Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 9, 1995 TAG: 9510090097
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: MIAMI LENGTH: Medium
This was supposed to be all about Dan Marino and the unbeaten Miami Dolphins. It was supposed to be a celebration of the day Marino eclipsed Fran Tarkenton's career completion record and of the day the Dolphins rolled inexorably toward another victory, this time at the expense of the Indianapolis Colts.
Moral to the story: nobody's perfect. The Dolphins suffered their first loss of the season, defeated 27-24 in overtime by a Cary Blanchard field goal. Marino eclipsed the record, completing 19 of 30 passes to bring his career completion total to 3,701, but Colts quarterback Jim Harbaugh eclipsed Marino in the department that counted.
He made the winning plays when he had to. He brought the Colts back with 21 second-half points and then led them to the winning field goal with a precision that was, well, Marino-like.
``He's a great quarterback,'' said Harbaugh, who hit on 25 of 33 attempts for 319 yards and three touchdowns. ``I'm glad for him to get the record. The win's the most important thing for me. It was a big win that took a lot of guts and courage.''
For the Dolphins, it was a demoralizing defeat. Miami coach Don Shula was irate afterward, and made no attempt to hide his contempt.
``It was an embarrassment,'' he said. ``It was a total collapse by us.''
Coming into the game, much of the attention was focused on Marino's chase of Tarkenton's completion record and on whether the Dolphins would be able to stop, or at least contain, Marshall Faulk. It all began with the recovery of a Faulk fumble, covered by Chris Singleton at the Colts' 34, and ended with Terry Kirby pounding over from the 3-yard line.
Miami struck again, this time moving 50 yards in 11 plays on its second possession. Marino's 5-yard touchdown pass to Irving Spikes tied Tarkenton's completion record, and after the Colts moved in for their lone score of the first half - a 21-yard field goal by Blanchard - Marino broke the record. He connected for his 3,687th completion on the first play of another scoring drive, hitting Keith Byars for 6 yards.
The action was stopped momentarily while a videotape of Tarkenton blared over the giant scoreboard. The old scrambler told Marino he was proud that the record had been broken by Marino, and that he was sure Marino would ``wear it well.''
The Dolphin faithful saw their season pass in front of their eyes on the Dolphins' first possession of the second half, when Colts safety Derwin Gray came untouched up the middle on a blitz and knocked Marino flying backward. As flags and fists flew, Marino lay writhing on the ground, holding his lower back, and the collective intake of breath created a vortex of eerie silence. The Dolphins lost an opportunity to put the game out of reach. Marino moved his team from its 7-yard line to the Colts' 9, but Pete Stoyanovich pushed a 27-yard field goal attempt wide to the right.
\ see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB