Colorado University Athletics
Series Classic: Cardiac Buffs Strike Again
October 09, 2009 | Football, B.G. Brooks
(Note: The following story from the CU-Texas game on Oct. 1, 1994 was written by former Rocky Mountain News staff writer B.G. Brooks, now the Contributing Editor for CUBuffs.com.)
Rashaan Salaam ran for 317 yards, the second-most in school history, to help CU past Texas in 1994.
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CU-Texas Series Classics |
AUSTIN, Texas-Hail Mary is now Hail Neil.
On the heels of last week's last-second miracle in Michigan, University of Colorado kicker Neil Voskeritchian stepped to a sweltering center stage Saturday and coolly booted the No. 5 Buffaloes over Texas 34-31.
His 24-yard field goal with 1 second remaining allowed CU to dance through a nonconference minefield undefeated (4-0) and toward a possible national championship.
Big Eight Conference play begins Saturday at Missouri, and if-after the past two weekends-the Buffs don't qualify as a team of destiny they at least qualify as a bunch teeming with true grit.
"I couldn't be any prouder than I am of this team," CU coach Bill McCartney said. "I know it wasn't pretty . . . But what we did (Saturday) and in the first four games was substantial."
And fairly incredible. The Buffs' victory over the No. 16 Longhorns was their third consecutive over a Top 25 opponent-and second straight on the road.
After CU won 27-26 at Michigan last week on the game's final play, McCartney assigned his sports information department to research the last time a team defeated three straight top 25 opponents. The answer: UCLA in 1952.
"I don't know if that's accurate," McCartney conceded. "But the point is, it's hard to do."
The Longhorns, with ample help from the Buffs, almost made it impossible Saturday. CU twice held leads of 10 or more points (21-10, 31-21), but rolling over wasn't an option for Texas (3-1).
The Longhorns made up their final 10-point deficit in the game's last 6:41 tying CU at 31 on a 67-yard Shea Morenz to Eric Jackson touchdown pass and Phil Dawson's 47-yard field goal.
The Buffs, stymied all afternoon by penalties (10 for 99 yards) and an off-key passing game (Kordell Stewart was 13-for-25, 119 yards), assumed possession with 4:49 remaining and drove from their 20 to the Texas 7-yard line.
The drive had tailback Rashaan Salaam's footprints all over it-and so did the Longhorns. Salaam's 35 carries gained 317 yards-the most ever allowed by Texas and the second-most ever by a CU player (Charlie Davis had 342 in 1971).
Stung by a pair of first-half fumbles, Salaam steeled himself for the workload in the Buffs' winning drive.
He said his drops were caused by a "lack of concentration," but he said they motivated him for the final minutes.
"I was tired of making silly mistakes . . . I wanted a chance to redeem myself," he said.
He did, accounting for 61 yards in the Buffs' final drive. His most crucial contribution: a 15-yard gain on third-and-9 at the Texas 38 after catching a flat screen from Stewart.
"I felt sure we'd make (the first down) with that play," McCartney said. "It's a safe call, and if we hadn't made it, we'd have gone for it on fourth down."
Five plays later, after Texas had used its final timeout to try to ice him, the quiet and reserved Voskeritchian-a junior transfer called "Kevorkian" in his circle of friends-was in position for his college career's first game-winning kick.
"Kevorkian" nailed it, and the Longhorns' heart monitor showed a solitary flat line.
"We started calling him (Kevorkian) last year when we began living together-mainly because none of us could pronounce his name," said free safety Steve Rosga.
"There are six of us (living together), and we all call our place 'the barrio.' When he kicked it, three of us-Ryan Sutter (reserve cornerback), Abraham Hernandez (manager) and me-were holding hands. We said 'Do it for the barrio.'"
Voskeritchian, whose 41-yard attempt in the first quarter was so bad it almost barked, kicked the game-winner as cleanly as he had a 44-yarder in the third period.
"I had a lot of confidence in Neil," McCartney said. "But you've also got to give a lot of credit to (snapper Derek) West and (holder Blake) Anderson."
The Buffs amassed 506 yards in total offense, 387 of it on the ground. McCartney said his game plan featured the run. It was the most rushing yards on Texas since 1987 (Oklahoma had 392). Freshman tailback Herchell Troutman (13 carries, 35 yards, 3 TDs) said, "We saw a slight weakness in their run defense. We didn't think it would be that tough to run on them."
Good thing, too. For CU's passing game, said McCartney, "wasn't in rhythm. Some of that was due to the turnovers and penalties. But we did what we had to do. We showed a lot of offensive potential, but we've got to stop getting all those penalties."
Despite misfiring frequently, the Buffs offense was potent enough to end an incredible Longhorns streak. In 251 previous games when they had scored 25 or more points, the Longhorns were 251-0.
"I'm very proud of our football team and the way they played," said Texas coach John Mackovic, now 1-8-1 against ranked teams in his three-plus seasons in Austin. "I could be happier, but I couldn't be prouder."
A locker room away, McCartney and the Buffs were both.
