Timeline 25: Remembering the biggest Colorado sports stories of 2005

Jake Plummer leads the Broncos to a great season, the fall of the Buffs begins, a weird situation with the Avs, George Karl arrives and Tulo is drafted

BY JAMES MERILATT

Jun 9, 2020, 6:58 AM

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Watch: The good, the bad and the UGLY from Broncos Preseason Game No. 2 | 11 mins

On March 6, 1995, The Fan was born. In the 25 years since, a lot has transpired on the fields, courts and ice in Colorado, giving the hosts and listeners who’ve been part of the station during that time plenty to talk about and debate.

During the course of the next few weeks, we’ll take a look back at that history, remembering the good times and the bad, the winners and the losers, the successes and the failures. It’s a series we’re calling “Timeline 25” and it continues today with a look back at an up-and-down year in Colorado sports history – 2005:

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No Mistake Jake

There were a lot of reasons why the Broncos had a successful season in 2005. On both sides of the ball, players excelled, helping Denver to a 13-3 record, AFC West title and No. 2 seed in the conference.

Mike Anderson rushed for 1,014 yards and 12 touchdowns, while Tatum Bell amassed 921 yards and eight scores on the ground. Rod Smith hauled in 85 passes for 1,105 yards and six touchdowns. And Champ Bailey snared eight interceptions.

But it was the performance of one player that helped transform the Broncos from the team that posted back-to-back 10-6 seasons into one that was a Super Bowl contender. Jake Plummer was great during the 2005 campaign.

On the season, the quarterback completed 60.7 percent of his passes, throwing for 3,366 yards and 18 touchdowns. Most importantly, however, Plummer went from a league-high 20 interceptions in 2004 to just seven in ’05. That ability to avoid mistakes helped Denver’s offense click at a high level.

Not only did that lead to big seasons for multiple players, but it set them up for some amazing single-game efforts as well. During a 49-21 win over the Eagles on October 30, the Broncos became the first team in NFL history to have two 100-yard rushers (Anderson and Bell) and a 300-yard passer (Plummer) in the same game. And on Thanksgiving Day, they were able to ride into Dallas and pull off an overtime win, thanks to a 98-yard performance from Ron Dayne, a former Heisman Trophy winner who had unachieved throughout his career.

After getting blown out 34-10 in the season opener at Miami, Denver was solid every single week. On the strength of their steady quarterback, the Broncos won 13 out of their next 15, only suffering a one-point loss at the Giants and a four-point setback at the Chiefs.

It was a marvelous season in every way, as Plummer established himself as a quarterback who could lead a high-octane offense. And it set Denver up for what would be a memorable, if not ultimately disappointing, playoff run once the calendar turned to 2006.

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George Arrives

The 2004-05 season was not going well for the Nuggets. A year after getting into the playoffs during Carmelo Anthony’s rookie campaign, the franchise had made some splashy moves in an effort to take the next step. Most notably, they traded three first-round picks for Kenyon Martin, giving the power forward a seven-year, $91-million contract in the process.

So when they got out of the gates with a disappointing 13-15 record, it was no surprise that Jeff Bzdelik was fired. He was never the team’s long-term answer at head coach. Neither was Michael Cooper, as the former Laker was a dismal failure as the interim coach, going just 4-10 during his 14-game stretch.

On January 27, 2005, the Nuggets finally landed the head coach they wanted. George Karl, who came to Denver with a glossy résumé and a history of winning at every stop, was hired to right the ship.

He did just that. Down the stretch, the Nuggets went 32-8 under their new head coach, finishing with a very-respectable 49-33 record. In a loaded Western Conference, however, that only earned Denver the No. 7 seed, which meant a first-round match-up with San Antonio.

The Nuggets gave the eventual NBA champions a test, winning Game 1 on the road and dropping Game 4 in overtime. But in the end, they didn’t have enough to compete with Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, as the Spurs won the series in five games.

Nonetheless, the future looked bright in Denver. They had a young star. They added veterans that brought toughness. And they had a head coach who could get the most out of them.

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The Ultimate Beatdown

At one point in the 2005 season, the Buffaloes were riding high. They were 7-2, having suffered only losses to No. 12 Miami and No. 2 Texas on the road, and they were ranked 25th in the country.

Then, the wheels came off. Colorado blew a fourth-quarter lead at Iowa State on Nov. 12 and then suffered a 30-3 loss in front of a national TV audience at Nebraska. Suddenly, they’re solid season was on less-than-firm footing.

It took a missed field goal by the Cyclones in their season finale for the Buffs to back their way into the Big 12 North title. That seemed like a lucky break at the time. But in retrospect, it probably would’ve been better if that kick had split the uprights.

In a rematch from earlier in the season, the Buffaloes proved they weren’t in the same class as the Longhorns. Texas scored early, putting two touchdowns on the board in the first quarter, and often, crossing the goal line 10 times on the day.

At halftime, CU trailed 42-3. By the end of the third quarter, it was 70-3. And if Mack Brown hadn’t called off the dogs, the final score would’ve been even worse.

Vince Young completed 14 out of 17 passes for 193 yards and three touchdowns. Jamaal Charles and Henry Melton each rushed for two scores, while Young and running back Selvin Young had touchdowns on the ground, as well. To cap it off, UT scored on a blocked punt.

It was a dominating performance in every way, one that was symbolized by a brutal hit that would send Colorado quarterback Joel Klatt to the hospital with a concussion. The game also sent the two programs in opposite directions.

Texas would go on to play No. 1 USC in the Rose Bowl, where they’d win the national championship, winning 41-38 in one of college football’s all-time classics. Colorado would go on to play Clemson in the Citrus Bowl, where they’d run their losing streak to four games with a 19-10 loss.

In that season finale, the Buffs would be without their head coach. On December 8, Gary Barnett was fired, due as much to the embarrassing on-field performances at the end of the year as the off-field issues that had put a cloud over the program. Defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz would serve as the interim head coach in the bowl game, while Dan Hawkins was hired on December 15 as Barnett’s permanent replacement.

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An Odd Demotion

The 2005-06 season for the Avalanche was an odd one in many ways. The NHL was coming out of a lockout that cost the league the previous season; that made for some strange situations, as teams returned to the ice. Few were as quirky, however, as the coaching situation in Colorado.

After getting bounced by the Wild in round one of the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Avalanche fired Tony Granato. The head coach was replaced in June of 2004 by Joel Quenneville. It would take more than 16 months for the new boss behind the Avs bench to make his debut, however, as Colorado didn’t play a game until October 5, 2005.

The wackiness didn’t end there, however. Standing next to Quenneville for that season opener was Granato, who had accepted a demotion and remained on the Avalanche’s staff as an assistant coach.

It was a highly unusual moves, as normally teams and coaches part ways after their let go. There’s just too much bad blood an animosity to overcome.

But it had been more than a year since Colorado decided Granato wasn’t the right guy to lead them back into contention. Apparently, time healed the wounds, as both parties were able to put the past behind them and move on in the 2005-06 campign.

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Tu-Lo

On the surface, the 2005 season was a disaster for the Rockies. Todd and the Toddlers, the nickname the team had been given because their roster was composed of veteran Todd Helton and a bunch of young players, sputtered to a 67-95 record, tied for the worst in franchise history at the time.

But a deeper dive into the year would show that there were some positive signs. Colorado’s position at the bottom of the standings was largely due to a poor start. Clint Hurdle’s team got out of the gates very slowly, going 6-15 in April and 9-20 in May. At the start of June, they were 15-35, already 20 games under .500 and out of the race.

Down the stretch, however, the Rockies played pretty well. They had a winning record in both August and September, going 30-28 after August 1.

Along the way, they found some key players for the future. Brian Fuentes had taken over the closer role, posting 31 saves and a 2.91 ERA. He’d become a critical part of the 2007 team that made the World Series.

But most importantly, Colorado made a great move on June 7, 2005. On that day, the Rockies used the seventh-overall pick in the draft to selected Troy Tulowitzki, a shortstop out of Long Beach State.

Tulo would make his major-league debut a little over a year later. He’d then beat out Clint Barmes the following spring for the team’s starting shortstop job, setting the table for the rookie to be a big part of the franchise’s magical 2007 run.