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Colorado quarterback Mike Moschetti was named MVP after throwing an Aloha Bowl-record four touchdown passes.

Story by B.G. Brooks
Rocky Mountain News
(December 26, 1998)

HONOLULU -- What appeared to be a cake walk (or was that a duck walk?) degenerated into a Christmas Day walk on the wild side Friday for the University of Colorado football team.

Opportunistic CU came close to losing a 30-point lead, but didn’t lose the Aloha Bowl. In a bottom line sport, that’s the only line the unranked Buffs were interested in after their entertaining but exhausting 51-43 victory over No. 21 Oregon.

“We came to Hawaii with two goals - win and have a good time,” CU coach Rick Neuheisel said. “And we were able to do both.”

The victory pushed CU’s 1998 record to 8-4. It also propels them into 1999 with the shot of momentum they had sought.

“We approached (the game) like it was the first game for next season,” said Buffs quarterback Mike Moschetti, who threw an Aloha Bowl-record four touchdown passes while completing 11 of 23 attempts for 213 yards and was named the game’s most valuable player.

“We’ve got a lot of guys coming back, but that doesn’t mean any wins will be a given.”

Moschetti’s TD passes went to Javon Green (5 yards), Marcus Stiggers (58 yards), Darrin Chiaverini (72 yards) and Daniel Graham (20 yards).

The Ducks, also ending their season at 8-4, punched up 27 first downs to CU’s 13, amassed 535 total yards to CU’s 397 and led in time of possession, 33 minutes 18 seconds to 26:42. But Oregon also committed six turnovers - four in a first half that resulted in 16 CU points.

“I believe we’re a better team than Colorado - but not today,” Ducks coach Mike Bellotti said. “The turnovers were devastating.”

But so was the pressure applied to Ducks quarterback Akili Smith, who completed 24 of 46 passes for 456 yards and two TDs (two interceptions) and sparked his teams 22 point fourth quarter. Smith was limited to eight completions in the first half, when CU bolted to a 37-14 lead. 

“One of our keys was to put pressure on him,” said CU weakside linebacker Hannibal Navies, who made one of the Buffs’ four sacks of Smith. “But he’s all that was said about him before the game.”

Neuheisel said CU’s defense “played really, really well, then ran out of gas,” and Moschetti attributed that to his offense often scoring too quickly. However, rediscovering their big-play potential was a goal for the Buffs offense – and the found five plays from scrimmage that went for 20 yards or longer.

“For the last three weeks all we’d been hearing was how great Oregon’s offense was and how bad we were,” Moschetti said. “We wanted respect; we had something to prove.”

Though they bolted to a 17-0 first quarter lead that opened with Ben Kelly’s 93-yard return of the opening kickoff, the Buffs got to a 10-0 lead without recording a first down and gained only 12 yards on their nine first offensive plays. But the Aloha Stadium scoreboard revealed a 17 point Buffs advantage when the period ended.

Two of Oregon’s fumbles were by freshman tailback Herman HoChing and were recovered by CU defensive tackle Aaron Marshall and end Fred Jones. The Ducks’ third drop was on a kickoff and smothered by Nick Ziegler. Then, on what arguably was CU’s biggest defensive play of the opening half, safety Jones Sanders squelched an Oregon drive at the Buffs’ 1-yard line by intercepting Smith in the end zone.

Had the Ducks scored on that possession, they could have crept to 34-21 - closer than anyone might have expected, considering the Buffs’ runaway start. However, Sanders' theft quashed that threat and actually created his team’s final scoring opportunity of the first half.

Assuming possession at their own 20-yard line with 2:41 remaining before the break, the Buffs got a 59-yard burst by tailback Dwayne Cherrington that set up Jeremy Aldrich’s third field goal of the half. His 23 yard kick eased CU ahead by 23 (37-14) with 2 seconds remaining.

The Ducks went to the locker room wondering if they’d waddled into a Christmas Day nightmare.

Smith’s first-down pass on the Ducks' first second-half possession - rifled toward a wide receiver - was tipped, juggled then cradled by Buffs cornerback Damen Wheeler. Finally controlling the ball while in full stride, Wheeler slowed down 52 yards later in the end zone.

CU’s lead mushroomed to 44-14 with 10:39 remaining in the third quarter, and the smattering of Buffs fans in attendance believed they could afford to start feeling good about a holiday in paradise. Not so fast, said the Ducks.

Playing minus top receiver Tony Harley (suspended for breaking team rules), Oregon rallied for four second-half TD’s - the last following CU’s first turnover of the game (a Moschetti fumble at the Oregon 33-yard line) with 6:31 remaining.

Christmas Day was darkening for CU. Moschetti’s fourth TD pass of the game - a 20 yarder to H-back Daniel Graham – had increased the Buffs’ lead to 51-28 in the fourth quarter, but his lost fumble loomed larger.

Smith promptly hit flanker Donald Haynes for a 42-yard TD, then passed to Bobby Nero for the two point conversion. Suddenly, CU lead 51-43 with 5:55 left.

But Navies & Co. found the energy to harass smith four more times, holding him without a completion and effectively ending the game.