Colorado

As the Buffs prepared for the 1982 season, Fairbanks angered those who had fought so hard to hire him by bolting to become the head coach of the New Jersey Generals of the fledging USFL, jumping out of Boulder in June and leaving the entire program in disarray. Michigan assistant Bill McCartney was quickly hired and slowly and patiently began to rebuild the program's talent and spirit. He maintained the Columbia blue theme but upgraded it, taking the gold helmet and adding to it so that the final look included a one-inch Columbia blue center stripe, white one-half-inch flanking stripes, a white interlocking "CU" logo inside of a Columbia blue buffalo complete with white border, and a Columbia blue mask. If nothing else, McCartney's first team played hard throughout the season, impressing opposing players and coaches with their determination, despite a 2-8-1 record. QB Randy Essington split time with Steve Vogel and they combined for twenty-two interceptions and only seven TD's. TE Dave Hestera's forty-one receptions was still enough to tie for the Big Eight lead and FB Chris McLemore was a good receiver out of the backfield. HB Lee Rouson had a disappointing season behind a line that could not block like the Michigan contingents McCartney had left behind. With a defense that ranked at the conference bottom against rushing, scoring, and total defense, the Buffs could only improve. In 1983, there was improvement, moving the record to 4-7 with wins over Michigan State and in-state rival Colorado State. Weakness in both lines hurt. The attack revolved around QB Steve Vogel, WR's Loy Alexander and Ron Brown (who managed to appear in three replacement games in the '87 season for the Cardinals), and RB Rouson. The Buffs took a step back in '84, falling to 1-10 with the only win coming against a weak Iowa State team. The defense was porous and the offense inconsistent although they led the Big Eight in passing behind QB Craig Kennan. Don Brown was an All Conference wingback and TE Jon Embree, who enjoyed a brief career with the Rams was also an All Big Eight pick. HB Lee Rouson was the rushing mainstay and graduated to five decent seasons with the Giants and another with the Browns.