BOULDER, Colo. — Steven Montez hadn’t given a second thought to the color of the lanyard around his neck. For the Colorado quarterback, it was simply a carrier for his keys during his early days on campus.
Darian Hagan disagreed.
“He looks at me one time and says, ‘What’s that right there?’ ” Montez said, recalling the conversation with Colorado’s running backs coach. “I said, ‘My car keys.’ He said, ‘I’m talking about the lanyard. It’s red. We don’t wear red around here.’ I went and bought a white lanyard the next day.”
Advertisement
Montez can be forgiven if the history between Colorado and Nebraska isn’t ingrained into his brain. He was a 13-year-old kid growing up in El Paso, Texas the last time the Buffaloes and Cornhuskers played. His motivation for Saturday’s game — the first meeting of the old Big Eight/Big 12 rivals in eight years — isn’t tied up in some bitter resentment for a team he’s never faced.
Hagan, on the other hand, is a bridge between what the rivalry once was and what it is now: a matchup between two unfamiliar teams that missed out on the postseason last year, both trying to return to something at least resembling past glory.
Hagan was the quarterback during Colorado’s most storied victory in Lincoln, a 27-12 triumph in 1990 that propelled the Buffaloes to a national championship season. (Colorado shared the title that season with Georgia Tech.)
It was the first victory for the Buffaloes in Lincoln since 1967, and it came only after a cold, wet and frustrating day inside Memorial Stadium finally turned in the fourth quarter.
“We were going to fight until there were zeroes on the clock,” Hagan said. “That was just something our coaches instilled in us. Every time we ran sprints, we always said, ‘Fourth quarter!’ We just knew that in the fourth quarter, nobody was going to outwork us.”
With Colorado set to face Nebraska for the 70th time Saturday, The Athletic has constructed an oral history of that 1990 game, one of the most memorable events in the history of the series.
Consider it a lesson on why the color of your lanyard matters, Mr. Montez.
Colorado entered the game at 7-1-1 and ranked ninth in the nation. Nebraska was 8-0 and ranked third. Both were tied atop the Big Eight standings at 4-0, putting the winner on a clear path toward the conference title, a berth in the Orange Bowl and a potential shot at a national championship. The Buffaloes beat the Huskers in Boulder in 1989 and were trying to win back-to-back games in the series for the first time since the early 1960s.
Advertisement
Ariel Solomon, Colorado offensive tackle: The rivalry every year was so intense between CU and Nebraska, and especially that year. We had, for the first time, really turned the tables. We beat them three times during the five years I was there.
They were targeting us. We were the defending Big Eight champions. We were at the top of the conference going into that game, so the rivalry had even more importance in that timeframe. But it really didn’t matter what the records were, quite frankly. We had a lot of animosity toward each other.
Pat Tyrance, All-America linebacker for Nebraska: In 1986, Colorado had upset Nebraska in Boulder, when I was redshirting. That game, in part, put Nebraska on alert regarding the Colorado program. For years, it was Nebraska and Oklahoma. And then Colorado kind of crashed the party a little bit.
Kevin Guthrie, ESPN sideline reporter: I remember during the prep for the game, when you meet the coaching staffs, you could feel that energy. Nebraska was Tom Osborne, 25 seasons of dominance in the Big Eight. Colorado was the upstart. Bill McCartney always had a chip on his shoulder, it felt like. You could definitely tell there was no love lost between those two teams, and there was definitely an edgy energy to the game.
Weather was a looming figure in the game. The temperature at kickoff was 38 degrees. Sustained 25-mile-per-hour winds pounded the stadium. Steady rain created puddles on the field.
Mike Pritchard, Colorado wide receiver: The weather came in and affected our psyche. I’ve never played with weather that way. The wind was blowing and it was sleeting, and it was so cold that you couldn’t feel anything. Before the game, all I focused on was, “How am I going to stay warm?” And that was a lot of guys. We were getting dressed and it was like, “Hey, you gotta put on vaseline before you put on a plastic bag. And before you put on the plastic bag, make sure your clothes cover everything so nothing gets wet. So you want to put the plastic bag inside your socks.” Everything was focused on trying to stay warm, more so than the game.
Advertisement
Gregg Barrios, Nebraska kicker: When you’re a specialist, you have to be a little more cautious when you’re kicking so you don’t fall. You’re trying to maintain control over the ball.
Tyrance: It was the older AstroTurf. The fibers tended to lay in a particular direction, so the footing was very slick if you’re cutting or running in the direction of those fibers. It was very cold. It wasn’t snowing, but the rain was icy. This was before the Dri-Fit. So you’ve got thermals and you’re weighed down.
Solomon: I didn’t have any problem with the weather. I thought that the worse it got, the better it would be for us. The crowd, as it always was in Lincoln, was packed. It was wild. They weren’t very friendly toward us.
When Nebraska running back Leodis Flowers fumbled on the first possession, it became clear holding on to the ball would be a difficult task. Nebraska recovered from that opening miscue, but the Buffaloes weren’t so lucky. Colorado moved deep into Nebraska territory on its first drive, but running back Eric Bieniemy coughed the ball up at the 2-yard line. It was the first of three fumbles he lost through the first three quarters.
Guthrie: Both teams were losing the ball. It was really difficult. Bieniemy just happened to have the ball more than anybody else. The more you had the ball, the more you had a chance to fumble.
Pritchard: We go out there and start the game and we just can’t execute, even though we had a good game plan. We couldn’t execute because we were worried about staying warm. That led to me not holding onto a pass because I had too much equipment on. Eric couldn’t hold onto the ball because he has gloves on and he never really wears gloves. So it’s all this stuff.
A dropped pass by Pritchard midway through the first quarter stalled Colorado’s second big scoring opportunity, but the weather wasn’t the only problem plaguing the passing game for the Buffs. Kenny Walker, a native of Denver who is deaf, was wreaking havoc as Nebraska’s edge rush dynamo. His two sacks of Hagan in the first half quelled Colorado drives, and he routinely interfered with coach Bill McCartney’s stated intention to open up the team’s passing attack.
After his second sack, Walker turned his outstretched palms toward the Nebraska crowd, which mimicked the sign language gesture for applause.
Solomon: He was a fantastic story. He was amazingly quick, an amazing athlete. He was really having some success with pass rushing against our offensive line. His quickness was really exceptional.
Barrios: Kenny was just a phenomenal athlete, a guy who could take over a game. He was just a dominating defender. If he had been in the new 4-3 defense Nebraska switched to, as a rush end, I think he would have been unstoppable.
Advertisement
Tyrance: Kenny was a special player. When he came to Nebraska, he was a linebacker, initially. Because of his hearing impairment, he was moved to the defensive line. He had a great year. Certainly, with the weather conditions and the footing and his linebacker speed, he definitely had an advantage.
A second-quarter interception thrown by Hagan led to the second of two Barrios field goals in the first half. Nebraska led 6-0 but could have had a bigger cushion. Late in the second quarter, Colorado’s Dave McCloughan muffed a punt, but the ball took a fortuitous bounce for the Buffs and resulted in a touchback.
The Buffaloes averted more disaster when punter Tom Rouen, deep inside his own territory with less than two minutes left in the first half, leaped up to grab a high snap, preventing another turnover. Nebraska was in field-goal range in the final seconds of the first half, giving it a chance to take a two-possession lead. But Tim James intercepted a Mickey Joseph pass to end the drive and send Colorado into the locker room at halftime with a 6-0 deficit.
It was the fourth time during the season that Colorado trailed at halftime. To that point, Nebraska had outscored opponents 194-22 in the second half.
Pritchard: At halftime, we get in and we get to regroup ourselves. Basically, what we did is we said, “Screw it. We’re gonna be cold for 30 minutes. In order for us to win, we have to start focusing on the game.” So we just removed everything. I had just a T-shirt on under my pads. I took off my gloves; didn’t need my gloves. I said, “We just need to start focusing on playing the game.” That’s what we did.
In fact, we came out of the locker room from halftime early. We were standing on our sideline with five minutes left on the halftime clock because we were just so eager and mentally ready to play that second half. That was our mind-set. That needed to change, though, for us to win.
Barrios: We were sitting in a great position to have a chance at winning everything.
The start of the third quarter couldn’t have gone much worse for Colorado. On his second carry of the second half, Bieniemy fumbled for the second time. To that point, he had carried 22 times for just 55 yards to go with the two turnovers. Frustration was setting in.
Barrios: Bieniemy was a pretty tough running back, and we had him under control for a while.
Solomon: I remember being frustrated the game wasn’t more in our hands. It felt like we were just kind of beating ourselves.
Guthrie: Other guys would come by and tap (Bieniemy) and stuff, but he was frustrated and angry about it. It was like, “Woah, this guy is killing them.” They weren’t playing badly. They were moving the ball, but fumbles were hurting them. I do remember being there one time when he came off, and he was really angry and stormed off to the bench.
Advertisement
Bieniemy, in a postgame interview with Sports Illustrated: They told me, “Eric, we’ll open up holes for you. Just hold onto the football.”
The next sequence was a major turning point. Joseph, the Nebraska quarterback, took off on an option run near midfield, on the first play after Bieniemy’s fumble. The crowd shook Memorial Stadium as Joseph appeared to squeeze into the end zone. But referees ruled that he had stepped out of bounds at the 9-yard line.
The Colorado defense held, forcing Nebraska to attempt a 26-yard field goal from Barrios from the far right hash. The kicker hooked it wide, torpedoing a golden scoring opportunity.
Mike Gottfried, ESPN analyst, during the live broadcast: It looks to me like he’s inbounds. You see him tightrope the sidelines. I tell ya, it’s close.
Tyrance: Whether or not Mickey stepped out of bounds, it wasn’t an easy call to make for the refs. It could have gone either way. More than that, what hurt us was the missed field goal. To go from a potential touchdown to getting nothing out of that, when points were really hard to come by, that was a pretty big blow.
Barrios: That’s one of those ones I still wish I could get back today. Unfortunately, that was one of the turning points in that game. We were controlling the game. I missed that field goal and it felt like the momentum started changing from there.
Nebraska still managed to take a 12-0 lead minutes later when, after Bieniemy’s third lost fumble of the game, Joseph hit Johnny Mitchell with a 46-yard touchdown pass.
As the fourth quarter started, with the heavy wind now at Colorado’s back, the Buffaloes faced a third-and-long at the Nebraska 21-yard line.
Tyrance: It would be a very different story if it was similar to hockey, where you only play three periods instead of four.
Hagan: That year, our philosophy and our motto was the will to win. When you’re back is up against the wall and you’re playing against your rival in a hostile environment, you tend to pick your game up.
Guthrie: What I remember so well is that even though Colorado was making all these mistakes and they were behind and it was really brutal weather, they were super up the whole time, even when they were down 12-0. I would go back and forth to both sidelines, and the Colorado sideline wasn’t discouraged at all when they were behind.
Advertisement
Pritchard: It was the character of our team and the belief we were never out of it. We were family. That was one thing that helps you become champions, when you play for each other. There was frustration at times, certainly, but we stuck together. We believed in the defense and the defense believed in us. It was just a matter of getting everything synched up.
Mike Pritchard, shown in a 1989 game against Texas, was a first-round pick by the Falcons in the 1991 draft and played nine seasons in the NFL. (Photo by Getty Images)It finally all came together on that third-down play to open the fourth quarter. Pritchard ran a shake route, faking a post pattern before running back toward the front corner. He made the acrobatic catch at the 1-yard line to set up Bieniemy’s first of four, fourth-quarter touchdown runs.
Pritchard: What is crazy about that play is it was a back-to-back call. When the coaches called it the next time, and I ran a better route. Hagan was trying to take care of the ball and threw it high and away. For me, normally, I would have gone out and plucked it with my hands and caught it that way, but because of the weather I wasn’t sure I could do that. I thought the ball could squirt through my hands.
I wanted to be sure I caught it, so I went up and made sure I secured the ball with my body. On the way down, knowing you only need one foot inbounds in college, I just stretched my foot out as far as possible to make sure it was going to hit the ground first. Luckily, it did.
Solomon: Pritch made some amazing catches, especially in that weather. It was one thing to run the ball, but to throw it in that weather was tough. He made some incredible catches that really kept us in the game.
A sack by Joel Steed on Nebraska’s next drive multiplied the momentum. Another big catch by Pritchard on Colorado’s ensuing drive put the Buffaloes into scoring position. On a fourth-down run from the 2-yard line, Bieniemy officially atoned for his earlier sins by scoring the go-ahead touchdown.
Tyrance: Colorado was just pounding the ball. Their fullback, George Hemingway, he was just a beast. That was a big turning point in the game, once Colorado went ahead. It was one that we mentally had a tough time recovering from.
Pritchard: You could just see Nebraska become deflated at that point. And here we come, inflated and ready to win the game.
Midway through the fourth quarter, his team trailing 13-12, typically conservative Nebraska coach Osborne calls for a fake punt from his own 30-yard line, searching for some kind of spark to quell Colorado’s momentum.
Pritchard: A lot of it had to do with the wind. Even if they had punted it, he’s thinking they are going to give us great field position. They wanted to maintain possession of the ball, so that’s why they faked the punt. We had it so well scouted. (Defensive back) David Gibbs, he was aware of the situation. He was the one who called it out and were able to stop it.
Advertisement
Solomon: We always spent a lot of time on it. Coach McCartney coached a lot of the special teams personally, so they were always prepared. Anytime you see a fake, it’s somewhat unexpected, but that was a huge turning point. Rob Hutchins made a great tackle, and it kind of sealed the night.
Guthrie: The whole Nebraska sideline just deflated. You could feel it. They had probably never been behind that season, especially in Lincoln. The momentum Colorado had was just incredible.
A few plays after Colorado snuffed out the fake punt, Bieniemy rumbled into the end zone from 6 yards out, pushing the lead to 20-12. Alfred Williams, who would win the Butkus Award that season, then teamed up with Steed to wreck Nebraska’s last chance at a scoring drive, sacking Joseph on fourth down.
Bieniemy scored his fourth touchdown in 13 minutes for good measure, and the celebration was on.
Linebacker Kanavis McGhee starts to celebrate toward the end of Colorado’s 27-12 win over Nebraska. (Photo courtesy of the University of Colorado athletics)Bieniemy, in a postgame interview with Sports Illustrated: Fortunately, I could come back (from the fumbles) and do something great.
Pritchard: As we started to realize we were going to win the game and go on to the Orange Bowl, you forgot the coats and forgot how cold it was and just started celebrating. You get into the locker room and start to celebrate, but at the same time you couldn’t wait to take that hot shower. The enthusiasm and the fact that we were winning made everything better. It made the weather tolerable.
Solomon: We were totally elated. We were confident in ourselves, but we had a tougher-than-expected season. We tied the first game, dropped a game at Illinois. There was the fifth-down game at Missouri. We had had quite a season. So going up against Nebraska and Oklahoma, those were huge games for us. There was a huge celebration in the locker room.
Barrios: That fourth quarter turns disastrous for us against Colorado. Then we go get beat up by Oklahoma, which wasn’t having a great season. They weren’t having a great season at all, but they really beat us badly. That messed us up for the bowl game. We played the other national champion in that game, and they really took it to us too. It was one of those things where stuff just started to go downhill from that point.
Guthrie: Colorado played like they deserved to win that game. Their mentality on the sideline was, “We’re deserving of this.” And they were.
Bill McCartney this week pleaded for two minutes with Colorado’s current crop of players. That’s all the time he would need to convey the importance of Saturday’s renewal of a rivalry.
Advertisement
The former coach of the Buffaloes arrived in Boulder in 1982 and made it a point to target Nebraska as the school’s chief rival, even though Colorado had not won a game in the rivalry in 15 years.
“When you get kids between 18 and 22, you have to give them targets to shoot at,” McCartney said. “You can’t just give them a big picture. You gotta say, ‘Trust me, we’re going to keep getting better and better, and when we got to Lincoln we’re going to hit ’em in the mouth.’ ”
The 78-year-old McCartney still speaks from a place of passion about the rivalry because he saw the profound impact it had on both programs. After winning the 1990 game, Colorado trounced Oklahoma State and Kansas State and then edged Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl to earn a share of the national title.
Nebraska, meanwhile, cratered to end the 1990 season, finishing 24th in the country. But that set the stage for changes Osborne made to his program that resulted in three national championships over the next seven years.
So, yeah, McCartney still feels some kind of way about what’s set to take place Saturday afternoon.
“I’d rather be dead,” he said, “than red.”
(Top photo of Eric Bieniemy: Courtesy University of Colorado athletics)
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57lGlsbXBkZH9xfZdoZ3JnYGt8orqMqKmapF2dtrTAzquwZqeWYrCwuM6rmJ2no2LEpsCMsKClnF2Wu6V5zKilrqWVo8GiuIxqcHJoXau2pMDOq7BmmaRiu6au0ZqqpJlf