Colorado State University Athletics
The 1990 Freedom Bowl Team
10/31/2004 12:00:00 AM | General
The 1990 football team started the season with high expectations. Fans and critics alike didn?t think these expectations were reasonable. The Rams proved everyone wrong, going 8-4 and earning a bowl berth.
CSU defeated the University of Tulsa 31-13 to clinch its bowl dreams. After waiting so patiently, they received the phone call on Monday Nov. 12 from Don Andersen, executive director of the Freedom Bowl. He formally invited the Rams to play against the University of Oregon on December 29.
The last bowl game CSU played was the 1949 Raisin Bowl so going to the Freedom Bowl VII thrust the team into the national spotlight. The Rams head coach Earle Bruce, successfully brought the Rams back into postseason play after a 42-year wait.
CSU headed to Anaheim, Calif. to take on the Oregon Ducks of the PAC-10 and it was to be one of the most exciting games in Rams? bowl history. Even the two university?s presidents decided to wager a friendly bet: If CSU won President Yates received 25 lbs. of fresh Pacific salmon; if Oregon won President Brand received 25 lbs. of choice Colorado strip steak, with the food being donated to local food banks.
The Rams entered the Freedom Bowl as the underdogs, a position that many players thrived on. In two of their five games, CSU proved that odds are just numbers.
CSU drew first blood on a 75-yard, 15-play scoring drive with a one-yard run, bringing them up 7-0. The Ducks weren?t about to make things too easy for the Rams and gained a 17-14 lead going into halftime. Tension was running high going into the fourth quarter with CSU down 25-19.
CSU quarterback Mike Gimenez threw a 49-yard pass to split end Greg Primus to conquer the lead that Oregon could not regain. The Rams strengthened the lead with a 52-yard run by fullback Todd Yert, the best rush of his four-year career.
With just minutes left in the game, Oregon valiantly tried to win it. Quarterback Bill Musgrave led the Ducks on a 79-yard scoring drive, which brought them to within one point. The Rams defense put a stop to Oregon?s two-point conversion and CSU tasted victory for the first time ever in a bowl game.
At the conclusion of the football season, the AP poll ranked the Rams 28th in the nation. The No. 28 ranking was believed to be the best in school history.
Freedom Bowl VII marked the first time CSU won a bowl game, and with the leadership of football head coach Sonny Lubick, the Rams have definitely left their mark in college football. Now their dreams drip green and gold into the post-season and what they used to long for so desperately, has become part of their reality.