[2] Colorado (8–3, 4–3 Big 8, fourth) was a program on the rise, but a year away from becoming a fixture in the top ten.
BYU fell into an early hole after a pair of one-yard touchdown runs from halfback Eric Bieniemy gave Colorado a 14–7 lead at halftime.
The Cougars rallied in the second half after backup quarterback Ty Detmer was inserted into the game.
Trailing 17–14 in the fourth quarter, BYU eventually won the game on a pair of field goals - from 31 and 35 yards - by placekicker Jason Chaffetz,[3][4] a future congressman.
Colorado went undefeated in the regular season in 1989, but lost the Orange Bowl; they claimed a split national championship in 1990, while Detmer won the Heisman Trophy the same year and led BYU to a top-ten ranking at two different points.