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

33. Wrong-Way Riegels (1929)

For anyone who has ever played football — even if only just a pickup game on the playground — one of the greatest fears is recovering a turnover and returning it the wrong direction to your own endzone. On New Year’s Day 1929, California star Roy Riegels lived out the nightmare on the grand stage of the Rose Bowl.

Cal was playing in the Rose Bowl after Pacific Coast Conference champion USC opted to decline the invitation. The Golden Bears squared off against a Southern Conference-champion Georgia Tech squad that boasted a perfect 9-0 regular season record. Midway through the second quarter in Pasadena, one play would define the game and a man for decades to come.

Georgia Tech back Stumpy Thomason was caught along the left sideline, and the ball came loose. Riegels picked up the ball and started darting forward. Then, avoiding a tackle, he cut a wide arc until he had completed a 180. Eventually caught a yard from his own goal line, the Golden Bears gave up a safety on the ensuing punt attempt. Those two points proved the difference in Georgia Tech’s 8-7 victory, and Riegels gained a nickname that would stick for the last 64 years of his life.

32. The Hit (2013)

Some hits are so jarring and so visceral that one can almost feel the crack of the pads and the wind knocked out of their own lungs on the other side of the television screen. When South Carolina defensive lineman Jadeveon Clowney burst through the Michigan line at the 2013 Outback Bowl, what happened next provided one of those vicarious moments.

With 8:21 left in the game, Michigan had the ball at their own 41-yard line facing 1st-and-10. Up 22-21, the Wolverines were hoping to bleed down the clock and add to their lead. Instead, Clowney had a different outcome in mind.

Timing the snap perfectly, Clowney blew through the Wolverines line and charged directly for Michigan running back Vincent Smith. As soon as the runner took the handoff, Clowney was there to blow him up. Smith’s helmet flew off and the ball came loose. Clowney was there to scoop up the fumble with his left hand and fall forward a few yards. The hit rejuvenated the Gamecocks, who came back for a 33-28 victory.

31. 2nd and 26 (2018)

When Georgia raced out to a 13-0 lead in the first half of the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship, it looked like the Bulldogs had Alabama’s number. Terrorizing starting quarterback Jalen Hurts, Georgia’s defense kept forcing the Tide to go three-and-out.

Tua Tagovailoa, the highly-touted freshman who had spelled Hurts throughout the season, came in at the start of the second half. After going three-and-out on his first drive, Tagovailoa started to pull Alabama back into the contest. He was hardly perfect, throwing a dramatic interception with Georgia up 13, but the defense bailed out the youngster and allowed him to work his magic.

Alabama missed an opportunity to win in regulation, leading to overtime. Georgia could muster only a field goal. When Tagovailoa was sacked for a 16-yard loss on the Crimson Tide’s first play of overtime, though, it seemed the magic might have faded. That feeling of opportunity lost lasted only until the next play when Tagovailoa found DeVonta Smith for a 41-yard touchdown on 2nd and 26 to win the national title.