College Football's "The Play"

As I anxiously await the Ohio State-Michigan game tomorrow (Go Bucks!), I am reminded of what is perhaps the GREATEST—and funniest endings to a college football game----EVER!

It occurred on this date in 1982—and has since been dubbed “The Play”.

The Cal football team won an improbable last second victory over Stanford after completing five lateral passes and ran right through the Stanford Marching Band, which had mistakenly started an upset celebration a tad too early!

The scene was set with one of the game’s great quarterbacks—John Elway. Playing for Stanford late in the fourth quarter, he managed to get his team down the field and into field goal range with just 8 seconds left. Mark Harmon kicked a 35 yard field goal to give Stanford a 20-19 lead.

Sensing an upset, the Cardinals flooded the field, triggering a penalty that made them have to kickoff from the 25 yard line. Harmon then squibbed the kick on purpose, where Cal’s Kevin Moen grabbed it on the Cal 46 yard line. Instead of trying to run solo for a TD, Kevin remembered one of Coach Kapp’s favorite practice drills—essentially a game of “keep away” with laterals to extend the play.

And that’s exactly what happened—after several tosses (one backwards over the Mariet Ford’s shoulder to a teammate behind), the ball finally ended up back in Moen’s hands.

Meanwhile, Stanford’s band began marching onto the field, playing Free’s “All Right Now”, unaware that 22 football players were barreling their way!

Moen weaved through the startled band-and into the end zone, where he slammed into trombone player Gary Tyrell (a photo of the triumphant Moen and the terrified Tyrell in the moment just before the collision that appeared in the Oakland Tribune is still displayed all over the Cal-Berkeley campus!)

Everyone who saw the game remembers “The Play”-in case you’ve never seen it, here it is:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fZCCAqoSwY

So Cal won the game 25-20—and insured that John Elway would never play in a college bowl game, despite being a first round pick in the NFL.

If there is a more dramatic end to a college football game, I have yet to see it!
Hopefully, the Buckeye Band will refrain from marching onto the field in Ann Arbor Saturday—and I hope the outcome won’t be close enough to make it dramatic!

If you’d like my blog in your e-mail box, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com