Randall's Ramblings

Oct. 15, 2005 will long be considered THE day for college football. After a day full of games coming down to the wire, the dust didn’t settle on this awesome Saturday until then no. 4 Florida State was unable to come back and lost to Virginia 26-21, ending the Seminoles undefeated season 10 years to the day that Virginia handed Florida State their first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference loss.
 

The game of the day by far was Southern California’s 34-31 last-second victory over the University of Notre Dame. I predicted three weeks ago that if Notre Dame was 4-1 heading into the USC game that it would become the most hyped game in college football history. Not only was that point correct, but it also turned out to be one of the BEST games in college football history.
 

What play would you like to see again? Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn stretching for the then go-ahead touchdown with two minutes left, putting the Irish up 31-28? Matt Leinart’s 61-yard pass to Dwayne Jarrett on fourth-and-nine with one minute left, thus saving the Trojans drive for the time being and putting the ball at the 10-yard line? Leinart fumbling after being popped by the Notre Dame defense at the 1-yard line and, by an act of God, having the ball go out of bounds which stopped the clock with seven seconds left so USC could run one more play? Or the last play, that will be replayed forever: Leinart, pushing forward into the end zone and getting stuffed, crossed the line when USC star tailback Reggie Bush pushed Leinart into the end zone as he spun around; thus giving USC the win.
 

Ignore the fact that the play was illegal, as the NCAA says that no player can help a runner move forward by pushing. As upset as I was that this apparent penalty was not called, I had to look back on the game and realize that for once the game actually lived up to the hype that was bestowed upon it by every member of the national sports media, myself included.
 

However, I feel that the overhyped nature of the Notre Dame-USC game took some of the luster away from other good games that happened on THE day of Oct. 15, 2005. Penn State was one second away from continuing their dream season before a fourth down pass from Michigan’s Chad Henne found a receiver and ended the Nittany Lions undefeated season in a 27-25 loss. In the battle for the Golden Axe, Wisconsin blocked a Minnesota punt with 30 seconds left and recovered it in the end zone to win another wacky Big Ten game. In their game against Michigan State, Ohio State did not even run a play in Michigan State territory until five minutes remained in the game; yet the Buckeyes won 35-24
 

Saturday’s like these are the reason that college football does not need a playoff system, but that’s another article for another day.