I thought I’d give my list of the 10 best college football games of the decade. There are tons of games that could make the list, but if I had to narrow it down, this is my top 10.
10. LSU 28, Florida 24 (October 6, 2007): Tensions were high between the two SEC teams, especially after LSU students got hold of Tebow’s cell phone number and prank called him. Florida jumped out to a 10-0 lead and held a 10-point lead (24-14) in the fourth quarter. LSU then scored a touchdown with 10 minutes left. After forcing Florida to punt, LSU drove down and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1 minute remaining. The drive took over 8 minutes and was filled with plenty of fourth down situations.
9. Cincinnati 45, Pittsburgh 44 (December 5, 2009) – Playing for the Big East title game at Heinz Field, Cincinnati completed an incredible comeback to remain undefeated throughout the regular season. Down 31-10 in the first half, they came back little by little. Then, down 38-24 again, they came back and tied. With 1:36 left in the fourth quarter, Pitt scored to take a 6-point lead. The extra point was spoiled. Cincinnati then dropped and scored the game-winning touchdown on a big pass from quarterback Tony Pike. The extra point was good, and Cincinnati won the Big East and remained undefeated.
8. Arkansas 58, Ole Miss 56 (November 3, 2001) – How could this game not be in my top 10? This game was not a high scoring game… in regulation time. The game ended 17-17. 7 overtimes later, the score was 58-56 with Ole Miss going for two. Ole Miss finished two yards from the goal line on his two-point conversion, giving Arkansas the win.
7. Texas Tech 39, Texas 33 (November 1, 2008) – For Texas, this was the game that destroyed their hopes of a shot at the BCS title game. All of Texas Tech started with a 22-6 halftime lead. But Texas’ touchdown with 1:26 left them up 33-32. Texas Tech marched down the field until the 27th (which wasn’t a safe field goal with their kicker, it was someone who had won a contest in the game earlier in the year). With 8 seconds left, Michael Crabtree caught a pass from Graham Harrell, ducked past a defender and scored the touchdown.
6. Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32 (September 1, 2007) – The Wolverines featuring offensive stars like Mike Hart, Chad Henne, Jake Long and Mario Manningham were predicted to win the Big 10 and contend for the National Championship. Appalachian State, a school that can’t even play in a Bowl game, destroyed all BCS hopes for Michigan in Game 1. The game went back and forth. After the first quarter, Michigan led 14-7. At halftime, he was 28-17 at Appalachian State. Then at the end of 3 quarters it was 31-26 Appalachian. However, Michigan scored to take a 32-31 lead with 4:36 left. Appalachian State drove down the field in 1:11 and made a field goal to make it 34-32 with 26 seconds left. However, Henne threw a 46-yard pass to Manningham to put Michigan at the Appalachian State 20-yard line and within striking distance. However, the field goal was blocked and Appalachian State endured one of the biggest upsets in college football history.
5. Ohio State 42, Michigan 39 (November 18, 2006)- This is one of the classics of this decade- Number 1 ranked Ohio State vs. Number 2 ranked Michigan. These two rivals clashed. Michigan was playing for its legendary coach Bo Schembechler, who passed away a day before the game. Michigan opened the game with a touchdown, but then Ohio St came on strong and scored 3 unanswered touchdowns. The Buckeyes led by as many as 14, but Michigan responded with a few scores of their own. After Ohio State took a 42-31 lead with 5 minutes left. Michigan closed the gap to 3 after a touchdown and successful 2-point conversion. However, Ohio State got the short shot back and ran out of time to win the game.
4. USC 34, Notre Dame 31 (October 11, 2005) – This was one of those games where “IT’S OVER, WAIT, IS IT? NO IT’S NOT, NO IT’S NOT! Notre Dame and USC battled back and forth in this epic USC took the lead, but then the Fight Irish fought their way back into the end zone, taking a 31-27 lead.Then, with two minutes remaining, it was USC’s turn.Matt Leinart, on 4 and 9, threw a 61-yard pass to Dwayne Jarrett to Notre Dame 13. Then, with 7 seconds left, Leinart fumbled on ND 1 and the ball rolled out of bounds, Pete Carroll was running down the field to make his case. The game wasn’t over and USC had another chance. This time, Leinart ran it himself, and when it looked like he was going to get squashed short of the goal line, Reggie Bush shoved him into the end zone USC’s unbeaten streak of 23 games remained intact as they won the game 34-31.
3. Ohio State 31, Miami 24 (January 3, 2003) – In this 2003 Fiesta Bowl, No. 1 Miami faced No. 2 Ohio State. Both teams had players who are now stars in the NFL today: OSU- Chris Gamble, Michael Jenkins, Will Allen and others. Miami- Andre Johnson, Roscoe Parrish, Willis McGahee, Kellen Winslow II, Jonathan Vilma and several others. The game was close throughout, and going into the fourth quarter, Ohio State led just 17-14. Throughout the entire quarter, the game remained 17-14, until Miami kicked a field goal as the clock expired at 0 to send the game straight into overtime. In OT, Miami got the ball first and marched down for a touchdown. Then it was Ohio State’s turn. On fourth down, OSU threw an incomplete pass that landed on the floor of the end zone. Game over. Well, for 3 seconds, and then a flag was thrown in the corner of the end zone: Defensive Pass Interference was the call. This is one of the most controversial penalties in the history of the sport, below the video of the play. Ohio State then scored to tie the game at 24-24 with another series of tries. In Double OT, OSU got the ball first and scored a touchdown in 5 plays. Miami, needing a touchdown to send it to triple overtime, marched to the 1-yard line. At 4th and Goal, Ohio State blitzed, forcing Miami’s quarterback Dorsey to throw a sentence that was defeated by Ohio State’s linebackers, ending the game and giving Ohio State its first national championship since 1968.
2. Texas 46, USC 38 (January 4, 2006) – This game that made Vince Young famous. USC Powerhouse led by an all-star offensive cast: Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith, Patrick Turner, Fred Davis, Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and Lendale White against the also undefeated Longhorns (this BCS title game took place in the Rose Bowl). The game started with only one touchdown in the first quarter, and that came from USC’s first series. At halftime, Texas won 16-10. The second half is what made this game so amazing. When the clock hit the 6:42 mark in the fourth quarter, USC had outscored Texas 28-10, with an overall lead of 38-26. With 6:42 remaining, Texas got the ball down their own 31-yard line. The drive lasted 2:30 and ended with a 17-yard Touch Down by Vince Young. Texas then kicked USC, who got a first down, but then got stopped on the next set of downs and had to punt. The score was now 38-33 USC, but Texas had the ball. The Longhorns marched down the field and fully entered USC’s 10. But USC showed some resiliency in the red zone when they forced Texas to a 4th-and-5 from the 8-yard line. With less than 25 seconds left, Vince Young he noticed an opening to the right, took the ball himself, ran around his line, ran into the corner and won the run to the goal line. Landing TEXAS!! To make things a little safer, Vince Young successfully ran back for the two-point conversion. Vince Young had now rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Longhorns to National Champions.
1. Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42 (Jan. 1, 2007) – The number one college game of the decade has to go to the Broncos’ victory over the Sooners. This game was just a game that people will talk about forever. Boise State started the game on fire. They jumped out to a 14-0 lead and then led 21-10 at halftime. It looked like the game was going to be a blowout when Boise State took a 28-10 lead in the third quarter. But then “All Day” Adrian Peterson ran for a touchdown and cut the lead to 11. Then the lead was 8 on an Oklahoma field goal. With 1:26 left, Oklahoma completed the incredible comeback to tie it with another touchdown and then three attempts for the two-point conversion. The first was unsuccessful, but BSU was called out for pass interference. Oklahoma then scored, but it was returned for an illegal move. Finally, on the third play, Oklahoma converted the two-point play.
Then, to make matters worse for the Broncos, Oklahoma returned an interception for a touchdown 20 seconds later. Things looked pretty bad for the Broncos, but then the Magic happened. From the 50-yard line, Boise State’s Qb Zabranski threw a 15-yard pass under the Oklahoma preemptive defense. As the receiver ran inside, he passed it to his teammate who was running outside. The player had daylight and ran to the end zone with 7 seconds remaining. The game was going into OT. Oklahoma, whose offense really came together in the second half, needed just 1 play for AP to rush 25 yards for a touchdown. It was Boise State’s turn. Going down to 4 and 2, at the Oklahoma 5, the Broncos executed another trick play. This time, in a wildcat formation, and Zabranski lined up at receiver, with Back Up wide receiver Vinny Perretta taking center. He rolled to the right and threw a touchdown pass to tight end Derek Schouman, Touchdown Boise!
The Broncos, instead of taking the extra point, decided to go for two. Executing the third trick play of the night, Boise lined up with three receivers to the right. Zabranski took the snap, pretended to throw the pass but actually held the ball with his left hand behind him. Boise running back Ian Johnson instead took the pass and ran to the left. The play completely fooled Oklahoma as Johnson ran untouched into the left-field end zone. The best game of the decade was over.
Not that this game wasn’t special enough, but right after the game, while being interviewed by Fox, running back Ian Johnson proposed to his girlfriend and head cheerleader, Chrissy Popadics. Of course she said yes.