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.


 

The Bill McCartney Connection Still Runs Deep for the University of Colorado Buffaloes

Getting out to watch the CU Buffs fall football camp was made even more exciting on Monday when I noticed that one of the men moving along the sidelines of the practice fields was none other than retired Colorado coaching legend Bill McCartney. Even now, almost 18 years since he roamed the hallowed grounds of Folsom Field, his presence is still commanding.

Bill still has the great smile and his deep voice remains capable of stirring the soul and rousing passion for life and football. Having him there was a great thing for new coach Mike MacIntyre. After all, McCartney is the man who led Colorado to two National Championship games (and barely missed out on a third) and one title. He also earned national Coach of the Year honors once as well as Big 8 Coach of the Year 3 times. Earlier this year he was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame

All these years later, when Bill McCartney talks, coaches and players alike are well advised to listen. That being the case, one of the great things that the CU football team has going for it is the fact that the team has TWO grandsons of McCartney involved in the program.

Graduate assistant T.C. McCartney is the son of former CU starting quarterback Sal Aunese, who died on Sept. 23, 1989, from stomach cancer. That CU team rallied around Aunese and, led by Darian Hagan, ran the table during the season to go undefeated and was ranked number one in the country going into the Orange Bowl in Miami. The Buffs lost the national title after playing their worst game of the season to Notre Dame. After a poor start the following year, the Buffs rallied from a 1-1-1 record to begin the season to winning the national championship following a rematch victory over Notre Dame.

Sal Aunese was recruited to Colorado by current LSU coach Les Miles. Media reports have said that Miles made a promise that he would make sure that Sal's infant son would have a scholarship waiting when he graduated high school. Miles kept that promise, and T.C. was a member of the LSU National Championship team in 2007.

Following his graduation from LSU, T.C. worked with Les Miles as a graduate assistant and helped get his team to the BCS title game. Following that year, he moved back to Boulder to become a graduate assistant at CU.

On the field itself for Buffs is another McCartney grandson. Derek McCartney is a redshirt freshman defensive lineman who father Shannon Clavelle played for the Buffs in the 1990s before moving on to the NFL Green Bay Packers in 1995. Clavelle also played for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Both T.C. and Derek attended high school in Colorado. T.C. played for his uncle Tom McCartney at 4A Fairview High School in Boulder before attending LSU. Derek played his high school ball at 2A Faith Christian High School in Westminster.

It was a great thrill to see Bill on the practice field with the Buffs, and it gives hope for the future that two of his grandsons are with the program. They have had their whole lives to learn from their grandfather, and the lessons they have learned can only help their teammates.