1985 Colorado Buffaloes football team

1985 Colorado Buffaloes football
Freedom Bowl, L 17–20 vs. Washington
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Record	7–5 (4–3 Big 8)
Head coach	Bill McCartney (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Gerry DiNardo (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Wishbone
Defensive coordinator	Lou Tepper (3rd season)
Base defense	3–4
MVP	Dan McMillen
Captains	Junior Illi Barry Remington
Home stadium	Folsom Field (Capacity: 51,463)

1985 Big Eight Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Oklahoma $	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 11 Nebraska	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Oklahoma State	4	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Colorado	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Iowa State	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Kansas	2	–	5	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Kansas State	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
Missouri	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1985 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder during the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. Colorado earned its first bowl invitation since 1976 and won the NCAA Most Improved Team Award.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 7	Colorado State*	Folsom Field Boulder, Colorado (Rocky Mountain Showdown)	KCNC	W 23–10	40,665
September 14	Oregon*	Folsom Field Boulder, Colorado		W 21–17	30,373
September 21	No. 7 Ohio State*	Folsom Field Boulder, Colorado		L 13–36	47,022
September 28	at Arizona*	Arizona Stadium Tucson, Arizona		W 14–13	45,503
October 12	Missouri	Folsom Field Boulder, Colorado		W 38–7	38,604
October 19	at Iowa State	Cyclone Stadium Ames, Iowa		W 40–6	41,215
October 26	at No. 5 Nebraska	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska (rivalry)	ABC	L 7–17	76,014
November 2	No. 12 Oklahoma State	Folsom Field Boulder, Colorado	Raycom	L 11–14	35,860
November 9	at Kansas	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, Kansas		W 14–3	25,000
November 16	at No. 7 Oklahoma	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, Oklahoma		L 0–31	74,145
November 23	Kansas State	Folsom Field Boulder, Colorado	KCNC	W 30–0	28,210
December 23	vs. Washington*	Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, California (Freedom Bowl)	Lorimar	L 17–20	30,961
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Kansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colorado	7	0	0	7	14
Kansas	0	3	0	0	3

• Attendance: 25,000
• COL - Pruitt 27 yard interception return (Eckel kick)
• KAN - Johnson 36 yard field goal
• COL - Hatcher 5 yard run (Eckel kick)
• Passing: COL Hatcher 1/6, 11 Yds, KAN Norseth 22/41, 256 Yds, INT
• Rushing: COL Weatherspoon 16/65, KAN H. Fields 7/24
• Receiving: COL Smith 1/11, KAN Estell 8/126