Freshman Detmer Rallies BYU for a 20-17 Victory

Well, they found a way to upstage the punters at the Freedom Bowl Thursday night. Coming-of-age stories go down well this time of year, and a freshman named Ty Detmer timed his arrival just right to save the game from utter inconsequence and Brigham Young University from a third straight defeat.

Summoned from the bench to open the second half as BYU’s quarterback, Detmer rallied a lifeless Cougar offense by completing 11 of 17 passes for 129 yards and guiding his team to 13 points, just enough to upset the University of Colorado, 20-17, before a crowd of 35,941 at Anaheim Stadium.

Detmer, a 21-year-old redshirt freshman, replaced junior Sean Covey at the start of the third quarter after Covey had brought the Cougars in at halftime, trailing, 14-7. Until then, Colorado had outgained BYU, 189 yards to 127, and Covey had completed just 4 of 19 passes for 39 yards and a critical interception in the Colorado end zone.

“We weren’t getting anything done,” BYU Coach LaVell Edwards said. “We were behind and we had an interception in the end zone. That really hurt us. We didn’t get a touchdown, we didn’t get a field goal, we didn’t get any points out of that drive. By the end of the second quarter, I’d pretty much decided we needed a change.”

And Detmer gave precisely that to the Cougars.

On his second possession, Detmer drove BYU 65 yards in 8 plays, the last a 15-yard scoring pass to Chuck Cutler that tied the game at 14-14. Ten minutes into his relief assignment, Detmer had completed 5 of 8 passes for 71 yards--or 19 yards more than both starting quarterbacks, Covey and Colorado’s Sal Aunese, had accumulated in the first half.

In the fourth quarter, after Paul Blottiaux’s 19-yard field goal had given the Buffaloes a 17-14 lead, Detmer launched another advance downfield. This one took the Cougars from their own 8-yard line to Colorado’s 14, setting up Jason Chaffetz for a 31-yard field goal.

Then, the Buffaloes, who had also switched quarterbacks, decided to throw the football--not a Colorado forte. Reserve quarterback Darian Hagan ran a 6-yard keeper on first down, fired an incompletion on second down and then gave the ball away on third down.

Hagan lobbed the ball down the left sideline, right into a crowd of BYU defenders, and one of them, free safety Scott Peterson, made an over-the-shoulder interception. This is why Colorado Coach Bill McCartney prefers to keep the ball in safe hands--those of his running backs.

It is also why the Buffaloes today are the only team to lose two Freedom Bowls. And in this one, as in Freedom Bowl II against Washington, Colorado wound up a 20-17 loser.

In 5 plays, Detmer had moved BYU in position for history to repeat. This time, though, all he had to do was hand the ball off--with Matt Bellini’s gains of 9 and 4 yards helping bring the ball to the Buffalo 18.

That was field-goal range for Chaffetz, and when his 35-yard attempt trickled over the crossbar with 2:33 left, BYU had righted a course that plunged through losses to San Diego State, Utah and Miami in the Cougars’ final 4 games.

“This is one of the great experiences and great feelings I’ve had for some time,” Edwards said with a sigh. “We hadn’t won a bowl games in 3 tries, but the uppermost thing is that we finished so poorly--losing 3 of our last 4 (games this season).”

Edwards said he wasn’t worried about putting pressure on his freshman quarterback.

“Ty’s come in and done that a couple times for us already,” Edwards said. “His dad is a very successful high school football coach, and Ty’s been very well-tutored. He functions very well under pressure.”

Detmer came away with the victory and a mammoth bronzed replica of Anaheim Stadium, the trophy presented to the most valuable player of each team. The Colorado award was voted to Buffalo tailback Eric Bieniemy, who netted 144 yards in 33 carries, but Bieniemy steered clear of the presentation ceremony after the game.

“I don’t feel I deserve it,” Bieniemy explained. “Winning is the most important thing. Right now, I don’t feel like accepting the trophy. . . .

Neither punter won an award, which is news in its own way. This was, after all, supposed to be the Great Kickoff between Colorado’s Keith English and BYU’s Pat Thompson, the Nos. 1 and 2 punters in the NCAA.

Some showdown. English punted twice for a 39-yard average, Thompson 4 times for a 33.5 mark. But everyone was paying more attention to Detmer, anyway.

“Ty did just an outstanding job,” Edwards said. “And the best thing about him is, he has 3 more years (of eligibility). I’ll probably coach for 3 more years and then go from there.”

Detmer, cradling a trophy nearly as big as himself, appeared overcome by the occasion.

“I guess they got to give it to somebody,” he said with a nervous grin. “I thought it’d go to one of our running backs. I got lucky.”

He also may have gotten the foot up on next fall’s quarterback competition at BYU. In 1989, Detmer will be a sophomore and Covey a senior.

“It should make me (the favorite),” Detmer said. “But it depends on Coach Edwards’ view.”

And Coach Edwards’ view, during the final days of 1988?

“We’ll get into that in the spring,” he said carefully. “But our quarterback situation looks much more solidified than it’s been the last 2 years.”