College football’s 150th anniversary: The 150 best moments that stood the test of time
By Zach Bigalke
12. The First Conference Championship (1992)
When the SEC expanded to 12 teams in 1992 with the addition of Arkansas and South Carolina, it opened the door for the conference to form divisions and take advantage of a provision in the NCAA rules that allowed for conference championship games. The first edition threatened to derail a national title season before it could fully blossom.
Alabama arrived at Legion Field in Birmingham with a perfect 11-0 record after downing Auburn in the Iron Bowl 17-0 a week earlier on the same turf. They faced an 8-3 Florida team that lost by double digits against three of the four ranked opponents they played in the regular season. Yet Florida hung in the game after conceding a two-touchdown lead to the Crimson Tide.
Gators running back Errict Rhett punched in the tying score with eight minutes left in regulation. The defense forced Alabama to hand the ball back over without scoring, and the Gators looked poised for an upset as the clock ticked down toward three minutes remaining and the momentum in Florida’s hands. Then Antonio Langham picked off Shane Matthews and flipped things back in the Tide’s favor with the winning touchdown. The win earned Alabama the SEC title and a date with Miami in the first Bowl Coalition national championship game.
11. Cornell Forfeits Fifth Down Victory (1940)
Back in 1940, Cornell was sitting at No. 2 in the AP Poll after winning its first six games of the season. The Big Red had shut out four of their six opponents and averaged more than 30 points per game. As they headed to New Hampshire to face Dartmouth, they had legitimate hopes of contending for a second consecutive share of the mythic national title.
Dartmouth, meanwhile, was playing out a 3-4 season under future Army head coach Red Blaik. Cornell was heavily favored in the contest, but the hosts managed to hold their visitors scoreless for much of the contest. As they stymied the high-powered Big Red offense, hopes of an upset started to build. Dartmouth kicked a field goal to take a 3-0 lead in the fourth quarter, but there was still time on the clock for a comeback.
Getting the ball six yards from the Dartmouth goal with less than a minute to play, Cornell ran the ball three times right to the shadow of the endzone. After drawing a delay of game penalty, quarterback Pop Scholl threw an incomplete pass. The linesman signaled Dartmouth ball, but the referee overruled the call and put the ball at the spot for a fourth-down play. Cornell scored on the extra down, keeping their perfect record intact.
After post-game video review revealed the linesman had been correct in signaling Dartmouth ball, Cornell sent a telegram to Dartmouth offering to forfeit the game. Blaik’s squad accepted the forfeit, and the game remains the only time in history decided off the field by mutual agreement after the final whistle.
10. The Fifth Down (1990)
After losing to Notre Dame in the 1990 Orange Bowl that killed their chances at the school’s first national championship, Colorado started the 1990 season 3-1-1 at the time they faced Big Eight rival Missouri. A gift down from the officials allowed the Buffaloes to claim victory and put them 1.back on track to share the national title in 1990 with Georgia Tech.
Down 31-27 with 40 seconds left to play, Buffaloes tight end Jon Boman fell just short of the goal line. Colorado raced to the line and spiked the ball on first down to stop the clock. Eric Bieniemy was stopped on second down short of the endzone, and the Buffaloes called their final timeout. Forgetting to flip the down marker, Colorado lined up for a third down that was called second down. Bieniemy was stopped again, and Buffaloes quarterback Charles Johnson spiked the ball to stop the clock.
That should have been the end of the game. Instead, the officials flipped the marker to fourth down, Colorado scored when Johnson sneaked across the line, and one of the most controversial plays in college football history pinned permanent question marks on Colorado’s share of the 1990 crown.