What a weekend of college football!

I sure picked a great Saturday to pretty much do absolutely nothing other than watch college football.  It has been a very long time since Kristie and I have been able to do that.  Well, pretty much ever since the kids came along.

We caught most of the Ohio State vs. Michigan game, which came down the Michigan's foolish decision at the end to go for two.  I shouldn't say that it was a foolish decision, but I will say that the play call was terrible, for Ohio State saw the pass coming the whole way and actually intercepted it.

As fun as that game was, it was nothing compared to the afternoon's marquee game: #1 Alabama at #4 Auburn in what is known as the Iron Bowl.

It was a back and forth affair with Auburn going ahead 7-0 before Alabama came roaring back with 21 second quarter points.  Luckily for Auburn they scored a second TD just prior to the half and only trailed 14-21.

Auburn took the second half kickoff and scored a TD to tie it up.  That was it for the third quarter scoring as the teams settled in and had a great defensive game.

Not to say that a defensive game didn't produce any point.  Auburn just came up with some very key stops.  They pinned Alabama on their 1 during the second half only to see Alabama drive almost the length of the field before suffering penalties and getting stuffed on third and short.  Then on fourth and short Saban decided to go for it, and Auburn stuffed them.

The next time Auburn pinned Bama on the 1 though, they didn't have such luck as McCarron found a streaking wide receiver down the right sideline for an amazing 99 yard touchdown drive.

After that Auburn couldn't do anything with the football, but their defense came up big against Alabama stopping them on short yardage yet again.

This set up a field goal attempt.  Poor Alabama's kicker had a rough day, missing a total of three field goals.

Auburn was able to get the ball back with right around two minutes left.  And they did the miraculous, they drove the length of the field to score a tying touch down.

It looked like we sure were headed for overtime.

But Bama drove to midfield and just before the clock hit 0, they were able to run a draw play where their runner had a big gain and appeared to step out of bounds with 1 second left.

After the play was reviewed, the official declared that there was indeed 1 second left.

So what does the king of college football, Nick Saban, decide to do?  Play it safe and take a knee and head to OT?  Try a short Hail Mary?  Or kick a ridiculously long 55 yard field goal with your punter, who doubles as your long field goal kicker?

Yep, Saban went for the latter option.  The only problem?

Auburn was expecting this and put one lone defensive back at the end of the end zone to return the field goal if it came up short.

And that's exactly what he did: returning it all 109 yards for a TD.

It was one of the most amazing plays in college football that I've ever seen.

As it crumbled Alabama's hopes at a third straight national title.

It was a brilliant move by Auburn's coaching staff.  And congrats to them for improving so rapidly in the SEC, where they were 0-8 last year and were crushed in the Iron Bowl last year 49-0.

That play got me thinking, what are the greatest college football games I've ever seen?

Here is a rough list.  Only the top two are in order.


The 2013 Iron Bowl is easily in the top ten.

 Now you know why.

Texas vs. Texas Tech

 


 Michael Crabtree was a man among boys in this one.

 Northwestern vs. Notre Dame 1995
 

My mother, God bless here, was a diehard Notre Dame fan. At the time I pulled for whoever was playing against them! The previous season Boston College was able to ruin their perfect season. 


Whoever uploaded this game took some liberties, for they called it "The Greatest Football Game Ever Played."  This was #1 USC vs #2 Texas. It was the peak of Vince Young's career. What a game it was!
  

 And this one ranks as my second all time favorite college football game. If you hear the title, Colorado at Michigan, four words will immediately come to mind: Kordell Stewart's Hail Mary.
  I


 remember exactly where I was when I saw this play. Eating warmed up spaghetti in our living room on a TV tray as I saw this game end. Amazing! Now here is the greatest game every played. In my opinion.

Boise State vs. Oklohoma.  The mother of all Cinderella stories!



.

Have there ever been a crazier final few minutes of a game?