Bieniemy Leads CU past Irish

Eric Bieniemy rushed 35 times for a game-high 185 yards and 1 touchdown including a key 71 yard rush late in the 3rd to set up a field goal as the 1990 Buffaloes edged the 1988 Fighting Irish 17-11 in the inaugural matchup in the Scout.com/WhatIfSports.com Tournament of Champions.

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Darien Hagen wasn’t spectacular, but he was effective at running CU’s balanced attack and finished the day completing 14 of 19 passes for 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Between Bieniemy’s running and Mike Pritchard’s 8 catches for 110 yards and a TD, Hagan’s steady play helped keep the potent Notre Dame offense off the field enough to keep them under wraps.

Also keeping the Irish frustrated most of the day was the Buffalo defense, which made a habit of harassing Notre Dame QB Tony Rice and keeping the running game well contained. Rice finished the day completing just 45% of his passes (14 of 31 for 180 yards) and throwing a crucial interception that CU’s Greg Lindesy grabbed deep in Buffalo territory to stop a scoring threat near the end of the 1st quarter.

To accompany the solid efforts of the offense and defense, CU’s special teams contributed to ending the Irish’s hopes of marching on in the tournament when a 1st quarter punt was blocked and recovered at the Notre Dame 32 yard line. The Buffs capitalized on the Irish miscue when Bieniemy scampered into the end zone on a well-executed 16 yard run.

For his outstanding play Bieniemy was named the player of the game and looks to continue his strong ground game in the next round of the tournament.

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