The first thing that comes to mind for any Buffaloes fan who sees the number 19 is Rashaan Salaam, who was a force in the early 1990s for the University of Colorado. He achieved the highest honor in all the land when he became the school’s only Heisman Trophy winner in 1994.
Salaam enrolled at CU in 1992 and would receive spot duty in his freshman season as the team relied on veterans like Lamont Warren, Kordell Stewart and the receiving duo of Michael Westbrook and Charles Johnson. Salaam’s sophomore season brought about a change in both status and number as he would rush for 885 yards in only nine games while switching from No. 3 to his iconic 19.
Expectations were high for the Buffaloes running back as he entered the 1994 season and he didn’t disappoint. Here are some highlights of that magical 1994 season for Rashaan Salaam, courtesy of CUBuffs.com;
He (Salaam) became the fifth Buffalo to earn unanimous All-America honors that year, as he became just the fourth player in college football history at the time to rush for over 2,000 yards in a single season … In setting the single-season CU rushing mark with 2,055 yards, he did not play in five fourth quarters and on two other occasions, he played only briefly in the third quarter; over half of the yards (1,040) came against ranked opponents … Set a school scoring mark that same year with 24 touchdowns for 144 total points … Reeled off nine consecutive 100-yard games in ’94, including four 200-plus yard games (both school records) … Ended his career as only the second Buff to exceed 3,000 career rushing yards (3,057)…
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