Colorado Snowballs Past Kansas : Big Eight: Down by 14 points, Buffaloes win, 30-24, on Hill’s touchdown with 40 seconds left.

Colorado rallied for 20 points to edge Kansas, 30-24, Saturday and remain in contention for an Orange Bowl berth or--depending on developments--a spot in the Blockbuster or Gator bowl.

The Buffaloes battled back from the loss of starting quarterback Darian Hagan to an ankle injury in the first quarter and a 24-10 deficit early in the third quarter after three costly turnovers.

They won with an eight-play, 80-yard drive through wet snow in the final two minutes that featured Joseph’s 22-yard pass to Rico Smith and tailback Lamont Warren’s 28-yard run. Fullback James Hill scored the clinching touchdown on a one-yard plunge with 40 seconds left.

“You have to say there’s something about these kids,” Colorado Coach Bill McCartney said. “It’s never over with us. Most of the day we struggled, but we seem to have a resiliency about us.

“Kansas outplayed us. But when the situation calls for us to fight, we rise to the occasion. Sometimes it isn’t pretty. But we’re staying alive and doing the things to win games.”

A bitterly disappointed Kansas Coach Glen Mason agreed.

“Right now, I don’t know if there’s a team in college football that knows how to win better than Colorado,” Mason said. “It could have been a different story against Nebraska (Colorado blocked a field goal to hold on for a 19-19 tie), it sure could have been a different story against Oklahoma State (when the Buffaloes scored a touchdown on a fake field goal in the final seconds to eke out a 16-12 victory) and it could have been a different story in the last two minutes today.”

With the loss, Kansas, 5-5 overall and 2-4 in the Big Eight, saw its faint bowl hopes extinguished.

But Colorado (7-2-1, 5-0-1) stayed in the thick of bowl contention. If Colorado beats Iowa State next week and if Nebraska loses to Oklahoma, the Buffaloes would go to the Orange Bowl for a third consecutive season. Otherwise, they would go to either the Blockbuster Bowl--which has committed to taking the Big Eight runner-up--or the Gator Bowl, which will take the league’s third-place team.

“I think we’ll go to the Blockbuster and play Alabama,” McCartney said.