This is the first game on the list in which there no national title aspirations in play. Despite that the game wasn’t just any other. This was the 85th Big Game, the name the annual rivalry game between Stanford and Cal has received. Both teams had struggled through difficult seasons; Cal was out of already contention for a bowl game and Stanford’s bowl aspirations depended on their winning the game. It was also John Elway’s last regular season game at quarterback for Stanford.
The game was low-scoring entering the 4th quarter. Cal was leading 19-17 when John Elway led the Cardinal down the field into field goal range with 8 seconds left. The successful field goal put Stanford up 20-19 and seemingly sealed the win for them. The officials, however, deemed Stanford’s celebration of the field goal to be excessive and penalized them 15 yards on the ensuing kickoff.
To reduce the chances of Cal running the kickoff back, the Stanford special teams coach called for a squib kick. Because of the confusion California only took the field with ten players. The first Cal player to receive the ball was Kevin Moen inside Cal's 45 yard line. He then lateraled the football to Richard Rogers who tossed it to Dwigth Garner. Through all this California had barely gained any yardage and had no time left to run another play.
After Garner received the ball he was surrounded by Stanford players and apparently stopped. At this point the Stanford marching band came onto the field thinking the victory had been secured. They didn't see that at the last moment Garner had pitched the ball back to Rodgers. Rodgers took the ball right and pitched it to Mariet Ford. Ford caught the ball in stride and began to sprint towards the mass of Stanford band members. Soon finding himself surrounded by Stanford defenders, Ford lateraled blindly to Kevin Moen who caught it at about the Stanford 25. Moen breathlessly eluded two more Stanford players and bowled over a hapless trombonist to score the winning touchdown. California spoiled John Elway's last college game by pulling out a miraculous 25-20 win.
Entering the game both team were ranked in the top 12 in the polls, and Miami was the defending national champion. This game featured two prolific quarterbacks: Boston College's Doug Flutie and Miami's Bernie Kosar. The quarterbacks were clearly the stars of the game as Flutie and Kosar combined to go 59-84, for 919 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Boston College struck first and raced out to a 14-0 first quarter lead. By the 4th quarter the tide had turned and the Hurricanes held a 45-41 lead with only 28 seconds remaining.
The Eagles' last drive started on their own 20 yard line with precious few seconds remaining. Nevrtheless, in only three plays Boston College had advanced to the Hurricanes' 48 yard line. With still less time on the clock, Boston College quarterback Flutie called the "55 Flood Tip" play, which called for the receivers to run straight to the end zone and try to tip the ball to another receiver. After the ball was snapped Flutie found himself under heavy pressure and retreated all the way back to the Eagles' 37 yard. After narrowly avoiding a sack he heaved the ball 60 yards into the waiting arms of uncovered receiver Gerard Phelan. The stunning "Hail Mary" play made 47-45 victors of Boston College and became ingrained as one of the greatest sports moments ever captured.
The 1987 Fiesta Bowl provided a study in contrasts. On one side were the flamboyant Miami Hurricanes, a team that had easily handled all comers, including the previous season's national champion Oklahoma Sooners. After beating the top ranked Sooners, Miami retained the #1 ranking for the rest of the regular season. The Hurricanes had a number of top players including quarterback Vinny Testaverde, wide receivers Michael Irvin and Brian Blades, defensive tackle Jerome Brown, and defensive back Bennie Blades.
On the other hand, the Penn State team was about as exciting as its uniforms and ran a more conservative program. Although the Nittany Lions were undefeated, they had struggled against some lesser opponents. By the same token, Penn State had also soundly defeated the 2nd ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.
Tensions between the two schools simmered in the days preceding the game. The game itself was a low scoring contest and Penn State took a 14-10 lead in the 4th quarter despite putting up paltry offensive numbers. Miami, however, look poised to sneak out a dramatic, last second victory as they drove to the Nittany Lions' 5 yard line with 18 seconds left. On the last Hurricanes' snap quarterback Testaverde was confused by Penn State's defensive formation and threw an interception in the end zone to lineback Pete Giftopoulous. The Lions preserved their 14-10 victory over the favored Hurricanes.
Miami Hurricanes Fabric: Squares
On Novermber 13th, 1993 the undefeated Florida State Seminoles (ranked #1) and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (ranked #2) met in a classic game in South Bend, Indiana. At stake was a berth in the Orange Bowl and a shot at #3 Nebraska. It pitted one of the all time great programs of college football against the new college football power.
The game itself went mostly the Irish's way as they held a 31-17 lead in the 4th quarter. With only 1:39 left in the game the Seminoles took possession and marched down the field for a quick touchdown. Irish 31, Seminoles 24. The Irish went 3-and-out on their next possession to give the Seminoles one last shot.
With 14 seconds left on the the Seminoles had advanced to the Irish's 14 yard line. On the last play of the game, Seminoles' quarterback got off one last pass but it was batted down. The Irish escaped with a 31-24 victory.
This game is unique in this list in that it would be the last game of the season for both teams. Reaching this point undefeated had left the Trojans and Longhorns as the undisputed titans of college football. Without any doubts as to who deserved to be included in the BCS national title game, the stage was set for an epic battle between two of the most talented teams in recent memory in the most revered of college football venues: the Rose Bowl.
The game pitted two prolific offenses against two talented defenses. USC had the season's Heisman winner in running back Reggie Bush, while Texas had the runner-up in quarterback Vince Young. USC also had the previous season's Heisman winner at quarterback with Matt Leinart.
USC started the game aggresively to take a 7-0 1st quarter lead on a touchdown by running back LenDale White. The 2nd quarter was more active as each team traded turnovers and Texas took a 16-10 lead.
The Trojans came out strong in the 3rd quarter scoring on their first drive to retake the lead 17-16. The Longhorns answered with a scoring drive of their own to reclaim a 23-17 lead. USC scored once more in the 3rd quarter for a 24-23 lead.
USC also scored frist in the 4th quarter to extend their lead to 31-23. Texas could only muster a field goal in response to draw within five. USC responded by scoring another touchdown to take a commanding 38-26 lead.
With 6:42 left in the game Texas began mounting a spectacular comeback. Quarterback Vince Young accounted for all 69 yards of the ensuing scoring drive to make the score 38-33. USC seemed poised to squash Texas' hopes on the following drive. At midfield USC was stopped two yards short of a 1st down with 4th down coming up. So USC coach Pete Carroll opted to go for it with his bruising running back LenDale White, who had already converted three 4th downs for USC. This time Texas made the necessary adjustments and stopped White one yard short. But USC still had the lead.
On the other hand, Texas had Vince Young. On Texas' final possession Young engineered one last scoring drive. Young's magic continued to the end as he scored the winning touchdown on a 4th down play from 5 yards out. He also scored the two point conversion to pull out a hard fought 41-38 win for the Longhorns.