1995 Colorado Buffaloes football team

The 1995 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder as a member of the Big Eight Conference during the 1995 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by first-year head coach Rick Neuheisel, the Buffaloes compiled an overall record of 10–2 in a mark of 5–2 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for second in the Big 8. Colorado was invited to the Cotton Bowl Classic, where the Buffalos defeated Oregon. The team played home games at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.

1995 Colorado Buffaloes football
Cotton Bowl Classic champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 38–6 vs. Oregon
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 4
Record	10–2 (5–2 Big 8)
Head coach	Rick Neuheisel (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Karl Dorrell (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	A. J. Christoff (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
MVPs	Rae Carruth Kerry Hicks
Captain	Game captains
Home stadium	Folsom Field
Seasons ← 1994 1996 →

1995 Big Eight Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Nebraska $	7	–	0	–	0			12	–	0	–	0
No. 5 Colorado	5	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 7 Kansas State	5	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 9 Kansas	5	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Oklahoma	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	5	–	1
Oklahoma State	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	8	–	0
Missouri	1	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Iowa State	1	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Bowl Alliance representative as champion Rankings from AP Poll

The Buffaloes offense scored 444 points while the defense allowed 240 points.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:00 pm	at No. 21 Wisconsin*	No. 14	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ABC	W 43–7	79,015
September 9	7:45 pm	Colorado State*	No. 10	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (Rocky Mountain Showdown)	ESPN	W 42–14	52,848
September 16	12:00 pm	Northeast Louisiana*	No. 9	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	KCNC	W 66–14	49,223
September 23	1:30 pm	No. 3 Texas A&M*	No. 7	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (College GameDay)	ABC	W 29–21	53,849
September 30	6:45 pm	at No. 10 Oklahoma	No. 4	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (College GameDay)	ESPN	W 38–17	75,004
October 7	12:00 pm	No. 24 Kansas	No. 4	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	PSN	L 24–40	52,330
October 21	11:00 am	at Iowa State	No. 9	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA	PSN	W 50–28	34,669
October 28	1:30 pm	No. 2 Nebraska	No. 7	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry, College GameDay)	ABC	L 21–44	54,063
November 4	1:00 pm	at Oklahoma State	No. 10	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK	KTVD	W 45–32	30,050
November 11	12:00 pm	Missouri	No. 9	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	PSN	W 21–0	50,645
November 18	1:30 pm	at No. 7 Kansas State	No. 9	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)	ABC	W 27–17	42,454
January 1	11:30 am	vs. No. 12 Oregon*	No. 7	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	W 38–6	58,214
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

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Rankings

Main article: 1995 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	13	14	10	9	7	4	4 (6)	9	9	7	10	9	9	8	7	7	5
Coaches Poll	13	—	10	10	8	5	6	10	9	7	12	10 т	9	8	7	7	4

Game summaries

At Wisconsin

See also: 1995 Wisconsin Badgers football team

Colorado State

See also: 1995 Colorado State Rams football team

Northeast Louisiana

See also: 1995 Northeast Louisiana Indians football team

Texas A&M

See also: 1995 Texas A&M Aggies football team

At Oklahoma

Colorado at Oklahoma

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 4 Buffaloes	0	14	14	10	38
No. 10 Sooners	3	14	0	0	17

• Date: September 30
• Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma
• Game attendance: 75,004
• TV announcers (ESPN): Ron Franklin & Mike Gottfried

Scoring summary

1	6:53	OU	Jerry Alexander 21 yard field goal	OU 3-0
2	11:23	OU	Eric Moore 1 yard run (Jerry Alexander kick)	OU 10-0
2	9:10	COL	Phil Savoy 19 yard pass from John Hessler (Neil Voskeritchian kick)	OU 10-7
2	5:42	OU	JaJuan Penny 20 yard pass from Eric Moore (Jerry Alexander kick)	OU 17-7
2	0:17	COL	Rae Carruth 11 yard pass from John Hessler (Neil Voskeritchian kick)	OU 17-14
3	6:54	COL	Rae Carruth 71 yard pass from John Hessler (Neil Voskeritchian kick)	COL 21-17
3	2:27	COL	Lendon Henry 28 yard pass from John Hessler (Neil Voskeritchian kick)	COL 28-17
4	7:46	COL	Phil Savoy 42 yard pass from John Hessler (Neil Voskeritchian kick)	COL 35-17
4	5:02	COL	Neil Voskeritchian 28 yard field goal	COL 38-17

See also: 1995 Oklahoma Sooners football team

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Kansas

Kansas at Colorado

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 24 Jayhawks	9	14	3	14	40
No. 4 Buffaloes	14	3	7	0	24

• Date: October 7
• Location: Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado
• Game attendance: 52,330
• Television network: PSN

Scoring summary

1		KU	Jeff McCord 35-yard field goal	KU 3–0
1		KU	Manolito Jones 31-yard blocked punt return (kick failed)	KU 9–0
1		CU	Rae Carruth 58-yard pass from John Hessler (kick)	KU 9–7
1	2:31	CU	Chris Anderson 17-yard pass from John Hessler (kick)	CU 14–9
2	14:31	KU	L.T. Levine 4-yard run (McCord kick)	KU 16–14
2	3:41	CU	Neil Voskeritchian 19-yard field goal	CU 17–16
2	0:23	KU	June Henley 2-yard run (McCord kick)	KU 23–17
3	9:38	CU	Herchell Troutman 23-yard pass from John Hessler (kick)	CU 24–23
3	1:50	KU	Jeff McCord 31-yard field goal	KU 26–24
4	14:24	KU	June Henley 43-yard run (McCord kick)	KU 33–24
4	9:27	KU	Isaac Byrd 7-yard pass from Mark Williams (McCord kick)	KU 40–24

See also: 1995 Kansas Jayhawks football team

At Iowa State

See also: 1995 Iowa State Cyclones football team

Nebraska

Nebraska at Colorado

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 2 Cornhuskers	21	10	3	10	44
No. 7 Buffaloes	7	7	7	0	21

• Date: October 28
• Location: Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado
• Game attendance: 54,063

See also: 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Colorado–Nebraska football rivalry, and College GameDay (football)

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At Oklahoma State

See also: 1995 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team

Missouri

See also: 1995 Missouri Tigers football team

At Kansas State

See also: 1995 Kansas State Wildcats football team

Vs. Oregon (Cotton Bowl)

Oregon vs. Colorado

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Ducks	6	0	0	0	6
• No. 7 Buffaloes	0	13	19	6	38

• Date: January 1
• Location: Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas
• Game attendance: 58,214
• TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan and Steve Davis

Main article: 1996 Cotton Bowl Classic

See also: 1995 Oregon Ducks football team

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Roster

1995 Colorado Buffaloes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 14 Koy Detmer Jr WR 21 Rae Carruth Jr G 62 Chris Morgan Fr G 63 Heath Irwin Sr C 64 Bryan Stoltenberg Sr WR 82 Mike McCormick Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class FS 6 T. J. Cunningham Sr LB 16 Matt Russell Jr DE 95 Daryl Price Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 17 Neil Voskeritchian Sr	Head coach Rick Neuheisel Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Heath Irwin	Guard	4	101	New England Patriots
Daryl Price	Defensive end	4	128	San Francisco 49ers
Bryan Stoltenberg	Center	6	192	San Diego Chargers
T. J. Cunningham	Defensive back	6	209	Seattle Seahawks
Kerry Hicks	Defensive tackle	7	234	Carolina Panthers

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