College football has a reputation for being a fairly unpredictable sport, and that “Anything Can Happen” mentality is a major reason it’s as beloved as it is. Fans have been treated to some absolutely bonkers endings over the years, and there are some particularly notable ones that really stand out from the pack.
These are the most unbelievable and drama-filled endings in college football history
Before we dive in, I should acknowledge I’m being slightly liberal with the use of the word “ending.” Most of the games I’m mentioning here saw a team secure a walk-off victory on the final play, although there are a few where the opposing team technically had a chance to respond that still deserve to be higlighted.
The Play
https://youtu.be/AfIi0uBMNBI
You can’t have a list of wild college football endings without the one that is iconic to the point where it’s still simply referred to as “The Play,” which stems from its longtime reign as the single most iconic moment in college football history (a claim to the throne I’d argue another one that appears here has managed to usurp).
Cal and Stanford have one of the oldest rivalries in college football, but the 1982 installment of the annual showdown known as “The Big Game” was a fairly low-stakes affair when you consider the Golden Bears were 6-4 and hosting a Cardinal team that was the definition of average at 5-5.
However, there was still no love lost between the two squads in a hard-fought game where a Stanford quarterback by the name of John Elway led his team down the field in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter to set up a field goal that gave them a 20-19 lead with four seconds left.
Cal was all but forced to answer with a score on the ensuing kickoff, and they harnessed a series of laterals that eventually led to Kevin Moen cutting through the sea of Stanford marching band members who’d prematurely made their way onto the field before leveling an unsuspecting trombonist in the end zone after scoring.
Trouble With The Snap
https://youtu.be/Dqv48MwEbaQ
Michigan is firmly viewed as the big brother in its more than 125-year-old rivalry with Michigan State, as the boys in Ann Arbor have posted a 74-38-5 record against their foes in Lansing since the two squads met for the first time in 1892.
It looked like the Wolverines were going to walk away with yet another victory in 2015 in a game at The Big House where the 5-1 home team was ranked at #12 and the undefeated visitors were sitting at #7. Michigan was ten seconds away from capping off the upset with a 21-23 lead and 10 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, and all that Wolverines punter Blake O’Neill really had to do was kick the ball that was snapped from midfield to essentially seal the deal.
However, as Sean McDonough correctly relayed to the millions of people watching on ESPN, O’Neill had trouble with the snap before Jalen Watts-Jackson scooped up the loose ball and took it to the house to give the Spartans a 27-23 walkoff win and an ending for the ages.
Boise State’s Statue of Liberty
https://youtu.be/4L5D8Fq_J6Q
Boise State experienced a resurgence at the start of the millennium, and the #9 Broncos were hoping to secure their first undefeated season since 1958 when they headed into the Fiesta Bowl in 2007 against #7 Oklahoma, which was favored to win by more than a touchdown.
The game already had the makings of an all-time classic thanks to what unfolded in the final 90 seconds of regulation. The Sooners tied things up at 28 with a little less than a minute and a half to go with a two-point conversion that was attempted three times, and they pulled out to a 35-28 lead with just over a minute remaining with a pick-six on the first play of the ensuing possession.
Boise State was able to force overtime with a hook and ladder play that led to a touchdown that tied things up with seven seconds to go, and that wasn’t he only trick they had up their sleeve.
Oklahoma scored on the first possession of overtime to go up 42-35, and the Broncos answered by snapping the ball to a backup wide receiver on 4th-and-2 before connecting with a tight end who hauled in the touchdown pass.
Boise State opted to go for two in the hopes of ending the game, and they did exactly that with the Statue of Liberty ruse that allowed Ian Johnson to scramble into the end zone untouched before he proposed to his girlfriend, a cheerleader, on national television.
Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary
https://youtu.be/ZeExa2R2nf0
Matt Ryan and Doug Flutie stand out from the pack when it comes to the quarterbacks who’ve done their thing at Boston College, and the latter (who is also the only Eagle to win the Heisman Trophy) is responsible for the play that’s iconic to the point where it was immortalized with a statue outside of Alumni Stadium.
BC was 7-2 and sitting at #10 in 1984 when it headed down to the Orange Bowl to face off against an 8-3 Miami team that was ranked #12. We were treated to an offensive shootout that saw the Hurricanes take a 45-41 lead, and the Eagles had less than 30 seconds to get the touchdown they needed to get the win at the end of the fourth quarter.
There were six seconds left by the time Flutie led his team to Miami’s 48-yard line, and a Hail Mary was really the only option on the table. The QB snapped the ball and avoided a sack before heaving a pass 63 yards away from the endzone, and it fell into the arms of Gerard Phelan to give the Eagles the 47-45 win.
Georgia And Tennessee Trade Touchdown
https://youtu.be/prrN5nTjT7k
#11 Tennessee headed to Athens to take on #25 Georgia in 2016, and you’d be hard-pressed to find any game that featured a more eventful final 20 seconds.
The Bulldogs were down 28-24 with 19 seconds left on the clock in the fourth when Jacob Eason connected with Riley Ridley for the 47-yard pass that turned the tables. The ensuing kickoff was pushed back due to celebration penalties and was caught at the 30-yard line, and the Vols returned to the other side of the field before getting an assist from the holding penalty that gave them the shot to throw a Hail Mary from 43 yards out.
Tennessee took advantage, as Joshua Dobbs heaved up the pass Jauan Jennings hauled in to cap off the stunning 34-31 victory.
Fifth Down
https://youtu.be/ZQJT8q0MMwQ
Colorado ended up splitting a national championship with Georgia Tech in 1990, but that would not have been the case if the referees had not committed a mistake for the ages when the 3-1-1 Buffaloes faced off against 2-2 Missouri midway through the season.
#12 Colorado had around two-and-a-half minutes to get the touchdown it needed after the Tigers pulled out to a 31-27 lead in the fourth quarter, and they ended up with a first-and-goal situation four yards away from the end zone after Jon Boman caught a pass that would have led to a go-ahead touchdown if he hadn’t slipped after securing the reception.
Buffaloes QB Charles Johnson spiked the ball to stop the clock, and Eric Bieniemy was stuffed at the goal line on second down before they used their final timeout. He was stonewalled yet again on what was supposed to be third down, and the clock continued to tick before Colorado spiked the ball yet again with just two seconds left.
That should have essentially ended the game by giving Missouri possession, but the chain gang had neglected to switch the placard tracking the downs after Bieniemy’s initial run. Johnson subsequently scored a game-winning touchdown on the final play of the game before the officials realized they’d screwed up but nonetheless announced the score counted after conferring.
Colorado did have to attempt an extra point but took a knee to ensure Missouri couldn’t block it and tie things up with a two-point conversion. Missouri fans who were understandably apopleptic about the game’s ending also had another reason to complain when you consider Johnson may not have even crossed the plane on the “fifth down” that still lives in infamy.
Tua Tagovailoa Wins A National Championship On 2nd-And-26
https://youtu.be/h6YVZJ3n1Ow
All of the games we’ve mentioned so far transpired in the regular season, and while this ending may not have been as wild as some of the others, the fact that it sealed a national championship makes it a more than worthy inclusion.
Tua Tagovailoa wasn’t even expected to see the field when Alabama faced off against Georgia for the title in 2018, but he got the nod in the second half after Nick Saban yanked Jalen Hurts for failing to have much of an impact in a contest where the Bulldogs had a 13-0 lead heading into halftime.
The Crimson Tide were able to surge back and force overtime and had the chance to win with a touchdown after forcing Georgia to kick a field goal. Alabama’s drive got off to an inauspicious start after Tua was sacked for a 16-yard loss, but he rebounded with a 46-yard dart to DeVonta Smith to cap off the 26-23 victory.
Vince Young Wins A National Championship On 4th-And-5
https://youtu.be/GeiXFtkGp2s
This one is a bit of a throwback compared to most of the others we’ve mentioned, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention it.
The 2006 Rose Bowl, which served as the BCS Championship Game that season, was a showdown between #1 USC and #2 Texas. It had the makings of an instant classic, and it certainly lived up to the hype.
It was a back-and-forth contest that saw the Longhorns down 38-33 with a little over two minutes to go in the fourth quarter, and Vince Young led the drive that ended up with Texas facing a 4th-and-5 with 25 seconds remaining. The mobile QB initially dropped back to pass before scrambling out of the pocket and making his way into the end zone for the final score of the 41-38 affair.
The Word That Starts With “P” And Rhymes With “Kiss”-Six
https://youtu.be/9_ptoEYuRIY
As was the case with the aforementioned game between Cal and Stanford, neither Ole Miss nor Mississippi State was having a season to remember when the two teams met in 2019; the Rebels were 4-7, while the Bulldogs were 5-6.
However, they were playing for pride in the Egg Bowl where Mississippi State had a 21-14 lead with nine seconds to go in the fourth quarter before Elijah Moore caught a touchdown pass to bring his team within one.
Ole Miss needed to convert the extra point to force overtime, but what should have been a fairly straightforward attempt became a bit trickier after Moore was flagged for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for pantomiming a dog lifting its leg to pee.
Luke Logan subsequently had to attempt a 35-yard kick instead of one from 20 yards out, and he pushed it right to ice the game for the home team.
The Prayer In Jordan-Hare
https://youtu.be/bQQmU6D2GfQ
Auburn was on the receiving end of two miracles that unfolded at home in back-to-back weeks in 2013, and the first one occurred when the #7 Tigers welcomed #25 Georgia to Jordan-Hare Stadium.
The Bulldogs pulled out to a 38-37 lead with a little less than two minutes to go, and the Tigers had trouble advancing on the ensuing drive before finding themselves facing a do-or-die 4th-and-18 from their own 27.
However, they were able to convert and then some, as Auburn QB Nick Marshall launched a pass into triple coverage that bounced off a Georgia defender and into the hands of Ricardo Louis, who took it to the house for the game-winning 73-yard touchdown.
The Kick-Six
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GKmkD1pUG0
You knew this was going to make an appearance, and while I’m not ranking these in any particular order, I’m saving what is easily the best for last.
As was the case with Michigan and Michigan State, Alabama has historically had the upper hand against Auburn in a rivalry where the former has gone 51-37-1 since facing off against the Tigers for the first time in 1893.
The 2013 edition of the Iron Bowl was one of the most intriguing matchups in the history of that rivalry game, as there hadn’t been a single iteration where the two sides were simultaneously ranked as high as they were and as evenly matched in that department; 11-0 Alabama was #1, while #4 Auburn was 10-1.
The Tigers had to repeatedly claw back into the game before tying it up at 28 points with a little over 30 seconds to go in the fourth quarter. The Crimson Tide got into what was theoretically field goal range with time for one final play, and Adam Griffith was tapped for a 57-yard boot to win the game as Auburn put Chris Davis in the shadow of the uprights to try to run the ball back if the kick was short.
It was, and he did, as Davis ran 109 yards untouched before crossing the goal line as Auburn earned the 34-28 win thanks to what is widely considered the most iconic ending in college football history.
The post The 11 Best, Wildest, And Weirdest Endings In College Football History appeared first on BroBible.
The 11 Best, Wildest, And Weirdest Endings In College Football History
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