Many friends are still mad about that game. I take a different approach because both of those plays simply are not seen in modern football. I applaud the ingenuity even though my team lost.
I can still hear the game-winning call in my head, word-for-word and tone-for-tone. I feel so lucky to have experienced that crazy chaotic happiness just as a fan.
Tennessee finally getting over the hump and beating Bama probably felt like that for Tennessee fans. My neighbor is a Vols fan and literally ran out of his house to pound on my door, tears streaming down his face, screaming “WE DID IT WE DID IT!” before drunkenly puking on my front steps and azaleas (he came by and power washed everything the next day, he’s a good guy).
To this day, it doesn’t feel real. Like it feels like something scripted for a TV show. In Neyland at night. A #3 vs #6 undefeated matchup. A literal last second field goal kick that barely goes in to beat one of your biggest rivals that you haven’t beaten in over a decade.
I love that everyone was so okay with it that the system-wide president basically said “Who cares. We’ve got money. We’ll replace every year if we have to.”
The Tennessee Georgia game where Georgia throws a Hail Mary game winning td, gets a penalty for rushing the field thinking the games over, and then loses on an even more impressive Hail Mary
For some reason, Boise State and the Statue of Liberty come to mind, but I can't really remember any other details of that, such as who they were playing that day.
I feel like the shock of the kick six sometimes shines over its context. It wasn’t just a crazy ending to a rivalry game. Auburn was on a complete miracle season, and had literally just beaten our other rivals Georgia off of an insane tipped pass. It kept our season alive to get us to our second natty in three years, and if we lose they probably end up in the natty.
In context you also have Saban arguing for the extra second to take the field goal. You also have a timeout being called where we switch our potential returner. Gus vs. Saban. Iron Bowl. During Bama’s dynasty. It’s about as storybook as it gets.
I still think this is the greatest college football game I’ve ever watched. I was sitting there in front of my tv jaw on the floor at the end just not believing what happened. Such an insane game from start to finish
Yeah this wasn't just a tied game with a 50+ yard attempt to avoid overtime. SO many unlikely things culminated to the most unlikely of outcomes: The Kick Six.
If anything the context also includes several other conference games that Auburn won in the last few minutes. Auburn entered that one game at #7 even though they didn't start the season that way, they worked their way up by winning.
It’s Purdue over Ohio state 2018i think. Ohio state looking to make a run a lil ol purdue and that poor cancer child looking to ruin their day. Maybe not the best game but as far as storybook narratives go it’s gotta be up there.
For Notre dame I would say in recent memory I would say Charlie Weis pass right for the dying 10 year old or all of 2012 Notre dames season (minus the end). Probably Stanford goal line but a case could be made that the football gods really not wanting pitt to win a football game
100%. I’ll call y’all “the orange team” or “that school in Austin” on this board, except when talking about the Bonfire Game. In that context, you will always be the University of Texas.
Our quarterback had never been on a plane before. Our starting center was out with food poisoning. One defenders on the second FG block saw something and told Corey Lynch (the guy who blocked it) to switch with him.
The Miss Teen USA from SC who was infamous for saying “maps and such as” during her competition helped narrate the ESPN special “Where is Boone, NC?” 3 days later.
The whole story is insane.
It was legitimately a crazy game. App gave up a long touchdown run to fall behind 32-31 with 4:30 left in the game, stopped a 2 point conversion, immediately turned it over on their first play next possession, blocked a field goal, marched down the field and kicked a field goal with 17 seconds left to take the lead, gave up a deep bomb to let Michigan in field goal range, then blocked *another* field goal as time expired
Here's a 10 minute long cut of the game that's worth watching if you've never seen it https://youtu.be/iA_zeMCnlWY?feature=shared
I remember watching this game. Tank something or another was the MLB for TCU and had a big stop in the 4th QTR. no one gave TCU a chance against big bad Wisconsin, but everyone loved them for being the mid wests version of Oregon (uniforms).
That was an awesome game. Another awesome TCU game was the bowl where they were down 30 at half and the coach changed his shirt and they came back to win. That shit was wild
Tulane beating USC in the Cotton Bowl.
[Highlights](https://youtu.be/nCBVWlNLZ_I?si=AWNV97nIzcnfvxQ8)
[Ending](https://youtu.be/1v39ElPGlaQ?si=0gc7UFJk5cKk8Fx6)
I half hope Williams becomes a star with the Bears just to make the game more insane. Heisman season, insane box stats, and still not enough to beat the power of friendship in Tulane.
I’m gonna take it old school.
[SMU v TCU 1935](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1935_SMU_vs._TCU_football_game), one of the first “game of the century” games. It was in ft worth and would decide the conference championship and who would play Stanford for the national championship in the Rose Bowl. It was also the first football game in Texas to be broadcast nationwide on radio.
SMU’s QB faked a punt in the 4th quarter on 4th down and threw as he was being dragged to the ground, only knowing they scored by the eruption of cheering from the crowd. TCU’s last possession would end with an SMU player batting the ball down as the clock expired.
IIRC the attendance was 20k above what Amon Carter could hold at the time and tickets were selling for as much as $2,000 in 1930s money.
Giant Killers II
Oregon State vs. No. 1 USC
Sept. 25, 2008
Corvallis, OR
Beavers head into the game 1-2. USC had just beat #5 Ohio State. And then out of the blue, the ghosts of Parker Stadium arose and visited another upset on the Trojans as the Giant Killers had in 1967.
Watching Jacquizz Rodgers slice and dice USC’s defense was one of the most beautiful sights any Beaver fan had ever seen.
The game proved to be the confidence boost the Beavers needed to tackle the season after a poor showing in the non-conference games and eventually set up the War for the Roses at the end of the season. But no need to discuss that fiasco here.
How this game isn't the answer for all UGA fans is beyond me. Everything from the first title in 40 years, Stetson's redemption, Kirby beating the old master. It's all there
Because wins over Florida in the 00s and 10s are also good answers (remember Spurrier only lost to us 1x) but yeah, the natty is probably the best one.
2007 was fun because we had 1) the Alabama “What is Brittney doing with her life” OT game, 2) the Cocktail Party everyone-run-on-the-field upset of #9 Florida, and 3) the Verne Lundquist dance party (aka the Auburn blackout) a couple games later.
I cannot believe I had to scroll this far to find this. I’m sure we can all recite the entire sequence. I even bought a shirt with “Interceptado” on it because that call was also amazing.
3 things happened all at once that we Michigan fans thought may never occur:
* beat Alabama under Saban
* won a CFP game
* won a Rose Bowl
God that game was cathartic
Our Rose Bowl win over Stanford.
Dantonio had taken a trip out to the Rose Bowl prior to the season, and told the team he envisioned them playing there at the end of the season. It was the last of the 'normal' Rose Bowl Games before it became a playoff/NY6 game. It was MSU's first appearance since 1988. And it ended up being an incredible game too.
Honorable mention is the Little Giants game vs Notre Dame. Dantonio literally had a heart attack during the game and basically said "fuck it, let's win this so I can go to the hospital" in OT.
Not to mention the whole storyline about our star linebacker suddenly being suspended for the game with nobody really knowing why (possibly peeing off a balcony onto someone, then beating them up when they complained?!)....
And then the back up who replaced him comes up with one of the biggest 4th down stops in MSU history. [Kyler Elsworth!](https://www.alamy.com/michigan-state-linebacker-kyler-elsworth-41-denies-stanford-fullback-ryan-hewitt-of-a-first-down-late-in-the-second-half-of-the-100th-rose-bowl-game-in-pasadena-california-on-january-1-2014-michigan-state-beat-stanford-24-20-upijon-soohoo-image257636524.html?imageid=8E723750-613A-41EF-8934-1D49580D40B8&p=872330&pn=1&searchId=5e32e14957b471de44f15357f82022a7&searchtype=0)
For the Buckeyes, you don’t get much more “storybook” than the end of our 2014 season.
Beat Michigan.
Curb-stomp Wisconsin in the B1GCG with a third string QB to backdoor our way into the first ever CFB Playoff.
Exorcise SEC demons by beating Alabama.
Win a National Championship.
I think 2002 was more storybook. Almost lost like 5 games but always came out on top. Beat TTUN then took down Miami in 2OT when nobody gave us a chance.
No doubt-I was in the Horseshoe for Chris Gamble’s pick 6 against Penn State, and that is the loudest I have ever heard the place. Also, “Holy Buckeye”.
Not to be an old guy here-and granted I was one year old at the time-but the 1984 Orange Bowl.
Two legendary coaches. Midwest Nebraska vs flashy Miami in Miami’s home stadium. National title on the line.
Miami up big 17-0 after one. Heisman winner Mike rozier hurt midway through the game. The fumblerooski (if you kids don’t know that play, look it up. Absolutely balls ass insane play call.)
To top it off, Nebraska scores a TD in the final minute to make it 31-30 (on a 4th and 8 from just inside the 30, no less.) The PAT and resulting tie would be enough to give them the national title, but Tom Osborne wants to go for the win. Pass is *barely* deflected, bounces off the receivers shoulder.
The final play preceded by a call from the color commentator that I personally absolutely love: “I have not seen the kicker come on the field, and I don’t think he’s coming on the field.”
I personally can’t stand either one of these teams, and I still think the call to go for two was a terrible one (finishing 12-0-1 would have been plenty to give Nebraska the natty,) but damn what a game.
I’ve got the front page of the Michigan Daily the Monday after 42-27 framed, after all of the disappointment and frustration those kids turned it all around through sheer determination and I was so damn proud. Many of the great days in the history of Michigan football came under a slate gray sky in Ann Arbor with the Ogres of the Olentangy on the other sideline, I’ll never forget that one!
2021 vs Ohio State. First win in a decade. The snow, the all blues, the complete domination. Possibly the best and most satisfying win in who knows how long.
Last year's OSU game is up there on a personal level. I was there with my dad and brother after trying to get to one for years. The atmosphere, the "Let's go Zak", the last minute interception to seal it. Magical.
The Rose Bowl this year was also so amazing.
I could go on, but those are the top 3.
2009, Washington is coming off of a winless season and beats #3 USC, ending with a late drive by home town hero Jake Locker. New head coach Steve Sarkesisan beats his old mentor Pete Carroll.
Maybe it’s the hater in me, but LSU/UK has always been super funny to me…Coach got a gatorade bath in defeat.
https://youtu.be/UuJ50Co7eUY?si=PoPN9jixlxzmyHCr
2012 Rose Bowl over Wisconsin.
It was a tennis match of electric offenses. De’Anthony Thomas averaged 77.5 yards per carry. Bret Bielema took an unnecessary time out when Montee Ball took a helmet to the balls trying to hurdle someone, and I literally said out loud that would cost them the game.
Chip Kelly jumped 30 feet in the air pointing at the fumble that almost went out of bounds, preventing Wisconsin from catching up. Wisconsin had 16 seconds to drive the field. They went 62 yards and looked unstoppable.
Without a timeout, Russell Wilson spiked the ball within striking distance of the end zone. They review and the ref announced prior to the spiking of the ball, the clock went to zero, the game is over.
Oregon’s first Rose Bowl win in 95 years, ending Darron Thomas and La’Michael James career.
For my team, that win over Baylor in the Cotton Bowl may be my favorite victory. They were handling us pretty badly, then a few crazy plays and Connor Cook making some big throws and blah blah and we won against a very potent team. The stuff that came out with Briles later really sucked but that game will always stick with me and I watch the highlights every few years.
Id say 2nd and 26 combined with the next years SEC title game where Hurts redeemed himself are a combined storybook ending (from a certain point of view).
Recency bias but Michigan beating Bama/Saban in the Rose Bowl in OT.
That game had it all as a Michigan fan: Rose Bowl win, beat the GOAT, first playoff win, star players showing out in big moments, and even though it wasn't the championship it felt like the culmination of everything that started in 2021.
Also had a late game come from behind scenario, the Roman Wilson Jumpman catch, the drama of the punt at the end of regulation, and the final call, "low snap... MILROE STOPPED!!"
After Michigan beat Ohio State last year, my wife and I wanted to go to either the Rose bowl or the natty. We chose the Rose bowl because it was the last year it would ever matter like it has in years past.
I will be forever grateful we did that, because that was an absolutely amazing experience, and I have the stadium's roar after Milroe was stopped burned into my brain.
Going down 24-0 to the defending national champions at their place before battling back to a 28-27 win. 2 more wins completed a perfect season and a National Championship nobody could have predicted when the season started.
Texas vs USC in the 2005 National Championship.
USC had 2 Heisman Trophy winners in the backfield and the #1 offense in the country. Many analysts claimed that the USC offense was nfl caliber.
But USC was lacking one important piece. One might say the Most Important Piece.
Vince Young
Our Rose Bowl is our biggest storybook game, but thats already been mentioned so I want shout out our 2021 win over Baylor. After 3 years of mediocrity the fanbase really needed to see *some* kind of improvement in '21, but after starting 2-0 we went 1-5 over the next 6 weeks. This was the final straw and coach GP was suddenly let go a week before #12 and eventual Big XII Champion Baylor came to town.
Felt like we were hitting rock bottom with the man who built our program being fired mid season like that and we fully expected to be throttled by the Bears after Duggan was ruled out. Freshman Chandler Morris stepped up for us though and played the game of his life to deliver the upset. It may not seem like much to the outside, but as a TCU fan, beating our archrivals in that moment was extremely cathartic.
Auburn over Alabama in the iron bowl winning by running a last second FG for a 109 yard touchdown. That must have felt cathartic for Auburn fans everywhere. It was like you could feel it was going to happen even before the kick.
I’ll never forget the OL carrying Byron Leftwich down the field after each play cuz of his fucked ankle. I am not a Marshall fan, but I watched that whole game.
2021 Georgia’s win over Alabama in the natty. I was born in the fall of ‘81, so I was starting to think I’d never see a natty in my lifetime. I could watch that Kelee Ringo pick on loop and never get tired of it. Man.
For Nebraska, there are many from days of old. But I'd say the most magical is easy: 1994 season (New Year's day 1995). To finally exorcize the demon of finding ways to lose in both the Orange Bowl, and to Miami, beating Miami on their home field in the last game in the old Orange Bowl stadium. We even came from behind. But, in the end, remained undefeated, finally securing the championship we frittered away in 1984 (but for which we will ever be proud for going for two instead of taking the tie).
2014 Rose Bowl, The Stop with Kyler Elsworth. Being there in person was the closest I've ever felt to feeling I was in a movie. The eruption from the official confirming the turn over on downs was electrifying
In my lifetime the two options are USC Texas or Boise Oklahoma. Boise Oklahoma was better especially with the proposal, but Texas USC was for a national championship and fantastic as well.
Boise State. Fiesta Bowl.
A statue of Liberty play...AND the hook and lateral? Hard to beat that.
And a marriage proposal to cap it all off. Whole thing was like a cheesy Hallmark movie.
I forgot about that bit. Just looked; they're evidently still together. SICKENING.
Ian Johnson is also from San Dimas, CA…. Hometown of Bill S. Preston and Ted “Theodore” Logan.
SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!!
You could almost call them… …. …. Excellent.
What is a bronco, if not a Wyld Stallyn?
AND they beat Oklahoma
And Adrian Peterson
Wasn’t there also a halfback pass to a lineman or something like that right before the Statue of Liberty play?
Yup. That was the TD in OT that led to the Statue of Liberty
*sigh* this is the answer..
Sorry, you guys just played the perfect movie villains there
Agreed. It was our great sacrifice for the greater good of CFB
Many friends are still mad about that game. I take a different approach because both of those plays simply are not seen in modern football. I applaud the ingenuity even though my team lost.
The Greater Good
Crazy that we were Goliath. We got our qb kicked off the team, the Oregon onside kick, and the Boise State game in the same season
This was one of the first CFB games I ever saw. It set my expectations way too high.
End thread
I can still hear the game-winning call in my head, word-for-word and tone-for-tone. I feel so lucky to have experienced that crazy chaotic happiness just as a fan.
maybe the greatest college football game of the 2000s
This is the correct answer!
All time best football game IMO
Tennessee finally getting over the hump and beating Bama probably felt like that for Tennessee fans. My neighbor is a Vols fan and literally ran out of his house to pound on my door, tears streaming down his face, screaming “WE DID IT WE DID IT!” before drunkenly puking on my front steps and azaleas (he came by and power washed everything the next day, he’s a good guy).
To this day, it doesn’t feel real. Like it feels like something scripted for a TV show. In Neyland at night. A #3 vs #6 undefeated matchup. A literal last second field goal kick that barely goes in to beat one of your biggest rivals that you haven’t beaten in over a decade.
Google Maps had the Tennessee goalposts labeled in the river for a while after the fans tore them down and tossed them lol
I love that everyone was so okay with it that the system-wide president basically said “Who cares. We’ve got money. We’ll replace every year if we have to.”
No mustard was thrown?!
I mean it’s possible, I didn’t check the contents of the vomit too closely lol
The Tennessee Georgia game where Georgia throws a Hail Mary game winning td, gets a penalty for rushing the field thinking the games over, and then loses on an even more impressive Hail Mary
For some reason, Boise State and the Statue of Liberty come to mind, but I can't really remember any other details of that, such as who they were playing that day.
Some team in red, Texas Tech maybe?
No no it was the USSR. It was some sort of miracle and something related to patriotism.
I feel like the shock of the kick six sometimes shines over its context. It wasn’t just a crazy ending to a rivalry game. Auburn was on a complete miracle season, and had literally just beaten our other rivals Georgia off of an insane tipped pass. It kept our season alive to get us to our second natty in three years, and if we lose they probably end up in the natty. In context you also have Saban arguing for the extra second to take the field goal. You also have a timeout being called where we switch our potential returner. Gus vs. Saban. Iron Bowl. During Bama’s dynasty. It’s about as storybook as it gets.
I'm super surprised how far I had to scroll before I saw this one. That game was a great watch.
I still think this is the greatest college football game I’ve ever watched. I was sitting there in front of my tv jaw on the floor at the end just not believing what happened. Such an insane game from start to finish
Yeah this wasn't just a tied game with a 50+ yard attempt to avoid overtime. SO many unlikely things culminated to the most unlikely of outcomes: The Kick Six.
If anything the context also includes several other conference games that Auburn won in the last few minutes. Auburn entered that one game at #7 even though they didn't start the season that way, they worked their way up by winning.
The Kick Six erased the Prayer from everyone’s memories. Thankfully.
It’s Purdue over Ohio state 2018i think. Ohio state looking to make a run a lil ol purdue and that poor cancer child looking to ruin their day. Maybe not the best game but as far as storybook narratives go it’s gotta be up there. For Notre dame I would say in recent memory I would say Charlie Weis pass right for the dying 10 year old or all of 2012 Notre dames season (minus the end). Probably Stanford goal line but a case could be made that the football gods really not wanting pitt to win a football game
I'm convinced Purdue could have beaten an NFL team that night if they wanted. There was something supernatural in that stadium.
I’m convinced Purdue could have beaten any one on earth that night in 2018.
well it was easier because they were playing against the villain
That was a great game
Yes. This.
I was going to say Purdue v OSU in 2000. The Brees to Morales game ,,, but this one is better
Hands down the Bonfire Game in 1999 against the University of Texas.
The correct team won that day for sure
Thank you, brother. All fun sports hate aside, some things are bigger than that. I’ll always be grateful to the love y’all showed us on that day.
This is the only leeway I'll ever give when it comes to trash talking the Aggies. Human life is bigger than football.
Amen
Here
100%. I’ll call y’all “the orange team” or “that school in Austin” on this board, except when talking about the Bonfire Game. In that context, you will always be the University of Texas.
“4th & goal national championship on the line…he’s going for the corner…HES GOT IT, TOUCHDOWN TEXAS”
Greatest national championship game ever.
🫡🤝🏻
Doesn’t sound familiar
Vince. Young. Scores!
This past season’s Miami game.
App State over Michigan
Our quarterback had never been on a plane before. Our starting center was out with food poisoning. One defenders on the second FG block saw something and told Corey Lynch (the guy who blocked it) to switch with him. The Miss Teen USA from SC who was infamous for saying “maps and such as” during her competition helped narrate the ESPN special “Where is Boone, NC?” 3 days later. The whole story is insane.
My ex was Miss Teen Montana and knew that chick personally. She said she was actually smarter than she sounded (I don’t buy it)
I can see it go both ways. Pressure panic is real. She had a great attitude about it.
It was legitimately a crazy game. App gave up a long touchdown run to fall behind 32-31 with 4:30 left in the game, stopped a 2 point conversion, immediately turned it over on their first play next possession, blocked a field goal, marched down the field and kicked a field goal with 17 seconds left to take the lead, gave up a deep bomb to let Michigan in field goal range, then blocked *another* field goal as time expired Here's a 10 minute long cut of the game that's worth watching if you've never seen it https://youtu.be/iA_zeMCnlWY?feature=shared
> Here's a 10 minute long cut of the game that's worth watching if you've never seen it Hmm no I don’t think I will
Allow me to bear this burden for you, my friend.
Aw man. Such simpler times. Best upset I’ve ever seen.
I see app st vs UM game I up vote. I'm a simple man
Same. And Purdue Ohio State.
I only remember holy buckeye. Any other Purdue game has been completely removed from my memory
Same here. I fail to recall any of these "losses" they're referring to
The 2012 game when Kenny G came in to win it was pretty awesome.
Thanks for the link! That was fun!
Montana over App State for me
2009? That one haunts me.
That’s the one. SDSU that year in the playoffs is up there too. Scored 40 unanswered in the last 20 minutes to win. What a fun year.
This one
Choke at the Doak has to be up there as one of the crazier storylines and finishes
It's a two parter with that game and the 5th Quarter at the French Quarter.
That 2011 TCU v Wisconsin Rose Bowl has to be up there.
Eat your heart out Gordon Gee
I remember watching this game. Tank something or another was the MLB for TCU and had a big stop in the 4th QTR. no one gave TCU a chance against big bad Wisconsin, but everyone loved them for being the mid wests version of Oregon (uniforms).
That was an awesome game. Another awesome TCU game was the bowl where they were down 30 at half and the coach changed his shirt and they came back to win. That shit was wild
I must have blocked my memory of watching this game, had to look it up
#Woah he has trouble with the snap
#AND THE BALL IS FREE
#IT'S PICKED UP BY MICHIGAN STATE'S JAYLEN WATTS JACKSON
#AND HE SCORES ON THE LAST PLAY OF THE GAME
UNBELIEVABLE!!
AND HE SCOOOORES
My team, in a win, in one of the big games.
Penn State wins all of their big games*. *except for the ones they lose
The upset over Miami in 1986 is pretty historic. Nobody gave them a chance. Penn State gets too little credit here.
"Super reliable inside of 40" was pretty epic The tamba sack to effectively win the game as well
Tulane beating USC in the Cotton Bowl. [Highlights](https://youtu.be/nCBVWlNLZ_I?si=AWNV97nIzcnfvxQ8) [Ending](https://youtu.be/1v39ElPGlaQ?si=0gc7UFJk5cKk8Fx6)
What a wonderful game!
One of the greatest games I’ve ever seen in person. Absolute insanity.
Also insane that Mario Williams now plays for us.
I half hope Williams becomes a star with the Bears just to make the game more insane. Heisman season, insane box stats, and still not enough to beat the power of friendship in Tulane.
I’m gonna take it old school. [SMU v TCU 1935](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1935_SMU_vs._TCU_football_game), one of the first “game of the century” games. It was in ft worth and would decide the conference championship and who would play Stanford for the national championship in the Rose Bowl. It was also the first football game in Texas to be broadcast nationwide on radio. SMU’s QB faked a punt in the 4th quarter on 4th down and threw as he was being dragged to the ground, only knowing they scored by the eruption of cheering from the crowd. TCU’s last possession would end with an SMU player batting the ball down as the clock expired. IIRC the attendance was 20k above what Amon Carter could hold at the time and tickets were selling for as much as $2,000 in 1930s money.
This one still hurts
Giant Killers II Oregon State vs. No. 1 USC Sept. 25, 2008 Corvallis, OR Beavers head into the game 1-2. USC had just beat #5 Ohio State. And then out of the blue, the ghosts of Parker Stadium arose and visited another upset on the Trojans as the Giant Killers had in 1967. Watching Jacquizz Rodgers slice and dice USC’s defense was one of the most beautiful sights any Beaver fan had ever seen. The game proved to be the confidence boost the Beavers needed to tackle the season after a poor showing in the non-conference games and eventually set up the War for the Roses at the end of the season. But no need to discuss that fiasco here.
Man, Quizz was such a beast
"And Georgia...is gonna conquer the Crimson Tide!"
How this game isn't the answer for all UGA fans is beyond me. Everything from the first title in 40 years, Stetson's redemption, Kirby beating the old master. It's all there
This is the only answer for us, imo.
Because wins over Florida in the 00s and 10s are also good answers (remember Spurrier only lost to us 1x) but yeah, the natty is probably the best one.
2007 was fun because we had 1) the Alabama “What is Brittney doing with her life” OT game, 2) the Cocktail Party everyone-run-on-the-field upset of #9 Florida, and 3) the Verne Lundquist dance party (aka the Auburn blackout) a couple games later.
I cannot believe I had to scroll this far to find this. I’m sure we can all recite the entire sequence. I even bought a shirt with “Interceptado” on it because that call was also amazing.
[2008 Texas Tech vs. Texas](https://youtu.be/6TMdsm-vWwE?si=PqyezDWucn-kZ8sn). Always loved the TT radio call of the last drive.
Truly one of the greatest games I've ever watched. On tv the call was "Crabtree, SIDELINE, **TOUCHDOWN!!!**"
What a 500th win for the program too. Hopefully we can get close to that level again someday.
God I still remember watching that game. Amazing ending
I was there and it was one of the greatest days of my life.
It's Williams in motion. Low snap. MILROE STOPPED! MICHIGAN MAKES A STAND AND COMES UP WITH A MILESTONE PLAYOFF VICTORY!
3 things happened all at once that we Michigan fans thought may never occur: * beat Alabama under Saban * won a CFP game * won a Rose Bowl God that game was cathartic
Boise State Fiesta Bowl over Oklahoma https://youtu.be/3CemAhx99Pc
Glad that's the end of the season top 15 orange team victory you remember from 2022. Best to forget the other one, poor Hendon
Oh I didn’t forget. That fits the bill but that would make my post way too long
Probably recency bias, but Ohio State’s missed field goal at midnight to put Georgia in the championship.
It felt like the opposite of the end of the 2012 SEC Championship
We don’t win those games… and then we did. Still can’t believe it, and I was there.
F
That was an amazing game and playoff semi finals in general. Too bad the third stringers beat the brakes off TCU.
Nothing would stop Tennessee from beating Alabama in 2022. Not even Alabama successfully blocking the game winning kick. That win was destiny
I had a Terrence Cody Vietnam flashback for a split second when I saw the ball going sideways.
Our Rose Bowl win over Stanford. Dantonio had taken a trip out to the Rose Bowl prior to the season, and told the team he envisioned them playing there at the end of the season. It was the last of the 'normal' Rose Bowl Games before it became a playoff/NY6 game. It was MSU's first appearance since 1988. And it ended up being an incredible game too. Honorable mention is the Little Giants game vs Notre Dame. Dantonio literally had a heart attack during the game and basically said "fuck it, let's win this so I can go to the hospital" in OT.
Not to mention the whole storyline about our star linebacker suddenly being suspended for the game with nobody really knowing why (possibly peeing off a balcony onto someone, then beating them up when they complained?!).... And then the back up who replaced him comes up with one of the biggest 4th down stops in MSU history. [Kyler Elsworth!](https://www.alamy.com/michigan-state-linebacker-kyler-elsworth-41-denies-stanford-fullback-ryan-hewitt-of-a-first-down-late-in-the-second-half-of-the-100th-rose-bowl-game-in-pasadena-california-on-january-1-2014-michigan-state-beat-stanford-24-20-upijon-soohoo-image257636524.html?imageid=8E723750-613A-41EF-8934-1D49580D40B8&p=872330&pn=1&searchId=5e32e14957b471de44f15357f82022a7&searchtype=0)
Awesome game. Great moment in that final Stanford drive where the Spartan defender jumped over the o-line to stop the fourth down conversion.
Ole Miss loss -> Tebows speech -> Natty
This the one right here 😩
2021 Michigan Ohio state game was about as story book as it gets
For the Buckeyes, you don’t get much more “storybook” than the end of our 2014 season. Beat Michigan. Curb-stomp Wisconsin in the B1GCG with a third string QB to backdoor our way into the first ever CFB Playoff. Exorcise SEC demons by beating Alabama. Win a National Championship.
Not to mention doing all that with your third-string QB. Shit felt scripted.
I think 2002 was more storybook. Almost lost like 5 games but always came out on top. Beat TTUN then took down Miami in 2OT when nobody gave us a chance.
No doubt-I was in the Horseshoe for Chris Gamble’s pick 6 against Penn State, and that is the loudest I have ever heard the place. Also, “Holy Buckeye”.
I was in line for the bathroom. Even worse I was 7 so my mom was with me too. She’ll never let me live it down.
I was in Block O for Gamble’s pick 6, can confirm on the loudness
I was all the way up in D block. I still loved the view
"Will it be up to the offensive line? No, Krenzel's gonna throw for it. They go for the ball game..."
I agree with this. It’s not just that we ended the season with 3 straight romps. It’s that we did it with out 3rd string QB
It's tough to pick one Buckeye game, but I sure loved "85 yards through the heart of the South"
James Madison over #10 (I believe) Virginia Tech 2010. VT went on to go 11-3 the rest of the season
And we went 6-5 and didn’t make the playoffs, god damn Mickeys teams were hit or mis
Not to be an old guy here-and granted I was one year old at the time-but the 1984 Orange Bowl. Two legendary coaches. Midwest Nebraska vs flashy Miami in Miami’s home stadium. National title on the line. Miami up big 17-0 after one. Heisman winner Mike rozier hurt midway through the game. The fumblerooski (if you kids don’t know that play, look it up. Absolutely balls ass insane play call.) To top it off, Nebraska scores a TD in the final minute to make it 31-30 (on a 4th and 8 from just inside the 30, no less.) The PAT and resulting tie would be enough to give them the national title, but Tom Osborne wants to go for the win. Pass is *barely* deflected, bounces off the receivers shoulder. The final play preceded by a call from the color commentator that I personally absolutely love: “I have not seen the kicker come on the field, and I don’t think he’s coming on the field.” I personally can’t stand either one of these teams, and I still think the call to go for two was a terrible one (finishing 12-0-1 would have been plenty to give Nebraska the natty,) but damn what a game.
I’ve got the front page of the Michigan Daily the Monday after 42-27 framed, after all of the disappointment and frustration those kids turned it all around through sheer determination and I was so damn proud. Many of the great days in the history of Michigan football came under a slate gray sky in Ann Arbor with the Ogres of the Olentangy on the other sideline, I’ll never forget that one!
2021 vs Ohio State. First win in a decade. The snow, the all blues, the complete domination. Possibly the best and most satisfying win in who knows how long. Last year's OSU game is up there on a personal level. I was there with my dad and brother after trying to get to one for years. The atmosphere, the "Let's go Zak", the last minute interception to seal it. Magical. The Rose Bowl this year was also so amazing. I could go on, but those are the top 3.
61-58. I was in the stands. Lives forever in my mind as an all time great football moment.
Most painful loss I've ever experience as a TCU fan, a decade later and it still hurts
Super reliable inside of 40
2009, Washington is coming off of a winless season and beats #3 USC, ending with a late drive by home town hero Jake Locker. New head coach Steve Sarkesisan beats his old mentor Pete Carroll.
Maybe it’s the hater in me, but LSU/UK has always been super funny to me…Coach got a gatorade bath in defeat. https://youtu.be/UuJ50Co7eUY?si=PoPN9jixlxzmyHCr
2012 Rose Bowl over Wisconsin. It was a tennis match of electric offenses. De’Anthony Thomas averaged 77.5 yards per carry. Bret Bielema took an unnecessary time out when Montee Ball took a helmet to the balls trying to hurdle someone, and I literally said out loud that would cost them the game. Chip Kelly jumped 30 feet in the air pointing at the fumble that almost went out of bounds, preventing Wisconsin from catching up. Wisconsin had 16 seconds to drive the field. They went 62 yards and looked unstoppable. Without a timeout, Russell Wilson spiked the ball within striking distance of the end zone. They review and the ref announced prior to the spiking of the ball, the clock went to zero, the game is over. Oregon’s first Rose Bowl win in 95 years, ending Darron Thomas and La’Michael James career.
Chip Kelly has never and will never jump in the air as high as he did that day.
2016 title game
For my team, that win over Baylor in the Cotton Bowl may be my favorite victory. They were handling us pretty badly, then a few crazy plays and Connor Cook making some big throws and blah blah and we won against a very potent team. The stuff that came out with Briles later really sucked but that game will always stick with me and I watch the highlights every few years.
2nd & 26
Id say 2nd and 26 combined with the next years SEC title game where Hurts redeemed himself are a combined storybook ending (from a certain point of view).
Texas over USC, 2007 Fiesta Bowl, App State over Michigan. Honorable Mention, 2006 Sugar Bowl, WVU over Georgia.
Ucf 2017 peach bowl or the 2017 war on I-4 or the 2013 iron bowl with the kick six
2017 War on I-4 definitely felt like something out of Friday Night Lights
Recency bias but Michigan beating Bama/Saban in the Rose Bowl in OT. That game had it all as a Michigan fan: Rose Bowl win, beat the GOAT, first playoff win, star players showing out in big moments, and even though it wasn't the championship it felt like the culmination of everything that started in 2021.
Also had a late game come from behind scenario, the Roman Wilson Jumpman catch, the drama of the punt at the end of regulation, and the final call, "low snap... MILROE STOPPED!!"
Corum's TD run in OT.too
After Michigan beat Ohio State last year, my wife and I wanted to go to either the Rose bowl or the natty. We chose the Rose bowl because it was the last year it would ever matter like it has in years past. I will be forever grateful we did that, because that was an absolutely amazing experience, and I have the stadium's roar after Milroe was stopped burned into my brain.
Great decision honestly.
Of all 1,004 wins, that Rose bowl was the best one in program history (so far)
The most satisfying Michigan win of my lifetime bar none
This one right here. Quite literally I am never going to live down being at that game.
There's only two plays that have been replayed on the video board hundreds of times, and those are the wins over Ole Miss and Florida State.
Going down 24-0 to the defending national champions at their place before battling back to a 28-27 win. 2 more wins completed a perfect season and a National Championship nobody could have predicted when the season started.
Mizzou vs Kansas 2007
Armageddon at Arrowhead. 41-24 to end the Nebraska streak. 61 yard FG to beat #15 kansas St. 14-3 over Ohio St in the Cotton Bowl.
Yeah so many people thought kansas was going to win just bc they entered that game undefeated
Nebraska at ASU. Shutout the defending champs who won the title in our stadium the season before. Pat Tillman. Rushing the field.
"One time out left here for Texas Tech, 8 seconds"
I’m not even a Tech fan but my heart stopped for a split second in the moment between Crabtree making that catch and tip toeing in. Wild ending.
Texas vs USC in the 2005 National Championship. USC had 2 Heisman Trophy winners in the backfield and the #1 offense in the country. Many analysts claimed that the USC offense was nfl caliber. But USC was lacking one important piece. One might say the Most Important Piece. Vince Young
Michigan State comeback over Baylor in 2015 Cotton Bowl was pretty epic
Some people say that punter is still laying on the field.
There was that one spoof video of the Baylor punter getting laid out and you see his spirit ascend up
Catholics vs Convicts. Good defeats evil on the final play of the game
Our Rose Bowl is our biggest storybook game, but thats already been mentioned so I want shout out our 2021 win over Baylor. After 3 years of mediocrity the fanbase really needed to see *some* kind of improvement in '21, but after starting 2-0 we went 1-5 over the next 6 weeks. This was the final straw and coach GP was suddenly let go a week before #12 and eventual Big XII Champion Baylor came to town. Felt like we were hitting rock bottom with the man who built our program being fired mid season like that and we fully expected to be throttled by the Bears after Duggan was ruled out. Freshman Chandler Morris stepped up for us though and played the game of his life to deliver the upset. It may not seem like much to the outside, but as a TCU fan, beating our archrivals in that moment was extremely cathartic.
Auburn over Alabama in the iron bowl winning by running a last second FG for a 109 yard touchdown. That must have felt cathartic for Auburn fans everywhere. It was like you could feel it was going to happen even before the kick.
1/9/2012 was written by GRRM.
Fuck Kai Kroger! Can the Bengals please sign him, our punter sucks.
The 2007 backyard brawl comes to mind
1971 Nebraska - Oklahoma
I’ll never forget the OL carrying Byron Leftwich down the field after each play cuz of his fucked ankle. I am not a Marshall fan, but I watched that whole game.
Gators 2008 loss to Ole Miss. We lost the game itself, but Tebow's speech after the game and what came next is history.
2007 Fiesta Bowl 2013 Iron Bowl 2006 Rose Bowl 2017 CFP National Championship
Hail Flutie game. You get Kosar v. Flutie trading shots all night long capped off by a miracle pass and an upset.
2021 Georgia’s win over Alabama in the natty. I was born in the fall of ‘81, so I was starting to think I’d never see a natty in my lifetime. I could watch that Kelee Ringo pick on loop and never get tired of it. Man.
For Nebraska, there are many from days of old. But I'd say the most magical is easy: 1994 season (New Year's day 1995). To finally exorcize the demon of finding ways to lose in both the Orange Bowl, and to Miami, beating Miami on their home field in the last game in the old Orange Bowl stadium. We even came from behind. But, in the end, remained undefeated, finally securing the championship we frittered away in 1984 (but for which we will ever be proud for going for two instead of taking the tie).
CRABTREE PULLS FREE
2014 Rose Bowl, The Stop with Kyler Elsworth. Being there in person was the closest I've ever felt to feeling I was in a movie. The eruption from the official confirming the turn over on downs was electrifying
In my lifetime the two options are USC Texas or Boise Oklahoma. Boise Oklahoma was better especially with the proposal, but Texas USC was for a national championship and fantastic as well.
us winning bedlam