Please, fellow sports fans, tell me that you saw the Michigan State-Wisconsin game. Or at least the finish. If you didn’t, shame on you. You missed one of the greatest endings I have ever personally seen in my short seven year career of watching/being incredibly obsessed with college football. The Spartans total defensive effort isn’t going to blow anyone away- they allowed 443 total yards of offense to the Badgers- but big plays on defense really propelled MSU forward. Led by a safety, two interceptions, and a blocked punt returned for a touchdown, Michigan State led for a majority of the game. No. 6 Wisconsin had something to say about that. They tied the game with 1:26 left, only to witness an unthinkable ending. With just seconds to go and right outside of field goal range, State quarterback Kirk Cousins quite literally heaved up a prayer from midfield. The ball was swatted around and, by some sort of divine miracle, was caught outside of the end zone by unheralded receiver Keith Nichol, his first catch of the night. He pushed to break the plane of the goal line, but was called just short. The game was destined for overtime… that is, until replay officials overturned the call with video evidence that unquestionably proved that the Hail Mary was indeed a touchdown. What a finish.
So that got me thinking… how does this remarkable game compare with some of the greatest finishes of my football-watching lifetime (circa 2004-present). This is certainly not a comprehensive list of all great finishes in the last few years- that would take much more room than this simple blog (writer’s note: or newspaper column) has available. I won’t be so presumptuous as to impose my own personal preferences on you readers, but I think many of you might hazard a guess at which of the following incredible finishes tops my all time favorite endings list:
The “Bush Push” (October 15, 2005)- Notre Dame thought they had won. Fans had already come on to the field to celebrate a huge Irish upset of USC. But after seven seconds were placed back on the clock and the fans had been chased off the field for one final play, USC quarterback Matt Leinart tried to take the ball in to the end zone himself. Just when you thought he was going to be dragged down short of the goal line, he got a bit of an unorthodox push from Heisman winner Reggie Bush. Touchdown Southern Cal. The Trojans win it 34-31; the Irish remain in an ever-humbling irrelevance.
Boise State’s Undefeated Season (January 1, 2007)- Back before Boise was America’s most frequently talked about Cinderella story, they were on the cusp of a rare undefeated season. The Broncos were on the wrong side of a close game against Oklahoma in the 2007 edition of the Fiesta Bowl, but a 50-yard hook and ladder play as time expired pushed the game to overtime. You would think that kind of magic might have used up all of the positive karma Boise had left in the tank, but a statue of liberty 2-pt conversion in overtime won the boys in blue their first BCS bowl game.
The “Miracle in Michigan” (September 1, 2007)- For the amount of FBS teams that buy wins from FCS schools, there aren’t a whole lot of upsets. Most would agree that the occasional upset is quite rare, but an FCS school beating a top ranked team? That’s just unheard of. Enter the two-time defending national champions, the 2007 rendition of the Appalachian State Mountaineers. They played a back and forth game with then-ranked #5 Michigan and found themselves up 34-32 with seconds to go. Michigan managed to put together one last drive that culminated with a go-ahead field goal attempt at the end of the game, only to have it blocked by the App State special teams. App State became the first FCS team to beat a ranked FBS opponent. (Anyone know who the second team was? Go ask a friend at Virginia Tech.)
Les’ Lucky Number 13 (October 1, 2010?)- Tennessee was on the brink of upsetting LSU 13-10 in Baton Rouge. With less than 30 seconds left in the game, all LSU head coach Les Miles had to do was somehow get the ball into the end zone. Atrocious clock management brought the game clock all the way down under ten seconds with LSU players scrambling around to find out the play call and get into position. Chaos ensued all the way through the play, too, as the quarterback muffed the snap and was sacked all the way out of the red zone. The clock struck 0. “FINAL: Tennessee 13, LSU 10” showed on the television. The game was, for all intents and purposes, concluded. That is, of course, until the referees ran onto the field, hauled everyone out of the tunnels to the locker room, and announced that Tennessee had too many men on the field during their last play. Video inspection by the commentators revealed Tennessee had not eleven, not twelve, but thirteen men on the field! LSU got one final play call, and the punched it in for the win. Final score- LSU 16, Tennessee 13.
Good Ole Scottie (October 1, 2008)- He was as much of a legend as a special teams player can be. JMU’s very own Devin Hester. Entire chants sang his name. He is Scottie McGee, and as the then-ranked #1 team in the land James Madison Dukes went on the road to play archrival #5 Richmond, a special sort of feeling was in the air. Most of the current student population, including myself, was still in high school at the time, but being a Richmond native, we still got the game on Comcast Sportsnet. It was one of those games you just happen to sit down and watch for no reason at all, but you end up witnessing something magical. The game was physical, close, and compelling- just as a rivalry game should be. As Richmond punted to the already-infamous McGee with a tie game and hardly any time left at all, Scottie ran up the sideline. He picked up a block, made one or two guys miss, and was just gone. He ran it in for the touchdown with just one second left on the clock, and the JMU special teams came up with the stop on the ensuing kickoff. Scottie may have been a fan favorite even earlier, but this was the game that transubstantiated him into the stuff of legend.
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