Colorado's spring camp has wrapped up and we enter a slow period in Colorado football as the Buffs' players don't report for fall camp until August 1.
For the next few weeks, CUSportsNation.com members will be voting on the best quarterback in Colorado history. Last week, members gave their nominations, and based on the amount of nominations, we put together the seeding for "The Great 8: Best CU Quarterback of All Time Tournament."
This week's matchup is the final contest of the first round, as Darian Hagan, Bobby Anderson, and Koy Detmer have already moved on.
The Great 8, Round 1 Matchup: No. 2 Kordell Stewart vs No. 7 Sal Aunese
*** To vote for the winner of this round, click here ***
The Stewart profile (via cubuffs.com and wiki)
A true dual-threat quarterback at Colorado, Stewart is still the only Buff ever to throw for 200 yards and rush for 100 in the same game, and he's still the only quarterback in CU history to have three 2,000 yard passing seasons. In his last game as a Buff, he was named the Offensive MVP of the Fiesta Bowl in Colorado's 41-24 win over Notre Dame.
In 1991, Stewart got a scholarship to the University of Colorado. Playing under coach Bill McCartney, he became one of the most prolific quarterbacks in school history, setting several Buffaloes records, including most passes completed, most passing yards, and most touchdown passes.
Stewart led the option-oriented Buffaloes to a pair of top-10 regular-season finishes in the AP and Coaches polls in 1992 and 1994 as well as wins in the 1993 Aloha Bowl and 1995 Fiesta Bowl. He was selected as a second team All-American his senior year as nationally ranked No. 3 Colorado finished 11–1 in 1994.
One of his greatest moments ever for the Colorado Buffaloes came at the very beginning. On September 5, 1992, Stewart started his first game as a sophomore as Colorado unveiled a pass-oriented offense that lifted the 12th-ranked Buffaloes past in-state rival Colorado State, 37–17. Stewart connected on 21 of 36 passes for a then school-record 409 yards and four touchdowns in the contest
On September 24, 1994, Stewart threw the game-winning, 64-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass into the end zone to wide receiver Michael Westbrook in the closing seconds to beat the Michigan Wolverines.
The Aunese file (via cubuffs.com)
Colorado was 13-6 in games in which Sal started at quarterback (15-6 in games he appeared in). He set a CU record for the most consecutive passes thrown without an interception (92) as he established the mark over the course of 12 games. His 1,004 passing yards last fall not only helped CU to an 8-4 record, but also marked the first time a CU player hit the 1,000-mark in four seasons.
As just a 21-year-old senior at Colorado, Aunese passed away due to inoperable stomach cancer. Aunese was admitted to University Hospital in Denver last Sunday (Sept. 17), just one day after he had witnessed the first half of CU's 38-7 win over Illinois. The entire team took the field for the coin toss, acknowledging Sal's presence by saluting to the private box where he sat for the game. Standing in the front row, Sal returned his teammates' salute. Inspired by his presence, the team went on to the win, after which Sal was named the Colorado player-of-the-game by CBS (which telecast the game nationally).
*** To vote for the winner of this round, click here ***
All records mentioned above are from the time they were broken, not current date