Folsom's Greatest Games #7 - Colorado vs. Missouri 1961

November 4, 1961 – #8 Colorado 7, #10 Missouri 6

For their first dozen years in the Big 8, the Buffs were never able to win “the big one”. Undefeated Octobers turned into disappointing Novembers with near-annual regularity, and former coach Dal Ward’s inability to defeat Oklahoma had cost him his job following the 1958 season. 

CU’s new leader Sonny Grandelius finally led the Buffs to victory over the Sooners in 1960, but that year’s Big One came the following week against second-ranked Missouri in Columbia. Both teams were undefeated in conference play, and the winner would almost certainly go to the Orange Bowl. The Buffs lost 16-6. In those days there were very few bowl games, and CU had to stay home for the holidays despite a 6-1 Big 8 record. 

One year later, the rematch had the same stakes. CU was a perfect 5-0 and their #8 ranking was the highest in program history. Mizzou had been tied once, but their Big 8 record was also perfect. This was just the second top-ten matchup in Folsom Field history. Three years earlier, a 5-0 CU team ranked #9 in the nation had lost 23-7 to Oklahoma, which started the season-ending tailspin that cost Dal Ward his job. 

The Buffs and Tigers were both excellent defensive teams, and the game was played on a frigid late autumn day. This promised to be a tight, low-scoring affair where one big play could make the difference. Sure enough, as the clock ticked down under one minute remaining in the first half, the game was still scoreless. That was when star CU quarterback Gale Weidner hit Bill Harris from 20 yards out to give the Buffs a 7-0 halftime lead. 

Grandelius called an extremely conservative offensive game in the second half – hoping that the lead would hold up. Though he denied playing conservatively in his postgame remarks, the Buffs only gained 35 yards of total offense, including eight passing yards, in the second half.

That strategy nearly cost CU the Big 8 title when the Tigers scored a touchdown with 6:14 remaining in the fourth quarter and decided to go for a two-point conversion for the lead. With hearts firmly lodged in their throats, 43,000 frigid fans watched as their title dreams hung on a knife-edge. Missouri tried to pass for the conversion, but it was deflected by CU’s Reed Johnson, and Folsom exploded with jubilation. 

The afternoon’s drama wasn’t over. The Buffs still couldn’t advance the ball and they were forced to give it back to Mizzou one more time. The Tigers drove down to CU’s 27 yard line with under a minute remaining. Colorado’s defense held them there, and the game came down to a long (by 1961 standards) field goal attempt. The kick had the distance, but it was wide right and the Buffs had survived. 

Postgame, Missouri coach Dan Devine ruminated that his team had played well enough to win, and he was right. But CU had made one more play, and the day was theirs. They had finally won The Big One, and a large national television audience – the first ever to see a game from Folsom Field – had seen them do it, with the legendary Mel Allen giving the play-by-play. It doesn’t get much better than that.

1961 did not end up being an undefeated season for CU, but they did run the table in the Big 8 for the first time to earn the conference’s berth in the Orange Bowl. After the season, Grandelius would go from being the toast of Boulder to persona non grata because of a scandal that requires far more nuance and detail to describe than I can give here. Sonny would not be the one to lead Colorado football to the promised land, but sharing the field with him on that cold November Saturday was one William Paul McCartney – Missouri’s starting center. Nearly three decades would pass before the Buffs posted another undefeated Big 8 season, and he would be the one calling the plays when they did.

Links:
Coaches film of the full game