Walter Stanley
Flashback To 1981: Stanley Wrecked Texas Tech
October 03, 2026 | Football
        The '81 season opener for both Colorado and Texas Tech took place on September 12, a sunny, 84-degree day at Folsom Field.  The Red Raiders were 5-6 in 1980, while the Buffaloes had finished 1-10 under second-year head coach Chuck Fairbanks.   Tech entered as a 6½-point favorite.
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        Wingback Walter Stanley had shown flashes of what he could be as a freshman, gaining 839 all-purpose yards in 1980, averaging 9.9 per touch; his highlight was a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Oklahoma. He had over 2,300 career yards as a prep at Chicago's South Shore High School.
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        After the Buff defense held Tech to three plays and a punt, which carried 65 yards to the Buff 5, CU earned a first down and then after a delay of game penalty, had a 3rd-and-12 from its own 13. So it came as no surprise that Stanley scored CU's first touchdown of the season, hauling in an 87-yard touchdown pass from Randy Essington.Â
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        The 87 yards matched the longest pass play at the time at CU, as in 1952, Zack Jordan and Frank Bernardi teamed for touchdown at Kansas. It also tied the sixth-longest play from scrimmage. To this day, it remains the longest play from scrimmage for CU's first score of any season; the only longer ones were returns, Gale Weidner with a pick-six at Washington in 1959 and a Bill Harris 97-yard kickoff return versus Utah in 1962.
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        Tech tied the game late in the first quarter, recovering a CU fumble in the end zone. The Buffaloes would then score 38 unanswered points, first with three long touchdowns in the second quarter, two involving Stanley. After trading punts, CU had a 2nd-and-6 from its 26, and Essington found Stanley again for a 74-yard touchdown catch and run.Â
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        Stanley thus became the first Buff to have two receptions over 70 yards in the same game.    Â
        After Essington threw his third TD pass, this one covering 35 yards to Ricky Ward with 5:47 left in the half, the Buff defense stuffed the Raiders back to their own 16 where on a 4th-and-25, booted a 54-yard punt to – guess who – Stanley, who fielded the ball at his own 30, cut to his right and raced 70 yards along the east sidelines for his third score of the half.
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        Those three touchdowns by Stanley, which added to 231 yards, helped the Buffs to a 28-7 halftime lead.Â
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        Derek Singleton's 30-yard TD run was the only scoring in the third quarter as the Buffs extended their lead to 35-7, and Jerry Hamilton's 39-yard field goal and a 3-yard TD run by Lee Rouson closed the scoring for the Buffs. Tech scored 20 points in the final 12 minutes to reduce the final score to 45-27, as Colorado won its season opener for the first time since 1979 and beat the Red Raiders for the first time in three meetings.              Â
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        When all was said and done, Stanley had 13 touches for 337 all-purpose yards: five receptions for 222, four rushes for 28 and four punt returns for 87. The 337 yards were the fourth-most in CU history, and bested only once since, when Rashaan Salaam had 362 (317 rushing, 45 receiving) at Texas in 1994 – the game that thrust him fully into candidacy for the Heisman Trophy.
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        Essington completed 13-of-20 passes for 345 yards and three touchdowns, which at the time was the top single-game rating for a quarterback (229.9) using the NCAA's rating system.
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SERIES NOTABLES: The two schools will meet for just the 12th time Saturday, with CU holding a 6-5 edge in previous games (4-1 in Boulder) … In CU's 19-17 win in Boulder in 1998, Jeremy Aldrich kicked four field goals (27, 19, 28 and 17 yards), the first Buff to do it three times in a game; he's the only one to do it on four occasions … The Buffs' 30-6 win over Tech in 2006 was the first win for first-year CU head coach Dan Hawkins … Clyde Surrell set the school record for unassisted tackles by a cornerback in a game (15) in a 37-13 romp over the Red Raiders in 2002 … In a 31-26 win at Texas Tech in 2007, cornerback Terrence Wheatley intercepted three passes, the eighth Buff to pick off that many in a game, a feat not repeated since. Â
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        Wingback Walter Stanley had shown flashes of what he could be as a freshman, gaining 839 all-purpose yards in 1980, averaging 9.9 per touch; his highlight was a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Oklahoma. He had over 2,300 career yards as a prep at Chicago's South Shore High School.
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        After the Buff defense held Tech to three plays and a punt, which carried 65 yards to the Buff 5, CU earned a first down and then after a delay of game penalty, had a 3rd-and-12 from its own 13. So it came as no surprise that Stanley scored CU's first touchdown of the season, hauling in an 87-yard touchdown pass from Randy Essington.Â
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        The 87 yards matched the longest pass play at the time at CU, as in 1952, Zack Jordan and Frank Bernardi teamed for touchdown at Kansas. It also tied the sixth-longest play from scrimmage. To this day, it remains the longest play from scrimmage for CU's first score of any season; the only longer ones were returns, Gale Weidner with a pick-six at Washington in 1959 and a Bill Harris 97-yard kickoff return versus Utah in 1962.
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        Tech tied the game late in the first quarter, recovering a CU fumble in the end zone. The Buffaloes would then score 38 unanswered points, first with three long touchdowns in the second quarter, two involving Stanley. After trading punts, CU had a 2nd-and-6 from its 26, and Essington found Stanley again for a 74-yard touchdown catch and run.Â
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        Stanley thus became the first Buff to have two receptions over 70 yards in the same game.    Â
        After Essington threw his third TD pass, this one covering 35 yards to Ricky Ward with 5:47 left in the half, the Buff defense stuffed the Raiders back to their own 16 where on a 4th-and-25, booted a 54-yard punt to – guess who – Stanley, who fielded the ball at his own 30, cut to his right and raced 70 yards along the east sidelines for his third score of the half.
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        Those three touchdowns by Stanley, which added to 231 yards, helped the Buffs to a 28-7 halftime lead.Â
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        Derek Singleton's 30-yard TD run was the only scoring in the third quarter as the Buffs extended their lead to 35-7, and Jerry Hamilton's 39-yard field goal and a 3-yard TD run by Lee Rouson closed the scoring for the Buffs. Tech scored 20 points in the final 12 minutes to reduce the final score to 45-27, as Colorado won its season opener for the first time since 1979 and beat the Red Raiders for the first time in three meetings.              Â
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        When all was said and done, Stanley had 13 touches for 337 all-purpose yards: five receptions for 222, four rushes for 28 and four punt returns for 87. The 337 yards were the fourth-most in CU history, and bested only once since, when Rashaan Salaam had 362 (317 rushing, 45 receiving) at Texas in 1994 – the game that thrust him fully into candidacy for the Heisman Trophy.
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        Essington completed 13-of-20 passes for 345 yards and three touchdowns, which at the time was the top single-game rating for a quarterback (229.9) using the NCAA's rating system.
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SERIES NOTABLES: The two schools will meet for just the 12th time Saturday, with CU holding a 6-5 edge in previous games (4-1 in Boulder) … In CU's 19-17 win in Boulder in 1998, Jeremy Aldrich kicked four field goals (27, 19, 28 and 17 yards), the first Buff to do it three times in a game; he's the only one to do it on four occasions … The Buffs' 30-6 win over Tech in 2006 was the first win for first-year CU head coach Dan Hawkins … Clyde Surrell set the school record for unassisted tackles by a cornerback in a game (15) in a 37-13 romp over the Red Raiders in 2002 … In a 31-26 win at Texas Tech in 2007, cornerback Terrence Wheatley intercepted three passes, the eighth Buff to pick off that many in a game, a feat not repeated since. Â
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Sunday, September 27
Sunday, September 27
