PRO FOOTBALL : Hogeboom Leads Colts Over Bills : Indianapolis May Have Lost Chance to Draft Testaverde

For Indianapolis Coach Ron Meyer, the pressure to draft Heisman Trophy winner Vinny Testaverde somehow didn’t seem so great after quarterback Gary Hogeboom’s best game of an injury-shortened season Sunday.

Hogeboom ran for one touchdown and passed for 318 yards and two other scores, leading a second-half rally that carried the Colts to a 24-14 victory over the Buffalo Bills.

“I kind of like No. 7 (Hogeboom) out there,” said Meyer, unbeaten in two games since he replaced the fired Rod Dowhower as coach. “What more can you ask of a quarterback than what he showed today. I like who I’ve got.”

Hogeboom, whose season seemed finished when he suffered a shoulder separation in the second game, has been the quarterback in both victories since his return.

“We’ve got the talent here, and we’ve got the people who can catch the ball,” Hogeboom said. “I think Jack (rookie quarterback Jack Trudeau) and I have shown we can get it to them.”

The victory lifted Indianapolis to 2-13, tied for the worst record in the NFL with Tampa Bay, which lost, 21-7, to Green Bay Sunday. The Colts end the season next week in Los Angeles against the Raiders, while Tampa Bay closes at St. Louis.

Should the Colts and Buccaneers finish in a tie with 2-14 records, Tampa Bay would get the first draft pick because of its weaker schedule.

Regardless, said Meyer, “We’re going to have a great player there, and we will take the hand that is dealt us.”

Kicker Dean Biasucci, who missed two field-goal attempts from close range in the first half, hit a career-best 52-yarder midway through the final period to give the Colts the lead for good.

“I told Dean at halftime he was going to have to kick the kick that wins the game, and he certainly did it,” Meyer said.

The Colts, winning their second straight game after losing the first 13 of the season, trailed, 14-0, through the first half before taking control with the passing of Hogeboom.

Hogeboom, who came off injured reserve a week earlier, sneaked one yard for one touchdown and passed one yard to Tim Sherwin for another to tie the game late in the third quarter.