‘The Catch’ Lives On In Boulder
A framed copy of the Oct. 3, 1994 cover of Sports Illustrated hangs on the wall of Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel’s den.
On the cover, titled “The Catch!,” Colorado wideout Michael Westbrook is about to latch onto the football over Michigan defensive back Ty Law.
The frame has a button. Press it and you’ll hear Colorado announcer Larry Zimmer’s impassioned call of the play that shocked Michigan 27-26 and left 100,000-plus people silent in Michigan Stadium. Westbrook caught a deflected 64-yard heave from Kordell Stewart in the end zone as time expired.
“When my little boys press that button, I still get goosebumps because it was such a neat moment,” Neuheisel said.
With the fifth-ranked Buffaloes preparing to take on No. 11 Michigan in the rematch Saturday in Boulder, the gadget is working overtime this week. But Neuheisel’s kids should be warned to lay off that button when the Wolverines arrive. Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr, who was the Wolverines’ defensive coordinator that day, said he’s heard quite enough about “The Catch”
“I’m not talking about that game or that season,” Carr told writers.
Conference call
That new superconference is making its presence felt nationally. Not the Big 12, but the Western Athletic Conference, which expanded to 16 teams. The WAC is 11-10 overall against other conferences and 3-1 against the Big 12, alleged to be the best league in the land.
The WAC is only 1-4 against the Top 25. That’s unimpressive, but it’s still more wins against ranked teams than the Pac-10 (0-4), SEC (0-1) and Big East (0-1) have, combined.
How high is enough?
Rice coach Ken Hatfield wasn’t happy with the way Ohio State trounced his Owls 70-7 last Saturday in Columbus. Buckeyes coach John Cooper’s reply: “It’s the first time in my coaching career that I’ve been accused of running up the score, and I don’t like that. We did throw a couple of deep balls (in the third quarter) when the game had been decided. I suppose if we had that to do over again, we might reconsider and keep the ball on the ground. But I’m not sure the score would have been much different.”