(CU Independent illustration/Adam Milner)
OPINION-Sometimes a change of scenery proves necessary for the survival of a species.
As the Buffaloes take their “Great Migration” westward to the Pacific-10 Conference, leaving the likes of the Longhorns for the Ducks, it is obvious the timing could not be better.
Fifteen years after giving birth to the Big 12 Conference, a super-conference of its day, CU bolts with five consecutive losing seasons glaring back in its rearview mirror. Stains of failure and embarrassment left over from the coaching eras of Hawkins and Barnett, will no doubt follow the Buffs.
Even still, a good beginning in a new habitat will allow rookie head coach Jon Embree, the freedom of a clean slate. He has the ability and the obligation to create history for his alma matter, either to return his program to supremacy or to become effectively extinct with any further ineptness.
Before CU football leaves for its uncertain future in the Pac-10, it is worth taking the time to recall how the Buffs got to this point.
Championships
The Good: As far-off as the idea may seem now, there was once a time when CU was a virtual lock to compete for the Big 12 Championship. In a five-season stretch from 2001 until 2005, the Buffs played in four conference championship games. Lead by former Head Coach Gary Barnett, the Buffs won the North Division in 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005. In its first time playing in the Big 12 Championship, CU outdid Texas 39-37 to claim the conference crown.
The Bad: CU lost three of those four championship games. Did I say lost? In an embarrassing feat, the Buffs were outscored 141 – 16 in their last three appearances in the Big 12 Conference Championship. Twice it was Oklahoma who beat CU. Then in 2005, it was Texas and Vince Young who throttled the Buffs 70-3 on their way to winning the National Championship.
The Ugly: Following that blowout loss to Texas, Athletic Director Mike Bohn fired Barnett. The firing obviously had less to do with on-the-field matters than what was going on off the field. A year prior, allegations circulated that coaches and players used booze and strippers to persuade recruits into attending Boulder. A circus of media and community came down upon the coach with a fury of criticism. Barnett also came under fire when he made disparaging remarks of female kicker Katie Hnida, saying that no one wanted her on the team.
Games
The Good: In 2001 the 14th ranked Buffs literally ran over No. 2 Nebraska 62-36. The stable of Chris Brown and Maurice Purify ran for 352 yards and seven touchdowns to end the rival Huskers’ national championship hopes. That win also ended a six-year losing drought to Nebraska, who will also leave the Big 12 this fall. Both Colorado and Nebraska have an open slot on their schedule for September 10.
The Bad: Dan Hawkins’ first game as Buffs head man proved an ominous sign of nightmares to come. CU lost to Montana State 10-19 in Boulder. Montana State was a mediocre Division 1-AA team that year, finishing 8-5 with a schedule consisting of Chadron State, Weber State, and Furman. The Buffs schedule obviously did not get any easier as they wound up 2-10 in Hawks’ debut season.
The Ugly: For the ill fated November game that finally ended the drawn out and confused career of Dan Hawkins at Colorado, the Buffs held a 45-17 lead over a terrible Kansas team in the fourth quarter. Then they lost. The Jayhawks scored five touchdowns in a hazy mess of Buff blunders. A few days later Hawkins was fired for reasons that one could only describe as incompetent coaching.
Players
The Good: Here we have a toss up between a running back and a kicker.
The former, tailback Chris Brown, led the Big 12 in rushing during his 2002 junior campaign. His 1,841 yards and 19 touchdowns propelled him into a finalist spot for the Doak Walker Award. Brown also set the school record for most touchdowns in a game (6) against Nebraska. After playing only two seasons in Boulder, the junior college transfer is still fifth all-time on the school’s all-time rushing leaders.
Colorado’s all-time leading scorer (by a wide margin) is Mason Crosby. He once kicked a 60-yard field goal versus Iowa State and a 58-yard field goal at Miami, which remains the longest kick at sea level in FBS history.
Crosby holds nearly every major kicking record at the school. Sporting News recently named him the best collegiate kicker of the decade. And if his football life couldn’t get any better, Crosby is about to play in Super Bowl XLV as the starting kicker for Green Bay.
The Bad: It was the summer of 2008 and rumblings of a sensational freshman running back had already made their way throughout Boulder. That kid from California, Darrell Scott, expected to factor heavily into a Dan Hawkins offense needing some playmakers.
Less than two years later, Scott hit the road citing lack of playing time as his grounds for departure. He eventually wound up at the University of South Florida and is eligible to play next year for the Bulls.
Scott’s career marks of 438 yards and a single touchdown at CU will not be remembered for long. However, the unreal expectations that those around the program had for him, will live on through the next big-time freshman steps on campus.
The Ugly: Police recently arrested former linebacker Michael Sipili with accusation of raping a 22-year old woman. Entering as a highly touted recruit from Hawaii, Sipili led the defense with 94 tackles his senior season, but encountered frequent run-ins with the law throughout his time in Boulder.
Other names could have gone here, but he is the latest in a line of CU players arrested for sexual assault, ever since the 2003 fiasco where numerous women came out and claimed members of the football team assaulted them.
Sure, CU’s 2000’s were an odd mixture of troubled shame and humble triumph. But as the Buffs charge west to the Pac-12 to begin a new life in a semi-new conference, expect things to change.
For better or for worse.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Michael Krumholtz at Michael.krumholtz@colorado.edu.
