsColorado StateL 14–⁠1955%
Sep 7vsSan Diego StateW 34–⁠1480%
Sep 14vs17USCL 3–⁠4065%
Sep 21at20UCLAW 31–⁠1736%
Oct 5vs13Kansas StateW 35–⁠3154%
Oct 12atKansasW 53–⁠2973%
Oct 19vsBaylorW 34–⁠087%
Oct 26vsTexas TechW 37–⁠1364%
Nov 2at2OklahomaL 11–⁠2727%
Nov 9atMissouriW 42–⁠3566%
Nov 16vsIowa StateW 41–⁠2767%
Nov 29atNebraskaW 28–⁠1352%
Dec 7vs8OklahomaBig 12 Championship GameL 7–⁠2943%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvsWisconsinAlamo BowlL 28–⁠3168%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Wisconsin 31–⁠28 in the Alamo Bowl; No. 20 in the final AP poll; first in the Big 12.

In program history: The 18th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 7
  2. Wk 2: 7
  3. Wk 3: 17
  4. Wk 4: 18
  5. Wk 9: 23
  6. Wk 10: 21
  7. Wk 11: 13
  8. Wk 12: 18
  9. Wk 13: 17
  10. Wk 14: 16
  11. Wk 15: 13
  12. Wk 16: 12
  13. 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 2002.

Big 12 North champions7–⁠1 in the conference

Ray Guy AwardMark Mariscal, P

Consensus All-AmericanMark Mariscal, P

Record
9–⁠5
Conference
7–⁠1 first in Big 12
AP final
No. 20 peak No. 7
Points
398–⁠325
Coach
Gary Barnett
Elo
1652 +35 this season
SP+ rating
19.8 No. 14 of 117; offense No. 18, defense No. 25
SRS
12.7 No. 19 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 19
Offensive coordinator
Shawn Watson
Defensive coordinators
Tom McMahon and Vince Okruch
Captains
Justin Bates, Tyler Brayton and Wayne Lucier
Most valuable player
Chris Brown
Offense
Multiple
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.8own 31— allowed
Defense0.0own 36— caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2002 class

Fred Staugh OG★★★No. 670
Jack Tipton OG★★★No. 670
James Cox DUAL★★★No. 670
Alex Ligon ILB★★★No. 670
Marcus Jones SDE★★★No. 670

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2002 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.800
Offensive line42.80.792
Defensive line23.00.800
Linebackers22.50.783
Defensive backs22.50.783
Whole class112.70.791

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2003

The 2003 draft
Rd 1Tyler Brayton DEOakland Raiders
Rd 3Donald Strickland DBIndianapolis Colts
Rd 3Chris Brown RBTennessee Titans
Rd 7Justin Bates OGDallas Cowboys
Rd 7Brandon Drumm RBDetroit Lions
Rd 7Wayne Lucier CNew York Giants

All-Big 12

4 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2002 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2002 Big 12 standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Colorado7–⁠19–⁠520
Oklahoma6–⁠212–⁠25
Kansas State6–⁠211–⁠27
Texas6–⁠211–⁠26
Texas Tech5–⁠39–⁠5
Oklahoma State5–⁠38–⁠5
Iowa State4–⁠47–⁠7
Nebraska3–⁠57–⁠7
Texas A&M3–⁠56–⁠6
Missouri2–⁠65–⁠7
Baylor1–⁠73–⁠9
Kansas0–⁠82–⁠10

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