1970 Colorado Buffaloes football team

The 1970 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado in the Big Eight Conference during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. Led by eighth-year head coach Eddie Crowder, the Buffaloes were 6–4 in the regular season (3–4 in Big 8, fourth), and played their home games on campus at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.

1970 Colorado Buffaloes football
Liberty Bowl, L 3–17 vs. Tulane
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 16
Record	6–5 (3–4 Big 8)
Head coach	Eddie Crowder (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	Chet Franklin (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Switching T / Slot-I Triple option
Defensive coordinator	Don James (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
MVP	Don Popplewell
Captains	Phil Irwin Don Popplewell
Home stadium	Folsom Field
Seasons ← 1969 1971 →

1970 Big Eight Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Nebraska $	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	0	–	1
No. 20 Oklahoma	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	1
Kansas State	5	–	2	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Missouri	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Colorado	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Kansas	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Oklahoma State	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Iowa State	1	–	6	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

In a nationally televised game on ABC, No. 18 Colorado upset fourth-ranked Penn State 41–13 in Boulder in late September, breaking a 23-game winning (and 31-game undefeated) streak.^[1][2] The Buffaloes moved up to eighth in the AP poll, but were upset the next week by a point at Kansas State, led by quarterback Lynn Dickey.^[3]

Invited to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee, the No. 19 Buffaloes were upset by Tulane to finish at 6–5.^[4][5]

In December, CU defensive coordinator Don James became the head coach at Kent State in Ohio;^[6] four years later he was hired at Washington in Seattle. He led the Huskies for eighteen seasons, including a shared national championship in 1991.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 19		at Indiana*		Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN		W 16–9	42,174
September 26		No. 4 Penn State*	No. 18	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	ABC	W 41–13	42,850
October 3		at Kansas State	No. 8	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)		L 20–21	40,200
October 10	1:30 p.m.	Iowa State	No. 17	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 61–10	40,840–41,089	[7]
October 17		Oklahoma	No. 13	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		L 15–23	47,700
October 24		Missouri	No. 19	Memorial Stadium Columbia, MO		L 16–30	57,000
October 31		No. 4 Nebraska		Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry)	ABC	L 13–29	50,881
November 7		Kansas		Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 45–29	37,250–38,445
November 14		at Oklahoma State		Lewis Field Stillwater, OK		W 30–6	18,000
November 21	1:00 p.m.	at Air Force*		Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO		W 49–19	45,447
December 12		vs. Tulane*		Memphis Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)	ABC	L 3–17	44,640	[4][5][8]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^[9][10][11]

Roster

1970 Colorado Buffaloes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class SE 23 Cliff Branch Jr QB 10 Jim Bratten TB Jon Keyworth So TB 32 John Tarver Jr FB 41 Ward Walsh Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class S 15 Jim Cooch CB 29 Pat Murphy LB 89 Rick Ogle DE 88 Herb Orvis Jr S, P 12 John Stearns So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Eddie Crowder (8th year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Chet Franklin (OC) Don James (DC) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

^[2][12]