Greatest College Football Finishes TM (updated 4-13-01) compiled with help from rec.sport.football.college and many many emails from fans. These are based on one play that wins the game (for the most part). Italicized descriptions are in the words of the fans who sent them in. To add to the list or get the facts straight on a game, email Ted Mandell, or stop by the homepage. Thanks to all who've added entries! Check out the review in the October '98 issue of YAHOO! magazine. One of the Top 40 Sports websites as reviewed by SPORT magazine (March '99 issue).
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![]() HEART STOPPERS AND HAIL MARYS 100 of the Greatest College Football Finishes (1970-1999) by Ted Mandell 336-page text and accompanying audio CD published by Diamond Communications, Inc. |
Winning Team | Losing Team | Year | The Play that Won the Game |
Alabama | Mississippi | 69 | In the first ever prime-time televised college football game, Archie Manning drives Ole Miss in the final minutes but is stuffed on a 4th down QB sneak and Alabama defeats Ole Miss 33-32. |
Alabama | Penn State | 79 | How about the the game when Alabama held Penn State for four consecutive downs on the goalline & kept them from scoring I think in the 79 Sugar Bowl for the national title. Now that is a One of the Greatest Finishes of all time!!! |
Alabama | Auburn | 85 | Van Tiffin hits the 52 yd FG as time expires. Bama 25, Auburn 23. |
Alabama | Tennessee | 90 | Bama blocks Tenn FG then hits own 55 yder to beat Vols. |
Alabama | Florida | 92 | Florida rallies from a 21-7, 4th quarter deficit to tie the game at 21-21. But with 3:15 left, Gator QB Shane Matthews' pass is intercepted by cornerback Antonio Langham who takes it in 27 yards for the game winning touchdown as Bama wins. |
Alabama | Auburn | 96 | Kitchens pass to Riddle to beat Auburn 24-23 in Birmingham. |
Arizona | Arizona State | 87 | ASU fumbles punt snap with :13 left leading to Coston FG for 24-24 tie. |
Arkansas | Alabama | 95 | JJ Meadors last second TD catch beats the Tide, 20-19. |
Arkansas State | Louisiana Tech | 85 | Fred Barnett TD catch in final seconds wins it for ASU. |
Arkansas State | Nevada | 93 | ASU hits hail mary pass, Covington to Murphy, to win 23-21. |
Army | Navy | 95 | Army stops Navy at the 1yd yardline on 4th down, then drives 99 yards for winning TD. |
Auburn | Alabama | 72 | Auburn blocks 2 punts for TD in 4th qtr and wins 17-16. |
Auburn | Alabama | 82 | "Bo over the top". Auburn's 1st win in the series since the 17-16 blocked punt game of '72. |
Auburn | Alabama | 86 | Tillmann scores on reverse to beat Bama |
Auburn | Florida | 89 | Reggie Slack 4th and 17 TD pass wins it for Auburn. |
Auburn | Indiana | 91 | Stan White scores on 4th and goal to win the Peach Bowl over IU. |
Auburn | Alabama | 93 | In 1993, Auburn was losing to Bama in the third quarter when Auburn's Stan White received a game ending injury. Back-up QB Patrick Nix came into the game and immediately threw a unbelieveable touchdown pass to Frank Sanders, putting Auburn in the lead, firing up the home crowd, and Auburn later ended the season PERFECT 11-0. |
Auburn | Florida | 94 | Nix to Sanders with :30 left to beat #1 Gators |
Auburn | LSU | 94 | Three LSU passes intercepted for TDs in 4th qtr for 30-26 Auburn comeback. |
Bloomsburg | West Chester | 84 | Curtis Still catches a 50 yd TD pass from Jay Dedea as time runs out and the Div.II Huskies beat West Chester 34-31. |
Brown | Pennsylvania | 98 | A game I was at this fall: In a wild second half, the last 11 possesions end in touchdowns. James Perry throws a 35-yard pass to Stephen Campbell with :04 left, and Brown wins 58-51. The highest scoring game in Ivy League history. |
Boston College | Miami | 84 | Flutie to Phelen. |
Boston College | ND | 93 | Gordon hits FG at buzzer |
Bowling Green | Nevada | 92 | BG wins Vegas Bowl 35-34 on 4th down play. |
BYU | SMU | 80 | BYU trails by 20 points, 45-25 with 2:55 to go in the game and scores three TDs in the last 2:55 to win 46-45. The last one, a 45-yard Hail Mary from Jim McMahon as time expires. |
BYU | Missouri | 83 | Steve Young catches halfback pass for TD to win Holiday Bowl. |
Cal | Stanford | 82 | "The play". |
Cal | Arizona | 96 | The Bears beat Arizona 56-55 in 4 OT's after Cal foils Arizona's 2-point conversion attempt. |
Carthage | Millikin | 97 | Eric Corbett's 45-yd TD pass to Kris Norton as time runs out gives Carthage the 22-17 Division III victory. |
Central Michigan | Southwestern Louisiana | 91 | Jeff Bender's pass to Bob Kench falls incomplete in the end zone as time expires and the Chippewas trailing 24-20. But Southwestern La. is called for pass interference on the play and Central is given one last play from the 2-yard line. This time, Bender dumps a pass in the flat to L.J. Muddy, who is hit at the 1 and falls into the end zone, clinching the Chippewas' 27-24 victory. CMU goes on to finish with a 6-1-4 record, tying (appropriately enough) the NCAA record for most ties in a season. |
Clemson | Virginia | 92 | The loss to Clemson 29-28 in Charlottesville
early in the 1992 season...after Virginia led 28-0.... Clemson
has a plaque commemorating this one in Death Valley. I sat on
the hill and watched the complete, disgusting disintegration,
much the same as my perspective in Ann Arbor 97 at the UM-UVA
game. Nelson Welch's 30-yd FG with :55 left, capped the comeback. |
Colorado | Missouri | 90 | Back-up QB Charles Johnson, replacing the injured Darian Hagan, scores on the infamous "fifth down" as time expires and the Buffaloes win 33-31. |
Colorado | Notre Dame | 90 | Colorado punts to "Rocket" Ismail with under a minute to go. The "Rocket" returns the kick 89 yds. for a TD giving ND the lead, but the TD is called back for clipping, and Colorado wins the Orange Bowl and National Championship. |
Colorado | Michigan | 94 | Stewart to Westbrook:The Catch (audio link censored by ABC Sports Online) |
Colorado | Wyoming | 97 | "We were down by nine with 4 min in the game after they scored a touchdown. Ben Kelly (#1) took the kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, they fumbled the ball, Hessler (Qb) completed a pass to Chiaverini (Wr) and I kicked a field goal to win the game 20-19. " -Jeremy Aldrich #9, Colorado Buffaloes |
DePauw | Anderson (Ind.) | 91 | Steve Broderick catches a 65 yd pass from Brian Goodman on the last play and DePauw (Div. III) wins 12-7. |
Duke | North Carolina | 69 | At the end of the 3rd quarter, with the score tied, Duke's Coach Harp called for the quarterback Leo Hart to run to the Duke sideline, placing the ball on the right hash mark for the next play. This was on second and 10 at the Duke 46. Now 3rd and 9 on the 47, without a huddle, Hart feigned tying his shoelace while split end Marcel Courtillet went up to the ball, and the entire rest of the team lined up to the left of the ball, apparently waiting for Hart. Courtillet suddenly hiked the ball and flipped it to wideout Wes Chesson, who ran left behind a wave of Duke players. The UNC players, still in defensive huddle, were taken by surprise and Chesson went untouched into the endzone. Duke then later stopped Carolina on 4th and goal from the 4 to seal the game. Duke 17, UNC 13. |
East Carolina | Northern Illinois | 90 | Quarterbacks Jeff Blake-ECU and Stacy Robinson NIU Battle for 4 Quarters and NIU leads 17-13 with 2 minutes to go. Blake drives ECU the length of the field to take the lead 20-17 with 40 seconds left. NIU stalls out in the insuing drive and on the last play of the game throws incomplete on the right sideline. But wait! ECU has 12 men on the field and NIU gets one more play with no time on the clock. At the NIU 35 Robinson completes an 18 yd.crossing route to Larry Wynn. Wynn runs to the ECU 35 and latterals to Kurt Cassity. Cassity runs the ball to the ECU 1 yd.line and gets driven out of bounds at the 1 to preserve the 3 pt. win for ECU. |
East Carolina | N.C. State | 92 | In the Peach Bowl, ECU trails by 17 with 9:00 to play when QB Jeff Blake engineers a miraculous comeback., capped off by a touchdown pass to Luke Fisher with a little over a minute to play. With the score 37-34, State engineers a comeback of their own getting into field goal range, but the kick goes wide right and ECU wins. |
East Carolina | Southern Mississippi | 95 | "Consider East Carolina over Southern Mississippi in 1995. ECU leads most of the game. USM comes back to take a 34-33 lead with about a minute or so to go in the game. ECU's Marcus Crandell leads a drive that gets ECU close enough to try a FG with about 12 seconds left. It's a fake, placeholder takes the snap and passes in the end zone where pass interference is called. Next play is a real FG, and ECU wins on the last play of the game 36-34." |
Eastern Kentucky | Northeast Louisiana | 92 | Sean Little recovers a fumble in the endzone on the last play of the game. EKU wins 26-21. |
Ferris State | St. Joseph's (Ind.) | 80 | Greg Washington catches a 17-yard TD pass from holder John Gibson after a botched 34 yard field goal attempt on the last play of the game. The Bulldogs (Div.II) win 20-15. |
Florida | Auburn | 86 | Injured QB Kerwin Bell brings Gators back from 17-0 4th quarter deficit and scores 2pter to win 18-17. |
Florida | Florida State | 97 | Florida beats Florida State 32-29 in a back and forth game in which the final score was set up by a 60yd completion from Doug Johnson to Jaquez Green and a Fred Taylor run. |
Florida State | Clemson | 88 | Bowden pulls the puntrooskie to beat Clemson. |
Florida State | Nebraska | 94 | After field is cleared, Huskers miss FG at buzzer, FSU wins Orange Bowl. |
Florida State | Florida | 94 | Trailing 31-3 in the 4th quarter, FSU rallies behind Danny Kannel to forge a remarkable 31-31 tie. |
Georgia | Alabama | 65 | UGA runs hook & lateral play in last minute for 60 yd TD then gets 2pter for win. |
Georgia | Florida | 80 | Lindsay Scott 92 yd TD reception from Buck Belue with 1:35 left wins it for eventual national champion Dawgs. |
Georgia | Clemson | 84 | Kevin Butler hits 60yd. FG to beat Clemson. |
Georgia | Auburn | 96 | Auburn leads 28-7 in the second qtr., but UGA throws a 30 yard TD on the last play of the game to force OT. Four OT periods later, the Bulldogs win 56-49. |
Georgia Southern | Furman | 85 | Georgia Southern rallies from a 22 point half time deficit to beat Furman 44-42 in the 1985 1-AA National championship game with 10 seconds to go on a pass from Tracy Ham to Frankie Johnson. |
Georgia Tech | Virginia | 90 | Scott Sisson kicks a FG in the waning moments to upset #1 UVA on the road 41-38. |
Georgia Tech | Clemson | 2000 | "Clemson was undefeated going into the game and Tech had a nice winning streak of its own. with a little over a minute left, Clemson scored a go ahead touchdown to make the score 28-24. after the kickoff, tech drove the length of the field to set up the winning touchdown. with 8 seconds remaining, quarterback George Godsey found receiver Kerry Watkins in the back of the end zone. Watkins made a spectacular one-handed diving catch to seal the victory and put an end of Clemson's undefeated season." |
Harvard | Yale | 68 | Harvard scores TD and 2pter with no time left (16 pts in last :42) for 29-29 tie. |
Harvard | Yale | 74 | Eion Hu scores with :29 left as Crimson beats Yale. |
Holy Cross | Princeton | 88 | 70 yd kickoff return by Tim Donovan who then laterals to Darin Cromwell who takes it into the endzone on the last play of the game gives HC the 30-26 victory. |
Iowa | Michigan | 85 | Houghtlin hits FG at buzzer for #1 Iowa over #2 UM |
Iowa | Ohio St. | 87 | Marv Cook TD catch on 4th &27 gets Earle Bruce fired. |
Kentucky | Vanderbilt | 71 | Darryl Bishop 43 yd. interception return on last play wins it for UK, 14- 7. |
LSU | Mississippi | 59 | Billy Cannon 89 yd punt return beats the Rebels, 7-3. Cannon also stops Ole Miss on 4th & goal at the 2 with time running out to save the game. |
LSU | Mississippi | 72 | Bert Jones to Brad Davis TD pass with no time left, LSU 17, Ole Miss 16. |
LSU | Auburn | 88 | Hodson to Fuller TD gives LSU 7-6 win.
"For the LSU-Auburn game of 88 you need to mention that the crowds reaction to the score registered on the seismograph across campus thus earning the name "The night the Tigers moved the Earth" and "The Earthquake Game"." |
LSU | Auburn | 95 | LSU CB picks off Auburn pass in endzone as time expires. |
LSU | Auburn | 96 | "The 1996 LSU-AU game ended with an LSU cornerback intercepting a 2pt. conversion try(that would have tied the game) and returned it for a Defensive PAT(2pts). LSU won 17-13 the night Auburn's Field House burned down." |
Louisiana Tech | Alabama | 99 | Brian Stallworth to Sean Cangelosi desperatiuon pass beats the clock and the Tide. |
Marshall | Youngstown St. | 92 | Brother of suspended kicker hits FG with :10 left to win I-AA title for MU |
Maryland | Miami | 84 | Down by over 30 points, Maryland rallies to beat UM. |
Miami | East Carolina | 83 | Wide open ECU receiver is run into by his own player and drops winning TD pass. |
Miami | Florida | 84 | Kosar to Eddie Brown bomb with :10 left beats Gators. |
Miami | Nebraska | 84 | Canes knock down conversion to win the national championship |
Miami | Fla.St. | 87 | Canes knock down Noles 2pt conversion to win 26-25. |
Miami | Mich | 88 | Canes rally from 18pts down in 4th quarter to win at Ann Arbor 31-30. |
Miami | Florida State | 91 | "Wide Right"- FSU backup kicker Gerry Thomas misses a short field goal wide right on the last play as Miami holds on to win 17-16. |
Miami | Florida State | 92 | "Wide Right II"- Gino Toretta to Lamar Thomas pass gives Miami the lead. Charlie Ward drives the Seminoles into 'Canes territory with under a minute left, but Dan Mowrey misses a field goal wide right on the last play. Miami wins 19-16. |
Miami | Syracuse | 93 | Graves long pass completed 2yds short of goal line as time runs out. |
Miami | West Virginia | 96 | Tremain Mack blocks a Mountaineer punt and Jack Hallmon recovers it and laterals to Nate Brooks who runs it in 20 yards for a TD that gives Miami the win with 0:26 on the clock. |
Miami(OH) | Northwestern | 95 | Bad snap on punt with seconds left gives Mami the easy FG and NU's only regualr season loss. |
Miami(Oh) | Cincinnati | 95 | 82 yd. kickoff return by Ty King with :19 left wins it for the Redskins 23-16. |
Michigan | Indiana | 79 | Anthony Carter 45 yd TD catch from John Wangler on last play wins it for UM. |
Michigan | Virginia | 95 | This was the most heartbreaking loss I've ever witnessed as a Virginia fan, and obviously, there have been many. Trailing by 17-0 in the 4th quarter, the Wolverines rally on opening day with Scott Dreisbach hitting Mercury Hayes who leaped , caught the ball, and came down with one foot in the extreme back corner of the endzone to complete the Michigan comeback, UM 18, UVA 17. |
Michigan State | Ohio State | 74 | Levi Jackson runs 88 yds in final minute to give MSU 16-13 lead over #1 Buckeyes. But OSU drives down the field, is held on two goalline stands then scores a TD just after time expires. After an hour delay the Big 10 commissioner rules that MSU wins. |
Michigan State | Ohio State | 98 | Ok, here's one on the MSU/OSU 1998 game: Michigan State holds the great Ohio State offense scorless in the second half to overcome a 24-9 deficit. The Spartans win the game with a minute remaining as Joe Germaine's pass is intercepted by Renaldo Hill in his own endzone. The final score - Ohio State (the #1 team in the nation playing at home) 24, unranked MSU 28! |
Minnesota | Northwestern | 92 | NU just misses FG as time runs out |
Minnesota | Penn State | 99 | Freshman kicker boots FG with no time left after miracle deflected pass puts the Gophers in a position to win it. |
Mississippi | Miss.State | 83 | Wind stops Bulldog FG try short from 20 yds. Ole Miss wins 24- 23. |
Mississippi | Arkansas | 90 | The unranked Rebs lead the 13th ranked Hogs 21-17 at War Memorial. Arkansas is driving and RB Ron Dickerson carries the final time, as Rebel announcer David Kellum calls it..."Dickerson gets to the three, he's hit at the two..hit at the one....he didn't get in! he didn't get in! Rebs win! Rebs win!" Chris Mitchell put what has become known simply as "The Hit" on Dickerson at the one. |
Mississippi | Miss.State | 92 | Ole Miss, leading 17-10, stops Mississippi State on 11 different plays from scrimmage inside the four yard line with less than two minutes to go in the game to preserve the victory. |
Mississippi | Miss.State | 97 | With time winding down, Ole Miss scores to pull within one, 14-13. The Mississippi Riverboat Gambler Tommy Tubberville goes for the two point conversion. Stewart Patridge completes the pass to Cory Peterson . The Rebels win 15-14. |
Mississippi | LSU | 98 | "Ole Miss carried a 31-10 lead into the fourth quarter. We were already celebrating back-to-wins over LSU. I guess we celebrated too early as LSU came raging back to tie the ballgame at 31 with :02 left on the clock. In OT, the Rebs got the ball first and scored on the second play from 25 yards out. Usually, you would have a seven point lead. Not Ole Miss. They had the PAT blocked. 37-31. A touchdown and a PAT were all that were needed. I stood and watched as the Tigers got inside the five. Rebels held. Fourth and goal from the four. As QB Herb Tyler rolled right, I saw the receiver with outstretched hands running to the sideline. In all of a second, I experienced extreme pain as the ball drifted towards the receiver, but then, extreme exhilleration as Syniker Taylor deflected the pass in the end zone to preserve one of the greatest games I have ever seen. Ole Miss wins 37-31." |
Mississippi St. | Alabama | 80 | Down 6-3 in the final seconds, #1 Bama fumbles near the goal line and loses to MSU. |
Missouri | Nebraska | 73 | Mizzou intercepts David Humm 2pt try for the upset win 13-12. |
Montana | Marshall | 95 | last second FG wins I-AA nat.Championship for Montana |
Nebraska | Oklahoma | 71 | Referred to as 'The Game of the Century' (as are about ten other games). Less than two minutes to play, Jeff Kinney bowls in from one yard out to score his fourth TD of the game. Neb 35 , Okl 31. |
Nebraska | Missouri | 97 | Cornhuskers' 4th down desperation pass by Scott Frost appears to be deflected and incomplete, but then kicks off the receiver Shevin Wiggins' leg and is caught by Matt Davison in the endzone to tie the game at the buzzer. Nebraska wins it in OT. |
Nevada | Arkansas State | 85 | Nevada blocks two consecutive FG tries (one on 3rd down) in closing seconds to hang on for win in I-AA playoffs. |
New Mexico State | Texas-El Paso | 84 | With 2:14 left, trailing 20-16, and the ball on the New Mexico State 10 yard line, UTEP quarterback Sammy Garza is intercepted by freshman cornerback Dennis Owens who returns it 100 yards for a New Mexico State touchdown that preserves a 27-16 victory for the Aggies. |
North Carolina | NC State | 72 | Terry Taylor breaks up 2 pt conversion. UNC beats Lou Holtz's Wolfpack 34-33. |
North Carolina | Duke | 76 | Mike Voight's 2 pt conversion beats Duke 39-38. |
North Carolina | Duke | 78 | Amos Lawrence run on last play beats Blue Devils. |
North Carolina St. | South Carolina | 86 | Erik Kramer to Danny Peebles, 33yds on last play, 23-22 NCSU. |
NE Louisiana | Northwestern State | 87 | Stan Humphries hits Jackie Harris with 50 yd hail mary. |
Northern Illinois | SW Louisiana | 89 | Game featured two of the all time great option quarterbacks: Brian Mitchell- SWLA and Stacy Robinson-NIU Down by 3, NIU gets the ball on their own 23. In 12 plays and 2 fourth down conversions during the drive NIU has the ball on the 7 yd. line with 3 seconds to go. Robinson goes left on the option play and scores on the last play of the game. |
Northwestern | Mich.St. | 82 | NU runs flea flicker with :27 left to get first road win in 8 yrs. |
Northwestern | Mich. St | 93 | NU makes FG but after time runs out and MSU wins |
Northwestern | Wisconsin | 96 | Running out the clock, the Badgers fumble on their own 41 yd line with :49 remaining. Steve Schnur hits D'Wayne Bates with :37 seconds left to give Northwestern the 34-30 victory. |
Northwestern | Michigan | 2000 | Zac Kustok's 11-yard TD toss to Sam Simmons wins an unbelievable game for the Wildacats 54-51. |
Notre Dame | Ohio State | 35 | Bill Shakespeare hits Wayne Milner in the endzone as ND rallies from a 13-0 deficit to win 18-13. |
Notre Dame | Houston | 79 | Joe Montana hits Kris Haines with TD at buzzer capping 23 pt. comeback |
Notre Dame | Syracuse | 61 | Syracuse and Heisman trophy winner Ernie Davis lead Notre Dame 15-14. The Irish line up for a 46 yard field goal with three seconds left. Kicker Joe Perkowski misses. Game over...but wait. Roughing the kicker on Syracuse defensive end Walt Sweeney. 15 yard penalty. Perkowski makes a 31 yard FG after the game is over, and the Irish win 17-15. Fans tear down the goalposts. But wait. Rules say the game CAN end on a defensive foul.. Game was over despite the roughing. At the White House the next week, President Kennedy asks ND president Ted Hesburgh if the Irish will forfeit the win. Hesbergh says, " No. We won." |
Notre Dame | Michigan | 80 | Harry Oliver hits 50 yd FG with no time left to beat Wolverines |
Notre Dame | Michigan | 88 | Wolverines' Mike Gillette narrowly misses FG as time runs out. |
Notre Dame | Miami | 88 | Pat Terrell knocks down Steve Walsh 2pt pass for upset over #1 Canes. |
Notre Dame | Michigan St. | 90 | Tipped pass falls into hands of ND receiver inside the 5-yd line to set up winning TD. |
Notre Dame | Penn State | 92 | Mirer to Brooks 2pter in the snow, ND wins 17-16. |
Notre Dame | Florida St. | 93 | Shawn Wooden knocks down Ward pass for Irish win over #1 Noles. |
Notre Dame | Army | 95 | Irish CB Ivory Covington makes tackle at goal line on 2pt try. |
Notre Dame | Boston College | 98 | Trailing 31-20 late in the 4th quarter, the Eagles rally and have first and goal on the Irish 4-yd line, down just five points, with one minute to play. On third down, Mike Cloud is met at the goalline by Jimmy Friday leaving fourth and inches with :11 to play. Deke Cooper stuffs Cloud on fourth down and the Irish escape 31-26. |
Ohio St. | Iowa | 57 | Bob White carries every yard of 80 yd drive in 4th qtr to beat Hawkeyes |
Ohio St. | Michigan | 74 | For the second consecutive year, Mike Lantry misses a FG attempt to the left to send the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl 12-10. |
Ohio St. | LSU | 88 | Greg Frey to Bobby Olive with 47 seconds remaining. Buckeyes score 16 points in final 5:00 for 36-33 win. |
Ohio St. | Minnesota | 89 | Greg Frey to Jeff Graham with 55 seconds remaining rallies Buckeyes from 31-0 deficit to win 43-37 (at the time, the largest comeback in college football history) |
Ohio St. | Iowa | 90 | Greg Frey to Bobby Olive with 1 second left. Buckeyes down the PAT to avoid blocked kick and return for 2 Iowa points and win 27-26. |
Ohio St. | Arizona St. | 97 | After Jake the Snake Plummer skampers into the endzone on 3rd and goal with 1:46 left to play to go up 17-14, OSU quarterback Joe Germaine drives the Buckeyes from their own 35-yard line to score a touchdown with 20 seconds left. After a Josh Jackson extra point miss, Arizona State tries to get a field goal but time runs out, OSU 20 ASU 17, first Rose Bowl win for the Bucks since 1974. |
Oklahoma | Ohio State | 77 | VonSchamann FG beats Woody. |
Oregon | UCLA | 70 | The Ducks score three TDs in the final four minutes to win 41-40. |
Oregon State | Oregon | 98 | OSU wins 44-41 in double OT. Ken Simonton's 4th TD in the 2nd OT wins it for the Beavers. |
Pacific | San Jose St | 95 | "I can't believe you didn't have the best finish of all time: the pass from Graham Leigh to Tyrone Watley with no time on the clock go to allow Pacific to beat San Jose State in 1995 just before Pacific dropped football! That was the best pass in history!"(Ok, it's on the list.) |
Penn St. | Kansas | 69 | In the 1969 Orange Bowl , the Nittany Lions win 15-14 on second attempt at two point conversion after Kansas has twelve defensive men on the field for the first attempt. |
Penn St. | Nebraska | 82 | Blackledge TD pass wins it for JoePa |
Penn St. | Miami | 86 | Giftopoulis interceptsTesteverde pass on the PSU 5-yd line to win the Fiesta Bowl and national championship. |
Penn St. | Notre Dame | 90 | In South Bend, Lions intercept Rick Mirer in Irish territory with less than a minute to go of a tie game, then kick winning FG with three seconds left. |
Penn St. | Illinois | 94 | PSU drives 99 yds for winning TD after trailing 21-0. |
Pittsburgh | Georgia | 82 | Dan Marino hits John Brown on fourth down in the final minute to beat UGA in the '82 Sugar Bowl. |
Pittsburgh | West Virginia | 89 | WVU leads Pitt 31-9 with 9 minutes to go.Pitt miraculously rallies and "wins" the game 31-31 on a long field goal on the last play of the game.The tie is one of WVU's worst "defeats" ever.It still hurts. |
Purdue | Michigan St. | 97 | Ed Watson's two-yard touchdown run with 40 seconds to play capped off a miraculous comeback, and Michigan State's Chris Gardner missed a 43-yard field goal with three seconds left, as Purdue pulled off a stunning 22-21 victory. Michigan State clearly had the game in hand, leading 21-10, and Gardner was attempting a 39-yard field goal with just over two minutes to play. But Purdue defensive tackle Leo Perez broke through the line to block the kick and defensive end Rosevelt Colvin scooped up the loose ball and rumbled 62 yards for the touchdown. Purdue trailed 21-16 after Billy Dicken's pass fell incomplete on the conversion attempt. The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Boilermakers wide receiver Chris Daniels. Dicken completed four passes, including a 14-yarder to Gabe Cox down to the 4-yard line. Following a defensive penalty and Dicken's failed quarterback draw, Watson punched it into the end zone for the win. |
Purdue | Kansas State | 98 | Drew Brees marches Purdue 80 yards in less than a minute and throws the winning TD pass to Isaac Jones to Beat K-State in the Alamo Bowl. |
Rutgers | Va.Tech | 92 | Rutgers last second TD wins 50-49. |
San Jose State | Wyoming | 92 | Sophomore Joe Nedney kicks a 60 yd FG as time expires and the Spartans beat Wyoming 26-24. |
Southern Illinois | Eastern Illinois | 83 | On the last play of the game, Southern Illinois cornerback, Terry Taylor, blocks an Eastern Illinois 25 yard field goal attempt to preserve the 2nd Saluki victory, 17-14, on the way to the 1983 1-AA Championship. |
SMU | Texas Tech | 82 | SMU, ranked #1 in the nation, returns a last second kickoff from Texas Tech 92 yards to win the game. |
Southern Mississippi | Louisville | 89 | Brett Favre's 79yd pass to Darryl Tillman on the last play wins it for Southern Miss. 16-10. |
Stanford | Michigan | 72 | Rod Garcia hits the last second FG for 13-12 Rose Bowl win. |
Stanford | Oklahoma | 81 | Elway rallies the Cardinal |
Stanford | Cal | 90 | "The Play II" Cal fans get delay of game penalty. Stanford gets onside kick with :12 left then hits FG with no time left to win 27-25. |
Syracuse | West Virginia | 87 | Undefeated Syracuse trails the Mountaineers 31-24 with less than a minute to go. Don McPherson drives them down for a touchdown, then Michael Owens takes the option pitch in the left corner of the endzone for the winning 2 point conversion. |
Syracuse | Virginia Tech | 98 | Donovan McNabb's desperation pass on the last play of the game gives the Orangemen the 28-26 win. |
Tennessee | Georgia | 68 | Vols score with no time left then hit 2pter for 17-17 tie in 1st turf. |
Tennessee | ND | 91 | Down 31-7, UT comes back to win 35-34 as Jerenmy Lincoln blocks FG with his buttocks at the buzzer |
Tennessee | Florida | 98 | Gator FG attempt goes wide left in OT in front of the largest crowd ever in Knoxville. UT wins 20-17. |
Texas | TCU | 54 | Texas' players were going through the motions until a referee failed to blow a play dead and the TCU runner dashed into the end zone. That made it 34-7 TCU as the fourth quarter began. Texas, enraged by the non-whistle, scored four 4th-quarter touchdowns and Buck Lansford's final PAT try grazed the right upright and went through for a 35-34 Texas victory at Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth. |
Texas | UCLA | 70 | Eddie Phillips to Cotton Speyrer for 45 yard TD with 12 seconds left. The Horns win 20-17. |
Texas | Arkansas | 87 | Brett Stafford to Tony Jones with no time left for 16-14 UT win |
Texas | Rice | 89? | Peter Gardere leans over goal line on 4th down play to win it for 'Horns. |
Texas | Virginia | 95 | 50 yd FG as time runs out into the wind for UT |
Texas A&M | Rice | 55 | Aggies trail Rice 12-0 with 4:12 to play in the fourth quarter. A&M scores three TDs in the next 2:46 to win 20-12. |
Texas A&M | Baylor | 58 | A &M trails Baylor 33-7 with 1:00 to play in the third quarter. Aggies then score four TDs in the next 13:22 to win 34-33. |
TCU | SMU | 95 | TCU led a tight game by a score of 17-10 very late in the fourth quarter when SMU scored a touchdown. SMU coach Tom Rossley decided to go for two and attempt to win the game. SMU tried a little roll-out play, and a stadium full of nervous fans held their collective breath as SMU QB Derek Canine lofted a short pass toward the end zone. Just then, TCU safety Rick LaFavers stepped in front of the pass, intercepted it, and ran 100 yards for a two-point TCU score with two minutes to play. Pandemonium erupted in Fort Worth. The Horned Frogs won the game, 19-16, and ensured its first back-to-back winning seasons since the late 1950s. |
TCU | Texas | 92 | A pathetic TCU team led nationally ranked Texas by a score of 16-14 in the 4th quarter of a game TCU was expected to lose by 20+ points. Texas was finally beginning to regroup from a litany of mistakes and was driving to try to take the lead. However, Peter Gardere, the Texas quarterback, lofted an errant pass that landed in the sure hands of TCU safety Tony Rand. Rand ran the interception back 60 yards for a touchdown and sealed TCU's first win over Texas since 1967. The final score was 23-14. |
Texas Tech | Texas A&M | 97 | Its a tie game with one minute left. Tech drives to near the A&M 20 yard line. On three straight plays they are sacked or caught for a loss. instead of a chip shot, the FG becomes a 47 yarder. The starting FG kicker had his leg broken previous week by Nebraska. The backup kicker comes on and kicks a FG 47 yards into the wind, bounces it off of the left upright with 19 seconds left to win. |
Thomas More | Defiance | 93 | Greg Stotko picks up his own team's blocked field goal with no time remaining and takes it into the endzone as Thomas More defeats Div.III power Defiance 24-18. |
Tulane | Kentucky | 80 | UK leading by 2 punts the ball to TU 6 yd.line With 94 yds to go and only 12 seconds on the clock, TU gets the ball to the UK 16 ( with the help of 2 pass interference penalties) and kicks the game winner with no time on the clock. |
UCLA | USC | 82 | With John Robinson deciding to go for two for the win with no time left, UCLA's Karl Morgan blitzes through the middle to sack SC QB Scott Tinsley, and sends Bruins into the Rose Bowl, 20-19. |
UCLA | USC | 93 | 3rd and goal , UCLA's Marvin Goodwin intercepts pass from USC's Rob Johnson in the endzone on game's last play to send the Bruins, and not the Trojans, into to the Rose Bowl |
UCLA | USC | 96 | UCLA is down 17 with about 8 minutes left. UCLA cuts the lead to 7 with 3minutes left. After an unsuccesful onside kick attempt by UCLA, USC fumbles. UCLA scores to tie the score. USC gets in field goal range for the final play but has the kick blocked. After swapping field goals in overtime, UCLA scores on a 35 yard run by Skip Hicks. UCLA wins when USC's final desparation pass in intercepted in the end zone. UCLA wins 48-41. |
UNLV | Baylor | 99 | Kevin Thomas returns a fumble 101 yards on the game's final play to shock the Bears. |
USC | Ohio St. | 75 | John McKay Jr. catches TD then Pat Haden to Shelton Diggs for 2pter to win Rose Bowl for Trojans |
USC | Notre Dame | 78 | Joe Montana leads a comeback from 24-6 to 25-24 with :46 left but USC drives down and wins it with a FG with :02 left. |
USC | Oklahoma | 81 | No.1 ranked Sooners face the No.2 Trojans. Mazur to Cornwell in the corner of the end zone with 2 seconds left wins it for USC. |
USC | UCLA | 90 | Capping a 42-point 4th quarter, Todd Marinovich hits a diving Johnnie Morton for 23 yd TD with :16 left, to beat UCLA, 45-42. |
Utah | Minnesota | 90 | With the score tied, the Gophers appeared about to win as they lined up for a 28-yard field goal with eight seconds left. But Greg Reynolds blocked the kick, and Utah's Lavon Edwards picked up the loose ball and ran down the left sideline 91 yards for the clinching score as time expired Utes win 35-29. |
Virginia | Florida St. | 95 | Warrick Dunn stopped at one inch line as FSU gets first ever ACC loss. |
Virginia | Georgia | 95 | Cavs win Peach Bowl on kickoff return for TD after 4th qtr fumble recovery for TD. |
Virginia Tech | William & Mary | 78 | 50 yd pass on last play, Lamie to Zollicoffer, Hokies win 22-19. |
Virginia Tech | NC State | 86 | Tech kicker hits FG at buzzer then flips off the crowd. |
Virginia Tech | Virginia | 95 | With about 40 seconds left in the forth quarter, Tech drives down the field on UVa (at Charlottsville) and Jim Druckenmiller connects on a deep pass to Jermane Holmes for the lead. The Tech fans storm the field! With still 36 seconds remaining UVa starts a drive, but with 4 seconds left they throw to the sidelines (!?) and the ball is picked off by Antonio Banks, who has to dodge the UVa trainer, Joe Geik (who was shown on ESPN trying to trip Banks as he went by).Tech holds off UVA 36-29. |
Washington State | UCLA | 88 | As an avid University of Washington Husky, it pains me that I have to recommend for inclusion in your list probably the greatest game in Washington State Cougar history. That was the year that the unranked WSU Cougs visited # 1 UCLA. In the final minute, with UCLA having 1st and goal on the WSU 1-yard line, the Cougs stopped them on 4 straight plays to preserve the win and the greatest upset in WSU history. I was in Husky stadium that day with 70,000+ other fans.....our game had ended and everyone was headed for the exits, but as it came down to that final minute, there must have been 50,000 of us who gathered around television sets (it was on ABC) and radios to hear if our other state college would "Coug" it, or come through with the win. Needless to say, that was all Huskies could talk about the rest of the day. |
West Virginia | Boston College | 93 | West Virginia trails Boston College 14-3 and scores with 6 minutes left to make it 14-9.With less than two minutes remaining, WVU forces a BC fumble. Darrin Studstill leads WV on a long drive and hits Ed Hill with a TD pass with less than a minute left to preserve WVU's 11-0 season. |
West Virginia | Pittsburgh | 75 | West Virginia and Pitt are tied 14-14 with less than 20 seconds to go. Pitt is pinned deep in their own territory and is ready to punt. Johnny Majors notices his punt team is one man short and Pitt is out of timeouts.He runs onto the field and draws a penalty so he can get another man on the field. WVU fair catches the punt, completes a pass that is fumbled out of bounds to stop the clock. BillMcKenzie kicks a 38-yard field goal to win the game over Tony Dorsett and the Panthers. Two fans in the stands have heart attacks. |
West Virginia | Pittsburgh | 94 | Pitt rallies from a 31-6 deficit and takes a 41-40 lead over West Virginia on a TD with less than 30 seconds remaining. After the kickoff Chad Johnston hits Zack Abraham with a 69 TD pass with 3 seconds remaining to give WVU a 47-41 win over its arch rival. |
Western Carolina | Chattanooga | 89 | Terrell Wagner returns an interception 68 yards on the last play of the game as the Catamounts win 26-20. |