TEMPE, Ariz. — Moments after Maurice Morris’s jaw-dropping, 49-yard touchdown run, he was greeted by fellow tailback Onterrio Smith.
Smith ran up to him, hugged his friend and told him of an item he was inspired to purchase.
“I told him that I was going to go buy me a diary right after the game and put him in there: ‘2002, January 1st. Maurice Morris, 49-yard unbelievable run,’” Smith said, laughing. “I was going to put the unbelievable as big as I could get it.
“Me, being the type of back that I am, I love runs like that!”
Morris entered the Fiesta Bowl needing 40 yards to reach 1,000 for the season. Before his scoring run in the third quarter, he was just two yards shy.
So not only did the highlight reel play push Morris past the 1,000-yard mark, but it gave Oregon the cushion it needed en route to its 38-16 Fiesta Bowl victory against Colorado.
Smith had reached the hallowed four-digit mark against Oregon State, and Morris’s team-high 89 yards gave him 1,049 total to mark the first time Oregon has ever had two 1,000-yard backs.
“I’m tremendously glad that he got it,” Smith said.
Colorado wasn’t. Morris’s run seemingly deflated the Buffaloes, who only trailed 21-7 before the play.
Amid a cluster of Colorado defenders, Morris confused nearly everyone on the field — his own teammates included.
“I’m running down there, and then I stop, thinking the play was over,” offensive lineman Ryan Schmid said. “The next thing I see is Maurice taking off toward the end zone, so I hit some guy, and probably clipped him.
“It takes an incredible athlete like Maurice to do something like that.”
Morris outran Colorado defensive back Medford Moorer. Then he was tangled up briefly by Roderick Sneed. Sneed’s attempted tackle caused Morris to lunge backward, but as he fell, he rolled over the back of linebacker Joey Johnson and ran untouched into the end zone.
“I didn’t hear no whistle so I got up and started running,” Morris said.
Morris’s teammates were thrilled to see the hard-working senior go out in style.
“I hope Maurice remembers tonight for the rest of his life,” Schmid said. “I know we’ll always remember him.”