College football’s 150th anniversary: The 150 best moments that stood the test of time

42. Prayer at Jordan-Hare (2013)

Auburn and Georgia matched up on the Plains in 2013 for the 117th edition of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. Staring at the possibility of a defeat that would knock them out of the running for a spot in the SEC championship and a possible berth in the BCS national title game, Auburn pulled off a memorable miracle.

Georgia found themselves down 27-10 at halftime, and they were behind 37-17 early in the fourth quarter when Cody Parkey kicked a 32-yard field goal to grow Auburn’s lead to 20 points. But the Bulldogs ramped up the pressure in the final frame, securing a 38-37 lead on their third touchdown of the quarter with less than two minutes remaining.

Facing 4th and 18 from their own 27-yard line, Auburn had just 36 seconds remaining to reverse their fortunes and reclaim the lead. Throwing into triple coverage, Nick Marshall’s pass was nearly intercepted by two Georgia defenders. But instead the ball popped back into the air, and receiver Ricardo Lewis pulled in the errant throw on the run. Looking over his left shoulder, Lewis raced into the endzone for the winning score.

41. Utah Busts the BCS (2005)

Over the first six years of the Bowl Championship Series, several mid-major programs posted perfect records in the regular season but were shut out of one of the top bowl games. That all changed at the end of the 2004 season when Urban Meyer’s Utah team posted an 11-0 mark and won the Mountain West.

Along the way, they took down three power-conference teams. Texas A&M came to Salt Lake City in the season opener and fell 41-21 to the Utes. A week later, Meyer’s crew went to Tucson and knocked off Arizona 23-6. In October, Utah hosted North Carolina and trounced the Tar Heels 46-16.

When given the chance to play at the Fiesta Bowl, Utah did not stumble. Playing Big East champion Pittsburgh, the Utes rolled up a 35-7 victory. Future No. 1 NFL Draft pick Alex Smith dazzled in the mismatch, racking up four touchdowns and 328 yards on 29-of-27 passing. The resounding win opened the door for future non-AQ teams to bust the BCS and sent Meyer off in style to the Florida job.

40. Tommie Frazier Runs for Daylight Against Florida (1996)

Few quarterbacks in college football history have enjoyed as storied and as celebrated career as Nebraska’s Tommie Frazier. The Cornhusker star was the MVP of three straight national championship games, nearly upsetting Florida State as a double-digit underdog on New Year’s Day 1994 before helping win Tom Osborne’s first national title the following year as a junior in a takedown of Miami.

But it was his performance in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl when Nebraska demolished Florida 62-24 in Arizona, that capped his decorated career in style. In that game, Frazier ran for 199 yards and two touchdowns. It was the second of the pair that remains etched in the memory of every college football fan that caught that championship bowl game that defined football in the mid-1990s.

On the second scoring play by Frazier, the quarterback took the ball and faked the handoff to the fullback. Frazier then tucked and ran the ball upfield, quickly finding himself swarmed by multiple Gators defenders on his side of midfield. Instead of going down, though, Frazier broke seven tackles on the way to a 75-yard score that put a flourish on his final college game.