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BYU kicker Jason Chaffetz lines up game-winning field goal during the Freedom Bowl against Colorado, Dec. 29, 1988. The Cougars prevailed, 20-17. | Mark A. Philbrick, BYU
Ty Detmer never liked ending a drive with a field goal. He was all about scoring touchdowns and his school-record 121 passing touchdowns may stand forever. But in Detmer’s first big game at BYU in the 1988 Freedom Bowl against Colorado, he needed his kicker to not only win the game, but to also solidify his job at quarterback the following season.
Jason Chaffetz ran onto the field and kicked a 31-yard field goal with 4:11 remaining in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 17-17. A few minutes later, after Detmer drove BYU to the Buffaloes’ 27-yard line, Chaffetz was called on again.
“I knew going out there that I was going to make it,” Chaffetz told the Deseret News last week. “When I first started kicking, I was a little nervous, but I got to the point with LaVell (Edwards), we’d look at each other on the sideline. I’d give him the nod that I could make it, and he would send me in.”
Colorado, behind running back Eric Bieniemy’s 144 yards rushing and two touchdowns, grabbed the lead in the first quarter. The Buffaloes never trailed until the special team’s trio of Chaffetz, Jay Shumway and Pat Thompson marched onto the field like a budding law firm eager to win the case.
“Those are moments kickers dream about,” Chaffetz said. “There is about 1.34 seconds from the time the ball snaps to get off the kick. You have to start moving toward the ball before it’s even on the ground. If they don’t put that ball down at the right spot, who knows what happens.”
“I knew going out there that I was going to make it. When I first started kicking, I was a little nervous, but I got to the point with LaVell (Edwards), we’d look at each…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/36-years-ago-against-colorado-185426914.html
Author : Deseret News
Publish date : 2024-12-25 18:54:00
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