Did You See That Finish? No

A regulator that was supplying electrical power to ABC’s production truck at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo., failed Saturday, causing TV viewers across the nation to miss the final two minutes of UCLA’s 16-14 loss to Colorado.

According to ABC spokesman Adam Friefeld, it took 20 minutes to restore power. By then the game was long over.

The UCLA-Colorado game was one of ABC’s two 12:30 p.m. regional telecasts. However, the other game, Georgia Tech-Auburn, which was shown in 47% of the country, was already over. So the entire nation was getting UCLA-Colorado at the time of the power failure.

The failure caused ABC to lose its video and audio at a particularly bad time.

Colorado had just scored to take the lead, and UCLA had a chance to win with a field goal. The Bruins were faced with third and 10 at their 10 with 2:01 to play when Drew Olson dropped back to pass.

Then the screen went black.

ABC soon switched to John Saunders and Terry Bowden in its New York studio. A few minutes later, Saunders told viewers UCLA had lost but could not supply any details before ABC went off the air and Channel 7 began showing local news.

-- Larry Stewart