We’re getting closer to the start of college football season. In just three and half weeks, North Carolina and South Carolina will open the 2015-’16 campaign with a 6:00 kickoff.
Until that day comes — and it won’t get here fast enough — I’ll continue to provide a list of seven plays to get you fired up for what promises to be an exciting year on the gridiron.
Here’s this week’s installment.
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7. Barry Breaks The Game Open (1988 Holiday Bowl, Oklahoma State vs. Wyoming)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Barry Sanders was the greatest running back in college football history. Every time he touched the ball, he was a threat to take it to the house.
This play demonstrates that point perfectly. After Wyoming had cut the lead to 24-14, everyone wondered how Oklahoma State was going to answer.
Sanders left no doubt. Taking the handoff from quarterback Mike Gundy, he burst through the line of scrimmage and into the open field. After that, he made a nifty move, and outran the Wyoming defense to the end zone.
The TD was the proverbial straw that broke Wyoming’s back. OSU would eventually win the game 62-14, behind Sanders’ 222-yard, 5-TD performance.
6. Anu to Austin For the Win (2014, Cal at Arizona)
The difference between a good team and a championship team is that the latter always comes up with a big play when it needs to.
2014 Arizona certainly fits that category. Trailing California by 18 points heading into the fourth quarter, the Wildcats rallied to cut the deficit to two with just four seconds remaining.
Then, they came up with the biggest play of the season. Anu Solomon took the shotgun snap from center and rolled to his right and heaved the ball into heavy traffic. Somehow, receiver Austin Hill managed to weave his way into the crowd and come down with the game-winning TD.
This clutch catch capped a 36-point fourth quarter, and set the tone for the entire season. The ‘Cats would go on to to win the Pac-12 South – arguably the toughest division in college football – by coming up with key plays when they had to have them.
5. Martinez’s Miracle (2012 Big Ten Championship Game, Nebraska vs. Wisconsin)
Here’s another from the “Never Give Up, Never Surrender” file.
Down 14-0 to Wisconsin just four minutes into the Big Ten Championship Game, Taylor Martinez knew that he had to make a play. The Badgers brought heavy pressure and appeared to have him sacked inside the Husker 10-yard line.
However, Martinez wasn’t going down on this play. Much like legendary Nebraska quarterbacks Tommie Frazier and Eric Crouch, he used his speed to elude the Wisconsin pass rush. After faking out several Badger blitzers, he found a wall of blockers and got the Cornhuskers on the scoreboard.
While Wisconsin went on to win the game, 70-31, this spectacular run will go down as one of the top plays in the conference’s storied history.
4. The Miracle Bowl (1980 Holiday Bowl, SMU vs. BYU)
This play capped one of the greatest finishes in college football history.
Paced by a 225-yard effort from Craig James (yes, that Craig James), SMU opened up 45-25 lead. While the Cougars had the ball with just 2:33 remaining, they still needed three scores, which seemed virtually impossible even to BYU head coach LaVell Edwards, who thought that James’ TD was the final nail in the coffin.
But, it wasn’t. Behind future NFL star Jim McMahon, the Cougars scored twice to cut the SMU lead to five. On the following series, BYU blocked a punt, giving it the ball on the SMU 41 with just 13 seconds on the clock.
Three seconds was all that McMahon would need. On the final snap of the game, McMahon dropped back and heaved one into the end zone. Even though there were four SMU defenders in the area, tight end Clay Brown came down with it for the deciding score.
3. Williams Hurdles defenders (2015 Citrus Bowl, Minnesota vs. Missouri)
This week’s “big man” TD was easily one of the best plays of the 2014-’15 postseason.
At first, it seemed like nothing special. Minnesota QB Mitch Leidner fired the ball to tight end Maxx Williams for what looked like a first down.
However, the end result would be much more than that.
After accelerating downfield, Williams showed some nifty moves, hurdling over one Missouri defender while diving past another one on the way to the end zone.
2. Flea Kicker (1997, Nebraska at Missouri)
We’ve all heard the old adage, “football is game of inches.”
In this case, the appropriate word would have been “foot.”
With just under five minutes to play, Nebraska trailed Missouri 38-31. On third and 12, Scott Frost fired across the middle for wingback Shevin Wiggins for what appeared to be an incomplete pass.
But, it wasn’t. Wiggins continued to stay with the play, and kicked the ball in the air. Matt Davison swooped in and grabbed the rock just before it hit the ground, giving the Huskers a much-needed touchdown.
Nebraska would eventually win the game 45-38 in overtime, earning a share of the national championship with Michigan.
1. Statue of Liberty (2007 Fiesta Bowl, Boise State vs. Oklahoma)
After watching Adrian Peterson waltz into the end zone on the first play of overtime, Chris Petersen knew he had to go for two if the Broncos were going to pull the upset.
And, just like it had done twice before, Boise converted when it had to.
You’ve got to credit the BSU staff for setting this up perfectly. Oklahoma‘s defense was clearly looking for the ball to go to the right side of the field, especially after the Broncos lined up in a similar set on the previous play. As soon as quarterback Jared Zabransky wound up to throw, almost every Sooner defender broke on the ball to make the play.
With so few red shirts in the area, Ian Johnson ran into the end zone untouched, capping off a remarkable upset.
