Colorado University Athletics
Series Classic:Tough 'D', Clutch Drive Propels Colorado
(Note: The following story from the
CU-Kansas State game on Nov. 18, 1995 was written by former Rocky
Mountain News staff writer B.G. Brooks, now the Contributing Editor
for CUBuffs.com.)
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Nightfall found Kansas State Stadium liberally strewn with cotton balls and fluffed-up dreams. That proposed new order in the Big Eight's final season-the one that saw K-State supplanting Colorado in the upper echelon-was put on hold. Indefinitely.
The Buffs will go to Dallas. The Wildcats will go wherever it is they go after an 11th consecutive season of failing to defeat CU. Regardless of the statistical bombast emanating from Manhattan over the past two months, some things never change.
"Same Kansas State, same Colorado," Buffs receiver Rae Carruth said.
Rallying for 14 points in the final 64 seconds, the No. 9 Buffs stunned the No. 7 Wildcats 27-17 Saturday afternoon and all but guaranteed the second Cotton Bowl berth in school history. Bowl officials will extend the invitation today. The Buff's acceptance would be contingent on their release as a Bowl Alliance team, which is expected Monday.
CU's New Year's Day opponent is expected to be Oregon, the Pacific-10 Conference runner-up.
Trailing 17-13, the Buffs began their drive to Dallas with 2:24 remaining and K-State fans pleading with the nation's No. 1 overall and scoring defense to make a stand. But the Wildcats, who have never played in a New Year's Day bowl, withered.
CU quarterback John Hessler (24 of 42 passing, 314 yards, two touchdowns) drove his offense through K-State like a souped-up combine. Hessler-up, down and magnificent when he has to be-needed only six plays and 80 seconds to move CU 80 yards for the go-ahead touchdown in a game that saw the lead whip back and forth six times.
"We hung together and went right down the field," said jubilant Rick Neuheisel, who concluded his first regular season as a head coach with a 9-2 overall record (5-2 conference). The Buffs won a share of second place in the conference-the seventh straight season they've finished in one of the two top spots.
To Hessler & Co., the 2:24 remaining was "a lifetime... All you can say is that we were prepared." The touchdown came on a 20-yard pass from Hessler to receiver James Kidd, who sprinted past all-league cornerback Joe Gordon and caught the ball on the run in the back of the end zone. Neil Voskeritchian's extra point pushed CU ahead 20-17 and reintroduced the game-saving burden to a Buffs defense that limited the Wildcats to 287 yards-124 less than their average.
Said Kidd: "Me and Rae lined up on the same side, Phil (Savoy) was on the other side. Rae cleared out his man and the safety. It was just me and the corner out there by ourselves. It's who can get it done."
Kidd lost the ball for a split-second in the lights: "I thought, 'I know where it went in, I know where it has to come out.' It was gone for about a second."
In another second, so was Kidd. And so were the Wildcats, who had worked themselves and their community into a frenzy with visions of their first 10-win season since 1910 and the Cotton Bowl invitation. Both dreams were by Kidd's TD and an unlikely one that followed 19 seconds later.
Assuming possession at its own 20-yard line with 58 seconds to play, K-State (9-2, 5-2) stayed alive for one play before a bad snap from center doomed the Wildcats and sent most of a crowd of 42,454 filing into the night. Quarterback Matt Miller futilely chased the ball toward the end zone, but CU defensive tackle Kerry Hicks flopped on it for a touchdown-his second of the season.
K-State, 0-10-1 against CU in the team' past 11 meetings, was done.
Neuheisel called the victory "very rewarding...I felt like we controlled the game well, but we had difficultly managing in the red zone."
Indeed, Voskeritchian misfired on two short field goal attempts (31, 32 yards) after the offense misfired. And Hessler, though splendid at the conclusion, was intercepted twice to kill drives. The Buffs also saw a blocked punt returned for a touchdown.
But CU's defense never surrendered any easy yards. It kept Miller guessing on virtually every play, and recovered two of his fumbles while intercepting him once (safety Steve Rosga).
K-State coach Bill Snyder said the loss "was tremendously disappointing. But quite honestly, we didn't play well enough to get the win. Our players are hurt by it, and rightfully so."
CU, meanwhile, believed it has reiterated a strong message at the dawn of the Big 12 Conference. "The big games," inside linebacker Matt Russell said, "we're used to them...They've played Akron, Northern Illinois and Lord knows who else. We were ready for this."
CU defense keeps K-State
guessing
Colorado's defense went into deep
disguise Saturday. Kansas State's offense went into deep
despair.
In a 27-17 victory Saturday, the No. 9 Buffs played cat-and-mouse- with the No. 7 Wildcats at the line of scrimmage- making every coverage and pass rush scheme seem something that it wasn't.
"We did a lot if bluffing, disguising everything we did," said free safety Steve Rosga, whose interception at the goal line killed a third-quarter K-State drive. Wildcats quarterback Matt Miller completed 15 of 29 passes for 206 yards, but did not throw a touchdown pass - the first game this season he's been shut out.
Continued Rosga: "He likes to audible, and about 85%-90% of the time, he was going into what we expected - because we confused him (with the disguised schemes). We spent extra time this week in film room with A.J. (Christoff, defensive coordinator)."
Defensive tackle Kerry Hicks, whose end zone recovery of a fumbled K-State snap from shotgun formation gave the Buffs their final touchdown, said CU showed mostly man-to-man coverage at the line of scrimmage.
"But we'd step out of it at the last minute," Hicks said. "It wasn't an easy game plan; it took more mental preparation than most. But we felt comfortable with it, and we knew if we played Colorado football we'd win."
CU opened the game using six defensive backs and played in either that or a nickel scheme for most of the afternoon. Miller was sacked four times, twice by blitzing strong safety Ryan Black.
"I thought we had it won," Miller said, "but you have to give credit to Colorado. They're a great team. I just didn't play good and I'll take all the blame for that."
Bowl
watch
With the Buffs finishing in a three-way tie for
second in the Big Eight Conference (with K-State and Kansas) and
headed for the Cotton Bowl by virtue of the highest ranking among
the threesome, the Wildcats likely will wind up in the Holiday Bowl
and the Jayhawks in the Aloha.
Verification on the Cotton Bowl bid could come today, the other two bids possible Monday.
Running
roughshed
The Buffs believed they could run straight
at the nation's No. 1-ranked defense. They were
right.
Of CU's 526 total yards, 212 came on the ground. The Wildcats were averaging 104 yards in rushing defense - ninth-lowest in the nation.
"(Offensive line) coach (Terry) Lewis told us on Monday that we were going to run on them," left tackle Andrew Welsh said. "Our coaches saw what Iowa State did to them and figured we could use our fullback (Keith Miller) in the running game."
"We took what (Lewis) told us to heart and did what we had to do."
Tailback Herchell Troutman led all CU rushers with 87 yards on 20 carries. But Lendon Henry (six carries, 53 yards) and Marlon Barnes (seven carries, 46 yards) also were utilized effectively. Perhaps theirs and the offensive line's most impressive statistic: Troutman's 1-yard loss was the only negative yardage for CU's tailback trio.
It wasn't planned
The Buffs' first touchdown came in a 36-yard John Hessler-to-Matt
Lepsis -to-Troutman exchange. It appeared to be a lucky tip that
came out of a "hook-and-lateral" play CU practiced last
week.
Not so, said offensive coordinator Karl Dorrell: "We were lucky, but sometimes you have to have that. The ball was just thrown high to Lepsis and went off his hands. Troutman wasn't expecting a lateral."
Last week, CU practiced a "hook-and-lateral" with those three players. The difference: Lepsis, the tight end, is supposed to catch Hessler's pass and lateral it to Troutman.