Colorado Football: Revisiting Buffs last bowl game

Yes, Buffs fans, the wait has been long and excruciating. It has been nearly nine years since the Colorado Buffaloes played in a bowl game. That has been a tough pill to swallow for fans of the school, particularly after being spoiled with championship runs during the Bill McCartney era.

That will all come to an end this season as the Buffs are off to an 8-2 start and are guaranteed a postseason appearance. The bowl they play in is yet to be decided, but after such a long drought, Buffs fans will likely be excited to see them play in any bowl game.

That got us at Glory Colorado to thinking about the last appearance in a bowl game the school made. The date was December 30, 2007. It was the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana and the opponent was Alabama. Nick Saban was the coach, but this was just prior to him turning that university into a national powerhouse year in and year out.

This was back when Dan Hawkins coached Colorado and his son, Cody, was the team’s quarterback. Both teams entered the game with identical 6-6 records, but one of them would jump out to a big, early lead.

So let’s take a look back, quarter-by-quarter, at this game.

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Alabama got the ball first and it didn’t take the Crimson Tide long to put the first points on the scoreboard.

John Parker Wilson was Alabama’s quarterback and along with running back Glenn Coffey, the Tide was able to take the ball down the field to set up a 41-yard field goal by Leigh Tiffin.

Alabama went up 3-0, and on Colorado’s first offensive play from scrimmage, Cody Hawkins was intercepted by linebacker Rolando McClain, who returned the ball all the way to the Colorado 15-yard line. That set up another Tiffin field goal. The Buffs were down 6-0, but had to be happy it wasn’t more.

On Colorado’s next series, the team faced fourth-and-2 from the Alabama 45-yard line. Looking to be aggressive, the elder Hawkins decided to go for it. Running back Byron Ellis was stoned for no gain on the play.

With good field position in front of them, Alabama went down the field again but this time, the Tide found the end zone. Wilson hit Keith Brown with a 15-yard strike. Things were not looking good for CU.

It would get worse. On their next series, the Buffs went three-and-out and punted. Alabama needed just five plays to find the end zone again, this time with Wilson finding Matt Caddell for a 34-yard touchdown pass. It was 20-0 and yes, this is still the first quarter.

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Down by 20 points, the Buffs went three-and-out again on their next drive. Their ensuing punt traveled just 24 yards.

Starting at their own 35-yard line, Wilson hit Caddell twice for 30 yards as Alabama moved into Colorado territory again. Facing a 3rd-and-6 from the Colorado 31-yard line, Wilson found Nikita Stover for a long touchdown. 27-0.

The Buffs needed to do something as this game was getting way out of hand. On their next possession, running back Hugh Charles rattled off a 21-yard run, the team’s biggest play of the game to that point, but the drive still stalled out and Colorado had to punt.

Alabama got the ball back and Wilson was using the short pass to perfection, moving the ball against the Colorado defense with ease. But with just under six minutes until halftime, Wilson was picked off by Ryan Walters who then raced the other way for 35 yards. Would this be the play that turned the game?

After hitting Scotty McKnight for 25 yards, Cody Hawkins found Tyson Devree on a 4-yard touchdown pass to finally put Colorado on the board. The Buffs then forced a punt and got the ball back with just over one minute until halftime.

Cody Hawkins hit Devree on two more passes before finding Dusty Sprague in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown pass with just four ticks left on the clock. Suddenly, we had a brand new ball game.

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The Buffs were back in the game and they had the Crimson Tide on their heels. However, Colorado’s first drive of the second half went 10 plays and resulted in no points when kicker Kevin Eberhart missed a 48-yard field goal.

After forcing an Alabama punt, the Buffs put together their best drive of the game. Highlighted by a 27-yard run by Charles, the Buffs went 76 yards on 14 plays. Cody Hawkins completed several key passes and the Buffs got three more points when Eberhart booted a 39-yard field goal.

Colorado was now down just 10 points.

Two plays later, Caddell caught a pass but had the ball stripped out of his hands. Colorado’s Cha’pelle Brown recovered the fumble. However, the Buffs were unable to do anything with it and facing a fourth-and-16 from the Bama 36-yard line, Dan Hawkins elected to punt rather than attempt a field goal of over 50 yards.

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We enter the final frame and after the two teams trade punts, Cody Hawkins threw a terrible pass that was intercepted by Darren Mustin deep in Colorado territory.

With the ball at their 22-yard line, the CU defense did an excellent job to hold Alabama to a field goal. Tiffin was good from 26 yards out to give the Tide a little more breathing room.

With just over four minutes to play and down two scores, Cody Hawkins knew he needed to make something happen. He started with a 27-yard pass to Devree before hitting Patrick Williams for a 28-yard gain. The Buffs were already down to the 14-yard line of Alabama and three plays later, Devree caught his second touchdown of the game. Colorado had trimmed the deficit to six points after being down by 27.

With 3:51 left to play, Colorado elected to kick the ball and play defense. Alabama put together a solid drive in which they converted a 3rd-and-7 when Wilson scrambled for 10 yards. Alabama was able to evaporate nearly every second off the clock, but Colorado got the ball back for one final play.

With just one second left on the clock, the Buffs completed a pass and tried to lateral it around. You never see that work, and it didn’t here either. Alabama was able to escape with a 30-24 victory.

It was a tough loss for the Buffs, especially considering the team hasn’t played in a bowl game since. But seeing the way the team fought back on that day reminds us of the fighting spirit that the current squad embodies.

It’s been a long, tough road to return to prominence, but the Buffs will play in a bowl game again soon and that…. that is something we can all look forward to.