Posted on: Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Detmer's after-dinner plan: watch record fall

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Friday night Ty Detmer and his wife will go out to dinner and celebrate his 37th birthday.

Then, he'll return to his Atlanta home, turn on the television — and, more than likely, watch University of Hawai'i quarterback Tim Chang surpass his NCAA career passing record against Boise State.

Happy birthday, indeed.

This isn't how Detmer thought he'd see his 13-year-old record expire. But that's only because, he said, "I figured the way (Chang and Hawai'i) were throwing (the ball) around, it would have been earlier."

Chang, who is averaging 321 yards a game, needs just 241 to better Detmer's 15,031 set at Brigham Young in 1998 to 1991. The way Detmer figures it, the record could come about the time he gets back from dinner.

Actually, Detmer's birthday is Saturday but because the Falcons will be traveling that day to Denver, site of Sunday's game, he figures to celebrate it on his night out.

"I don't know how late we'll be out, but I'll try to catch some of it, maybe the second half, on TV," Detmer said. "I'm looking forward to watching one of Timmy's games."

The breaking of even one of his more cherished records will not break Detmer's heart.

"Records are fun for everybody involved, especially one like this," Detmer said. "It is fun for me to talk about it and remember the times I had. It has been fun for me and my family and it will be fun for Timmy and everybody in Hawai'i."

For more than a year now, Detmer has gotten regular updates on Chang's pursuit of his record along with some ribbing. Last year, at Detroit it was Dominic Raiola, who was a senior at Saint Louis School when Chang was a freshman, who teased Detmer that his days of holding the record were numbered.

This year, at Atlanta, it has been Falcons' running backs coach Ollie Wilson, who coached with June Jones and Mike Cavanaugh in the NFL, providing the updates and needling. "Ollie has been keeping me up to date, giving me a hard time all season," Detmer said. "Since early on it has been like, 'it is only a matter of time ...' or 'he's getting closer ...'

"He (Wilson) has let me know how many yards Timmy has gotten each game and how close he was getting to the record," Detmer said. "With us being on Eastern time, it has been hard getting the scores. We've had to go in the Internet to pull up the statistics. It will be nice to finally see him on TV."

Since Detmer's mark was set during a time when the NCAA did not include bowl game statistics — a standard since changed — Wilson says, "I tell Ty they'll have to put an asterisk next to the record. But that's not to take anything away from either one of them because, from how long the record has lasted, you can tell it is a real, big-time record and a credit to both of them."

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.