Detmers Don’t Enjoy Holidays Ty 0-3 In Holiday; Koy Up Next

Koy Detmer is looking to get more out of the Holiday Bowl than his brother ever did.

That is to say, a victory.

Big brother Ty had a storybook career at Brigham Young University, but three times he led his team into Jack Murphy Stadium for the Holiday Bowl, and never came out a winner.

Heisman Trophy, gobs of NCAA passing records, and even the all-bowl record of 576 yards passing in the 1989 Holiday Bowl … but never a triumph.

“I only get one chance,” Koy said. “This is the only bowl game of my career as a starting quarterback, so I’ve got to make the most of it. We have a lot to play for - our seniors especially have had a great time here, and we want to go out right.”

It isn’t as though he feels the need to square the family name in regards to postseason football. But it would be nice to lead a team to victory at the end of a season, for a change.

Ty will get a chance to do that, too, quarterbacking the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFL wild-card playoff game at San Francisco today.

The next night, Koy will lead the Colorado Buffaloes against the Washington Huskies in the Holiday Bowl.

“I still think my best college game is yet to come,” he said. “I hope I keep improving, and even though I’m a fifth-year guy, I really don’t have a ton of experience. I want to keep improving right up through my last game here.”

That could be a bit of a drag for the Huskies, considering that Detmer has broken Kordell Stewart’s single-season passing records at CU, completing 57 percent of his passes for 3,156 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Colorado fans would like to have seen what Detmer could have done if he hadn’t had his 1995 season cut short by a knee injury. When he suffered the torn arterial collateral ligament in the fifth game of last season, he was leading the nation in passing efficiency.

Until the injury, Detmer was averaging an incredible 100 yards a quarter (1,101 yards in 11 quarters of action). He came back this season strong, and three times, he’s thrown for more than 400 yards in a game, topped by his 457-yard, threetouchdown performance at Missouri.

Even that figure pales in comparison to Ty’s 1989 Holiday Bowl performance against Penn State.

“I was there for that one,” Koy said of his brother’s 576 yards through the air. “That was pretty amazing.”

Despite Koy’s knee injury and somewhat-limited experience in college football - he has started only six more games, for example, than Washington redshirt freshman Brock Huard - he’s considered a better pro prospect than Ty.

“Ty’s finally getting a chance to show what he can do,” Koy said, “and I’m sure that everything he’s doing will help me, too.”

The Huskies would love to extend the Detmers’ bowl-losing streak to four games. Washington has a history of treating quarterbacks inhospitably, recording 46 sacks this season, knocking the starter out of three games in the process.

Detmer lived through that nightmare against Texas A&M last year when he suffered his knee injury, and again later when he tried to give it a go with a knee brace. The Aggies, remember, were the same team that ended Ty’s junior season prematurely.

“My mom,” Koy said, “doesn’t like A&M much.”

It remains to be seen what she’ll think of Washington. The Huskies have their own quarterback-sibling circumstance to consider: Huard also is trying to avoid his brother’s bowl-game fate.

Last year, Damon Huard struggled through a windy Sun Bowl in the only bowl appearance of his career, as the Huskies were blown away by Iowa, 38-18.

This time, at least one or the other - the Detmers or the Huards - will have a winning quarterback Monday night.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: ON TV Holiday Bowl: UW-Colorado, Monday, 5 p.m., ESPN.