All in all, we all expected this to be a boring Halloween weekend with only one game between two top-25 ranked teams. However, there were plenty of surprises and fascinating plays to keep us happy. This week I’m not going to go into the big games, but into some of the best fourth quarter action that we’ve seen all year.
University of Miami 30 at No. 22 Duke University (N.C.) 27
Only one week after the Hurricanes lost their worst game in the program’s history, they upset Duke. If you haven’t seen the highlights yet, then you probably won’t believe me.
After Duke scored a go-ahead touchdown to put them up 27-23 with only seconds left, all the Blue Devils had to do was kick the ball off and keep the Hurricanes from returning it for a touchdown. Well, that’s exactly what Miami did. Their special teams unit lateraled the ball eight times on their way to the end zone. Absolute insanity.
The Hurricanes won this game, but there has been a lot of debate about the final play, which resulted in the suspension of the officials for two games. It turns out that the refs missed a block in the back at the beginning of the play. Moreover, one of the Miami players should have been called down by contact before lateraling. In the end, Miami took the win, but hopefully we don’t see too many more game-changing errors by officials this season.
No. 8 Stanford University (Calif.) 30 at Washington State University 28
What could have ended up in a huge upset for the Washington State Cougars ended up in a dreadful, time-expiring loss. The Cougars seemed to threaten to end Stanford’s playoff chances every possession. The Cardinals did kick a go-ahead field goal with a little under two minutes of game time left to put them ahead 30-28, but Washington put an excellent drive together to put themselves in field goal territory with only seconds remaining. Washington State kicker Erik Powell had already made five field goals up to that point, so it seemed like a sure thing. Yet on the sixth field goal attempt of the night, he missed right, and Stanford took the victory.
No. 15 University of Michigan 29 at University of Minnesota 26
In a series of bad time management plays and almost-touchdowns, the Gophers had the ball on Michigan’s one-yard line with only two seconds left on the clock. Minnesota could have kicked a field goal to put the game into overtime, but interim head coach Tracy Claeys opted to go for the win. Unfortunately for them, it didn’t work out. The Wolverines defense smothered quarterback Mitch Leidner on a QB sneak as time expired. It was a gutsy call and it led to a brutal loss. Maybe next time, Minnesota.
Best of the Rest
There were a few other exciting games Saturday. No. 12 Oklahoma State University beat Texas Tech University 70-53 in a game with an absurd amount of scoring. No. 9 Notre Dame University (Ind.) barely pulled out a win against No. 21 Temple University (Pa.) to keep their playoff hopes alive. Notre Dame won 24-20 to continue their dominance and hopes of making the playoffs. Overall, it ended up being a good weekend of football.
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