1971 Colorado Buffaloes football team

1971 Colorado Buffaloes football
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl champion
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, W 29–17 vs. Houston
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 3
Record	10–2 (5–2 Big 8)
Head coach	Eddie Crowder (9th season)
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Claiborne (1st season)
MVP	Cliff Branch
Captain	Brian Foster, Bill Kralicek, Herb Orvis
Home stadium	Folsom Field

1971 Big Eight Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Nebraska $	7	–	0	–	0			13	–	0	–	0
No. 2 Oklahoma	6	–	1	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 3 Colorado	5	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Iowa State	4	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Kansas State	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Oklahoma State	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Kansas	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Missouri	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1971 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the Big Eight Conference during the 1971 NCAA University Division football season. Led by ninth-year head coach Eddie Crowder, the Buffaloes were 9–2 in the regular season (5–2 in Big 8, third), and played their home games on campus at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.

Invited to the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl against host Houston, seventh-ranked Colorado defeated the #15 Cougars 29–17 to finish at 10–2, outscoring their opponents 320–220. The Buffs climbed to third in the final AP poll, behind Nebraska and Oklahoma, also of the Big Eight (and their only two losses, both on the road).

Colorado's next bowl win came nineteen years later. This was the first season of artificial turf at Folsom Field; natural grass returned 28 years later in 1999.

In his only season in Boulder, Jerry Claiborne was the defensive coordinator, previously the head coach for a decade at Virginia Tech. He left to become head coach at Maryland for a decade, then at his alma mater Kentucky for eight years.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	at No. 9 LSU*		Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA		W 31–21	70,099
September 18	Wyoming*	No. 12	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 56–13	40,729
September 25	at No. 6 Ohio State*	No. 10	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 20–14	85,538
October 2	Kansas State	No. 6	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry)		W 31–21	47,740
October 9	at Iowa State	No. 5	Clyde Williams Field Ames, IA		W 24–14	31,535
October 16	at No. 2 Oklahoma	No. 6	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		L 17–45	61,826
October 23	Missouri	No. 11	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 27–7	45,129
October 30	at No. 1 Nebraska	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	ABC	L 7–31	67,776
November 6	at Kansas	No. 13	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS		W 35–14	35,299
November 13	Oklahoma State	No. 12	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 40–6	40,211
November 20	Air Force*	No. 10	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 53–17	46,362
December 31	vs. No. 15 Houston*	No. 7	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX (Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl)	ABC	W 29–17	54,720
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1971 Colorado Buffaloes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 8 Rich Bland WR 23 Cliff Branch Sr WR 42 Larry Brunson TE 89 J.V. Cain So RB 26 Charlie Davis QB 10 Joe Duenas OL 77 Greg Horton RB Jon Keyworth OL 63 Bill Kralicek OL 61 Chuck Mandrill RB 41 Bo Matthews So OL 50 Bill McDonald QB 7 Ken Johnson TE 82 Bob Masten WR S. Mendez WR 39 Willie Nichols RB 32 John Tarver RB L. Thomas WR Marv Whitaker OL 79 Jake Zumbach	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL 85 Stu Aldrich DB 16 Cullen Bryant LB 64 Lenny Ciufo DL 73 Mark Cooney LB 51 Billie Drake DB 18 Brian Foster LB 15 Randy Geist DL 49 Chris Havens DL Rick Kay LB 71 Bud Magrum LB 58 Dave Orvis DT 88 Herb Orvis DB 27 Lorne Richardson DL 55 John Stavely DB John Stearns DL Carl Taibi	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K J.B. Dean	Head coach Eddie Crowder (9th year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Jerry Claiborne (DC) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Source:

Game summaries

Ohio State

See also: 1971 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

Colorado Buffaloes at Ohio State Buckeyes

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Colorado	6	7	0	7	20
Ohio St	0	0	0	14	14

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

• Date: September 25, 1971
• Game time: 1:30 p.m.
• Game weather: Cloudy, 64 °F (18 °C)
• Game attendance: 85,586
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter COL – Ken Johnson 6-yard run (kick failed), 6:51. Colorado 6–0. Drive: 10 plays, 71 yards. Second quarter COL – Cliff Branch 68-yard punt return (J.B. Dean kick), 10:49. Colorado 13–0. Fourth quarter OSU – Don Lamka 1-yard run (Fred Schram kick), 4:28. Colorado 13–7. Drive: 7 plays, 43 yards. COL – Ken Johnson 39-yard run (J.B. Dean kick), 3:30. Colorado 20–7. Drive: 3 plays, 45 yards. OSU – Rick Middleton 14-yard pass from Don Lamka (Fred Schram kick), 2:11. Colorado 20–14. Drive: 5 plays, 77 yards. Top passers COL – Ken Johnson – 4/9, 97 yards, 2 INT OSU – Don Lamka – 20/33, 255 yards, TD Top rushers COL – Charlie Davis – 18 rushes, 135 yards OSU – Don Lamka – 23 rushes, 60 yards, TD Top receivers COL – Willie Nichols – 2 receptions, 61 yards OSU – Dick Wakefield – 11 receptions, 172 yards

Oklahoma State

• Charles Davis 342 rush yards (conference record)

NFL Draft

Two Buffaloes were selected in the 1972 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Herb Orvis	Defensive tackle	1	16	Detroit Lions
Cliff Branch	Wide receiver	4	98	Oakland Raiders