Welcome back to the Odyssey. As always, you can click here to read all parts of the journey covered so far. Last time, we took a look at the 2001 Big 12 season. Today, we’re going into our first game in the journey of the end of this season; Nebraska going to Boulder to take on Colorado. The winner would earn a right to the Big 12 Championship.
Introduction: Where We Stand
Before we dive into the game, I wanted to take a brief look into the BCS Standings at this point. The formula the BCS used was incredibly complex and hard to figure out, including points for losses, and taking away points for winning games against top 15 games. This was the standings going into Thanksgiving Weekend 2001.
And below is a table of how the BCS would have been formulated by its later, more straightforward formula (explained here).
Rank | Team | APPts | AP% | USAPts | USA% | A&H | Colley | Billings | Massey | Sagarin | Wolfe | Sum | Comp | Total |
1 | Nebraska | 1746 | 0.970 | 1462 | 0.975 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 23 | 25 | 100 | 1.000 | 0.982 |
2 | Miami (FL) | 1777 | 0.987 | 1468 | 0.979 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 25 | 23 | 93 | 0.930 | 0.965 |
3 | Oklahoma | 1613 | 0.896 | 1327 | 0.885 | 23 | 20 | 24 | 24 | 21 | 24 | 92 | 0.920 | 0.900 |
4 | Florida | 1615 | 0.897 | 1352 | 0.901 | 20 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 24 | 21 | 83 | 0.830 | 0.876 |
5 | Texas | 1519 | 0.844 | 1257 | 0.838 | 18 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 22 | 22 | 74 | 0.740 | 0.807 |
6 | Oregon | 1404 | 0.780 | 1149 | 0.766 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 20 | 20 | 86 | 0.860 | 0.802 |
7 | Tennessee | 1372 | 0.762 | 1161 | 0.774 | 21 | 24 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 19 | 77 | 0.770 | 0.769 |
8 | Illinois | 1130 | 0.628 | 934 | 0.623 | 19 | 21 | 17 | 17 | 19 | 17 | 72 | 0.720 | 0.657 |
9 | Maryland | 1197 | 0.665 | 1006 | 0.671 | 10 | 13 | 20 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 52 | 0.520 | 0.619 |
10 | BYU | 1188 | 0.660 | 1042 | 0.695 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 49 | 0.490 | 0.615 |
11 | Michigan | 1103 | 0.613 | 930 | 0.620 | 15 | 18 | 12 | 14 | 17 | 14 | 60 | 0.600 | 0.611 |
12 | Stanford | 958 | 0.532 | 750 | 0.500 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 70 | 0.700 | 0.577 |
13 | Washington | 987 | 0.548 | 842 | 0.561 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 15 | 58 | 0.580 | 0.563 |
14 | Washington State | 788 | 0.438 | 842 | 0.561 | 12 | 15 | 13 | 19 | 15 | 16 | 59 | 0.590 | 0.530 |
15 | Colorado | 867 | 0.482 | 673 | 0.449 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 47 | 0.470 | 0.467 |
It is important to note that there was only 15 teams ranked in the BCS at this time, so the Colorado ranking at 15 on the newer formula may be even lower, but I could not find the computer rankings to make a more accurate representation.
Nevertheless, Nebraska came into Boulder in a large rivalry game, favored by double digits. Head Coach Frank Solich, the successor to longtime coach Tom Osbourne, had yet make to a National Championship appearance. The Huskers came closest in 1999, finishing as the #3 team in the final BCS Standings, ultimately missing out on a chance at the title. Now, after knocking off Oklahoma weeks earlier, was the best chance to keep Nebraska at the top of the college football world.
Colorado, on the other hand, could not be further from their early 1990s hey dey. When the Big 12 conference was born in 1996, Colorado looked to be one of the favorites. They came into the conference finishing in the top 5 four times. Unfortunately for the Buffs, they ran into the buzzsaw of the Huskers. After a strong 10-2 season in 1996, the Buffs fell off and toiled around middle of the pack in the conference. Head coach Rick Neuheisel left to take the job in Washington and former Northwestern coach Gary Barnett to take over. Barnett, in his third season, put the pieces together to put Colorado on the cusp of their first Big 12 Conference Championship Game.
Game Recap: Aww Shuck
The game belonged to Colorado early. Off the back of a fumble and a turnover on downs for Nebraska, the Buffs scored 28 first quarter points. They rode their running backs the whole game, with Bobby Purify and Chris Brown scoring TDs in that first quarter barrage. Eric Crouch and the Huskers offense struggled mightily against the Buffs front seven. They stopped the option offense and forced Crouch to throw the ball. Crouch struggled with that reality early, but as the Huskers rushing offense opened up, so did the passing lanes. Crouch had throws of 24, 25, and 78 in two touchdown drives late in the first half, trying to keep pace with the Colorado rushing attack.
While the Huskers trailed by 19 at the half, The Huskers felt the momentum swing in their direction. Their first drive of the second half dictated that belief. That was true, until Dahrran Diedrick, who had fumbled earlier in the game, attempted to soar into the end zone and fumbled. Colorado recovered and kept their lead. However, Nebraska would respond in kind on their next offensive drive.
The Huskers offense leaned on running back Thunder Collins on the ensuing drive before handing the keys to Crouch in the red zone. He got the final 8 yards on the ground and cut the Colorado lead down to 12. The 12 point deficit was the closest the Huskers had been since giving up two quick TDs in the first three minutes of the game. After the teams traded punts, it was down to the fourth quarter to determine if Nebraska would hold on to their #1 BCS ranking.
Turning Point: The Final Nail in The Coffin
After a 36 yard TD rush by Chris Brown with five minutes left in the first half, Colorado had 42 points. For the next 20 minutes of game time Colorado had yet to get over midfield. Right before the end of the third quarter Colorado finally crossed midfield. They started at their own seven yard line. However, after rushes by Pesavento, Purify, and Brown, the Buffs got to the Nebraska 39. After a pass interference call on a third down, Colorado ran the ball down Nebraska’s front seven. Chris Brown eventually punched it to extend the Colorado lead to 49-30. Nebraska would never get closer, with Colorado ultimately winning 62-36.
Players of the Game: The Colorado OL/TE
Looking at the box score, it’s easy to point to Chris Brown or Bobby Purify to get the player of the game. Brown finished with a game high 198 yards and 6 TDs. He came into the game with 7 TDs on the season, making this almost double of his TD output on the season. Purify finished with 154 yards and 1 TD (and a long TD called back on a holding call). However, I am going to go with the OL unit for Colorado and the TEs Daniel Graham and Derek McCoy for blocking against the front seven of Nebraska. Watching the game back, the running backs have massive holes to work with and that is solely due to the offensive line creating those holes. They gave their running backs to create opportunities, especially early, to get Colorado in front and keep the lead.
Also to speak on the TEs for a second, Graham added 4 catches for 112 yards a TD. He and McCoy had key receptions to help extend the Colorado lead to 35-3 late in the first half, continually putting Nebraska on the back foot. This was a career game for him, and appeared to be the key game tape for him to get drafted by the New England Patriots in the first round in the following April’s NFL Draft.
Look Ahead: Paradise Lost
Let’s first begin with the victors in Boulder. With the victory, Colorado clinched a spot in the Big 12 Championship. Their first trip to Dallas for the Championship and BCS spot was going to be against an opponent that was still to be determined. The Buffs believed it to be Oklahoma, with Daniel Graham even naming them in a postgame interview. Whomever the Buffaloes played, they had a chance to crash the BCS party for the first time in the brief history.
As for Nebraska, their season as they saw it was essentially over. They would be falling in the BCS rankings enough to fall out of the National Championship picture. They would not be playing in the Big 12 Championship for the second consecutive year. The loss also snapped a nine game winning streak against Colorado. Eric Crouch would have to wait a couple of weeks to see if his final regular season game would not leave a big enough of an impression for the Heisman race.
Next stop on the Odyssey we get the answer of whom Colorado will face in the Big 12 Championship Game. All Oklahoma needs to do is take down their struggling rival in Stillwater. Otherwise, Texas needs to beat their rivals in College Station to get a chance at a conference championship. Until then, sound off below on your thoughts or memories from the 2001 Colorado-Nebraska game!
I remember watching this game when I was a wee lad 7th grader! And yes, those holes the backs has for colorado were insane, especially at the time, given the reputation of the black shirt defense. I remember going to NCAA 2001(2?) And running single back inside dives after this game because they were so OP in real life. To think this was 20 years ago…
Rad recap!
I vividly remember watching the first half of this game in absolute shock. I think I just started laughing when it got to 35-3.