Notebook
Saturday, December 26, 1998
THE bad blood between Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti and Colorado counterpart Rich Neuheisel wasn't cleansed after yesterday's 17th annual Jeep Aloha Bowl, won by the Buffaloes, 51-43. Still no love lost
between Ducks, BuffsBellotti claimed Colorado's cornerbacks held more people than a drunk tank on a Saturday night. Neuheisel rubbed Bellotti's nose in it with another fake punt in the waning moments of a bowl game.
The Ducks said the Buffaloes talked more trash than a Miami Hurricane cornerback. Colorado countered by saying, "We not only talk the talk. We walk the walk."
So it went during the 228-minute marathon that was a rematch of the 1996 Cotton Bowl. In that 38-6 Buffaloes win, Colorado called a fake punt with five minutes left that led to the final touchdown. Bellotti has never forgotten it.
"I thought they got away with a lot out there, especially in the secondary," Bellotti said.
"They got away with a lot of things out there that they shouldn't have. They tried that fake punt again, but we were ready for it this time. I just wish we could have stuck it in the end zone and put it into overtime."
When told of Bellotti's comments, Neuheisel shook his head and smiled. Beating a team two times in three years in postseason play was all the Colorado coach wanted to talk about.
"We worked on the fake punt for the last couple of weeks of practice," Neuheisel said. "Bobby Hauck, our special teams coach, said it was there. Our defense was spent and I thought it was worth the gamble, but we came up just a few inches short.
"We had a lot of guys in striped uniforms watching the game. The final result is the bottom line. Mike Bellotti has a great program, but I think we have a great program as well. The bottom line is 51-43."
Oregon quarterback Akili Smith did everything he could to cut into Colorado's bottom line. He overcame a slow start to complete 24 of 46 passes for 456 yards and two touchdowns. He gave Colorado credit, but he also said the Buffaloes did a lot of talking.
"They were mouthy," Smith said. "Those guys were talking a lot of trash, a whole lot. That had to be the most talkative team I've played against in my whole life."
RECORDS FALL: There were seven records broken or tied in the game.
Colorado place-kicker Jeremy Aldrich was a part of two of those. He not only set the record for most field goals with three, he also tied the record of six PATs.
Buffaloes' quarterback Mike Moschetti broke the mark for most touchdown passes thrown with four. The old record of three was held by three quarterbacks, including UCLA's Cade McKnown.
Oregon running back Derien Latimer tied the record for most points scored in one game with 18. The other three players included Colorado's Rashaan Salaam (1993).
One team record was tied and two were broken. Colorado tied the record of 51 points for the winning team. Kansas did it against UCLA in 1995 and Washington accomplished it in last year's win over Michigan State. The two team records broken were Oregon's 43 points in a loss and the 94 combined points.
DESERVING MVPs: Nobody could argue with the two most valuable player selections. Smith took home the hardware for Oregon and Moschetti for Colorado.
After his team trailed by 30 points in the third quarter, Smith engineered a comeback that fell one touchdown short.
"It feels good to win this, I just wish we could say the same thing about our team," Smith said. "I got off to a slow start, but I felt better in the second half. Winning this is something I won't ever forget."
Neuheisel felt Smith and Moschetti deserved the awards.
"Akili Smith is as advertised," Neuheisel said. "He's a fantastic quarterback.
"With Mike, it's like that game 'Operation.' He's had a number of injuries to deal with all season long, but has responded by coming back every week."
Moschetti was glad to get the award, but was upset with his fumble that helped Oregon cut into Colorado's lead.
"I'm not in a good mood right now, even though we won," Moschetti said. "My fumble could have cost us the game."
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By Paul Arnett, Star-Bulletin
Brock Huard appeared emotionally crushed by the loss at the postgame press conference. Loss means a long
ride home for Huskies"They took it to us, give them the credit, and we're going to have a pretty crappy ride home," he said.
"After a game like this, you can't really think," he said. "You're just so disappointed. But the thing I am most disappointed really about is not being able to play anymore with (halfback) Dane (Looker), (backup quarterback) Marques (Tuiasosopo), (tight end) Reggie (Davis) or (flanker) Andre (DeSaussure). All the guys who make this game what it is.
"This game is about winning and losing first.
"But secondly it's camaraderie. And when you look at guys in the eyes, you know it's your very last time. It doesn't hit you until it's over. It doesn't hit you until it's winter and guys are doing drills and you're trying to get yourself for whatever life has to offer."
Air Force defensive coordinator Cal McCombs said he thinks Washington quarterback Brock Huard will be "a great NFL quarterback."
"He's got a great arm, a lot of poise," said McCombs, who just completed his ninth year as Falcons defensive coordinator.
"This guy will kill you if you let him have any time. I told our guys to continue to roll the dice and try to get the ball out of his hands as quickly as possible."
There are those who believe Huard will be among the top five quarterbacks taken in the 1999 NFL draft. His brother, Damon, a former Huskies quarterback, is a backup with the Miami Dolphins.
DEJA VU: Washington and Air Force will meet again Sept. 18, 1999, in the home opener for the Huskies in Seattle.
The Huskies will also face the two Jeep Aloha Bowl teams next fall.
Washington will host Colorado on Sept. 25 while Oregon pays a visit to husky stadium on Oct. 2.
HAD NO ANSWER: Washington head coach Jim Lambright said he thought he had some good answers for dealing with Air Force's offense in the second half of the game, and they didn't all have to do with the option.
"We didn't fiddle around too much with the option but we tried to come up with answers for the other things they were doing," said Lambright.
"The reverses, the play-action passes, the things that had created really big plays for them in the first half. We tried to reassure our kids and we tried to cheat a little more so that we got people more into the strong side just by bumping the alignments. But they had better answers than we did."
NO HANDS: Air Force defensive tackle Bryce Fisher interrupted the postgame press conference when he dropped a live microphone he was handing teammate Tim Curry behind the back of his head coach, Fisher DeBerry.
But DeBerry, never one to be at a loss for words in any situation, shot a glance at Fisher and drawled, "That's why you play defense and not offense."
TOP DOG: Washington freshman free safety Hakim Akbar led the Huskies with 11 tackles -- nine solo. His job was to take the pitch man in the option.
GROUNDED: Air Force quarterback Blane Morgan led his team with 50 yards rushing while Willie Hurst led the Huskies with 66 .
AIRING IT OUT: Morgan's 79-yard touchdown pass to Matt Farmer was the longest in Air Force bowl history.
FLYING HIGH: Morgan is the winningest quarterback in Air Force football history with a 20-3 record as a starter.
LEAVING THEIR MARK: The Falcons' 12-1 record ties the most wins by an Air Force team. The 1985 team was also 12-1 but tied for the WAC title. The 1998 team won it outright. Air force has the nation's fourth longest win streak at nine games.
BOWLED OVER: Attendance for the Jeep Aloha and Jeep Oahu bowls was reported as 46,451.
TURF WARS: On artificial turf this year, Air Force was 5-0.
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By Pat Bigold, Star-Bulletin
