Fifth Down Game (1990)

This article is about the football game between the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Missouri. For the 1940 game between Cornell and Dartmouth, see Fifth Down Game (1940).
Fifth Down Game
Conference game
Colorado Buffaloes Missouri Tigers
(3–1–1) (2–2)
33 31
Head coach: 
Bill McCartney		 Head coach: 
Bob Stull
APCoaches
129
1234 Total
Colorado 77316 33
Missouri 140710 31
DateOctober 6, 1990
Season1990
StadiumFaurot Field
LocationColumbia, Missouri

The Fifth Down Game was a college football game on October 6, 1990, that included a play that the crew officiating the game permitted to occur in error. That play enabled the Colorado Buffaloes to defeat the Missouri Tigers by scoring a touchdown at the end of the game. The ensuing controversy cast doubt on Colorado's claim to Division I-A's 1990 national championship, which it went on to share with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. It has been called one of the top memorable moments and blunders in college football history.[1][2]

  1. ^ "College football's best of the last 20 years". USA Today. 2002-11-19. Archived from the original on 2005-12-01. Retrieved 2006-11-21.
  2. ^ Ted Mandell (2005-09-25). "HEART STOPPERS AND HAIL MARYS" (Book/CD). Hardwood Press. Archived from the original on 2006-11-23. Retrieved 2006-11-21.