Plati-'Tudes Shorts: Top Game 9's

Plati-'Tudes Short No. 9 ... The ninth installment of CU's best or most exciting football games in its history as to when they occurred in week nine of any season. We're running these over the second half of the spring -- many are obvious, a few obscure, and no doubt some up for debate. So here are the best "game nine" games in our history in my humble opinion:

GAME 9's

#1—1989: Colorado 27, Nebraska 21 in Boulder.
Likely if not easily the most anticipated game at Folsom Field since No. 2 Oklahoma visited in 1972. CU came in at No. 2 in the Associated Press poll, Nebraska at No. 3 (reversed in the UPI/Coaches ballot), with the battle between 8-0 teams set to be televised by CBS. Nebraska picked off a CU pass on the fourth play of the game, and in what would become nothing short of amazing, scored on its first offensive play of the game the first of four times over the next 11 games in the series, this time on a 51-yard screen pass. After trading punts, CU took over on its own 30, setting up one of the greatest plays in program history: Darian Hagan took the snap and ran the option over the left side … with J.J. Flannigan within his eyesight, trailing the play by a couple of yards as the two raced down the west side of Folsom. At the Nebraska 40, Hagan flipped the ball to Flannigan who took it the rest of the way to tie the game at 7; CU never trailed again. After the defense held Nebraska to a three-and-out, Jeff Campbell fielded the punt at the CU 47, cut right and scampered 47 yards to the NU 4; three plays later, Hagan scored on a 1-yard run and just like that it was 14-7. The Huskers tied the game two drives later, and then CU took the lead for good right before halftime on a 49-yard field goal by Ken Culbertson. Early in the third quarter, Campbell was at it again, returning a punt 55 yards to the NU 19; Flannigan then popped it in from 2 yards out six plays later and CU had a 10-point edge at 24-14. NU sliced it back to three (24-21) late in the third, and Culbertson closed the scoring with a 28-yard three with 8:47 to play. CU withstood a pair of Nebraska fourth quarter threats including a desperation pass on the game's final play as the win gave CU sole possession of the Big Eight lead in November for the first time since 1961. NU won the total offense battle, 397-227, but CU had a 108-23 edge in return yards. Flannigan (96 yards) and Hagan (86) paced CU's offensive attack, while Michael Jones (15 tackles) and Bruce Young (11) led the Buffs on defense. The victory propelled CU to an 11-0 regular season mark, the No. 1 final regular season ranking and a berth against defending national champion Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl. The CBS broadcast closed with a portion of a letter that the late Sal Aunese penned to the team followed by a camera shot of the sky panning down back into Folsom Field.

Runner-Up —1923: Colorado 6, Colorado A&M 3 at Fort Collins.
The then-Silver & Gold entered the final game of the season with an 8-0 record and were gunning for its first nine-win season in the 34-year history of the program. Both teams entered undefeated in league play, CU at 7-0 and Colorado A&M at 5-0-1. Yearbook accounts billed it as one of the greatest crowds in state football history at Colorado Field in Fort Collins that gathered that Thanksgiving Day (estimated at around 7,000). The Aggies had two weeks off to prepare for CU (they played one less game that year) while Colorado came in with five key players nursing major injuries. Neither team was able to score a touchdown, so it came down to field goals. Art Quinlan gave the Silver & Gold a 3-0 lead in the first quarter with a 28-yard field goal, but A&M tied it in the second on a 20-yard drop kick by Jack Houser. Both would go on to miss three kicks in the second half, and the game look destined for a 3-3 tie. With two minutes left, CU forced A&M to punt that Quinlan fielded at the 12 and returned it 63 yards to the Aggie 25. Quinlan and Fred Hartshorn worked the ball to the A&M 3, where Quinlan dropped back to kick, but it was blocked; the rules of the day allowed the following to happen: Quinlan recovered the blocked ball, tried to score, was rebuffed, then dropped back and kicked again, this time it good from roughly 12 yards out with 45 seconds left. The win gave Colorado its first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title in 10 years and a perfect 9-0 record for the season.

Honorable Mention—1951: Colorado 36, Nebraska 14 at Lincoln.
The first televised game in program history, with Bill Stern and Ray Michael behind the microphones for the independent broadcast, but not shown locally—KWGN-TV debuted the following year as the state's first TV station, first-known as KFEL-TV (Stern at one time was a household name and was an inaugural member of the Sportscasters Hall of Fame). The game has some importance, a CU win would guarantee its best finish since joining the Big Seven (second) and a 7-win season for the first time since 1942; Nebraska was 2-6, one win a 1-0 verdict over Kansas State (yes, 1-0, the forfeit score back then). After spotting the Cornhuskers a 7-0 lead, CU reeled off the next 29 points on touchdown runs by Carroll Hardy and Roger Williams that sandwiched two Zack Jordan TD passes to Chuck Mosher and Hugh Davidson. Hardy added a second TD run with 9:45 left in the game to close the scoring, as CU outgained NU, 418-225, including 308-125 on the ground. Hardy carried 11 times for 107 yards and Merwin Hodel 21 times for 103, marking the first (known) game in program history where two players gained 100 or more yards rushing. Jordan completed 6-of-8 passes for 110 yards and the two scores, which if existed then, would have been a school record single-game passer rating of 273.0.

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