What Ty Detmer couldn't do in three tries, little brother Koy did in his first attempt.
Koy Detmer was spectacular in the first postseason start of his career, throwing for 371 yards and three touchdowns in No. 8 Colorado's 33-21 Holiday Bowl victory over No. 13 Washington on Monday night."Yes, I'm going to give my brother a hard time," said Koy Detmer, a senior. "I'm one up on him in the Holiday Bowl. It's the most entertaining game I've ever played in."
Koy's victory came a day after Ty was knocked out of Philadelphia's 14-0 NFC playoff loss to San Francisco with a hamstring injury.
"I didn't want to talk to him before the game because I wanted to get a win first," Koy said.
Ty Detmer can always brag about his Heisman Trophy, but not his Holiday Bowl record. He made three straight appearances with Brigham Young from 1989-91, but came away with an 0-2-1 record, two separated shoulders in one game and critical last-minute turnovers in the other two.
Koy was hit often by the Washington defense and had three passes almost intercepted, but his 241 first-half passing yards broke the school bowl record of 217 by Kordell Stewart in the 1993 Fiesta Bowl. Overall, Detmer completed 25 of 45 passes, with no interceptions, and was selected offensive MVP. Ty, incidentally, was twice a Holiday Bowl offensive MVP.
"My game plan from the outset was to put it in the quarterback's lap," coach Rick Neuheisel said. "I felt Koy could handle the protection, I thought he could handle changing the routes, I thought he could handle darn near anything that came his way. I wanted him to go out controlling his own destiny, and I think he did so magnificently.
"We're out of Detmers," Neuheisel said. "I just wish (parents) Sonny and Betty had another one playing for me."
They don't, but like Ty, Koy left his name in the Holiday Bowl record book with a 76-yard touchdown pass to Rae Carruth that started the Buffs (10-2) back from a 14-0 deficit in the first quarter.
Carruth hauled in the pass at the Washington 40, broke a tackle by cornerback Jermaine Smith, cut inside and outran safety Tony Parish to the end zone. The previous Holiday Bowl TD pass record was 65 yards from Bob Leszczynski to Phil McConkey in Navy's 23-16 win over BYU in the inaugural game in 1978.
"We caught them man-to-man," Detmer said. "I licked my chops."
Washington defensive back Nigel Burton said of Detmer, "He does a good job of moving the ball around. We tried to rattle him with pressure, but it didn't really seem to do much good."
It looked like Washington (9-3) would run away behind tailback Corey Dillon, who scored on runs of 2 and 12 yards to give Washington a 14-0 lead. Dillon, the Pac-10 rushing leader with a school-record 1,555 yards and 22 TDs, had 83 yards in the first quarter, but the Huskies eventually had to throw, and he finished with 140.
Detmer's 76-yarder was the first of three big plays in a span of 6:36.
With the Huskies on their 38, Colorado defensive end Nick Ziegler tipped Brock Huard's pass with his left hand, picked it off and ran 31 yards for a 14-14 tie, hotdogging it by diving in from the 1.
"We wanted to come out right away and stick it down their throats," Ziegler said. "But winning is winning. We had half a shutout."
Not to be outdone, Jerome Paython returned the kickoff 86 yards to put the Huskies up 21-14, getting two key blocks from Joe Jarzynka. It was Washington's first kickoff return for a TD since Anthony Allen had a 99-yarder against Pitt in 1979, and it broke the Holiday Bowl record of 48 yards by Iowa's Kevin Harmon against San Diego State in 1986.
Detmer led the Buffs right back, throwing a 7-yard scoring pass to Darrin Chiaverini for a 21-21 tie.
"Outstanding people made big plays in the game, made them when they had to, and dominated the second half," Washington coach Jim Lambright said. "It was just their dominance throwing and catching, and we couldn't get things going and put it together."
Carruth finished with seven catches for 162 yards and two touchdowns.
Detmer put the game away with a 4-yarder to Carruth in the back of the end zone midway through the fourth quarter. That capped a 15-play, 85-yard drive that consumed 6 minutes, 26 seconds. The 2-point conversion failed.
Jeremy Aldrich kicked field goals of 42 and 36 yards.