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Barefoot kicker Fred Lima matched a Big 8 record with a 55-yard field goal in the win over California.

Story by Leonard Kahn
Rocky Mountain News
(Sept. 10, 1972)

BOULDER - Colorado pulled a switch on Eddie Crowder’s script Saturday afternoon but the result was highly satisfying to a record opening game crowd of 50,751.

The Buffs scored quickly after the opening kickoff and then allowed the defense to contribute heroics in a 20-10 victory over California.

Fred Lima made a sensational debut as a side saddle kicking specialist with field goals of 48 and 55 yards, the last with 1:21 left to match a Big Eight record and seal the verdict.

It was the first visit of a California team to Folsom Field and the Pac-8 representative unveiled Steve Bartkowski, their sophomore passing phenom who lived up to advance notice and kept the Buffs under high tension throughout.

The 6-4 Bartkowski, tougher to bring down when seemingly trapped than an Olympic Greco-Roman heavyweight put the ball in the air 49 times and completed 24 for 261 yards.

He nailed tight end Steve Sweeney from nine yards out for the touchdown which put the Bears behind at only 17-10 with some 10 minutes left. This threw a scare into Colorado supporters since the Buffs had been very spotty offensively after their opening 80 yard touchdown march.

But the defense dug in, stopped the Bears cold on gambling fourth down plays while needing only inches and used Lima’s marathon field goal to wrap it up.

As expected the Buffs tried to muscle their way through California’s smaller defenders and though showing 260 yards rushing with Charlie Davis contributing to 163 in 30 carries were not too successful.

AIR GAME NILL
Ken Johnson threw only seven passes and completed two shorties. So the Bears threw up a seven man front and blunted CU’s ground game more than anticipated.

Bartkowski, who already has been compared with Craig Morton of the Dallas Cowboys, found eight different receivers as he threw to his ends and backs with equal accuracy.

But he went to the well too often and one of Colorado’s two interceptions turned out to be the biggest plays of the game in view of the closeness of the final score.

Midway through the third quarter with Colorado leading only 10-3 and Cal smelling blood Ed Shoen swiped a Bartkowski pass, broke away behind a wall of blockers led by Cullen Bryant and galloped 48 yards into the end zone.

Shoen, a sophomore who had played very little with the freshman team and moved in as an inside linebacker when Billie Drake and Ricky Kay were hurt, discovered only last Sunday that he was a starter.

SHOEN IN DAZE
“I'm still in a daze,” the exuberant 19-year-old from San Diego said in the dressing room.

“I just picked up my blockers with Bryant and Jeff Geiser ahead of me. That really gave me the works when I came off the field with Coach Crowder among them.”

At the start it seemed CU would blow the Bears off the field. Using Davis on pitchouts to his left they needed only 12 plays to travel the 80 yards. Johnson threw one 9-yard pass to Keyworth to break up the steady ground attack. Davis scored on a pitch from the one and Lima kicked the extra point to make the score 7-0 with less than five minutes to play.

The Buffs came right back from the Cal 41 but a clipping penalty on Gary Campbell’s run to the four stopped the drive. The Buffs finally missed a first down at the 24.

Late in the first quarter the Bears showed their claws for the initial time with Bartkowski passing on two of every three plays.

They moved to the Colorado 34 where they took the wraps off a strong legged field goal kicker of their own. Ray Wersching’s 48-yarder sailed through the cross bars, the score was 7-3 and the CU rooters realized this was no easy game.

Minutes later Lima tried one from 58 yards and it was way short.

FAKE FG
It seemed the half would end without further scoring when coach Mike White ordered a fake field goal with the ball at CU’s 43 only to have Bartkowski’s pass fall incomplete.

Only 41 seconds were left in the half but CU made the most of them. Johnson passed to Ozell Collier for 13 yards and then a pass interference was called against Bill Armstrong so Lima kicked a 46-yarder as the crowd roared with only three seconds left. CU led 10-3 with a little breathing room.

After Shoen’s interception made it 17-3, the Bears put together their best march of the day.

With Bartkowski hitting Syl Youngblood, Sweeney, Steve Kamnitzer and Mike Slaughnessy, Cal stormed from its 14. Lima’s 46-yard attempt was short to the Colorado 29. Then the Bears took to the ground until reaching the 4 where a motion penalty put them back on the 9.

Bartkowski found Sweeney for the touchdown and Wersching kicked the extra point and made it another tight fit for the Buffs at 17-10 with 10:17 left.

GAMBLE FAILS
That’s when the Bears gambled and the price seemed right. On fourth and inches Fred Leathers was stopped cold and CU took over at the Cal 30 but passed up a field goal attempt and coughed up the ball on downs.

Again the Bears went for broke with only inches to go on a second and fourth down situation. Bartkowski tried a keeper this time and was stacked up without gain.

Crowder didn’t hesitate this time. He waved Lima on the field and the 5-9 specialist from Chile delivered to put the game into the deep freeze.

While the Buffs botched up just enough times to stop themselves and also drew three 15 yard penalties to nullify good gains there was some plusses.

SOME PLUSSES
Big Bo Matthews ran with authority making 59 yards in 18 carries through the heart of California’s middle. Mike Wedman, the decathlon performer, averaged 42.3 yards on five kicks with one travelling 66 yards.

Ken Johnson, somewhat rusty after missing spring drills while his wrist was in a cast, carried only eight times with keepers and this enables the Bears to seal off the pitchouts to Davis shich were so effective on the outset.

Defensively, the Buffs were salty enough to hold Cal to a net 116 yards rushing. Their one flaw was the inability to put the cuffs on Bartkowski who time and again spun away from taklers when he seemed doomed to take long losses on dropback pass attempts.

Three times the big guy got off the hook on first down passes on third and 17 situations.

Still, when a team is held to 10 points those days why complain about the defense.

Davis, the nation’s leading sophomore back a year ago, called the tune on CU’s offense after he had such a busy day with 30 attempts.

"With that seven and eight man front Cal took away our bread butter. We just didn’t have enough balance in our attack when we completed only two passes. But we know what it takes."