Great football games
History’s greatest football games.....
If you’re a couch potato sports fan like me, you’ll agree we’ve witnessed this year the most entertaining college football game ever played.
This I hereby claim with no caveats. Who can argue otherwise?
An underdog team from Boise State U., from a state much better known for potatoes, is pitted laughably against perennial football power and reigning champion of arguably the nation’s toughest conference (the Big 12)--the mighty Sooners of Oklahoma, a state known only for college football.
However, I barely got settled in the easy chair when, quicker than I could lament the poor upstart’s looming embarrassment in the Fiesta Bowl, the Boise boys had scored two touchdowns, just like that. Dumb luck.
That lead would disappear, but not before Oklahoma woke up to the fact that the other guys were only too real. Boise State blew an 18-point lead midway through the third quarter, and then twice rallied from seven-point deficits.
The huge upset seemed doomed, though, when a late pass by the underdogs got intercepted and returned for a touchdown, putting Oklahoma safely ahead with only a minute left to play in regulation.
Or so they thought. Then magic. On fourth down and with time running out, Boise State pitched a 50-yard school-ground hook and lateral pass for a tying touchdown, sending the game into overtime.
But wait. More magic was to come in overtime. First, Oklahoma got a touchdown on its first play from scrimmage, plus an extra point, surely wrapping up the victory..Again, it came down to fourth down for the underdogs—and another trick play. The quarterback star wackily ran in motion and a halfback took the snap and threw a touchdown pass into the end zone.
A final surprise from the upstarts iced the cake. They didn’t just kick the extra point. They instead went for two points and the win. A final trick play, as tried in every playground, again worked to perfection. The old Statue of Liberty handoff fooled everyone in the red helmets and gave the underdogs the deserved victory. Here’s to the Boise State Broncos and their gutsy coach. I’d say they were the best on earth during the just concluded bowl season.
And for all time? Well, that’s a long time. Besides, until this game, I had thought the best ever had been the victory a year ago in the BCS championship game by University of Texas over USC and the heroics of quarterback Vince Young, just named rookie of the year by the NFL for his play for the Tennessee Titans.
Remembrance fades fast also. Once the greatest game was the Baltimore Colts finally beating the New York Giants, with John Unitas for the old NFL championship. Then it was the NY Jets’ astounding playoff victory over the Colts, engineered by the biggest braggart quarterback ever, Joe Namath.
The mind drags up other memorable games. One for me was Oklahoma’s Orange Bowl 1956 victory over Maryland U. Oklahoma coach Bud Wilkinson devised a hurry-up strategy on offense, startling and befuddling the bigger and slower Terps and leading to copycats even today.
The most undiluted Redskins joy erupted for my family when aging quarterback Doug Williams performed miracles in the Super Bowl against Denver Bronco hero John Elway. If I remember correctly, the Redskins scored five touchdowns in the second quarter, after trailing 10-0. My memory might have been impaired, though, because of our tradition of celebrating with a stiff drink every time the Redskins scored. That game’s second half was a bore, I suppose, with the outcome already decided. It seemed a bit fuzzy. Must have been a faulty TV transmission, no doubt.
Back then there was a college game nearly as gratifying, although it would also wind up terribly one-sided, with my Texas Aggies doing better than they ever have since. It was a 1990 game in San Diego at the Holiday Bowl. A&M’s elite foe, Brigham Young University, had complained because they hadn’t been paired against a team with stronger credentials. The final score: A&M 65, BYU 14.
As a youngster, I had stood and cheered over Heisman Trophy winner Doak Walker’s exploits at SMU, when the single wing offense was still in vogue. And in a hometown game, the snooty Texas Tech Raid Raiders (then still trying to gain admittance to the Southwest Conference) finally consented to come to Abilene and play our Hardin-Simmons Cowboys from a lesser league. We had a slick quarterback, Model-T Ford by name, and he passed them silly. It wasn’t that the home team won, it was that Texas Tech got disgraced.
(Where do I get this "we" stuff? Well, my dear and long-departed mom was a yearbook class favorite in 1920 at then-named Simmons College in Abilene. So there. And much as I hate to reveal it, Univ. of Texas is in the family also, my errant Sis having graduated there in the 1940s.)
Admittedly, other sports have also had meaningful moments. One son even prefers NASCAR, for Pete’s sake. Where did I go wrong?
If you’re a couch potato sports fan like me, you’ll agree we’ve witnessed this year the most entertaining college football game ever played.
This I hereby claim with no caveats. Who can argue otherwise?
An underdog team from Boise State U., from a state much better known for potatoes, is pitted laughably against perennial football power and reigning champion of arguably the nation’s toughest conference (the Big 12)--the mighty Sooners of Oklahoma, a state known only for college football.
However, I barely got settled in the easy chair when, quicker than I could lament the poor upstart’s looming embarrassment in the Fiesta Bowl, the Boise boys had scored two touchdowns, just like that. Dumb luck.
That lead would disappear, but not before Oklahoma woke up to the fact that the other guys were only too real. Boise State blew an 18-point lead midway through the third quarter, and then twice rallied from seven-point deficits.
The huge upset seemed doomed, though, when a late pass by the underdogs got intercepted and returned for a touchdown, putting Oklahoma safely ahead with only a minute left to play in regulation.
Or so they thought. Then magic. On fourth down and with time running out, Boise State pitched a 50-yard school-ground hook and lateral pass for a tying touchdown, sending the game into overtime.
But wait. More magic was to come in overtime. First, Oklahoma got a touchdown on its first play from scrimmage, plus an extra point, surely wrapping up the victory..Again, it came down to fourth down for the underdogs—and another trick play. The quarterback star wackily ran in motion and a halfback took the snap and threw a touchdown pass into the end zone.
A final surprise from the upstarts iced the cake. They didn’t just kick the extra point. They instead went for two points and the win. A final trick play, as tried in every playground, again worked to perfection. The old Statue of Liberty handoff fooled everyone in the red helmets and gave the underdogs the deserved victory. Here’s to the Boise State Broncos and their gutsy coach. I’d say they were the best on earth during the just concluded bowl season.
And for all time? Well, that’s a long time. Besides, until this game, I had thought the best ever had been the victory a year ago in the BCS championship game by University of Texas over USC and the heroics of quarterback Vince Young, just named rookie of the year by the NFL for his play for the Tennessee Titans.
Remembrance fades fast also. Once the greatest game was the Baltimore Colts finally beating the New York Giants, with John Unitas for the old NFL championship. Then it was the NY Jets’ astounding playoff victory over the Colts, engineered by the biggest braggart quarterback ever, Joe Namath.
The mind drags up other memorable games. One for me was Oklahoma’s Orange Bowl 1956 victory over Maryland U. Oklahoma coach Bud Wilkinson devised a hurry-up strategy on offense, startling and befuddling the bigger and slower Terps and leading to copycats even today.
The most undiluted Redskins joy erupted for my family when aging quarterback Doug Williams performed miracles in the Super Bowl against Denver Bronco hero John Elway. If I remember correctly, the Redskins scored five touchdowns in the second quarter, after trailing 10-0. My memory might have been impaired, though, because of our tradition of celebrating with a stiff drink every time the Redskins scored. That game’s second half was a bore, I suppose, with the outcome already decided. It seemed a bit fuzzy. Must have been a faulty TV transmission, no doubt.
Back then there was a college game nearly as gratifying, although it would also wind up terribly one-sided, with my Texas Aggies doing better than they ever have since. It was a 1990 game in San Diego at the Holiday Bowl. A&M’s elite foe, Brigham Young University, had complained because they hadn’t been paired against a team with stronger credentials. The final score: A&M 65, BYU 14.
As a youngster, I had stood and cheered over Heisman Trophy winner Doak Walker’s exploits at SMU, when the single wing offense was still in vogue. And in a hometown game, the snooty Texas Tech Raid Raiders (then still trying to gain admittance to the Southwest Conference) finally consented to come to Abilene and play our Hardin-Simmons Cowboys from a lesser league. We had a slick quarterback, Model-T Ford by name, and he passed them silly. It wasn’t that the home team won, it was that Texas Tech got disgraced.
(Where do I get this "we" stuff? Well, my dear and long-departed mom was a yearbook class favorite in 1920 at then-named Simmons College in Abilene. So there. And much as I hate to reveal it, Univ. of Texas is in the family also, my errant Sis having graduated there in the 1940s.)
Admittedly, other sports have also had meaningful moments. One son even prefers NASCAR, for Pete’s sake. Where did I go wrong?
posted by Ben Blankenship at
3:06 PM
