This has nothing to do with my current social life, even though life is football and football is life. (The lack of correlation has nothing to do with the lack of 100+ data points, either, so let that joke pass you by, OG Fred)
Just no. 6 for god’s (and the then-brand new Bear’s) own team, the 94 Buffs? Oh come on. Flutie (’84 BC Miami) was a pussy.
No. 6 Colorado 27 … Michigan 26, September 24, 1994
At the time: No. 4 Colorado and its high-octane offense had stomped UL Monroe and Wisconsin by a combined score of 103 to 30 to start the season. No. 7 Michigan had squeaked by Boston College 34-26 and Notre Dame 26-24.
The setup: A two-yard touchdown run by eventual Heisman winner Rashaan Salaam and a 27-yard touchdown pass from Kordell Stewart to Michael Westbrook gave the Buffs a 14-9 halftime lead. Michigan roared back with a 17-point third quarter highlighted by a 65-yard touchdown pass to Amani Toomer for a 26-14 advantage. Colorado went on a long 72-yard march capped off with another short Salaam touchdown run to get within five with just over two minutes to play.
The ending: Colorado tried an onside kick with no luck, but Michigan failed to run out the clock hurt by a penalty making it 3rd and 7 rather than 3rd and two. Colorado’s Chris Hudson signaled for a fair catch the Michigan punt on his own 15 with :14 to play. The Buffs were also out of timeouts. Stewart and Westbrook hooked up for a 21-yard gain, but there were now only eight ticks remaining and CU was only on its 36. A Stewart spike left six seconds left. The play call was “Rocket Left” with three receivers on the right running as far as they could. Stewart took the snap and rolled to his left back to around the 26, not pressured and able to wait for his receivers to make their way down the field. With no time left on the clock, he let it sail more than 70 yards arching down among a mass of players. Michigan’s Ty Law and Chuck Winter went up with CU’s Blake Anderson, but the ball bounced off of Anderson and into the air by Law. Westbrook was behind the play and worked behind the mass to dive by Law and grab the deflected throw for a 64-yard touchdown and the 27-26 win.
How they ended up: Michigan recovered to beat Iowa and Michigan State, but lost to Penn State on the way to an 8-4 season ending up with a 24-14 win over Colorado State in the Holiday Bowl and a No. 12 ranking. Colorado got out to a 7-0 start before losing to eventual national champion Nebraska 24-7. The Buffs finished third in both polls with an 11-1 record after beating Notre Dame 41-24 in the Fiesta Bowl.
Scout.com: 100 Greatest Finishes – No. 6 to 10
(HT: Michiganzone)
