UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BUFFALOES / SPORTS INFORMATION SERVICE www.CUBuffs.com Fieldhouse Annex #50, 357 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0357 © 2008 CU Athletics Telephone 303/492-5626 (FAX: 303/492-3811; E-mail: [email protected]) David Plati (Associate AD/Sports Information), Andrew Green (Assistant SID), Troy Andre (Assistant SID/ Internet Managing Editor), COLORADO Linda Poncin (Assistant SID), Allie Musso (Assistant SID), Nick Bernal (Football Student Assistant). 2008 COLORADO BUFFALO Football Game 8 — MISSOURI TIGERS October 25 / 4:40 p.m. MDT / Faurot Field, Columbia, Mo. RELEASE NUMBER 8 (October 20, 2008) FSN (National) | KOA-RADIO | CUBUFFS.COM (Live Stats) QUICKLY SPEAKING… The Colorado Buffaloes (4-3, 1-2 Big 12) hit the conference road for the first of two straight away from Boulder, traveling to the furthest point east in the Big 12 to take on the Missouri Tigers (5-2, 1-2 Big 12) in a 5:40 p.m. central time kickoff (4:40 p.m. MDT) at Faurot Field in Columbia … This will be the ninth time in the 13-year history of the league that CU will play two straight on the road, with the Buffs splitting six of the previous pairs and being swept twice … The game will be televised nationally s part of a tripleheader on FSN, with Joel Meyers (play-by-play), Gary Reasons (analyst) and Emily Jones (sidelines) to be on hand to call the action … Colorado is coming off a 14-13 win over Kansas State; the Buffs held on to the 1-point lead for the last 25:49 of the game, the longest a CU had to do that for 72 years. It was also the longest any team in the country had to keep the opponent at bay with a 1- or 2-point lead this season (see research on page 5) … Missouri has dropped two in a row at the hands of the Nos. 1 and 17 teams in the nation (Oklahoma State two weekends ago, Texas last Saturday) … Colorado is 9-3-3 all-time on October 25, including a 31-24 upset win over No. 5 Missouri in 1969 … The Alamo, Gator and Holiday Bowls will be in attendance at the game … Folsom Field is one of 10 stadiums nationally in a USA Today competition for best stadium atmosphere, as selected for the newspaper by ABC’s Ed Cunningham … CU’s Nov. 1 at Texas A&M was not selected for television and thus will be available via radio only; seven of CU’s first eight games were on television this year, tied for the best in the conference … Plenty of good seats remain for CU’s final two home games, Iowa State (Nov. 8, Veteran’s Day) and Oklahoma State (Nov. 15, Senior Day); they can be purchased on line at CUBuffs.com, at TicketsWest outlets in all King Soopers stores, or by calling 303-49-BUFFS … Visit CUBuffs.com/gameday as your one stop for everything, including live stats for all games. DEPTH CHART ON PAGE 52, ROSTER ON PAGES 53-54 STAT OF THE WEEK Though Colorado’s offense has come under some scrutiny for its struggles, when it comes to big plays, CU’s defense has helped balance things out. The opponent has 22 plays of 20 yards or more, while CU has 19; the opponent has a slight edge in plays of 10 yards or more (87-83) and five yards or more (194--185). The difference is noticeable in two areas, plays for zero gain (134-100 in favor of CU) and negative plays (53-40, CU), as well as in a key stat on first down: CU has had 123 of 216 first down plays go for two yards or less(57 percent); the opponent has had that occur 88 times in 211 plays (42 percent). OBSCURE NOTE OF THE WEEK It was well documented that Kansas State mustered just a 3-for-15 performance on third down; the Wildcats came in ranked eighth in the nation in third down conversions at 49.3 percent and missed their last 11. But on second down, the Buff defense was even better: K-State was just of 2-of-18 converting second downs into firsts, the lone two makes both coming on 2nd-and-3 situations during the same second half drive. So combined, KSU was only 5-of-33 picking up a new set of downs on second or third down plays, a 15.2 percent conversion rate. HALL OF FAME QUOTE CU inducted its seventh class into its Athletic Hall of Fame on October 17; it was a memorable evening with many memorable quotes, but this one from Dave Logan (football/basketball, 1972-75) might have been the best: “Anyone who has ever run out behind the buffalo, there is a special bond and a special feeling. It is such a high to run out behind the buffalo that there’s nothing else that can match it in your life. Once you wear the black and gold, it’s black and gold forever.” 2008 COLORADO SCHEDULE & RESULTS (4-3, 1-2 BIG 12) 2008 Date CU* Opponent Opp* TV Result/Time Record Series This-N-That Aug. 31 NR Colorado State (N; Denver) NR FSN W 38-17 3-4 59-19-2 Smith 93 KOR, Hawkins TD runs and defensive effort (CSU: 258 yds) wins it SEPT. 6 NR EASTERN WASHINGTON NR none W 31-24 3-4 1`- 0-0 C.Brown’s 27 INT/TD return with 1:44 left rallies CU; Hawkins 3 TD passes SEPT. 18 NR WEST VIRGINIA 21 ESPN W 17-14 (OT) 4-2 1- 0-0 Buffs up 14-0 early, win it in first OT on Goodman 25 FG Sept. 27 NR Florida State (at Jacksonville) NR ABC L 21-39 5-1 0- 3-0 CU missed on early opportunities, FSU pulls away thanks to special teams OCT. 4 NR TEXAS (N; HC) 5 FSN L 14-38 7-0 7-10-0 Buffs sluggish on offense, late first half UT TD put ‘Horns up 21-0 Oct. 11 NR at Kansas 16 ESPN2 L 14-30 5-2 41-24-3 KU breaks open a 16-14 game with two fourth quarter scores OCT. 18 NR KANSAS STATE (FW) NR FSN W 14-13 4-3 44-19-1 Buffs rush for 247, CU forces KS into 6 3-and-outs, matching season total Oct. 25 NR at Missouri 16 FSN 4:40 p.m. 5-2 31-38-3 ‘07: Tigers score last 48 pts to hand CU third-worst home loss in history Nov. 1 at Texas A & M none 12:05 p.m. 2-5 5- 2-0 Last trip to College Station was wild 29-26 OT loss to Aggies in 2004 NOV. 8 IOWA STATE TBA TBA 2-5 47-14-1 CU 17-3 vs. Iowa State in Boulder since 1967, including 11 of last 12 NOV. 15 OKLAHOMA STATE TBA TBA 7-0 26-17-1 Last meeting in ’05, a 34-0 CU win, LB Burton returns pick 99 yards for TD Nov. 28 at Nebraska ABC 1:30 p.m. 4-3 18-46-2 Teams play one of six games in ’07 where both teams scored 50-plus Dec. 6 Big 12 Championship Game ABC 6:00 p.m. (Kansas City, Mo.) Colorado is 1-3 in Big 12 title games, winning in 2001 (All times mountain. KEY: —Big 12 Conference game; N—Night game; HC—Homecoming; FW—Family Weekend.) 2007 Colorado Football: The Media Page 2 MEDIA SERVICES ¾ Coach Dan Hawkins holds a Tuesday press luncheon in the Dal Ward Athletic Center, starting at 11:30 a.m. with lunch, followed by Hawkins beginning the interview session promptly at Noon. This year’s dates: Sept. 2-15 (Monday)-23-30, Oct. 7-14-21-28, Nov. 4-11-24 (Monday), Dec. 2-TBA (bowl). NOTE that there is no organized press luncheon on Sept. 9 or Nov. 18 (bye weeks). The press conference portion of the luncheon is streamed live on www.CUBuffs.com (in the BuffsTV area); all press conferences on CUBuffs.com are free and thus do not require access codes. ¾ Hawkins can be heard Mondays on the Big 12 Football Teleconference Call at 10:40 a.m. MT. All coaches participate; please call the Big 12 office (469-524-1007) for access (media only—you must register). A teleconference replay is available after 2 p.m. MT the same day by phone (706/634-1618) or on www.Big12sports.com. ¾ Video highlights of CU football games are available anytime provided by the Big 12 Conference through www.CollegePressBox.tv. Highlights will be in files in Quicktime format, with all available for viewing prior to downloading. First-time visitors will need to register on-line for access; information: contact Ted Gangi at 214/909- 9314 or [email protected]. Special requests can also be made through CU’s BuffVision (Deric Swanson or Eric Pelloni: 303-735-3637). ¾ The Colorado lockerroom (home and road) is closed after games; following the customary 10-minute cooling off period, players will be made available (a list of players will be solicited immediately following the game; no cutoff to request players). ¾ Colorado’s regular season football practices are closed to the general public (exception: Sundays) but are open to the media (exception: Thursdays). The 11th through 30th minute of practices (Sun-Tues-Wed) in-season are open for photography/video needs from the end zones and sidelines.