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Down to the wire U.S. Open reminds Neuheisel that every second counts
Last Sunday Stewart Cink missed a putt on the 72nd hole that he thought cost him a chance at the U.S. Open. Then he missed a two-foot putt that really did cost him, a comebacker that would have put him in a playoff with Retief Goosen and Mark Brooks. It is a lesson that is learned and relearned in every sport: You play hard until the game is over. You don't relax if there is one putt left to hole out, one second left on the clock. Ask Cink. Ask Rick Neuheisel. Before the 1994 game in which Colorado quarterback Kordell Stewart threw the 64-yard Hail Mary to Michael Westbrook with no time left to beat Michigan 27-26, Neuheisel was a little-known quarterbacks coach in his first year at Boulder. After that game, his eloquent, emotional description of the victory began to carve his national profile. A year later he replaced Bill McCartney as head coach of the Buffaloes. Now he is the coach of the Washington Huskies, who finished 11-1 and No. 3 in the nation last season. Back in Ann Arbor, with 4:30 left to play and Colorado trailing 26-14, Neuheisel went up and down the sideline, telling the Buffaloes that they were about to be part of the greatest comeback in Colorado history. "People thought I had lost my mind," he says. "Afterward, they thought I was clairvoyant. Little did they know I say that all the time. That's why you keep fighting." When Cink failed to collect himself for the two-foot bogey putt on No. 18 at Southern Hills, Neuheisel, a single-digit handicapper, knew just what Cink was thinking. "You can't imagine Goosen will three-putt with an uphill putt," Neuheisel says. "Stewart missed it and did the sportsmanlike thing to create a center stage for the champion. I guarantee he never thought, This is a $75,000 putt. [Roughly the amount he lost when he missed it.] You have to spot your ball and go through why this putt is important. It's like a 3-pointer at the end of a game. The guy under the basket isn't thinking about boxing out." Neuheisel thinks about boxing out. Coaches forget more details than most of us see. It comes from hours and hours of watching video. Neuheisel says he remembers one decision, in particular, from that 1994 game that helped give the Buffaloes a chance to win. They had scored to make it 26-21, then had to deny Michigan a first down in order to get the ball back. Colorado had only one timeout. "I told coach McCartney to use the timeout after second down," Neuheisel says. A quizzical look came over McCartney's face. "Why?" he asked. Neuheisel realized that if they saved the timeout to use after third down, the Buffs defense would have no idea what the Wolverines would do. If they used the timeout after second down, Michigan would likely run the ball on third down to keep the clock moving. "Our defense could throw everything we had into the running game," Neuheisel says. "If they throw over us, so be it. We were going to lose anyway." Michigan ran on third down. Colorado forced a punt and got the ball back on its 14-yard line with :14 to play. The rest, you know. Michigan coach Gary Moeller, the Stewart Cink of Michigan Stadium, took years to get over that loss, if he ever has. Cink says he's already over his gaffe, that he's proud he got into that position, and that he knows if he had made his putt, Goosen would have two-putted, too. "I don't think it will be a nightmare for Cink," Neuheisel says. "It goes to show you that he was playing for the Open championship, not for the money. That it cost him a chance at the Open was pure luck. Cink was done. What we were doing against Michigan was fighting to the end. Cink did that. He assumed what the other guy would do. He played with him all day and Goosen hadn't missed a thing." Last season, Washington won seven games in which it trailed in the fourth quarter. There will come a time this fall when the Huskies will be trailing someone by two touchdowns with 4:30 to play and Neuheisel will begin talking about the upcoming greatest comeback in Washington history. Though Neuheisel doesn't think Cink is to blame, it wouldn't surprise me if the Huskies heard all about him. You play until the last second ticks off. You play until the last putt is made. Sports Illustrated senior writer Ivan Maisel covers college football for the magazine and is a frequent contributor to CNNSI.com.
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