ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The opener of the 1990 college football season featured virtually everything one would want out of a game -- except a winner and loser.
Andy Kelly threw for 262 of his 368 yards in the second half and set up Chuck Webb's 4-yard scoring run with 2:25 left Sunday, rallying No. 9 Tennessee to a thrilling 31-31 tie with fifth-ranked Colorado in the inaugural Disneyland Pigskin Classic.
The Volunteers trailed 31-17 before Kelly hit Carl Pickens with a 14-yard TD pass with 5:36 left to get his team within range. The junior quarterback then completed 7 of 9 passes on the tying 74-yard march that ended with Webb's burst off a draw play.
Tennessee Coach Johnny Majors, though, elected not to go for a 2-point conversion after Webb's score, and Greg Burke nailed the extra-point that tied it.
'We thought about (going for two points) the whole game,' Majors said. 'But I thought we would get the ball back, and we did. But I know darn well we didn't deserve to lose.'
The game ended with Webb being tackled near the sideline at the Colorado 25 after a 25-yard run. The final play began with seven seconds left.
'I was trying to score or get out of bounds,' said Webb, who rushed 27 times for 131 yards and two touchdowns. 'I didn't see the clock. We just needed one more play, a field goal. Time just ran out on us.'
Kelly wasn't a winner, but he was masterful, completing 33 of 55 passes -- both school records -- for two touchdowns and three interceptions, one of which was tipped.
'I was pleased with the way I came back and the way the whole offense did in the second half,' said Kelly. 'We were able to do some things.'
The Volunteers also withstood a 217-yard rushing performance from Mike Pritchard, who carried 20 times as the replacement for suspended star Eric Bieniemy in the Colorado backfield. The wide receiver turned wingback scored on runs of 55 and 78 yards.
'Eric Bienemy is our tailback,' Pritchard said. 'I stepped in today, but when Eric gets back, he's the tailback.'
Dave McCloughan contributed a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter for Colorado, which had five of the game's eight turnovers. George Hemingway added a 1-yard TD run to conclude a 97-yard drive and Jim Harper hit a 35-yard field goal for the Buffaloes.
Alvin Harper caught a 24-yard TD pass from Kelly in the final period and Burke had a 47-yard field goal. The kicker had two others blocked.
On the third play of the third quarter, a 62-yard scoring run by Hemingway was nullified by a holding penalty. But Pritchard began the Buffaloes' next series by running 55 yards to break a 10-10 tie with 10:49 left in the period.
McCloughan's punt return gave the Buffaloes a 24-10 lead with 9:34 remaining, but the Volunteers answered with a 70-yard drive that took just 41 seconds and ended with Kelly's 24-yard strike to Harper.
On the ensuing kickoff, Dwayne Davis fumbled and Tennessee's Lee Wood recovered. Tim James, though, came up with his second end-zone interception of the game two plays later.
Pritchard then scored from 78 yards out when he took a left-handed lateral from right-handed quarterback Darian Hagan and raced along the sideline to hand the Buffaloes a 31-17 advantage with 7:11 left.
Hagan, a leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy, rushed 17 times for 77 yards but completed just 5 of 19 passes for 68 yards with three interceptions.
'Hagan experienced a lot of frustration today,' Colorado Coach Bill McCartney said. 'He is capable of much better than he showed. He had a couple of drops, but he's a much better thrower than that.'
Colorado, which committed just 11 turnovers during the 1989 regular season, suffered three interceptions and a lost fumble in the first half.
To begin the ineptitude, Pritchard fumbled on Colorado's first play from scrimmage. However, Greg Thomas blocked Burke's 41-yarder.
But five plays later, safety Dale Carter picked off Hagan, and that led to Webb's 3-yard burst that gave the Volunteers a 7-0 lead.
On its eighth play, Colorado suffered its third turnover when Mark Fletcher grabbed a terribly thrown pass from Hagan. But Burke's 44-yarder was batted down by Alfred Williams.
The Buffaloes then put away the pass and rumbled 97 yards in 19 plays to Hemingway's run that tied it. The march consumed 9 minutes 33 seconds and included just one pass.
On the next drive, Tennessee gave the ball away when Kelly was intercepted by McCloughan at the Volunteers 19. Harper then hit his 35-yarder.
But another horrible pass from Hagan sailed to J.J. McCleskey, and Tennessee turned that interception into Burke's field goal and a 10-10 tie with 2:54 left in the half.