1984 Colorado Buffaloes football team

1984 Colorado Buffaloes football
ConferenceBig Eight Conference
Record1–10 (1–6 Big 8)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGerry DiNardo (1st season)
Offensive schemeSingle set back / split-back
Defensive coordinatorLou Tepper (2nd season)
Base defense3–4
MVPGeorge Smith
Captains
Home stadiumFolsom Field
Seasons
← 1983
1985 →
1984 Big Eight Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Nebraska + 6 – 1 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
No. 6 Oklahoma + 6 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 1
No. 7 Oklahoma State 5 – 2 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
Kansas 4 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Missouri 2 – 4 – 1 3 – 7 – 1
Kansas State 2 – 4 – 1 3 – 7 – 1
Colorado 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
Iowa State 0 – 5 – 2 2 – 7 – 2
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1984 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado in the Big Eight Conference during the 1984 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by third-year head coach Bill McCartney, the Buffaloes finished at 1–10 (1–6 in Big 8, seventh),[1] their sixth consecutive losing season. Home games were played on campus at sixty-year-old Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.[2]

The season was marked by the trauma late in the second game at Oregon on September 15, as sophomore tight end Ed Reinhardt of Littleton suffered a career-ending, life-threatening brain injury.[3][4][5][6] Airlifted to Denver a month later,[7][8][9] he was in a coma for 62 days and was partially paralyzed.[10]

Colorado's sole win came in mid-season, by two points over last-place Iowa State on homecoming.[11] The Buffs' previous one-win season was four years earlier; the next was in 2012.

The following spring, McCartney switched to a wishbone offense for 1985.[12]

  1. ^ "K-State breezes past Buffs, 38-6". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. November 18, 1984. p. 4B.
  2. ^ Woodling, Chuck (November 4, 1984). "Jayhawks dodge bullets, nudge Colorado 28-27". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). p. 1B.
  3. ^ Bellamy, Ron (September 16, 1984). "Player critically injured". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1A.
  4. ^ "Buffs decked by Ducks, 27-20". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. September 16, 1984. p. 4B.
  5. ^ Conrad, John (September 17, 1984). "Football player still comatose". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1A.
  6. ^ Clark, Bob (September 22, 1984). "Reinhardt's parents prepared to wait". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1A.
  7. ^ Withers, Bud (October 16, 1984). "'All we can say is thank you'". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1B.
  8. ^ "Reinhardt transferred to Colorado". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). October 17, 1984. p. 1B.
  9. ^ "Reinhardt's condition 'improving'". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 6, 1984. p. 2B.
  10. ^ "Alumni Recognition Award Winner - Ed Reinhardt". University of Colorado at Boulder. 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  11. ^ "Vogel ignites Colorado to first win of season". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. October 14, 1984. p. 8B.
  12. ^ "On the run: Surprising Buffaloes stampeding thanks to new wishbone". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 24, 1985. p. 6B.