In the fourth quarter, as Colorado was trying to mount a furious comeback against USC — one the Buffaloes nearly pulled off — freshman cornerback Cormani McClain appeared to have hauled in a game-changing interception down the sideline. But there were yellow penalty markers down on the field.
Fellow defensive back Rodrick Ward was tagged for a pass interference call that wiped out the turnover. USC ended up scoring what would the game-decided touchdown on that drive to get to 48 points.
After the game, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders identified it as a pivotal call.
“That and the pass interference down the sideline was really — official’s like, ‘Is there anything I can help you with?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, that pass interference down the sideline, you can help me with that.’ That was a big call. That was a big call. But they did a great job,” Sanders said in his postgame press conference.
He did quip about the penalty totals when told about the number USC had called — six penalties for 53 yards.
“That can’t be true. Boy, they had a couple double penalties one time, we should’ve took both of them. That would’ve helped,” Sanders said.
