Rest in Peace, Dee Dowis: Looking Back to 1989 when the State of Colorado had the Best Rushing QB's in the Country

Sad news today that former Air Force QB Dee Dowis was killed in an auto accident in Georgia. Condolences to his family, friends, and teammates.

Seeing the news about Dowis immediately brought back memories of 1989. Here in Boulder, 1989 was the year that we lost Sal Aunese to stomach cancer. It was also the year that the Buffs came together as a family and put together one of the most dominant regular seasons in CU history. After going undefeated in the regular season, the #1 ranked Buffs lost in their first attempt at a national title.

Down in Colorado Springs at the Air Force Academy, another option QB was also lighting up college football. Cadet Dee Dowis, a whopping 153 pounds dripping wet when he first became the QB for the Falcons, led Air Force to an 8-4-1 record.

For the season, Dowis rushed for 1,286 yards and 18 touchdowns, while also passing for 1,285 yards and 7 touchdowns. Up in Boulder, Hagan rushed for 1,004 yards and 17 touchdowns, and threw for 1,002 yards and 4 touchdowns.


Back in the 80's, a quarterback rushing and passing for more than 1000 yards in a season was extremely rare. In fact, Reggie Collier at Southern Miss was the first player to achieve the benchmarks at the Division 1 level in the 1981 season.

Dowis and Hagan were rewarded for their efforts by being seriously considered for the Heisman Trophy. In the final ballots, Hagan finished 5th and Dowis finished 6th.

For their careers, Dowis rushed for 3,612 yards and passed for 2,870, while Hagan ran for 2,004 and passed for 3,801 yards. 

Both Hagan and Dowis will go down as two of the finest option quarterbacks of all time. And in 1989, the best running quarterbacks in all the land played their football in Colorado.