1994 Colorado Buffaloes football team

1994 Colorado Buffaloes football
Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 41–24 vs. Notre Dame
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 3
Record	11–1 (6–1 Big 8)
Head coach	Bill McCartney (13th season)
Offensive coordinator	Elliot Uzelac (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Single set back
Defensive coordinator	Mike Hankwitz (7th season)
Base defense	3–4
MVP	Kordell Stewart
Captains	Christian Fauria Chris Hudson
Home stadium	Folsom Field
Seasons ← 1993 1995 →

1994 Big Eight Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Nebraska $	7	–	0	–	0			13	–	0	–	0
No. 3 Colorado %	6	–	1	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 19 Kansas State	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Oklahoma	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Kansas	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Missouri	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	1
Oklahoma State	0	–	6	–	1			3	–	7	–	1
Iowa State	0	–	6	–	1			0	–	10	–	1
$ – Bowl Coalition representative as champion % – Bowl Coalition at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll

The 1994 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder as a member of the Big Eight Conference during the 1994 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by Bill McCartney in his 13th and final season as head coach, the Buffaloes compiled an overall record of 11–1 in a mark of 6–1 in conference play, placing second in the Big 8. Colorado was invited to the Fiesta Bowl, where the Buffalos defeated Notre Dame. The team was ranked No. 3 in the final AP poll and the final Coaches Poll. Colorado played home games at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.

Colorado running back Rashaan Salaam won the Heisman Trophy as college football's most outstanding player. The Buffaloes offense scored 439 points while the defense allowed 235 points.

Colorado's only loss of the season came on the road against eventual consensus national champion Nebraska. The Buffaloes, ranked No. 2 at the time, was in line to play for the national title as part of the Bowl Coalition. They were leapfrogged in the polls by the Cornhuskers, who had been ranked No. 3. Colorado finished regular season ranked No. 4. The problem of scheduling bowl match-ups for top-ranked teams led to the dissolution of the Bowl Coalition and the creation of the Bowl Alliance. No. 2 Penn State was not eligible as a member of the Big Ten Conference to Nebraska. Notre Dame, playing as an independent, had its own agreement with the Bowl Coalition, which allowed the Fiesta Bowl to choose the Fighting Irish as an at-large opponent over more highly ranked teams.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	12:00 pm	Northeast Louisiana*	No. 8	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 48–13	48,114
September 17	7:45 pm	No. 10 Wisconsin*	No. 7	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	ESPN	W 55–17	53,457
September 24	1:30 pm	at No. 4 Michigan*	No. 7	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (Miracle at Michigan)	ABC	W 27–26	106,427
October 1	1:30 pm	at No. 16 Texas*	No. 5	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	ABC	W 34–31	77,809
October 8	12:00 pm	at Missouri	No. 5	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	PSN	W 38–23	38,901
October 15	7:30 pm	No. 22 Oklahoma	No. 4	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	ESPN	W 45–7	53,199
October 22	5:30 pm	No. 19 Kansas State	No. 2	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry)	ESPN	W 35–21	52,955
October 29	1:30 pm	at No. 3 Nebraska	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry, College GameDay)	ABC	L 7–24	76,131
November 5	12:00 pm	Oklahoma State	No. 7	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 17–3	51,059
November 12	12:00 pm	at Kansas	No. 7	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	PSN	W 51–26	35,000
November 19	12:00 pm	Iowa State	No. 7	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	PSN	W 41–20	46,113
January 2	2:30 pm	vs. Notre Dame*	No. 4	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	NBC	W 41–24	73,968
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^[1][2][3]

Rankings

Main article: 1994 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	8	8	7	7	7	5 (1)	5 (3)	4 (4)	2 (15)	2 (16)	7	7	7	6	5	4	3
Coaches	7		7	7	7	5 (1)	5 (1)	4 (1)	3 (9)	3 (9)	7	7	7	7	5	5	3

Game summaries

Northeast Louisiana

Northeast Louisiana at Colorado

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Indians	3	3	0	7	13
• No. 8 Buffaloes	7	21	14	6	48

• Date: September 3
• Location: Folsom Field
• Game attendance: 48,114

Scoring summary

Q1		NLU	Miller 36 yard field goal	NLU 3–0
Q1		COL	Salaam 1 yard run (Voskeritchian kick)	COL 7–3
Q2		NLU	Miller 43 yard field goal	COL 7–6
Q2		COL	Salaam 9 yard run (Voskeritchian kick)	COL 14–6
Q2		COL	Stewart 6 yard run (Voskeritchian kick)	COL 21—6
Q2		COL	Kidd 44 yard pass from Stewart (Voskeritchian kick)	COL 28–6
Q3		COL	Stewart 58 yard run (Voskeritchian kick)	COL 35–6
Q3		COL	Salaam 15 yard run (Voskeritchian kick)	COL 42–6
Q4		COL	Troutman 13 yard run (kick failed)	COL 48–6
Q4		NLU	S. Williams 10 yard pass from Philyaw (Miller kick)	COL 48–13

See also: 1994 Northeast Louisiana Indians football team

• Rashan Salaam 24 Rush, 184 Yds

^[4]

Wisconsin

See also: 1994 Wisconsin Badgers football team

Michigan

Colorado at Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 7 Buffaloes	7	7	0	13	27
No. 4 Wolverines	0	9	17	0	26

• Date: September 24
• Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Game attendance: 106,427
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Bob Griese, and Lynn Swann

     

Scoring summary

1		COL	Rashaan Salaam 2-yard run (Voskeritchian kick)	COL 7–0
2	11:34	MICH	Remy Hamilton 33-yard field goal	COL 7–3
	7:54	COL	Michael Westbrook 27-yard pass from Kordell Stewart (Voskeritchian kick)	COL 14–3
	1:14	MICH	Tim Biakabutuka 4-yard run (pass failed)	COL 14–9
3	10:43	MICH	Tyrone Wheatley 6-yard run (Hayes pass from Collins)	MICH 17–14
	7:40	MICH	Hamilton 20-yard field goal	MICH 20–14
	2:43	MICH	Amani Toomer 65-yard pass from Todd Collins (run failed)	MICH 26–14
4	2:16	COL	Rashaan Salaam 2-yard run (Voskeritchian kick)	MICH 26–21
	0:00	COL	Westbrook 64-yard pass from Stewart	COL 27–26

Main article: Miracle at Michigan

See also: 1994 Michigan Wolverines football team

The Miracle at Michigan refers to the final play that occurred during the game played on September 24, 1994, between the Colorado Buffaloes and the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The game was decided on Colorado quarterback Kordell Stewart's 64-yard Hail Mary pass to Michael Westbrook, which gave the play its name.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

Texas

See also: 1994 Texas Longhorns football team

Missouri

See also: 1994 Missouri Tigers football team

Oklahoma

See also: 1994 Oklahoma Sooners football team

Kansas State

See also: 1994 Kansas State Wildcats football team

Nebraska

Colorado at Nebraska

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Buffaloes	0	0	7	0	7
• No. 3 Cornhuskers	7	10	7	0	24

• Date: October 29
• Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
• Game attendance: 76,131

  

Scoring summary

1		NEB	Cory Schlesinger 14-yard run (Tom Sieler kick)	NEB 7–0
2	9:01	NEB	Sieler 24-yard field goal	NEB 10–0
	0:36	NEB	Clinton Childs 2-yard run (Sieler kick)	NEB 17–0
3	10:42	NEB	Eric Alford 30-yard pass from Brook Berringer (Sieler kick)	NEB 24–0
	1:06	COL	Rashaan Salaam 6 run (Neil Voskeritchian kick)	NEB 24–7

See also: 1994 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Colorado–Nebraska football rivalry, and College GameDay (football)

Oklahoma State

See also: 1994 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team

Kansas

See also: 1994 Kansas Jayhawks football team

Iowa State

See also: 1994 Iowa State Cyclones football team

Fiesta Bowl

Colorado vs. Notre Dame

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 4 Buffaloes	10	21	3	7	41
Fighting Irish	3	7	7	7	24

• Date: January 2
• Location: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
• Game attendance: 73,968

See also: 1994 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team and 1995 Fiesta Bowl

Roster

1994 Colorado Buffaloes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 1 Vance Joseph Sr WR 2 James Kidd So QB 10 Kordell Stewart Sr WR 12 Michael Westbrook Sr QB 14 Koy Detmer So RB 19 Rashaan Salaam Jr WR 21 Rae Carruth So RB 26 Herchell Troutman Fr C 64 Bryan Stoltenberg Jr WR 80 Phil Savoy Fr TE 88 Christian Fauria Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class FS 6 T. J. Cunningham Jr LB 16 Matt Russell So LB 46 Ted Johnson Sr CB 47 Chris Hudson Sr DT 92 Shannon Clavelle Jr DT 93 Darius Holland Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 17 Neil Voskeritchian Jr P 21 Ron Mayer Sr	Head coach Bill McCartney Coordinators/assistant coaches Elliot Uzelac – Offensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz – Defensive coordinator Rick Neuheisel – Assistant coach Chuck Heater – Defensive backs Ben Gregory – Running backs Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Awards and honors

• Chris Hudson, Jim Thorpe Award
• Rashaan Salaam, Doak Walker Award^[10]
• Rashaan Salaam, Heisman Trophy^[11]
• Rashaan Salaam, Walter Camp Award^[12]

Players drafted in the 1995 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Michael Westbrook	Wide receiver	1	4	Washington Redskins
Rashaan Salaam	Running back	1	21	Chicago Bears
Christian Fauria	Tight end	2	39	Seattle Seahawks
Ted Johnson	Linebacker	2	57	New England Patriots
Kordell Stewart	Quarterback	2	60	Pittsburgh Steelers
Darius Holland	Defensive tackle	3	65	Green Bay Packers
Chris Hudson	Defensive back	3	71	Jacksonville Jaguars
Derek West	Tackle	5	149	Indianapolis Colts
Shannon Clavelle	Defensive end	6	185	Buffalo Bills

^[13]

References

1. "1994 Colorado Buffaloes Schedule and Results". College Football @ Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
2. "1994 Football Schedule". University of Colorado Boulder. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
3. "Colorado Football 2024 Record Book" (PDF). University of Colorado Boulder. p. 64. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
4. Ocala Star-Banner. 1994 Sep 04. Retrieved 2018-Nov-17.
5. "On the Wing of a Prayer, Colorado Shocks Michigan". The New York Times. September 25, 1994. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
6. "COLORADO STUNS MICHIGAN: MIAMI'S STREAK ENDS". The Washington Post. September 25, 1994. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
7. "Colorado Rides on Stewart's Rocket". Los Angeles Times. September 25, 1994. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
8. "'I Just Heaved It'". Sports Illustrated. October 3, 1994. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
9. "Joy and pain: The Miracle at Michigan". ESPN. September 23, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
10. "Who Has Rushed for over 2,000 Yards in a Season?". Archived from the original on December 1, 2007. Retrieved January 19, 2009.
11. "Heisman.com - Heisman Trophy". Archived from the original on September 16, 2009. Retrieved April 16, 2007.
12. "Football". Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2009.
13. "1995 NFL draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.