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AllBuffs.com - Covering CU-Boulder Athletics

CU At The Game: Remembering Coach Mac

Coach Mac retired 30 years ago as CU's winningest coach, with a national title and a Heisman trophy winner ... Tweets from former players and coaches ... Links to some of the most significant games of the Coach Mac era ...

Stuart
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Ralphie Report: Colorado legend Bill McCartney dies after long illness

Colorado v Oklahoma

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

McCartney was 84.

Bill McCartney, the greatest football coach in Colorado Buffaloes history, has died.

McCartney was diagnosed with dementia in 2016 and fought bravely for over eight years before succumbing to the illness. He was 84 years old.

The legendary coach’s resume speaks for itself. Three-time Big 8 Coach of the Year and 1989 National Coach of the Year. 11 consensus All-Americans and one Heisman winner. 93 wins in 13 years, including 66 wins in his last seven seasons. 1990 National Champion. College Football Hall of Fame.

McCartney rebuilt Colorado football from the ground up. The program was reduced to ashes when he got there, thanks to Chuck Fairbank’s disastrous tenure. It took him awhile as he won just six games in his first three seasons at the helm. But once he started winning, he never stopped.

McCartney build his success on the wishbone offense, first helmed to perfection by the charismatic Sal Aunese. Sadly, however, Aunese was diagnosed with stomach cancer and died from his illness during the 1989 season. The Buffs were inspired by his battle and played every game like their last, winning 11 straight before ultimately falling to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl.

Colorado entered the 1990 season on a mission. Darian Hagan and Eric Bieniemy were electric behind a dominant offensive line, while the defense was stacked with future pros like Alfred Williams and Kanavis McGhee. The Buffs survived their schedule, not without a scratch here or there, and ultimately clipped the Irish to claim their share of the 1990 National Championship.

That remains Colorado only title in school history, yet McCartney came close in 1994. Powered by Kordell Stewart, Michael Westbrook and Heisman winner Rashaan Salaam, the Buffs had everything, even luck, as they upset Michigan on a miraculous last-second heave. But as good as the Buffs were — probably the best CU team ever — they couldn’t get past Nebraska, a heated rivalry McCartney willed into existence.

That was McCartney’s final season. He retired at age 54 to focus on the Promise Keepers, an Evangelical non-profit he founded in 1990. He remained in Boulder for the next 30 years, staying active through his church and contributing to a football program that was never the same after he left.

by Sam Metivier
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Ralphie Report: Illinois OL Zy Crisler commits to Colorado

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SEP 20 Illinois at Nebraska

Photo by Nathanial George/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In the dead of Wednesday night, the Colorado Buffaloes got significantly better.

How’d they get better, you ask? They got a massive commitment from former Illinois offensive lineman Zy Crisler. Crisler announced his commitment to the Buffs around 10:00 pm on Wednesday, flying under the radar for many CU fans.


Former Illinois offensive lineman Zy Crisler has committed to Colorado, he tells ESPN. Crisler has started for three seasons on the offensive line at Illinois. pic.twitter.com/8QoSrRhrL4

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 9, 2025

Crisler’s commitment instantly becomes one of the biggest (figuratively and literally) transfer portal additions for Colorado thus far. In three seasons with the Fighting Illini, Crisler started in 30 games and has been one of the best offensive linemen in the Big Ten since arriving in Champaign. In 2023, Crisler was named to the All-Big Ten honorable mention at OL.

The 6-foot-7, 350-pound lineman instantly becomes one of the largest Buffaloes on the team and is a force to be reckoned with. Crisler has demonstrated his ability to shift between tackle and guard during his time with Illinois, with his versatility making him a huge asset on Colorado’s restructured offensive line. Crisler will come to Boulder as a frontrunner to start at right tackle for the Buffs in 2025.

Crisler is a beneficiary of the recent Diego Pavia ruling, which granted former juco players an extra year of eligibility. Crisler started his career at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, granting him one final year to play college ball.

Welcome to Boulder, Zy!

by RylandScholes
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Ralphie Report: Buffaloes lose nail-biting duel with UCF in Orlando

NCAA Basketball: Iowa State at Colorado

Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

It’s hard to win basketball games with 22 turnovers...


Colorado had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad game against the Knights in Orlando.

The Buff headed to Central Florida to take on the UCF Knights, badly in need of a bounce-back win after being run out of the gym against Arizona State last Saturday. Coincidentally, the Knights found themselves in the same boat after suffering a 51-point loss to the Kansas Jayhawks on Sunday.

Luckily for Colorado, the same UCF we saw against Kansas showed up in Orlando to start the contest. The Knights bricked all their first 10 shots of the game, going 0-6 on three-pointers in that span. UCF’s cold streak allowed the Buffs to build a 6-0 lead to open the game.

Not-so-luckily, UCF’s Jordan Ivy-Curry had something to say about Colorado building a quick lead. Ivy-Curry led the Knights on a 7-0 run, scoring all seven of those points, putting UCF on top of the Buffs 7-6. The Knights parlayed that spark from Ivy-Curry into a 15-5 run, finding their groove and building some momentum.

Led by Julian Hammond running point, Colorado would squash UCF’s momentum and get their offense up and running again. A long three and floater from Hammond would cut the Buffs back on top.

The Buffs and Knights would trade blows, with UCF’s Keyshawn Hall and Benny Williams drilling threes, countered by a big three from CU’s Andrej Jakimovski and four freebies made by Assane Diop. Diop specifically was willing to do the dirty work for the Buffs in the low post, drawing four shooting fouls and hitting 7 of his 8 FTs in the first half.

Fouls would play a huge role in the first half, with the refs calling 22 total fouls in the first half alone. Colorado would take 18 FTs and UCF would take 12, despite having 10 more attempts from the field.

Both teams would go toe-to-toe for the remaining five minutes of the first half, with Colorado beginning to seize control of the game’s flow and taking the crowd out of it. Just when it felt like the Knights were on the rope, UCF would draw pivotal fouls and hit their free throws to keep the game within reach.

Headed into the half, Colorado went to the locker rooms up 37-34 on UCF, with Julian Hammond leading with 10 points.


First-half stats from Orlando: #CUBuffs pic.twitter.com/EytYQAzlfl

— Ralphie Report (@RalphieReport) January 9, 2025

The Buffs returned from the break ready to hoop, hitting their first six shots from the field and going on a 9-3 run, building up a nine-point lead. After a three-point shooting slump against Iowa State and Arizona State, Andrej Jakimovski bounced back in a big way against UCF, drilling two three-pointers in the first four minutes of the second half, with an additional layup for good measure.

Colorado continued rolling well into the second half, shooting 8-12 from on FG and a perfect 3-3 on threes to start the period. With a 10-point lead and a chance to put the game in the bag, disaster struck.

The turnover bug struck at the worst time. CU turned the ball over eight times in five minutes, allowing UCF to cut their lead to only three points. A flagrant foul by Assane Diop allowed UCF to tie the game and take a 60-58 lead after a Keyshawn Hall layup.

What followed was a trading of clutch buckets from both teams. A long three from Hammond put the Buffs back on top, but UCF’s Deebo Coleman and Darius Johnson responded with three-pointers of their own to put the Knights on top 71-67.

When all seemed lost, Julian Hammond swooped in once again to save the day. Hammond drew two shooting fouls on back-to-back possessions and hit four of his freebies, following that up by drawing another shooting foul, hitting the floater regardless, and swishing the and-one. Hammond’s heroics put CU up 74-71 with three minutes to play.

On the verge of winning, Colorado was blanked. Poor shot selection, three fouls, and a turnover allowed UCF to claw all the back and take a one-point lead with :22 seconds left to play.

With only four seconds separating the shot and game clock, all Colorado had to do was hit one bucket to win the game. Instead, the Buffs inbounded the ball after a timeout and immediately looked confused. Julian Hammond was forced to heave up a desperation three-pointer that would fall multiple feet short of the basket.

Defeat seemed almost certain for the Buffs, but the refs had one final gift for them. UCF took their time inbounding the ball on the baseline after Hammond’s airball, getting knocked with a five-second violation and giving the Buffs the ball back.

With only six seconds on the clock this time, the ball found Elijah Malone directly under the hoop with a clear lane to make the bucket. Instead, Malone got stuffed (and got hit pretty hard when putting up the shot) as the clock hit zero. No foul was called.

It’s hard to win basketball games when you turn the ball over 22 times and foul the other team an additional 22 times, which CU did in Orlando. Julian Hammond did his best to keep his Buffs in this game, but untilmately came up short. Colorado fell by a final score of 75-74.

It wasn’t all bad news, as Hammond got the bounce-back game he so badly needed. After being blanked in Tempe on Saturday, Hammond led the game in scoring with 26 points (8-14 FG), with five boards and assists each. Andrej Jakivoski also showed out, putting up 16 points of his own.

After falling to 0-3 in Big 12 play, the Buffs will head back to Boulder for a two-game homestand. They’ll return to action next when the #21 ranked West Virginia Mountaineers take the floor at the CU Event Center this Sunday.

by RylandScholes
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Ralphie Report: Buffaloes vs. Knights - Game Post

NCAA Basketball: Iowa State at Colorado

Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Join us for the Colorado Buffaloes - UCF Knights game tonight at 5:00 p.m. MT in Orlando, Florida.

January 8th, 2025

Who:
Colorado Buffaloes vs. UCF Knights

Where: Addition Financial Arena - Orlando, Florida

When: 5:00 p.m. MT

TV: ESPN+

Radio: AM 850 KOA

UCF Blog: Black & Gold Banneret

Line: Colorado +6

Welcome to the Ralphie Report as the Colorado Buffaloes get ready to take on the UCF Knights in Orlando, Florida for the fourteenth game of the 2024-25 season.

No need to go anywhere else today, The Ralphie Report has everything you need and we welcome you to weigh in with your live game analysis, critiques, observations and predictions.

Check out the old game thread from the Hawaii game to see how it works. Throw all your comments about the game below and let’s get this thing rolling. If you don’t have an account, sign up here for free and enjoy all that our site has to offer.

Make sure to follow us on X and Facebook. Go Buffs!

by Jon Woods
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