20 college football moments that deserve to be made into movies
By John Buhler
13. Bo Over the Top
The amount of movies one can make about the legendary athlete that is Bo Jackson is borderline ridiculous. He did things on the football field, the baseball diamond and in really any athletic setting that just didn’t seem possible. Perhaps his greatest moment as a collegiate playing for the Auburn Tigers came in his freshman season, known as “Bo Over The Top”.
Jackson wanted to stay in-state to play college football, narrowing his list down to arch rivals Alabama and Auburn. Because Alabama head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant wouldn’t guarantee that Jackson could have an opportunity to compete for playing time as a freshman, he signed with the less glamorous Auburn program.
Back in 1982 when Bo Over The Top happened, Alabama was riding a nine-game winning streak over Auburn in the Iron Bowl. It just didn’t seem like the tide was going to turn in that rivalry series. Auburn kept the 1982 Iron Bowl close at Legion Field in Birmingham.
Trailing Alabama inside of two minutes in a goal-line situation, Jackson suggested to Auburn head coach Pat Dye why not leap over the offensive line for the go-ahead touchdown? Jackson was a track standout in high school, so why not? He scored the game-winning touchdown to beat the hated Crimson Tide.
“Bo Over The Top” became synonymous with Jackson’s greatness as an athlete. The Tigers would beat the Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl for the first time in a decade. Shortly afterwards, Bryant would retire from coaching and would sadly pass away before the 1983 season. Jackson would win the Heisman Trophy in 1985 and Auburn would have great success in the SEC under Dye for the rest of the decade.