The University of Colorado: Peaks of Greatness
The Colorado Buffaloes football program boasts a proud history, highlighted by one of the sport's greatest scholar-athletes and a remarkable, coach-driven rise to a national championship.
Playing its home games at the picturesque Folsom Field, with the stunning Rocky Mountain Flatirons as a backdrop, the program's story is one of incredible peaks of success and legendary figures.
The program's first national star was the legendary Byron "Whizzer" White. In the 1930s, White became a national phenomenon, a brilliant halfback who led the nation in rushing and scoring while also excelling as a student. He finished as the runner-up for the 1937 Heisman Trophy, but his legacy was cemented by his incredible post-football career, where he became a Rhodes Scholar and later served for three decades as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. His journey remains one of the most remarkable in all of sports history.
After decades of mediocrity, coach Bill McCartney engineered one of the greatest program turnarounds in modern history. He arrived in 1982 and built a national powerhouse from the ground up, instilling a culture of toughness and innovation.
Using his potent "I-Bone" option offense, McCartney's teams won three consecutive Big Eight championships. This dominant run culminated in 1990 when the Buffaloes claimed a share of the national championship, the pinnacle of the program's on-field success. McCartney's era also produced the program's only Heisman Trophy winner when running back Rashaan Salaam rushed for over 2,000 yards in 1994.
From the legacy of Whizzer White to the glory under McCartney, Colorado has carved out a unique and compelling chapter in college football history. 🏈
