BIG EIGHT ROUNDUP : Colorado’s Detmer Trades Year for Victory

Koy Detmer was supposed to sit out his freshman season at Colorado. But when the 11th-ranked Buffaloes weren’t able to move the ball Saturday night at Minneapolis, Ty’s younger brother took off his red shirt.

Detmer, playing only the second half, completed 11 of 18 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns, including a go-ahead 24-yarder to Charles Johnson with 12:02 to play, as Colorado rallied from a 17-0 deficit to beat Minnesota, 21-20.

“I told the coach I’d like to redshirt,” Detmer said, “but that I’d be willing to play if they needed me.”

They did. And Coach Bill McCartney was only too happy to trade a year of Detmer’s eligibility for a victory over Minnesota (0-2).

Detmer dreamed of glory while watching his brother win the Heisman Trophy in 1990. Koy almost followed his brother to Brigham Young but decided to go to Colorado when McCartney switched to a passing offense.

Colorado (3-0) had to turn to Detmer because Duke Tobin, starting for injured Kordell Stewart, had a poor first half. Detmer’s other scoring pass was a 49-yarder to Michael Westbrook, who had eight receptions for 135 yards.

Behind Stewart, who ranks second in NCAA Division I-A passing and total offense, Colorado entered the game third in the nation in passing (407 yards per game), fourth in total offense (539) and fourth in scoring (47 points).

Kansas 40, Tulsa 7--Maurice Douglas scored three touchdowns as unbeaten Kansas used a strong defense and a time-consuming rushing attack to beat the Golden Hurricane at Tulsa.

Charley Bowen returned an interception 63 yards for another touchdown, and Dan Eichloff kicked four field goals for the Jayhawks, who are 3-0 for the second consecutive season.

Tulsa (1-2) managed only 199 yards of offense. It had one 65-yard drive in the first quarter, capped by a 30-yard touchdown pass from Gus Frerotte to Brian Thompson, but had no other drive longer than 37 yards until its last of the game.

Douglas scored on runs of one, 15 and four yards and led all Kansas rushers with 74 yards on 13 carries.

Kansas State 27, Montana 12--Jason Smargiasso passed for one touchdown and rushed for two as the Wildcats, the last major-college team to start the season, won at Manhattan, Kan.

Smargiasso, who shared playing time with senior Matt Garbera, might have locked up the starting job with his performance against the Grizzlies (1-2), a Division I-AA team. Smargiasso, a junior, showed a strong arm while completing six of 15 passes for 203 yards, including wind-aided completions of 73 and 69 yards.

Smargiasso’s first big gainer, to wide receiver Mitch Running, took Kansas State to the Montana three late in the first quarter. Five plays later, Smargiasso scored on a one-yard run.

The Wildcat quarterback burned the Montana secondary again when, rolling to his right, he hit wide receiver Gerald Benton in stride for a 69-yard touchdown.

Montana quarterback Brad Lebo completed 35 of 58 passes for 366 yards and a touchdown.

Iowa State 38, Tulane 14--Andrew Buggs returned an interception for a touchdown and James McMillion scored on an 87-yard punt return 2 1/2 minutes later, leading the Cyclones past the Green Wave at Ames, Iowa.

Buggs stepped in front of Steve Ballard to intercept Shawn Meadows’ pass and ran 34 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-0 with 11:26 left in the half.

Iowa State (2-1) forced a punt after Tulane (1-2) ran six plays and McMillion took it for a touchdown with 9:04 left in the half.

McMillion had a school-record 137 yards on five returns, breaking the mark of 118 on five returns by D.W. Moss in 1914.