COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Colorado Plays It Koy, 66-14

Colorado Coach Rick Neuheisel doesn’t think Koy Detmer is quite there yet.

Pity Colorado opponents when he is.

The 6-foot-1 junior quarterback shredded Northeast Louisiana’s defense for a school-record 426 passing yards in little more than a half as the Buffaloes defeated the Indians, 66-14, on Saturday.

“Koy and I both know that he isn’t quite where he needs to be,” Neuheisel said. “As a quarterback, sometimes you think you’re omnipotent. You think you can control the ball, but you really can’t.”

Neuheisel was talking about Detmer’s only big mistake, an interception in the end zone that stopped a drive in the first minutes of the game.

It was Detmer’s first interception in 60 passes this season.

Detmer’s 426 yards passing broke his own record of 418 set against Oklahoma in 1992. He also threw four touchdown passes in two quarters and 57 seconds he played, tying a Colorado record.

He had 352 yards and three touchdowns at halftime and Colorado had a 49-7 lead. But Neuheisel left him in the game when the teams came out for the third quarter because the record was in sight.

He needed only 57 seconds.

After two running plays, Detmer threw a 43-yard pass to tailback Herchell Troutman, then completed an 80-yard scoring drive with a 31-yard touchdown pass to Phil Savoy.

Detmer’s final pass gave the Buffaloes a 56-7 lead over Northeast Louisiana, a former Division I-AA powerhouse that moved up to Division I-A last year.

Troutman, a sophomore, scored three touchdowns before he left because of an ankle sprain shortly after Detmer was taken out.