Colorado Takes Fifth, Wins : College football: Buffaloes beat Missouri, 33-31, when they score touchdown on final play.It should have been fifth down

When push came to shove, 12th-ranked Colorado had enough muscle--and enough downs--to defeat Missouri on Saturday.

On what should have been fifth down, backup quarterback Charles Johnson scored on the game’s final play from the one-yard line to beat the Tigers, 33-31, in a Big Eight opener.

Head referee J.C. Louderback said an appeal, if one is allowed, would be up to the league’s office.

Any touchdown, regardless of error, would be called back “only if there would be a penalty,” Louderback said. “Our record on the field as officials is that they scored on fourth down.”

Missouri Coach Bob Stull, after a heated discussion with officials, held out little hope for overturning the decision.

“They said it was four downs. It was too late. When I talked to them, they didn’t say much,” Stull said.

Big Eight Commissioner Carl James watched the game from the press box, but declined to comment on the last play.

As described in the game’s official play by play, Colorado’s first-down play at Missouri’s three-yard line in the final minute was an incompletion, when Johnson spiked the ball to stop the clock.

Eric Bieniemy, who rushed for 217 yards, then gained two up the middle and the Buffaloes called their final timeout. Bieniemy then was stopped as seconds ticked away and Johnson again threw a pass into the ground to stop the clock with three seconds left.

That’s four downs. Then Johnson just got into the end zone.

“All I know is I scored,” said Johnson, who had filled in admirably most of the game for injured Colorado quarterback Darian Hagan.

“It was a running play, second down another run play and then the touchdown. My head was in the end zone and my shoulders were on the goal line.”

Apparently, the problem came when officials didn’t change the down markers to third down after Bieniemy’s first run.

Another controversy was the officials stopping the clock on Bieniemy’s second plunge into the line. The Buffaloes wouldn’t have had time to run another play without the clock being stopped.

“I guess they felt we were holding their players down,” Stull said.

Colorado Coach Bill McCartney didn’t want to talk about fifth down, only the surface of the field that made footing treacherous.

“The biggest story is not how the game ended, it’s that field,” McCartney said. “It’s a joke to college football. Johnson fell down every time he had the ball.”

Not every time. On the game’s final play, Johnson stayed upright long enough to score over right tackle.

“I looked up and he (the side judge) hadn’t signaled. He took like three seconds. It seemed like a long time,” Johnson said.

The disputed finish negated Kent Kiefer’s passing show (19 of 34, 326 yards) for upset-minded Missouri.

“I never knew there were five downs in football,” Missouri wide receiver Linzy Collins said. “I feel robbed.”

There is a 50-year-old precedent for reversing a game’s outcome.

In 1940, with its 18-game win streak on the line, Cornell scored a disputed touchdown on fifth down against Dartmouth. A week later, the winning team surrendered its 7-3 victory.

Cornell President Edmund Ezra Day summed up his school’s reason for turning down a win.

“If we hadn’t made the decision, we would have been explaining that game as long as football has a place in intercollegiate athletics,” Day said.

FIVE DOWNS TO VICTORY Trailing 31-27, Colorado had a first and goal at the Missouri three with 31 seconds left on a pass from Charles Johnson to Jon Bowman. The clock was running. Here is the account of the series from the Kansas City Star :

First down: Johnson spiked the ball to stop the clock with 28 seconds remaining.

Second down: Eric Bieniemy ran up the middle to the one, and Colorado used its final timeout with 18 seconds left. At that point, the downs marker was not flipped to third down.

Third down: Bieniemy was stopped for no gain. The officials stopped the clock with eight seconds left to sort through the pile-up, then restarted the clock.

Fourth down: With the downs marker reading third down, Johnson spiked the ball again and the clock stopped with two seconds left.

Fifth down: With the downs marker reading fourth down, Johnson scored.