ESPN top 50 most painful moments in College Football...Any bets on what takes #1?

[knf]

They haven't revealed the top ten yet, but I'm willing to put good money that the top spot goes to Appalachian State for the win over Michigan. Any takers?

http://espn.go.com/college-football/features/houseofpain/_/n/20

[Sader87]

#26....just sayin'

[darell1976]

#19 was awesome!!!!!!

[Bogus Megapardus]

The "Harvard Beats Yale, 29-29" game in 1968 ought to make the top 10, but it probably won't. Underdog Harvard scored 16 points in the final 42 seconds against heavily-favored Yale to prompt the famous Crimson headline.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Heck with 29-29 - last year's Harvard/Yale game should be on the list. Losing after trying a fake punt with 2 minutes left in your own territory - and then giving up the game-winning score? It hurts just typing it.

[darell1976]

Heck with 29-29 - last year's Harvard/Yale game should be on the list. Losing after trying a fake punt with 2 minutes left in your own territory - and then giving up the game-winning score? It hurts just typing it.

That is the definition of gutsy!!

[Sader87]

That is the definition of gutsy!!

I'd go with stupidity....

Harvard beats Yale 29-29 in '68 definitely deserves Top 10 status....lest you forget (or never knew) Yale was led by Calvin Hill and Brian Dowling that year and was ranked in the Top 20 going into that game.

[Bogus Megapardus]

Brian Dowling

"B.D." for Doonesbury fans.

[Franks Tanks]

I think number one would be showing up to an NDSU game and finding out your seats are next to MPLS Bison.

That has to be the most painful experience in the history of college football.

[Franks Tanks]

I'd go with stupidity....

Harvard beats Yale 29-29 in '68 definitely deserves Top 10 status....lest you forget (or never knew) Yale was led by Calvin Hill and Brian Dowling that year and was ranked in the Top 20 going into that game.

Did you see the recent doc about the game? Its quite good.

[SpeedkingATL]

I would be very surprised if ESPN will select the ASU/Mich game simply because it does include an FCS team. ESPN has ranked the USC/Sanford upset as a bigger upset in the past which I consider bull.

For me personally it was ASU's loss to Richmond in the 2008 playoffs ending the four-peat attempt. Last years ASU/Montana game would be right with it.

JMU fans might pick the loss to ASU in the playoffs on the last minute fumble. It would be fun to do an FCS version of this. How about last years Northern Iowa loss to Iowa.....Citadels defeat of Arkansas.....The "go for 2" Furman/ASU game.....I can think of alot of painfull games in FCS just involving SoCon schools.

[Sader87]

Did you see the recent doc about the game? Its quite good.

I have. It's very well done. Harvard was very <ahem> fortunate on a couple calls but give them credit for pulling off the "victory."

[biggie]

Miracle on the Mountain game SHOULD be in there. But it won't because it is 2 FCS teams.

[darell1976]

My vote would be UND beating NDSU and breaking a 12 year losing streak to the Bison in 1993. UND stripped the ball and ran it in for the game winning TD in the 4th quarter 22-21.

[Bogus Megapardus]

Miracle on the Mountain game SHOULD be in there. But it won't because it is 2 FCS teams.

If they're going to give a spot to two FCS teams it probably will be Harvard-Yale.

[NHwildEcat]

It has got to be that game. I still remember everything that went on that day! Clay Buchholz also had a no hitter for the Red Sox.

I loved any of those that involved heart break for USC.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned "heartbreak" and "Northern Iowa" yet. 2008 playoffs leap to mind. xlolx

[biggie]

If they're going to give a spot to two FCS teams it probably will be Harvard-Yale.
Only advantage is that ESPN does have footage of the App-Furman game, due to it being a Top 10 play on Sportscenter. But due to history something like Harvard-Yale would probably make it.

But it'll be a shock if anything but BCS BS gets in there.

[Bogus Megapardus]

Only advantage is that ESPN does have footage of the App-Furman game, due to it being a Top 10 play on Sportscenter. But due to history something like Harvard-Yale would probably make it.

But it'll be a shock if anything but BCS BS gets in there.

Plenty of 1968 Harvard-Yale game footage available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sveyK5xFHzU).

[Sader87]

Technically, Harvard and Yale in '68 were both what would be considered FBS teams in today's parlance..

[jmufan999]

JMU fans might pick the loss to ASU in the playoffs on the last minute fumble.

absolutely. first two that come to mind are the ASU game and the 2008 Montana game; the Griz game was painful in the same way that the Vikings fans feel last year's NFC Championship game was painful.

Dukes/Griz http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=283470256

Vikings/Saints http://espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=300124018

[PantherRob82]

How about last years Northern Iowa loss to Iowa.....Citadels defeat of Arkansas.....The "go for 2" Furman/ASU game.....I can think of alot of painfull games in FCS just involving SoCon schools.

Our semfinal loss to Richmond in 08, the Illinois State loss last year, and the App St 05 loss were way more painful than the Iowa loss.

[UNH Fanboi]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned "heartbreak" and "Northern Iowa" yet. 2008 playoffs leap to mind. xlolx

Unfortunately UNH fans know about Northern Iowa and heartbreak all too well. The 2007 game was definitely the worst though. It has all the elements of heartbreak: (a) Ricky Santos' last game, (b) UNI was the #1 seed (c) we were down the whole game and drove courageously to go ahead 35-31 with 1:16 left and no timeouts for UNI, and (d) a last second 24 yd touchdown, bobbled about 3 times by the WR, to lose: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJKiW3CMlr8&feature=related

[Lehigh Football Nation]

It's stunning that FCS fans are able to rattle off, oh, two dozen thrilling, painful moments that won't sniff ESPN's top 100 but ought to be there.

Oh yeah, I'm still smarting over RB Jonathan Hurt's 2005 catch of that desperation heave to beat Lehigh and knock us off from the title and playoffs. For me, personally, that's the worst.

[ur2k]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned "heartbreak" and "Northern Iowa" yet. 2008 playoffs leap to mind. xlolx

Oh, you mean "The Drive"

xcoolx

[Franks Tanks]

It's stunning that FCS fans are able to rattle off, oh, two dozen thrilling, painful moments that won't sniff ESPN's top 100 but ought to be there.

Oh yeah, I'm still smarting over RB Jonathan Hurt's 2005 catch of that desperation heave to beat Lehigh and knock us off from the title and playoffs. For me, personally, that's the worst.

Ya that one must have sucked. It was payback for the Klingerman catch in 95 (I believe).

[UNH Fanboi]

SDSU-Montana from last year has got to be up there too. That was an epic choke.

[knf]

At half time my brother and I were so dejected. We nearly left but I convinced him that if we could somehow comeback it would be worth staying. Glad I didn't let our collective depression drag us out of there.

[TexasTerror]

The Bearkat fourth-quarter comeback in the NCAA quarterfinals on NATIONAL television comes to mind... :)


Dec. 5, 2004 - Down 20 points with 14 minutes to play, Dustin Long leads a Bearkat rally that ends with the winning touchdown and PAT on the final play of the game as Sam Houston defeats Eastern Washington 35-34 in the NCAA quarterfinals on ESPN2 national television. The victory puts the Kats in the NCAA Division I-AA national semifinals against Montana.

[Fordham]

Nice seeing Holy Cross on that list!

[PaladinFan]

Please. Furman's got about 5 big games that would make the "all time heartbreakers" list.

A game that comes to mind is Coastal Carolina and Charleston Southern a number of years ago. The one where Jerome Simpson lined up at punter with the intention of running the clock out and ended up costing his team the game.

[DFW HOYA]

All-time? I'd say the 5th down between Cornell and Dartmouth.

Modern: LSU's huge comeback on Kentucky in 2001, the "Blue Grass Miracle". But since it wasn't shown on the Worldwide Leader, you'll probably never read about it.

[bjtheflamesfan]

I have two that come to mind...one for LU and one against

The first one took place October 2003. VMI was up 28-3 on Liberty and LU scored 28 unanswered points, winnning 31-28. VMI would go .500 teh rest of the season and went winless the next season

The other one Zac Kolegue missed a 28 yard field goal that would have tied the game against VMI. The Flames would lose 10-7 and go on to the worst record in school history (which led to the coach's summary dismissal)

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

Did anyone else notice how many games from 2007 are on this? WVU's loss to Pitt, Oregon's loss to Arizona, and Clemson's loss to BC. USC's loss to Stanford will probably be on there and I think Appie and UM will be, too. Not to mention GSU's missed 32-yard field goal which kept us from getting the SoCon autobid (not that I expect that to be in the top-10). 2007 was definitely a crazy year in college football.

BTW, number one will be Doug Flutie's hail Mary, even thought it probably doesn't deserve to be.

[nevadagriz]

sdsu vs Montana in last years playoff????

[Hellgate60]

sdsu vs Montana in last years playoff????

I'm suprised that game was not on the list yet especially since ESPN made a big deal about it and showed clips of the game. It definately deserves to be on the list though

[bjtheflamesfan]

well yeah SDSU missed a chance to knock off Montana but a lot of the games on the list...those teams that lost have not gotten anywhere close to where they were at the time of the loss since...I mean Iowa State was bowl eligible last year for the first time SINCE their loss.

[CrusaderBob]

1946 Orange Bowl.

Fouth Quarter. Score Tied.

Miami 6
Holy Cross 6

Holy Cross ball on the Miami 26 yard line. Final play of the game.

Well, here's video of a couple of highlights from the game, including the final play. Holy Cross is in the ligher color uniforms. Final play starts at about 48 seconds into the highlights.

http://www.efootage.com/play_clip.php?clip_id=70422

And since it was discussed a bit on our site this morning, here's link to a story about the intended receiver of that final pass.

http://www.holycross.edu/departments/publicaffairs/hcm/fall05/athletics/athletics2.html

BTW - the HC QB is Gene DeFilippo ’49. You might know is son, Gene, Jr. as AD at Boston College.

[Skjellyfetti]

Not to mention GSU's missed 32-yard field goal which kept us from getting the SoCon autobid (not that I expect that to be in the top-10). 2007 was definitely a crazy year in college football.


I forgot about that.

Looking back... do you think Hatcher is still GSU's coach if that field goal is made?

[Sader87]

Now this IS a painful moment. HC losing to Miami(Fla) in the '46 Orange Bowl on a pick 6 as time expires:

http://www.efootage.com/play_clip.php?clip_id=70422

ETA: Sorry Bob...didn't see your post here....sorry for the duplication.....to the rest, as you can see, we Catholics secretly love our pain and suffering!!!!

[Gringer1]

I forgot about that.

Looking back... do you think Hatcher is still GSU's coach if that field goal is made?

That game didn't break my heart, it shattered it. The kick looked good when I saw it live, but the refs waved it no good. 4 inches the other way and we win the SoCon outright, go to the playoffs, and do a complete turn around in 1 year after the awful 2006 shenanigans. If we got into the playoffs in 2007, we very well may have won NC number 7; we were one of only 2 teams to beat the eventual champs of App and with Jayson Foster at QB pretty much anything is possible. If we make that field goal and make a playoff run, I think 2008 and 2009 turn out differently and Hatcher might still be the coach. 4 inches made the difference between a return to prominence for GSU and continued mediocrity. Typing that out is gonna leave me upset for a while.

[Bogus Megapardus]

Texas-Arkansas, 1969 takes the top spot (http://espn.go.com/college-football/features/houseofpain/_/n/10).

Criteria for inclusion on the list:


To assemble this list, we graded by four standards: the stakes of the game, the importance of the rivalry, the degree of humiliation -- take a bow, Stanford band -- and the length of time it took for the pain to fade.

Still got to wonder why the Harvard-Yale game wasn't up there with, say, that nobody-remembers-it 31-31 tie (http://espn.go.com/college-football/features/houseofpain/_/n/36) in 1974 between Florida and Florida State. Was a feature documentary made on that game as well? The genesis for America's longest-running political commentary cartoon? Harvard-Yale not much of a rivalry?

[UNH Fanboi]

Texas-Arkansas, 1969 takes the top spot (http://espn.go.com/college-football/features/houseofpain/_/n/10).

No mention of the Harvard-Yale game.

What a horrible and somewhat random pick. The last score occured with 3:58 left. What is special about that game other than it being a #1 vs. #2?

[Touchdown Yosef]

Shocked that the App State Michigan game did not even make the list, saving face with a late comeback and then having your field goal blocked as time expires at home to a team you paid to walk all over, oh well.

I would liked to have seen Wisconsin Cal Poly on there too, what a heart breaker that was.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

So how much did Delany pay ESPN to keep the App State/Michigan game off the list?

[PhoenixPhan06]

I think the list loses credibility without the ASU over Michigan game in '07 and for what its worth, ASU laying the smack down on us in '09 for the SoCon title was a pretty painful moment in Elon football considering the stakes.

[UNHFootballAlum]

Nunber 1 should have been Doug Flutie's hail mary against Miami to win one of the greatest college football game of all time

[Bogus Megapardus]

ESPN top 50 most painful moments in C̶̶̶o̶̶̶l̶̶̶l̶̶̶e̶̶̶g̶̶̶e BCS Football

[SpeedkingATL]

Ask and Michigan fan about the pain of the ASU/UM defeat and how it set the stage for the craziest year of football upsets ever. Just another example of no respect for what ESPN considers junior varsity football. I realize I'm a homer but no credibility whatsoever.

[UNHFootballAlum]

I agreee that the ASU-Michigan game should have been at least top 10 if not top 5

[bjtheflamesfan]

Add to that the fact that it set off one of the biggest two year tailspins in the school's history...Id of voted UM-ASU #1

[SCSUDog4Life]

i know this one won't make the list but SCSU's botched snap against App State that goes for the go-ahead TD late in the game is one that still burns pretty deep into my minds and probably will for a while. We win that game in Boone and there's no telling how our season plays out xbawlingxxbawlingxxbawlingx

[jhanel]

I know this is off topic SCSUDog4Life Where did you get the picture from. Can I have a copy?

[wingt2flex]

Nice seeing Holy Cross on that list!

Cal Poly's 3 missed PAT attempts in their OT loss to Wisconsin 36-35. It could have been signature game for a college program, only to see it go wide left. Truly one of disappointing moments of the one that got away. With that, best of luck for your team in 2010. Go Poly.

[skinny_uncle]

Painful is a matter of perspective.
I do remember a missed FG that would have tied the game at the end against the Illlini probably 25 years ago.

[SCSUDog4Life]

I know this is off topic SCSUDog4Life Where did you get the picture from. Can I have a copy?

Sure here's the link.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/30/NC_TrophiesASU.jpg/300px-NC_TrophiesASU.jpg

[Rekdiver]

The "Miracle on the Mountain".......another Furman heartbreak to ASU..........