This offseason we will count down various topics from Monday through Friday, bringing you the top five of the important and definitely some not so important issues in college football. It's the Doc Five, every week until we will thankfully have actual games to discuss.
THE BEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL BUZZER BEATERS
NO. 4, MIRACLE AT MICHIGAN
It’s tough to remember, but there was time when Colorado was one of the nation’s elite programs in college football and its roster was littered with NFL talent.
These were the 90s.
In 1994, the Buffaloes were especially talented thanks to a roster with the likes of Kordell Stewart, Ray Caruth, Michael Westbrook, Rashaan Salaam, Christian Fauria and several other NFL draft picks. That 1994 team went 11-1, but it just as easily could have been 10-2.
On Sept. 24, the No. 7 Buffaloes traveled to No. 4 Michigan, the second-highest ranked team on Colorado’s schedule.
The Buffs were down 26-21 with 6 seconds remaining from their own 36-yard line. Stewart, who had already led the Buffs to a touchdown 2 minutes prior to make the game close, had just one shot to silence the Big House.
The formation was called Jets; the play was called Rocket. Three receivers – Westbrook, Caruth and Blake Anderson - all lined up wide left and went streaking toward the end zone when the ball was snapped.
Stewart eluded a defender and then chucked the ball more than 70 yards downfield. And in that moment it seemed like everything stopped and all that was left was Keith Jackson’s voice, which pitched with excitement and amazement at what happened next.
“Lets it go… He’s got three people down there… Up in the air… CAUGHT! TOUCHDOWN!! Caught by Westbrook for a touchdown. In-Credible!”
Stewart’s pass deflected off Anderson and into the waiting arms of Westbrook for the 64-yard score and the 27-26 win.
What’s funny about this play is that Colorado ran it earlier in the game. At the end of the first half, Stewart threw a similar prayer that was intercepted Chuck Winters. Winters also was the defensive back Anderson tipped the ball from on the final play. But it was a play Colorado practiced every Thursday, so it was bound to work eventually.
As the 1994 season went on, Colorado lost to Nebraska 24-7 about a month later to cost itself a conference title, and Michigan finished just 8-4. Still, this play was the play of the year, some would say the decade, and gave us one of the five great thrills on the Doc 5 list.
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Previously on Doc Five: Trinity University and 15 laterals
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