10 best bowl games in the history of college football

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: Sony Michel #1 of the Georgia Bulldogs scores the winning touchdown in the 2018 College Football Playoff Semifinal Game against the Oklahoma Sooners at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

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2001 GMAC Bowl – Marshall vs. East Carolina

This might be the best game that no one ever watched, but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining.

The game featured two future NFL quarterbacks in Marshall’s Byron Leftwich and East Carolina’s David Garrard and 125 points combined.

However, this game looked to be a blowout from the get-go. Leftwich and the Marshall offense turned the ball over on their first three possessions, and before who knew it, East Carolina led 21-0. The continued sloppy play led to more scoring opportunities for the Pirates, and by halftime, the game was entirely out of hand as East Carolina led 38-8.

The roles flipped in the second half, however, as it was East Carolina’s turn to give the ball away as Garrard threw two pick-sixes in the third quarter. Marshall was also able to get two scores from their offense, and before you knew it was 41-36.

The fourth quarter was a back and forth shootout, but it was Leftwich who managed to go 80 yards in just 50 seconds to tie the game at 51. Unfortunately, they missed the extra point, which sent the game into overtime. Both teams scored touchdowns on their first drives, but East Carolina settled for just a field goal to start the second OT, opening the door for Marshall to win the game. And Leftwich made them pay by finding Josh Davis for the game-clinching touchdown.

At the time, it was the most massive comeback in bowl history and remains the highest-scoring game (including OTs) in bowl history.

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