1994 Colorado Buffaloes football team

1994 Big Eight Conference football standings

	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 in the 1994 college football season. The Buffaloes offense scored 439 points while the defense allowed 235 points. The team was led by head coach Bill McCartney.

The Buffaloes' only loss of the season came on the road against eventual consensus national champion Nebraska. Colorado, ranked #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 #3, and finished the regular season ranked #4.

The Buffaloes competed in the 1995 Fiesta Bowl, which they won 41–24 over unranked Notre Dame.

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 (#2 ranked Penn State was not eligible as a member of the Big Ten Conference to play the #1 ranked team). Notre Dame, playing as an independent, had its own agreement with the Bowl Coalition, which allowed the Fiesta Bowl to choose them as an at-large opponent over more highly ranked teams.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	12:00 pm	NE 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

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

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

Northeast Louisiana at Colorado

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

• Rashan Salaam 24 Rush, 184 Yds

^[1]

Colorado at Michigan

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

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.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Colorado at Nebraska

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

Colorado vs. Notre Dame

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

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

^[7]

• Chris Hudson, Jim Thorpe Award
• Rashaan Salaam, Doak Walker Award^[8]
• Rashaan Salaam, Heisman Trophy^[9]
• Rashaan Salaam, Walter Camp Award^[10]