Brooks: '90 Season At Crossroads After 23-22 Loss To Illini

When Buffs fans take a stroll down memory lane, one of the first stops is 1990.

To commemorate CU's national championship, secured that season in the Orange Bowl against Notre Dame, CUBuffs.com will take a look back at each game of the '90 season. Game stories that appeared in the Rocky Mountain News and were written by B.G. Brooks, now Contributing Editor for CUBuffs.com, will be reprinted each Wednesday on the website.

It took awhile for the '90 Buffs to find themselves. The discovery wasn't made on their trip to Champaign, Ill.

The Buffs stumbled over themselves - and badly - in a 23-22 loss to Illinois, one of CU's 11 regular-season victims (38-7) the previous year in Boulder.

The defeat left the Buffs at 1-1-1 and wondering . . . Had their dreams of a national championship dried up?

Coach Bill McCartney was skeptical that his team, ranked ninth at kickoff, could scramble back into the race. Said McCartney: "This loss takes us out of contention . . . and I'm sure it will drop us in the rankings."

He was right on one count; the Buffs slipped to No. 20 in the following week's Associated Press Top 25. But unbeknownst to McCartney, a revival was looming the next weekend.

'T' is for Texas . . . but on yet another brutal road trip for the Buffs, it also stood for 'Turnaround.'

Buffs Fizzle At Finish

Illini rally sends CU to defeat

By B.G. Brooks

Rocky Mountain News

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Right about now, a new T-shirt with an old theme might be appropriate, if not fashionable, in Boulder.

"Things Have Changed"

For out-of-synch Colorado, last season's wonders have given way to a month of blunders. Illinois rallied from a two-touchdown deficit-does that sound familiar?-yesterday and brushed aside the Buffs 23-22, giving coach John Mackovic and his Fighting Illini the revenge they desperately wanted.

It was CU's first regular-season loss since the Buffs were beaten 7-0 at Nebraska in 1988.

Sophomore quarterback Jason Verduzco drove Illinois 63 yards in 10 plays for the winning touchdown, which fullback Howard Griffith scored on a 1-yard dive with 1:18 to play.

Not comfortable with kicking the extra point and a two-point lead, Mackovic called for a two-point conversion.

But Verduzco's pass was incomplete, leaving CU's offense 1:16 to find itself and a way to win.

That was asking the impossible. After an oddly-called squib kick gave the Buffs possession at their own 39-yard line, they advanced as far as the Illini 49 before a holding penalty snuffed any attempt to position Jim Harper for a winning field goal attempt.

CU ran out of downs, time and hope at its own 33-yard line. And according to coach Bill McCartney, the Buffs also limped out of 1990's national championship race.

"This loss takes us out of contention . . . and I'm sure it will drop us in the rankings," said McCartney, whose ninth-ranked team is 1-1-1 and, as he expects, destined to plummet in this week's polls.

As was the case in their opener against Tennessee, the Buffs held a two-touchdown lead (17-3) against the No. 21 Illini.

In the 31-31 tie, CU lost its 14-point advantage over the Vols in the fourth quarter.

Yesterday, the Buffs led by 14 points late in the first half, but let Verduzco and the Illini pull a Great Escape.

A touchdown drive that shouldn't have been was preserved when CU inside linebacker Chad Brown bobbled a Verduzco pass on third-and-9 and allowed running back Wagner Lester to catch it for an 11-yard gain.

"It wasn't a strong pass," Brown said. "It was just wobbling towards me. But I just couldn't bring it down."

Four plays later, on fourth-and-15 at the CU 36, McCartney believed Mackovic was playing into his hands by electing not to punt.

"I wanted them to go for it," McCartney said.

But he didn't want his defense to react as it did. Brown "rolled too far" and allowed split end Shawn Wax into an unprotected area behind him.

Verduzco (23 of 29 passes for 222 yards, one interception, one touchdown) found Wax for a 17-yard gain to the CU 19.

Three plays later, Verduzco passed 8 yards to flanker Elbert Turner for a touchdown with 28 seconds left in the first half. Kicker Doug Higgins' extra point brought the Illini to 17-10, and as McCartney noted, "The whole game changed."

After spotting Illinois a 3-0 lead on a 29-yard field goal by Higgins in the first quarter, Darian Hagan and his CU offense answered with a nine-play, 80-yard drive that was capped by fullback George Hemingway's 2-yard run.

Harper kicked the extra point, giving CU a 7-3 lead.

Two series later, an interception by strong safety Tim James led to a 54-yard Harper field goal, increasing the Buffs' lead to 10-3. And one play after Dave McCloughan's 42-yard punt return, Hagan found Mike Simmons uncovered in the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown pass.

With 13:02 left in the first half, Harper converted and CU appeared in control, 17-3.

Nothing could have been more misleading. The Illini closed to within a touchdown with their late first-half score, then gained further momentum on Moe Gardner's block of a 43-yard attempt by Harper. That led to a 64-yard, five-play drive finished by a 4-yard Verduzco-to-Wax TD pass. Higgins' kick tied the score at 17 with 2:28 left in the third quarter.

CU regained the lead two minutes later following a 65-yard Tom Rouen punt that was downed inside the Illini 1-yard line by Eric Hamilton. On Illinois' second play, inside linebacker Greg Biekert tackled Griffith in the end zone for a safety. Once again, CU was ahead (19-17).

McCartney thought the safety had shifted the momentum to the Buffs, and that might have been true had they scored a touchdown on their first possession of the last quarter. Instead, they bogged down at the Illinois 9, and Harper's 26-yard field goal gave CU a very uncomfortable 22-17 lead with 12:44 to play.

From there, CU couldn't sustain enough offense to keep Verduzco benched.

"Offensively, we're not converting like we did a year ago," McCartney said. "Our defense is solid, but we're not taking advantage of it. Our defense played well enough to win. We just didn't have enough offense."

Added Hagan, who completed six of 16 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown: "I don't know what's wrong. I don't have an answer for it - not now, maybe not 10 years from now."

Answers, however, must come quickly. The Buffs travel to Texas next Saturday.

Next: Game 4 - at Texas

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU