As Air Force kicker Dave Lawson set up for a field-goal attempt, everyone in the crowd of 38,000 at Falcon Stadium was standing and engulfed in suffocating tension and emotion.
It was Oct. 5, 1974, and the Air Force Academy and the University of Colorado were playing the last of 16 games in a series that began in 1958. The series had developed into a bitter rivalry that stood CU 11, Air Force 4 going into the game. The Buffaloes and the Falcons haven’t met on the football field since.
“It’s the only athletic contest I’ve ever been part of that brought me to tears,” Lawson said last week from his home in Arizona. “It was a huge rivalry in those days. I knew we hadn’t beaten them in my time at the academy.”
The rivalry had eaten its way into the heart of both institutions. It had gotten somewhat personal between Air Force coach Ben Martin and CU’s Eddie Crowder. But for the last game in the series, Crowder had stepped up to the athletic director’s chair at CU and Bill Mallory faced Martin on the sidelines.
Lawson looked back 37 years to a late October afternoon and to a set of circumstances that only added to the drama.
The Buffaloes took a 21-3 lead in the first quarter and kept the advantage behind the 171 rushing yards and two touchdowns by running back Billy Waddy. But by the fourth quarter, Air Force was behind by three points with the ever-dangerous Lawson in its hip pocket.
Mallory only added to the drama when he had punter Stan Koleski step out of the end zone for a two-point safety instead of punting into a strong wind in front of a defensive rush by the Falcons. Earlier, Koleski had caught one of his punts that had been carried back to him in the wind.
Air Force quarterback Mike Worden started the Falcons on a march to field-goal range for Lawson, but with barely a minute left in the game, he called a timeout. Everyone expected a sideline pass, but Martin called a running play that netted a yard.
With Colorado leading 28-27, Lawson was looking at a 50-yard attempt, a daunting task in its own right. He already had kicked a 60-yarder in the game, but his chance to win the game came with the game clock ticking under 20 seconds.
Every set of eyes in the stadium were switching from Lawson to the clock, and the race was on. Lawson wasn’t just a kicker, but a defensive starter at linebacker and nose guard. He wore a special kicking shoe that held his toe high, but he had changed shoes before he entered the field, not back to change in advance in case of a turnover and Air Force’s defense going back on the field.
Holder Ray Wild was waiting.
“I didn’t feel rushed,” Lawson said. “We had kicked a lot of field goals. Our timing was good.”
Lawson’s kick sailed toward the south goal posts with 11 seconds left on the clock. It was long enough and high enough, but a little off to the left. CU won and bragging rights stayed in Boulder.
“I was sure it was good,” Lawson said. “There was no doubt in my mind. A Colorado player tapped me on the helmet and said, ‘Nice kick.’ I was devastated. It hurt.”
Martin called it the “game of the century.” He later explained his decision to run the ball instead of a pass after the controversial timeout. He knew Lawson was within field-goal range, and Martin had a flash in his mind of a CU defensive back picking off a pass and running for a touchdown. It wasn’t worth the risk.
While there still might be elements of the CU-AFA rivalry that remain hostile, Lawson isn’t.
“I felt responsible because there would have been bragging rights still today,” Lawson said. “But I’ve always had good thoughts about CU and knew people who went there.”
He can’t say the same after the outcome of a game against Notre Dame and quarterback Joe Montana in 1975, his senior year. The Falcons went into the fourth quarter leading 30-10. Montana entered the game in the fourth and led the Irish to a 31-30 triumph.
“We did some giant killing during my time,” Lawson said. “We tied UCLA before it won the Rose Bowl. But I never have had good thoughts about Notre Dame after our game in 1975.”
After his military commitment, Lawson had brushes in the NFL with the New York Giants, Philadelphia, the Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs.
He has turned his attention to golf. But every so often, his thoughts go back to that October afternoon at Falcon Stadium. He still can see the kick that he thought was good.
Lawson bio
Born: April 26, 1954, in Overland Park, Kan.
High school: Shawnee Mission North
College: Air Force Academy
Family: Wife Barbara, son Eric, daughters Michelle and Nicole
Hobbies: Golf and bowling
Wish list: Maybe a trip to Scandinavia
