Missouri Files Protest on 5th-Down Winning TD

Missouri filed an official protest today, asking the Big Eight to change its loss to Colorado in a game in which the Buffaloes scored the winning touchdown on fifth down.

Missouri Chancellor Haskell Monroe asked Commissioner Carl James to “make an appropriate correction” in the game Missouri lost 33-31 after Colorado scored on the game’s final play--its fifth down in a series.

James planned to make an announcement later today.

Colorado Coach Bill McCartney acknowledged that the game was won on fifth down, but blamed the officials.

“I’m not saying we would have scored, but we would have used a different strategy had we been informed that the down and the distance was different,” McCartney said today. “We played within the guidelines that the referee laid down. Obviously, it was the officials’ responsibility to get the down box straight, and the scoreboard was getting its information from the down box.”

With time running out and Colorado at Missouri’s three-yard line, Colorado quarterback Charles Johnson spiked the ball, stopping the clock on first down. After Eric Bieniemy carried over the middle for two yards on second down, Johnson called a timeout.

Possibly the confusion over the timeout with 18 seconds to go kept the down marker from being advanced.

Instead, Bieniemy tried the middle of the line and was stopped inches short of the goal line. Referee J. C. Louderback halted the clock momentarily to let the players unpile, and Johnson, with four seconds left, spiked the ball again.

On the next play--the fifth down--Johnson scored on a keeper over right tackle, barely crossing the goal line.