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Lyle Pickens' late interception sealed Colorado's 14-13 win over Arizona in 1985.

Story by Craig Harper
Boulder Daily Camera
(September 29, 1985)

TUCSON, Ariz. -- The last thing the University of Colorado football team wanted was to give Max Zendejas another chance to win the game for Arizona.

“We knew he can kick it from anywhere,” CU’s Lyle Pickens said.

So Pickens saw to it that Zendejas - who minutes earlier had missed wide right on a 61-yard field-goal try - didn’t get a second opportunity.

The Buff senior cornerback intercepted an Alfred Jenkins pass with 1:03 remaining to preserve a 14-13 Colorado victory Saturday night before 45,503 stunned fans at Arizona Stadium. Pickens’ theft thus preserved CU’s third non-league win of the season. Arizona, meanwhile, dropped to 3-1, the same record as Bill McCartney’s Buffs.

It capped a remarkable comeback for McCartney’s CU team, which won for the first time on the road in seven games dating back to the end of the 1983 season and snapped a six-game Arizona win streak dating back to last season - which was the nation’s second longest.

“I feel great,” beamed McCartney, whose team overcame three third-quarter turnovers and squandered a 7-3 first-half lead.

“It was a case of a lot of young kids rising to the occasion,” McCartney said.

Until free safety John Nairn intercepted Jenkins on the third-to-last play of the third quarter, it looked like a possible repeat of last week’s Ohio State loss for Colorado.

Third-quarter fumbles by fullback Anthony Weatherspoon and an interception of a Mark Hatcher pass by linebacker Byron Evans set up 10 unanswered Arizona points that turned the 7-3 deficit into a 13-7 lead.

But Nairn’s interception reversed a miserable trend for the Buffs. Until then, CU had turned the ball over 13 times, leading to 59 points for the opposition; and the Colorado defense had accounted for just two turnovers in almost 15 quarters of play, leading to but one field goal.

“We knew we had to score,” said Hatcher, who proceeded to drive the Buffs 40 yards in 11 plays, scoring himself on a 2-yard option keeper around the right side after the Wildcats bit on a nifty fake handoff to Weatherspoon.

CU three times converted on third down in the drive, with left halfback Ron Brown gaining seven on a third-and-five from the 35, right halfback Sam Smith getting two on third-and-one from the 6 and Hatcher scoring on third-and-goal.

Larry Eckel made the important conversion for a 14-13 CU lead with 10:41 remaining.

“Our offense, when it had to, showed a lot of poise and punched it in there,” McCartney said.

But it was far from over.

Arizona took advantage of Barry Helton’s poorest kick of the season - a 31-yarder - to take over on the 50 with 4:59 left.

CU sophomore linebacker Don DeLuzio roared through the line on third-and-two to throw fullback Joe Prior for a 2-yard loss at the CU 44.

Arizona coach Larry Smith already had his punting team coming on the field when Zendejas, who earlier kicked field goals of 46 and a career-equaling best 54 yards to move into 14th place on the NCAA career scoring list with 305 points, talked him into a 61-yard field goal try.

His kick, a low liner, had plenty of distance, but was wide right.

The Wildcats got one more chance when CU had to punt. Arizona took over at its 20 with 2:00 left and moved to a first down at the 33 when Jenkins threw to the right sideline for his favorite receiver, Joe Horton.

“I just broke on the ball and beat him to it,” said Pickens, who earlier was beaten on a 28-yard pass to Horton and then on an 11-yard scoring pass to Horton.

The last thing CU wanted was to see Zendejas on the field.

“That last interception sure took the pressure off because that kid can kick it,” McCartney said. “Larry (Smith) told me before the game his range was probably 65. (If he had another chance) I don’t know that he wouldn’t have made it.”

Colorado had trouble getting its outside running game untracked early, then the defense committed two penalties totaling 25 yards as Arizona drove 51 yards for Zendejas’ first field goal, a 46-yarder.

A clipping penalty nullified an 11-yard run by Smith to the Arizona 38 and stymied CU’s third drive.

But the Buffs finally got going on their fourth drive, as Smith - who had his best game as a Buff with 79 yards on nine carries - broke a counter for 28 yards. Then Hatcher tossed a 27-yard pass to split end Drew Ferrando to the Arizona 26.

On the next play, Hatcher ran for 16 yards on the option, leading to Brown’s 7-yard touchdown on the counter.

However, in the third quarter, Colorado duplicated its second quarter performances of the previous two games - turning the ball over on three straight possessions - the Weatherspoon fumble at midfield and two Hatcher interceptions.

Safety John Nairn and the 1985 Buffaloes put the rest of the nation on notice. Buffs Say They Are For Real By Craig Harper Boulder Daily Camera (September 29, 1985) TUCSON, Ariz -Color the University of Colorado football team for real. The doubters after last week’s 33-16 lesson in humility to Ohio State can go back into hiding. “We just had to make sure tonight that we’re for real,” tight end Jon Embree said. “We are.” Or, as cornerback Lyle Pickens put it, “We knew we could play. We came to prove it, and we did.” The euphoria came in the wake of a 14-13 victory over Arizona on Saturday night. There was a lot of talk two weeks ago, after the 21-17 victory over Oregon, about how CU had turned the corner in Bill McCartney’s fourth year. But a jovial McCartney admitted in the cool desert air outside Arizona Stadium, “I think we turned another corner. When you go on the road with a young team and win, particularly this team which was 8-0 at home and 3-0 this year…” Then McCartney was asked the inevitable: Was this his best win in 37 games as CU’s head coach? “This is the biggest victory we’ve had since I’ve been here,” was his simple, but not understated, response. “No one can look past us anymore,” said free safety John Nairn, whose interception late in the third quarter led to CU’s winning touchdown drive. Nairn thought the Wildcats - who were 3-0 and looking for Top 20 ranking but also had Southern Methodist coming up next week - were. We needed this win,” tailback Ron Brown said. “I think we took a giant step around the corner. The biggest would’ve been Ohio State, but you know what happened there. We had to get over the hump because we lost last week.” Some of the steps included: - The return of the running game to the Wishbone. After being held to 215 yards by Ohio State, CU was over the 300-yard mark again for the third time in four games, with 301 yards. Included in that was 179  by starting halfbacks (100 for Brown and 79 by Sam Smith), 79 by quarterback Mark Hatcher and a combined 83 by fullbacks Anthony Weatherspoon and Eric McCarty. Stymied to the outside early in the game, CU showed the patience it needed, then finally broke some big plays on the perimeter. “We tried to set ‘em up with the inside game,” Brown said. “They collapsed on ‘Spoon, but when we came in the locker room (at halftime) we said we’re going to the option.” - Big plays by the defense. CU had forced just two turnovers leading to only three points in the first three games, but got the two big interceptions by Nairn and late in the game by Pickens. “That’s our objective,” Pickens said. “When you do that, a majority of the time you’ll win.” - The inner-gumption to come back from a disappointing loss, three straight turnovers and a 7-3 deficit in the first game on the road against a team ranked among the nation’s leaders on defense. Again, the only negative factor was CU’s lack of a passing game, as Hatcher completed just one pass - though a key 27-yarder - and was intercepted twice. With a week off before opening Big Eight play at home against Missouri, McCartney promised that phase of the Wishbone would receive plenty of attention.