ESPN 20th Anniv 5th Down

[@jpesicka492]

The ref was so worried about the Missouri fan having a heart attack he decided to kill him by letting Colorado win.

[@MakerBayfield]

it wasnt a ref, hes chain gang

[@mylovesongs2429]

Just tonight, in the NFL, the AFC Championship game featured a 5th down. The Chiefs got a 5th down vs. the Bengals. Eric Bieniemy was a Colorado Buffalo RB back then, and he is currently the Offensive Coordinator of the Chiefs. Hmmmm!!!!! Charles Johnson, QB of the Buffaloes died by suicide back in July, 2022. May he RIP.

[@senororlando2]

one of the wackiest sports stories of all time. Refs distracted by a new rule and a fan’s heart attack behind the bench accidentally give CU a bonus chance to win, which they do on their way to a share of the national championship

[@Kampy_]

The 5th down was just ONE of THREE massive officiating errors made at the end of that game. 1) CU spiked the ball on 4th down, and then got a 5th down 2) Before that, CU got stuffed at the line and had no timeouts left- but for some reason the clock stopped at 8 seconds remaining, and stayed stopped for a good 5 seconds, giving CU time to line up and spike the ball to stop the clock (even though it was on 4th down) 3) Even with 5 downs, CU never crossed the goal line. Johnson's butt was on the ground BEFORE he reached the ball over his head and stretched it across the line. Multiple camera angles and photographs CLEARLY prove that.

[@tylero4082]

Are you surprised college football is rigged?

[@SgvSth]

2) The referees called for the stop to reset the ball as the ball was covered up by the defense.

[@TL2354]

@@SgvSth only 1 referee in each game

[@seanbrown3655]

Yeah, and if that crappy turf at Missouri would have been decent the score would have 55-6 like it was the following year@Scott Kampmeyer

[@thesbleeder2162]

And Colorado got a nice little gift in the Orange Bowl with a bogus clipping penalty during Rocket's 89 yard punt return.

[@SenorSmeeth]

That's some Soviet-era shit right there. They would've given them a 6th down if they hadn't scored.

[@jimmcclane4171]

And the play clock was halted at 8 sec! Why? Who knows. But I think it was on purpose.

[@troydixon2722]

The coach was a christian

[@troydixon2722]

He didn't get embarrassed when his QB got his daughter prego no bs great story watch if u have a heart u will love that story

[@troydixon2722]

As long as 1 on the team gets it

[@quorthonschuldiner5197]

He didn’t score on that play to be quite honest

[@deshaunutah9740]

Dude I'm a Jayhawk fan, and I'll admit it, Missouri got screwed over. This win should be taken away from Colorado.

[@therealjohneason]

and the championship title

[@youtubepro9201]

What about all the Colorado player slipping on a bad field That Titan would have scored if he didn't slip just called Karma

[@richardsenkBeachwalker]

So did Georgia Tech, the Undefeated true National Champion that year.

[@redmustang03]

It's just amazing that everyone didn't know what the down was. I mean you would never see that in today's football where there is replay especially in college.

[@oldschoolchartist]

And Georgia Tech should have been #1 in both AP and Coach's Polls instead of splitting the title with Colorado.

[@meloyellowduck]

Plus that wasn't a TD even on "fifth down," he was stopped.

[@quorthonschuldiner5197]

Thank you somebody sees the same thing I did/do

[@Styles.rp25]

Exactly, Two horrendous calls.

[@aaronrider4051]

Everyone knows Colorado didn't score on 5th down either.

[@quorthonschuldiner5197]

Yep sure has hell didn’t. Wonder how much money they paid the refs that day, must have been thousands of dollars

[@danielmurphy2164]

the stink of all this is he didnt even break the plane until he was laying on his back and extended the ball, great phototgraphic evidence of it .

[@AaronStark1993]

1990 Colorado is still by far the most undeserving national championship team. Had both one loss and one tie and obviously avoided another loss due to a mistake by the officials. Georgia Tech was the only unbeaten team that year. They should have been #1 in both polls.

[@jesskelley4726]

@ Aron Aww No Tied with Georgia tech check both teams sceadules CU played by far a tougher one

[@Maestrohbill]

I used to argue that, but I don't anymore. It is what it is. Colorado did win the game, and nowadays with the committee there are a number of arguments in their favor. For example, their starting QB was injured. While I don't buy that line of reasoning, it's still a fact. CU also slipped a number of times on the new turf, and while I grant the whole "both teams played on the same field," they didn't both run an offense dependent upon sharp cutting. CU played a murderous slate that year. They tied the SEC champions without their best player (Bienemy was suspended for the game after interfering with some firemen at a house fire), beat the SWC champs, beat the Pac 10 champs, and beat the best Independent (N Dame). It's difficult to say they weren't worthy. FTR - my grandfather was recruited to play at Ga Tech, and I'm not a CU fan. Indeed, this game somewhat turned me against them. But they weren't undeserving.

[@Detdoncarter]

Shut up

[@jesselopez7850]

Colorado would have beaten Georgia Tech. Colorado had a brutal schedule and proved how good they were, with their 10 game win streak. Missouri cheated by putting sand on their field; they clearly did - so the 5th down was their swift justice.

[@adriennehayes965]

CU played in a better conference, overall schedule and would’ve stomped all over Tech.

[@patrickthomas8890]

Aside from the 5th down, why was the clock stopped???

[@cmachinist]

Not just a 5th down. They stopped the clock for no reason at all, gave them the 5th down, and ruled it a touchdown when it clearly was not. Hmmm . . . totally not suspicious at all

[@mylovesongs2429]

Yup! It was the first time a QB could stop the clock by spiking the ball, but after Bienemy got stopped the first time, the clock mysteriously stopped. Tonight, in the AFC Championship Game, there was a 5th Down. Eric Bienemy is the Chiefs O.C. Very mysterious!

[@jimmcclane4171]

Should have never had been allowed. It was head official Louderbacks job to correct it but he didn't. A sad day in football history to allow an error to stand.

[@archigiagroup2002]

Correct what? Once the ball was snapped after the second spike, it was not subject to correction. Had the officials gathered between the real 3rd and 4th down to correct the situation and told CU it was actually 4th down, CU would have used that time to set up a play and Mizzou would have cried about that. I'm not saying this wasn't a huge miss; it was. But once, for whatever ugly reason, the officials didn't register the second play in the series as 2nd down, whatever happened was likely going to favor CU in some way unless they ultimately didn't score. One thing to keep in mind here: the down marker is NOT the official down. The officials on the field keep the downs, or should. This was a crew miss and the fact that no one caught it was pretty bad. They all paid a pretty steep price: suspension and no bowl game plus, being known as the 5th down crew. Of course, it is a lot easier to keep track of things on TV and especially with replay, and mistakes happen. Its just a game. We all need to remember that. CU has had their share of calls go the other way.

[@kujo5998]

“The down marker correctly showed second down…” *Hi-lights video showing down marker CLEARLY displaying 3rd down.. Lol!! I dont think ANYONE, including the narrator or ref’s know whats going on with these plays!

[@thesbleeder2162]

I think Johnson did get in... Colorado has to be the luckiest National Championship team ever. A loss to Illinois, a tie against Tennessee, this game, a clipping penalty called on Rocket's punt return in the Orange Bowl... At least they had to share the title with Georgia Tech.

[@ronflatter1235]

When did Jefferson City stop being the capital of Missouri?

[@romewasnotbuiltinaday]

good catch.

[@54Snickers]

@divey043 - Correct. 1940 or 1941, I believe. The difference is that, in the Dartmouth vs Cornell game, Cornell, which had the benefit of the 5th down winning score, later forfeited the game to Dartmouth after seeing the film. No such sportsmanship from Colorado in the 1990 5th down game.

[@EconAtheist]

because bill mccartney is an accursed jesus freak. jesus freaks are the worst.

[@smartfreak7105]

Did he just say that Columbia, MO is the state capital??

[@Lige]

Obviously not a geography major.

[@leghumper83]

They didn't mention that Charles Johnson DIDN'T EVEN GET IN THE END ZONE on 5th down. Picture from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/30/430bc0fc-d074-11df-a100-00127992bc8b/4cab0cd9c0cb0.preview-300.jpg

[@fantasticvoyage262]

Johnson definitely looks short from that view.

[@meloyellowduck]

I'm not a fan of either team; I say they should have just gone back to the two second mark when Colorado spiked the ball and given possession to Missouri. Reset the clock for two seconds, and then have MU do whatever to run it out. Ridiculous how they just gave the win to Colorado even after realizing they were wrong.

[@troydixon4425]

Nobody did better than these guys that's Reese as well the best in the business

[@jmg999]

An interesting aspect of this that rarely gets mentioned, and didn't get mentioned in this 20-year anniversary lookback, was that Charles Johnson, the Colorado QB, didn't get the ball across the goal line on the fifth down. If you watch up-close replays, he got hit before the goal line, and he immediately went down, which was when it was ruled a touchdown, b/c he reached the ball over the line. The problem was, when he was hit, his body folded backward, so he hit the ground w/ his back, and he was on the ground well before reaching the ball toward the goal line. The worst part of this was that Colorado shared in the National Championship w/ GaTech. Colorado had one other loss and a tie, and this regardless of how the refs ruled it, should've been considered a loss by poll voters. They lost this game but were given credit for the win, and it was later dismissed, and they won a share of an undeserved national title.

[@thesbleeder2162]

A loss, a tie, 5th down, Johnson not getting in... Aaaaaaand that clipping penalty in the Orange Bowl during Rocket's punt return. They did play a tough schedule and bad officiating happens, but they were gifted two wins that year.

[@thesbleeder2162]

By the same token, I don't know if overturning the outcome would have been a good idea. That could have set an awful precident because bad calls happen in every sport. But Georgia Tech deserved to be undisputed.

[@andrewwinslow9315]

That running back for Colorado is Future Washington Commanders (Hate that name) Coach Eric Bieniemy. He won 2 Super Bowls as Andy Reid's OC for the Kansas City Chiefs, and created arguably the greatest Quarterback of All Time, Patrick Mahomes II.

[@Robcadams1974]

Total BS! B/c of that GT had to share a national championship!

[@jasonwyman1873]

+Christian Adams You're right. Mizzou wasn't competitive and they should've been forced to do something about that turf. Georgia Tech is the team that had a right to be pissed.

[@asutgriff]

CU would’ve trounced GT

[@Robcadams1974]

@@asutgriff you're smoking banana peels

[@seanbrown3655]

@@Robcadams1974 tech was never tested they played cupcakes all year in the acc

[@Robcadams1974]

@@seanbrown3655 right…

[@mikeareal]

20 minutes was plenty of time to watch the sequence of plays. The ref actually said there is no “evidence” of a 5 downs?

[@richardsenkBeachwalker]

covering his ass

[@jimmaloney1121]

Featuring Colorado running back Eric "Sleeping With" Bieniemy.

[@tedgrowney8981]

While his current head coach, Andy Reid, was an assistant on the Mizzou staff that day.

[@Stlrzrul99]

I can't agree more. If he had held onto the ball three separate times during the previous year Orange bowl CU would have been national champs outright! Buffalo for life 😂

[@alohafromthe3033]

Chris Fowler is a Buff!

[@snapfinger1]

Tainted national champs.

[@richardsenkBeachwalker]

Colorado should vacate the claim on the National Championship. It is 100% Georgia Tech

[@jaylavick]

I don't think he scored on the last play, but why did they stop the clock while guys unpiled, as they clock should have ran out and never should have time for a 5th down!

[@azbdizzy4176]

Exactly. That was outright cheating.

[@TheSBleeder]

Yeah. Missouri got screwed all over in this one.

[@dolphinsneu]

The ref has the authority to stop the clock in that situation if he feels the defense is intentionally sitting on the ball carrier and not attempting to get up. Also, the fifth down was not an extra chance to score. Also, the back angle seems to show he DID score.

[@nathanielkahn9681]

@@dolphinsneu The fifth down was not an extra chance to score????? Whaaaaa???

[@dolphinsneu]

@@nathanielkahn9681 Are you saying that after the fourth down spike they should have said "Wait, it was actually fourth down. Sorry Colorado, you lose"

[@CoreyT127]

Looking back, the fix had to be in! Even the announcers were in on it.

[@schloemo]

You must not have watched the video. The announcers were confused.

[@CoreyT127]

But Bobby Bowden gets wins taken away for a kid cheating on a test in school?

[@CSAlmanac]

Never say never. Stranger things have happened and anything is possible. Imagine if there was a break down in the replay equipment or the radio equipment. Whenever there is a tech breakdown they go back to the old standbys. Just like when the clock malfunctions, what do the refs do? They keep time on the field manually. If something should go wrong with the score board in this situation and no replay available. You would have the set up for it to happen again. Unlikely, but not impossible.

[@romancandle416]

It's not as simple as people want to believe. If the referees had done their job, obviously Colorado wouldn't have spiked the ball on 4th down. Their entire play calling would have changed from second down (when the mistake was made), and no one knows what would have really happened.

[@mattthompson9826]

The clock should have run out before the fifth down play in which the runner didn’t get within a half yard of the goal line but was ruled a touchdown.

[@scottmcshannon6821]

so only colorado players slipped? of course i remember when iowa state used to water the field before every nebraska game!

[@delorean785]

*I thought it was only the Cheatriots who got rewarded 5th downs !*

[@TL2354]

Cheatriots?! OMG that’s soooooo original! Did you come up with that all on your own?

[@delorean785]

@@TL2354 *Ya and they were led by QB Tom "Shady" Brady & HC Bill Belicheat !*

[@patrickgoggin3546]

how is it, the the announcers didn't know? I was waiting to hear THEM....but they were as clueless as EVERYONE ELSE!

[@Maestrohbill]

It depends on which broadcast you were hearing. One of the announcers on the "Big 8 Game of the Week" DID think there was a fifth down, but he decided he was wrong. He only figured it out for sure when they went back and did a count during the long delay.

[@stevenfagaly3810]

How in the world wasn't Montgomery fired from the chain crew? If he had any respect for the program, he would have resigned.

[@hskr44]

As terrible as that omniturf was in 1990. They used that same turf for four more years before going to grass in 1995.

[@bschaeffer12]

Yes it is.

[@js64514]

In our family, we refer to that behavior by the officials as “playing in the lovelies”

[@nathanielkahn9681]

never say never. the redskins got won in 2010 late vs the bucs. the refs messed up the chains in the sc michigan game this year. humans make mistakes

[@jrjr11rrsgjk]

The Fix was in

[@cmcleod11131975]

Too bad the new spike rules were not in effect, now you can't spike with less than 3 seconds. On what was fourth down they Colorado spiked it with 2 seconds left.

[@matthewgavin1977]

Five More Downs! Five More Downs! Five More Downs!

[@tpatten1]

We told the linesman what the downs were and he told us to shut up.

[@BlorbusUnimax]

so the dude having a heart attack gave CU a national title...aint that a thing

[@CoreyT127]

On the 50? Your standing on thev1 in a screaming stadium.

[@jrino1979]

To be fair, not running the clock down is more egregious. Because if CU would have known that it was 3rd down after the timeout, they would have called a different play, and thrown it. Not saying they would have been successful, but they called a running play because they thought it was 2nd down. Also, Johnson of course wasn't in. Not even close. I have never liked Mizzou - but this and the flea kicker, I feel bad for them

[@ddave7026]

Whoa whoa...why did the refs stop the clock...?!

[@dolphinsneu]

The referee can stop the clock in that situation if he feels the defense is intentionally refusing to get up.

[@TL2354]

Refs? Only 1 referee in each game. Know what you’re talking about

[@EconAtheist]

And guess who benefited the most? That's right: the head Promise Keepers freak.

[@Calvin1985]

I see the pro-CU favoritism goes back to long before their PAC 12 days. Go CSU Rams! :(

[@54Snickers]

@redmustang03 - Many, including Missouri assistant coaches knew that CU would be given a 5th down. Inexplicably, the MU head coach, at the time, Bob Stull, did not take action to stop it from happening, as you can see in another clip on my channel. You're right, this couldn't happen today.

[@shayhicks7682]

Lets just say hypothetically there was no error on the clock, down marker, and officials and the downs were properly counted. Do you think that CU would have spiked the ball on 4th down? heck i doubt CU would have run the ball on 3rd down. Colorado was in the same situation earlier in the year against Stanford. On 3rd down CU threw the ball, and on 4th down they ran it and then scored for the win. Colorado was duped as well. So to say that had they done their job it would be a different outcome is tough to say; because people forget situational football. Would CU have scored? we dont know, but its not as black and white as people make it out to be.

[@brendanroberts8860]

+Shay Hicks Completely agree. They would have just called 2 plays and not a spike, probably an option or throw. So we will never know.

[@azbdizzy4176]

Officials never should have stopped the clock when Colorado was stopped with 10 seconds left. He spiked the ball with 2 seconds left. Officials clearly wanted Colorado to get the conference a national championship. 5th down might be explained away as a mistake. Stopping the clock for Colorado so they could run another play was corruption.

[@chadmilligan7497]

Shay Hicks plain as day even the coaches said they thought they had a extra down. All they had to say is yes we had 5 downs it’s easy to see.

[@chadmilligan7497]

Shay Hicks also one of the players said if we spike it it’s over so even the players new it.

[@jondubb35]

Bingo. They wouldn’t have spiked the ball on 4th down. The haters seem to forget that “little” fact. CU won the game. Get over it.

[@violenceteacher6669]

lol i remember seeing this

[@troydixzon9771]

Hero hugo

[@troydixzon9771]

Sig lined with date stupid

[@TheSBleeder]

I knew about the 5th down, and I didn't think that the Colorado QB got in. I had never noticed that the clock was stopped after Bienemy's run on 2nd (should have been 3rd) down. Missouri got hosed every way imaginable here. Also, there was no clipping on Rocket's punt return in the Orange Bowl. Georgia Tech should have been the undisputed national champions.

[@texasrockshillcountry6574]

Looks like mitch montgomery is the main one to blame.

[@DukeofThanksgiving]

Whoops

[@tedgrowney8981]

Bob Stull- "doesn't matter, we have to stop them the next play". Reason why he never was a decent coach. You, as the head coach, have to yell and DEMAND that the refs stop the play clock and look into whether it was 4th or 5th down. What a gutless turd.

[@fantasticvoyage262]

He probably did. But was overruled by the refs.

[@CoreyT127]

He didn't even score on top of all,the other b.s.!

[@dolphinsneu]

Watch the back angle, it appears he gets in. It certainly would not have been overturned on replay. The ball only has to break the front plane of the goal line.

[@alexcox9400]

I’d knock that ref out on the spot

[@Styles.rp25]

Tyson fans are the most naive fans in sports. Tyson/Paul capitalized off of that.

[@reyjusuf]

No problem here. If the referee told McCartney he only had 2 plays left, he would've called rush, rush instead of rush, spike, rush.

[@azbdizzy4176]

If the officials hadn't stopped the clock after Colorado used their last timeout the game would have ended after 3rd down.

[@9MilNorm]

Things like the 5th down are why I love college football. These type of stories are amazing.

[@matthewmoss5626]

not when you went to mizzou and remember that down

[@fantasticvoyage262]

Maybe I'm in the minority. But I don't enjoy horrible officiating.

[@dolphinsneu]

This doesn't make sense. Would it be fair to tell Colorado after the spike, "Sorry, that was fourth down, you lose"? After third down, you are supposed to get one more chance to score. Colorado did get one more chance to score. What is the big deal?

[@richardsenkBeachwalker]

you spike on fourth down the ball goes to the other team. Doesn't get any more clear than that

[@dwighta8215]

Clock stopped by stupid refs. Miami was the best team that year and would have smashed cu had they played in the orange bowl.

[@oldmanolson6081]

Too many people bet on Missouri. ESPN does their best to excuse this as a gaffe. Once in a while something this flagrant happens and everybody pretends it's some fluke, but the truth is the gambling community has their hand in the outcome of a few games every year, this being one, Green Bay at Seattle a few years ago is another good example.

[@bloodlust8774]

Seattle won fairly. Green Bay choked. Get over yourself.

[@dolphinsneu]

So stupid. THEY DIDN'T GET AN EXTRA CHANCE TO SCORE

[@TL2354]

Were you born this stupid or did it come on later in life?

[@dolphinsneu]

@@TL2354 THEY WOULDN'T HAVE SPIKED THE BALL IF THEY KNEW IT WAS FOURTH DOWN. AFTER THIRD DOWN, YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO GET ONE MORE CHANCE TO SCORE. A SPIKE IS NOT A CHANCE TO SCORE. THEREFORE, THEY ONLY GOT ONE MORE CHANCE TO SCORE What is so hard to understand about this?

[@CoreyT127]

McCartney was quit a piece of work. Had a player knock up his daughter then talked the player outta marrying her!

[@Maestrohbill]

Uh, you have this story not even close to being right.

[@jondubb35]

Completely untrue. But keep being a hater and making shit up. His daughter got “knocked up” on her own. Sal Aunese had intention of marrying her regardless of what Coach Mac told him

[@bubbadump8676]

Both team have sucked for years. I'm glad Mizzou is in the Sec they ate a punching bag lol. And by the way Mizzou was going nowhere that year so why even be mad

[@johnbarkleybabygirl32]

we just beat Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl!!!

[@sportsnut6078]

Everybody likes to bitch and complain that Colorado shouldn't have won this game because of the 5th down, but what nobody talks about is that Colorado was trying to run an option attack on a crappy turf with a back-up quarterback. They were slipping and sliding all game long. In fact on the final drive right before Colorado started the 5th down series Colorado's tight end caught a pass on the 3 yard line and had nobody between himself and the goal line, but when he turned up field he slipped. On a better field he would have scored and game would have never come down to a 5th down. Also had Colorado played on a better field and had their starting quarterback they probably would have scored more points and the game would not have come down to the last play. I think Missouri's advantage (Colorado playing with a back-up quarterback and on crappy turf) equals out Colorado's advantage (The Ref's giving Colorado a Fifth Down on the Final Play) Colorado should not have won this game because of the 5th down, but had they played on better turf the game wouldn't have come down to the 5th down.

[@dwighta8215]

Boo hoo, Matthew Cole

[@csmith8351]

Clock shoulda ran out + CU got 5 downs + Wasn’t even a touchdown + Ratio bozo

[@richardmartinez6462]

The refs are human they make mistakes all the time colorado. Was the better teAm period if that field was better were not even talking 5 th down colorado blows them out by 30 points or the tight end walks into end zone easy for the win

[@jamesbarnett2483]

Mind blowingly stupid comment

[@chadmilligan7497]

Well that’s how things work both teams had to play with the slick field so that’s no excuse Missouri won the game. They were the better team that particular day sorry that’s college football.

[@paultuke5110]

I was a sports reporter in Columbia in 1990. McCartney fumed after the game about the field trying to steer the controversy away from the fifth down ending. However, he was so arrogant he didn't come in the day before to do a walk through like EVERY opponent had done in the previous two or three seasons. He now apologizes for his behavior after the game, but he really embarrassed himself. What an awful man he was in 1990.

[@richardmartinez7298]

@@chadmilligan7497 not true colorado had world class speed from top to bottom on both defense and offense Pritchard bienimy rico smith alethect lineman defense line backers that run sideline to sideline Outside linebackers like William's and magee that were more speed then power Dion figures was a runner also the tigers needed that field to slow colorado and give themselves a chance