The “fifth down”
To this day, the only 1990 Buffalo capable of counting to five is center Jay Leeuwenburg.
Quarterback Charles Johnson said few remember the Buffs’ two-minute drive to get to the Missouri 3 with 31 seconds to play. After Eric Bieniemy ran for 2 yards on second down, CU called its last timeout. Three plays were called on the sideline, not entirely realizing only two downs remained. But as Johnson hurried everyone to line up for the spike on the fourth play, Leeuwenburg protested.
“I told Jay to shut the (heck) up,” Johnson said.
Leeuwenburg recalls his protest in the sideline huddle. When Leeuwenburg pointed out the down issue, he said coach Bill McCartney told him, “I’m the coach.”
“It wasn’t a good time to have a discussion,” Leeuwenburg said.
Johnson scored on the keeper for a 33-31 win as time ran out.
But Leeuwenburg couldn’t let it go. On the return home, he asked offensive coordinator Gerry DiNardo if he knew what happened. He did. “He said, ‘It’s my job to know.’ ”
Nebraska comeback
Befitting the near-freezing, driving rain, McCartney called it “a nice day in Lincoln.” Bieniemy couldn’t hold on to the ball. Colorado trailed 12-0 heading into the fourth quarter.
Then Bieniemy wouldn’t let go of the rock, scoring on four short TD runs for a 27-12 victory. It was CU’s first win in Lincoln since 1967, or as McCartney said, before his players were born.
“I remember having an in- depth conversation with Darian (Hagan), a real in-depth conversation with Alfred (Williams) and a really in-depth conversation with Coach Mac,” Bieniemy said. “The message was clear: ‘We need you to just do your job.’ “
The Orange Bowl
When Hagan limped out of the locker room at halftime on crutches with a torn knee tendon, it didn’t look promising for the Buffs, already trailing 6-3, soon to be 9-3.
Johnson stepped in to take Orange Bowl MVP honors, guiding the Buffs to a 10-9 win. Bieniemy put CU in front with 3:58 left in the third quarter, and CU killed nearly six minutes off the fourth-quarter clock.
CU punted to Rocket Ismail, one of the greatest return specialists in history. Lou Holtz recalled his instructions to Ismail: “I don’t care how deep they kick it, you run it back.”
Sure enough, Ismail was just a blur past the CU sideline 92 yards for a touchdown, but it was called back on a clipping penalty to secure CU’s win.
Holtz still gets worked up. After McCartney teased him at an Orange Bowl function years later, Holtz retorted: “Unless his face mask was on the back of his helmet, it was not a clip.”
Natalie Meisler, The Denver Post
