The 1979 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado in the Big Eight Conference during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by first-year head coach Chuck Fairbanks, the Buffaloes finished at 3âÂÂ8 (2âÂÂ5 in Big 8, tied for fifth), and played home games on campus at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.
Colorados's opener against Oregon was the first college football game ever televised by ESPN. A one-point win at Indiana in the fourth game was Colorado's sole victory in their first nine; they won the final two games of the season and avoided the conference cellar.
Previously the head coach of the New England Patriots for six years, Fairbanks was hired by athletic director Eddie Crowder in mid-December 1978. Difficulties with the NFL club's ownership resulted in a legal battle until early April, when a group of CU boosters (Flatirons Club) bought out Fairbanks' contract, allowing him to leave the Patriots just days ahead of the start of the Buffs' spring practice.