Face Of Dorian Gray After 94-Yard Scoring Run

It’s the defensive lineman’s dream: scooping up a fumble with only the goal line in sight.

The nightmare is when the goal line is 94 yards away.

Even so, Dorian Boose knew this much: “I wasn’t stopping for anything.”

The 6-foot-6, 280-pound defensive end’s Washington State debut was one for the record books when a fumble by third-string Colorado quarterback Jeremy Weisinger bounced into Boose’s hands and started him on a 94-yard journey to the end zone in the late going of CU’s 37-19 romp Saturday afternoon.

Boose, a junior who redshirted last year after transferring from Walla Walla Community College, has some mothballed talents in this area. At WWCC, he was occasionally used as a punt returner.

But that was about 60 pounds ago.

“I caught some cramps on the way down the field,” he said of Saturday’s run. “I’m used to running maybe 20 yards. Ninety-five is a long way.”

The Buffaloes were leading 37-6 and on the verge of banging in another touchdown as the clock ticked under 5:00. Weisinger was rolling left when linebacker James Darling knifed in for the hit, popping the ball loose.

“The ball bounced up and hit me in the helmet,” Boose said. “I grabbed it and the only thing I knew was to run.

“I wanted to score bad - not for myself, but for the team. We’d given a lot of effort and we didn’t give up. I could see the faces of my teammates as I was running down the field and I wanted to do it for them.”

After reaching the end zone, Boose staggered to the black berm that banks up to the bleachers and collapsed.

“That was my goal - reach the black,” he said.

Boose’s return wiped out the old school record of 71 yards set by linebacker Mark Fields in the 1994 opener against Illinois.

M for Michelle

A number of Cougars - many of them offensive linemen - wore the initial “M” monogram on their jerseys in honor of Michelle McEndoo, the late wife of offensive lineman Jason McEndoo.

Michelle McEndoo was killed in an auto accident July 14, just a month after she and Jason had been married. McEndoo and fellow lineman Ryan McShane, was was driving the car, were injured in the crash.

New faces

Nineteen players saw their first action as Cougars, including three starters - Boose, offensive lineman Bryan Chiu and running back Michael Black. But the Buffaloes debuted 16 new players of their own - five of them true freshmen.

Great expectations

What does Cougars quarterback Ryan Leaf need most of all?

“A win,” he said. “I’m 0-2 as a starter now. I just need to get a win.”

So impressive was Leaf in the last two games of the 1995 season that the losses to Stanford (when he entered after Shawn Deeds was injured) and Washington seemed almost incidental. His rocky 1996 opener made receiver Chad Carpenter think the big sophomore needs to resort to the things that made him successful in those games.

“They (Colorado) were bringing everybody and against a sophomore quarterback, that’s a good defensive game plan,” Carpenter said. “But he fought through it.

“The best thing Ryan Leaf does is scramble around and make things happen out there, and he didn’t do that very much this game. Last year in the Apple Cup, he was running all over and making plays. He didn’t get a lot of time to do that, and we need to get him back doing that.”

Gleason, Hinchen ailing

Backup linebacker Steve Gleason suffered a knee injury and did not return. The injury was described initially as a sprain, but Price indicated it could be more serious.

Cougars cornerback Shad Hinchen battled sickness in making three tackles and broke up two passes.

“I got dehydrated, had to get some IVs in my body,” the senior said. “I didn’t eat and I was throwing up a lot. I didn’t get no sleep last night, so I was feeling sick at the beginning of the game.”

Quick kicks

Among the 51,481 fans on hand was Olympic decathlon gold medalist Dan O’Brien of Moscow … Colorado outgained WSU 235-17 in the third quarter. , DataTimes