Folsom's Greatest Games #5 - Colorado vs. Penn State 1970

September 26, 1970 – #18 Colorado 41, #4 Penn State 13

Powerhouse programs from the Eastern time zone rarely visit Boulder. Penn State was one of the first, and they brought with them a 23-game winning streak, plus a 31-game unbeaten streak dating back nearly three calendar years – an incredible run that included a 27-3 drubbing of the Buffs at Happy Valley the year before. 

In fact, Penn State had never lost to any Big 8 opponent, which included the previous two Orange Bowls. During the buildup to the game, their Sports Information Director had unwisely cracked a joke about being “champions of the Big 8”.

CU, for their part, was coming off an 8-3 season and had climbed to 18th in the AP Poll after a road win over Indiana. This east-meets-west clash was a big enough deal that Sports Illustrated sent legendary photographer Walter Iooss to shoot the game, the New York Times sent a reporter, and ABC brought their cameras to broadcast it into the nation’s living rooms.

On what SI’s Dan Jenkins called “the most gloriously sunny and refreshing day in the history of mankind”, the Buffs dominated all afternoon. Pat Murphy came up with an interception on the game’s first play, which quickly led to a John Tarver touchdown. Before you could say “Joe Paterno”, they were trailing 7-0. 

The closest the game got was 13-7, after Franco Harris scored for the Nittany Lions in the second quarter. CU made life difficult for the future Pro Football Hall of Famer for most of the afternoon though – limiting him to just 54 yards.

Another Canton-bound future Steeler, Jack Ham, was the bright spot for the Penn State defense, collecting 15 tackles, but he wasn’t enough to keep the Buffs from amassing more than 400 yards of offense. 71 of those came on a 19-play touchdown drive that ate up more than eight minutes of game clock and made the halftime score 20-7. 

The game’s defining moment was provided courtesy of CU’s very own Hall of Famer Cliff Branch. He ran the second-half kickoff back 97 yards in the blink of an eye to open up a 27-7 lead for the Buffs that effectively put the game on ice. The assembled national reporters in CU’s new press box – billed as the “world’s largest” – started typing their game stories. Penn State hadn’t just lost; they had been dismantled. As Dan Jenkins put it, CU “simply took the streak and crushed it like an avalanche coming down on a mine shack.”

Praise was effusive from all sources, both local and national. Frank Haraway of the Denver Post called it “the biggest prestige victory in school history”. Dan Creedon of the Boulder Daily Camera went further – calling it “the proudest moment in the school’s 81-year football history”. Even head coach Eddie Crowder had to admit that it was his biggest win. Walter Iooss’ photo of CU’s Phil Irwin wrapping up Franco Harris graced the cover of Sports Illustrated the following week – the first time the Buffs had ever been given that honor. The banner headline read: “COLORADO BURIES PENN STATE”.

Despite their seeming invincibility on this day, 1970 did not end up being the year of the Buffalo, as CU stumbled to a disappointing 6-5 final record. The promise shown in this game would not truly be fulfilled until the brilliant 1971 campaign. That said, and I quote directly from Fred Casotti’s far superior recap of this game: “For the moment the Buffaloes were the kings of the west, the east, national television and just about anything else you wanted to list. How sweet it was!”

Here is a short highlight video:

Links:
Coaches film of the game
Sports Illustrated article on the game