SHREVEPORT, La. — An unfunny thing happened to Alabama on the way to a 90-0 victory over Colorado.
A football game broke out Sunday night.
And on the last play, the Buffaloes were about a dozen laterals and about four-dozen yards from winning the Independence Bowl.
I saw CU’s Miracle in Michigan, and I thought I was watching CU’s Sensation in Shreveport.
To be? Not to be.
The Tide won, but did not roll. The Buffs lost, but did not fold.
Afterward, the predominantly Crimson crowd sang how ‘Bama “beat the (another word for netherworld) out of you, CU.”
But a six-point difference wasn’t a real bad whupping.
Particularly when it’s considered that Alabama was up 27-0 early in the second quarter.
CU “beat the h-e-double-hockey-sticks out of you, UA” in the final 31 minutes and 55 seconds, 24-3.
Lagniappe is a Louisiana word meaning “a little something extra,” like a second helping of crayfish.
The Independence Bowl turned out to be a lagniappe in the fourth quarter when CU made the score 24-30.
Alabama was just trying to hang out and run out the last 3:51. The Tide did, thanks to one of those Southern quarterbacks with three names — John Parker Wilson. On third-and-7, when Wilson couldn’t find anybody free, he took off running for the first down. Colorado did get the ball back with 1.5 seconds left, but there’s not much you can do at that point except hook-and-lateral, lateral-and-run, hope-and-pray, tackle-and-fall, game over.
It’s been somewhat of a hard, cold December in the state of Colorado. It was looking like it would be a hard, cold winter in Boulder in the training room.
Yes, the Buffs ended up 6-7, but they ended uplifted.
Coach Dan Hawkins reiterated after the game he “came to Colorado to be part of a national championship program and that’s certainly the aspiration.”
Eddie Crowder and Bill McCartney had similar records after their first two seasons, and they were soon in the top 20.
The Buffs won’t be vying for No. 1 in the land next season, but they’re not drowning anymore. They started five freshmen (a school high for a bowl) and 14 underclassmen overall. Several special players return. Offensive tackle Ryan Miller and defensive tackle George Hypolite. “Buffalo Bill” Cody Hawkins, who is related, came of age this season and had 322 yards passing and three touchdowns against Alabama. He needs three more quality receivers and a couple of conference-class running backs.
Colorado deserves some credit, even if Alabama coach Nick Saban wasn’t willing to give the opposition much. “Colorado has a good team and did a good job of coming back.” Then he added: “We made some mistakes in the game and let them come back.” Enough about the Buffs and their rally, which was actual, not hypothetical.
But John Parker was the offensive MVP and is a classy young man/player. He threw for 256 yards and three scores — and has a strong grip on a handshake, the ball and his life. He said the victory was “humbling.”
The Buffs had about 3,000 people here, the Tide about 40,000. The rest were for LSU and the giant corndogs served on the fairgrounds just outside the stadium.
When Ralphie, the CU mascot who reportedly will retire before next season, raced onto the field before the game, the people in red acted like they had never seen a buffalo.
They probably hadn’t. Not many buffaloes down on the bayou.
The Buffaloes were fried like catfish in the opening quarter — 20 points, and it should have been more. Then it was more, 27 points, and the guy (from Shreveport, not Alabama as I reported, but all Southerners sound alike) who had asked Hawkins if this game was David vs. Goliath was sounding mighty smart. Shut my mouth.
“I’m proud of our guys,” the elder Hawkins said. “It looked like the rout was on. We could have pulled our tents and gone home.”
Hawkins had contributed to the torment with another of his fourth-down things — a “fumblerooski” fake on a punt. But we all should wish that he continues to be an imaginative riverboat gambler.
Colorado scored two touchdowns before halftime, and I was contemplating this opening line: “In the greatest comeback victory in CU history ”
It was maybe the “greatest near-comeback in CU history.”
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
