Top 10 College Football Games in the Past Decade

I thought I would give my list of the top 10 college football games of the decade. There are tons of games that could make the list, but if I had to narrow it down this is my top 10.

10. LSU 28, Florida 24 (October 6, 2007)- Tensions were high between the two SEC teams, especially after LSU students got a hold of Tebow's Cell Phone number and were prank calling him.  Florida jumped out to a 10-0 lead and kept a 10 point lead (24-14) going into the fourth quarter. LSU then scored a touchdown with 10 minutes left. After forcing Florida to punt, LSU then drove down and scored the go ahead touchdown with 1 minute remaining. The drive took over 8 minutes, and was filled with a bunch of 4th down situations.

9. Cincinnati 45, Pittsburgh 44 (December 5, 2009)- Playing for the Big East title game at Heinz Field, Cincinnati completed an incredible comeback to remain undefeated for the complete regular season.  Down 31- 10 in the first half, the clawed back little by little. Then down 38-24 again they came back and tied it up. With 1:36 left in the Fourth Quarter, Pitt scored to take a 6 point lead.  The extra point was botched.  Cincinnati then went down and scored the game winning touchdown on a great pass from QB Tony Pike. The extra point was good, and Cincinnati went on to win the Big East and stay undefeated.

8. Arkansas 58, Ole Miss 56 (November 3, 2001)- How could this game not be in my top 10.  This game was not a high scoring game...in regular time.  The game ended 17-17.  7 overtimes later, the score was 58-56 with Ole Miss going for two.  Ole Miss ended two yards short of the goal line in their two point conversion, giving Arkansas the win.

7. Texas Tech 39, Texas 33 (November 1, 2008)- For Texas, this was the game that destroyed their hopes for a shot at the BCS Title Game. It started off all Texas Tech as they were leading 22-6 at halftime. But Texas' touchdown with 1:26 left game them a 33-32 lead. Texas Tech marched down the field to the 27 (which was not a certain field goal with their kicker- it was someone who had won an in game contest earlier during the year). With 8 seconds left, Michael Crabtree caught a Graham Harrell pass, spun around a defender and scored the touchdown. Texas Tech pulled the upset.

6. Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32 (September 1, 2007)- The Wolverines with Offensive Stars like Mike Hart, Chad Henne, Jake Long, and Mario Manningham were predicted to win the Big 10 and compete for the National Championship. Appalachian State, a school who can not even play in a Bowl game, destroyed all BCS hopes for Michigan in the first game.  The game went back and forth. After the first quarter Michigan was winning 14-7. At halftime, it was 28-17 Appalachian State. Then at the end of 3 quarters, it was 31-26 Appalachian.  Michigan however, scored to take a 32-31 lead with 4:36. Appalachian State drove down the field in a 1:11 and scored a go ahead field goal to make it 34-32 with 26 seconds left.  However, Henne threw a 46 yard pass to Manningham to put Michigan at the Appalachian State's 20 and in close field range. However, the field goal was blocked and Appalachian State held on for one of the biggest upsets in college football history.

5. Ohio State 42, Michigan 39 (November 18, 2006)- This is one of the classics from this decade- Number 1 ranked Ohio State vs Number 2 ranked Michigan. These two rivals battled it out.  Michigan was playing for their legendary coach Bo Schembechler, who passed away a day before the game.  Michigan opened the game up with a touchdown, but then Ohio St cam eon strong and scored 3 unanswered touchdowns.  The Buckeyes led by as many as 14, but Michigan responded with some scores of their own.  After Ohio State took a 42-31 lead with 5 minutes left. Michigan closed the gap to 3 after a touchdown and a successful 2 point conversion. However, Ohio State recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock to win the game.

4. USC 34, Notre Dame 31 (October 11, 2005)- This was one of those games where "IT'S OVER, WAIT IS IT? NO IT'S NOT, NOT IT'S NOT!! Notre Dame and USC battled back and forth in this epic game.  USC took the lead, but then the Fight Irish fought their way back to the end zone, taking a 31- 27 lead. Then with two minutes left, it was USC's turn.  Matt Leinart, on 4th and 9, threw a 61 yard pass to Dwayne Jarrett down to the Notre Dame 13. Then with 7 seconds left, Leinart fumbled at the ND 1 the ball rolled out of bounds. Officials first signaled that the game was over, but as Charlie Weis had his hands in the air, Pete Carroll was running down the field to plead his case.  The game was not over and USC had another chance. This time, Leinart ran it himself, and when it looked like he was going to be stuffed before the goal line, Reggie Bush pushed him into the end zone. USC's unbeaten streak of 23 games remained intact as they won the game 34-31.

3. Ohio State 31, Miami 24 (January 3, 2003)- In this 2003 Fiesta Bowl, #1 Miami faced off against #2 Ohio State. Both teams had players that are now stars in the NFL today: OSU- Chris Gamble, Michael Jenkins, Will Allen and others.  Miami- Andre Johnson, Roscoe Parrish, Willis McGahee, Kellen Winslow II, Jonathan Vilma, and several others. The game was close throughout, and going into the fourth quarter, Ohio State led just 17-14.  Throughout the entire quarter the game remained 17-14, until Miami kicked a field goal as the clock expired at 0 to send the game straight into overtime.  In OT, Miami got the ball first and marched down for a touchdown. Then it was Ohio State's turn. On fourth down, OSU threw an incomplete pass that landed on the floor of the endzone. Game Over.  Well for 3 seconds, and then in the corner of the end zone a flag was thrown- Defensive Pass Interference was the call. This is one of the most controversial penalties in sports histories, below is the video of the play.  Ohio State then scored to tie the game up at 24-24 with a whole new set of downs.  In Double OT, OSU got the ball first and scored a touchdown in 5 plays.  Miami, needing a touchdown to send it into triple OT, marched down to the one yard line.  On 4th and Goal, ohi State blitzed, forcing Dorsey, the Miami QB to throw up a prayer which was batted down by Ohio State linebackers, ending the game, and giving Ohio State its first national championship since 1968.

2. Texas 46, USC 38 (Janurary 4, 2006)- This game that made Vince Young famous. Powerhouse USC led by a cast of Offensive stars- Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith, Patrick Turner, Fred Davis, Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, and Lendale White vs the also undefeated Longhorns(this BCS title game took place at the Rose Bowl). The game began with just one touchdown in the first quarter, and that came from USC's first drive. At Halftime, Texas was winning 16-10.  The second half is what made this game so incredible. By the time the clock hit the 6:42 mark in the fourth quarter, USC had out scored Texas 28-10, with an overall lead of 38-26. With 6:42 left, Texas got the ball on their own 31. The drive took 2:30 and ended with a 17 yard Touch Down run by Vince Young.  Texas then kicked to USC who got one first down, but then was stopped on the next set of downs and had to punt. The score was now 38-33 USC, but Texas had the ball.  The Longhorns marched down the field and got all the way inside the USC 10. But USC showed some red zone resilience as they forced Texas to a 4th and Five from the 8 yard line. With less than 25 seconds, Vince Young, noticed an opening on the right, took the ball himself, ran around his line, rushed to the corner, and won the race to the goal line. Touchdown TEXAS!! To make things a little more secure, Vince Young then successfully rushed it again for the two point conversion. Vince Young, had rushed for now 200 yards, and three touchdowns to lead the Longhorns to being National Champions.

1. Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42 (January 1, 2007)- The number one college game of the decade has to go to the Broncos win over the Sooners.  This game was just a game that people will talk about forever.  Boise State started the game on fire. They jumped out to a 14-0 lead, and then led 21-10 at halftime.  The game looked like it was going to be a blowout when Boise State took a 28-10 lead in the third quarter.  But then "All Day" Adrian Peterson, ran for a touchdown t narrow the lead to 11.  Then the lead was 8 with an Oklahoma field goal.  With 1:26 left, Oklahoma completed the amazing comeback by tying it up with another touchdown- and then three attempts for the two point conversion. The first one was unsuccessful but BSU got called for Pass Interference. Then Oklahoma scored but it got called back for Illegal Motion. Finally, on the third play Oklahoma converted the two point play.  Then, to make things worse for the Broncos, Oklahoma returned an interception for a touchdown 20 seconds later. Things looked pretty bad for the Broncos, but then the Magic happened. From the 50 yard line, Boise State's Qb Zabranski threw a 15 yard pass underneath Oklahoma's prevent defense. As the receiver ran inside, he flipped it to his teammate who was running to the outside. The player had  daylight and ran it all the way into the end zone with 7 seconds left. The game was going into OT.  Oklahoma, who's offense really came on strong in the second half, took only 1 play for AP to rush 25 yards for a touchdown.  It was Boise State's turn. Down to 4th and 2, on the Oklahoma 5, the broncos ran another trick play.  This time, in wildcat formation, and Zabranski lined up as a receiver, with Back Up wide receiver Vinny Perretta took the snap. He rolled right, and threw a touchdown pass to tight end Derek Schouman, Touchdown Boise! The Broncos, instead of taking the extra point, decided to go for two. Running the third trick play of the night, Boise lined up with three receivers on the right. Zabranski took the snap, pretended to throw the pass but in reality held the ball with his left hand behind him. Ian Johnson, Boise's running back, instead took the handoff and ran left.  The play completely fooled Oklahoma as Johnson ran untouched into the end zone of the left side of the field. The best game of the decade was over.  Not that this game wasn't special enough, but right after the game, while being interviewed by Fox, running back Ian Johnson proposed to his girlfriend, and head cheerleader, Chrissy Popadics. Of course, she said yes.

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