The Odyssey’s All Timers

Please excuse the conceit of this article but I wish to share the best 25 games that the Odyssey has attended over the past 60 years.  After loudly complaining about opt outs and an underwhelming bowl season, the least the Odyssey can do is finish our season’s articles on a REALLY upbeat note.  After you peruse this list, you might better understand our passion for college football.

#1: 2017  Oklahoma 62,  Oklahoma State 52.   Want offense?  Try 38-38 in an absolutely unbelievable first half.  Baker Mayfield and Mason Rudolph both led seemingly unstoppable offenses in a heated rivalry game.

#2  1991 San Diego State 52, Brigham Young 52.  Marshall Faulk was far from the only offense for the Aztecs as speedy SDSU ran “go routes” all night.  SDSU needed to win the game to secure the Western Athletic Conference championship.  The situation was well in hand with a 45-17 lead in front of an enthused, packed house.  What could possibly go wrong?

#3  2001 Hawaii 72, Brigham Young 45   BYU came into its final regular season game 12-0 but jet lagged.  The Cougars’ schedule maker was masochistic as the Cougars had to play an afternoon game in Honolulu after a night game the previous Saturday in Starkville, Mississippi.  The sellout crowd at Aloha Stadium, always fired up to play BYU, were ecstatic as return man Chad Owens went absolutely bonkers. By the end of the first quarter, Owens had a kick return TD, a punt return TD and another long return.  By game’s end, Owens totaled 342 return yards, making a mockery of the former mark of 284 yards held by Minnesota’s Tutu Atwell.   The future King of the anti-Vaxxers, Tim Rolovich, was stellar in piloting Hawaii, hurling 8 TD passes.  All the scoring made the game run so long that ESPN felt compelled to pull the plug before game’s end.

#4 1981  USC 28, Oklahoma 24   What is better than a #1 vs #2 showdown at the legendary Coliseum?  Despite 10 fumbles by the Sooners, losing 5, Boomer was nursing a 24-21 lead with two seconds to go.  At which point,  tight end Fred Cornwall caught the game winner for the Trojans.

#5 1990 Michigan State 28, Michigan 27.  Despite Michigan losing its opener at Notre Dame, somehow the Wolverines ascended to #1 several weeks later.  MSU, as is often the case, played its game of the year against the Maize and Blue.  The game was tied at 14-14 midway through the fourth quarter when fireworks went off.  MSU scored a go-ahead touchdown only to have Desmond Howard respond with a 95-yard kickoff return. State scored another TD before Elvis Grbac found Derrick Alexander for a UM touchdown with six seconds left.  Michigan went for the win with a two-point conversion (no overtime existed in 1990).   Howard was mugged in the end zone by Eddie Brown just before attempting to grab the conversion pass.  Ruled no catch.  Wolverine fans are still waiting for the interference call to be made.  The apology from the Big 10 the following day was small consolation.

#6 1973 Ohio State 10, Michigan 10.  In a battle of undefeateds, top-ranked OSU visited #3-ranked UM during Episode #5 of the 10-year war between Woody and Bo.  OSU could not hang on to an early 10-0 lead in this titanic defensive battle  An injury to Wolverine QB Dennis Franklin was a big factor in OSU winning a 6-4 vote to make a repeat appearance at the Rose Bowl.  The ensuing explosion from Schembechler registered on the Richter scale.

#7  2015 Ole Miss 43, Alabama 37     Fueled by  being +5 in turnovers,  Ole Miss’ 2nd consecutive upset win against the Tide (the Rebels had entered the game being 1-25 on the road against Bama) prompted many talking heads to pronounce the end of the Alabama dynasty.  LOL!

#8 2005  USC 50, Fresno State 42.  In the last Golden Era of USC football, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and Pete Carroll had each become bigger than any Hollywood star.  The two-time defending champions had great difficulty in containing Fresno QB Paul Pinegar before finally surviving in a shootout that provided the 32nd straight victory for the Trojans.

#9 1986 Iowa 39, San Diego State 38.  Believe it or not, SDSU has played in exactly one Holiday Bowl.  BYU had hogged the berth for the Western Athletic Conference champion (and the related Holiday Bowl bid)  but the Aztecs upset BYU 10-3 to claim the 1986 title.  The hometown Aztecs converted a 21-yard field goal with  47 seconds left to grab the lead.  Their ensuing pooch kick did not prove to be genius as Iowa was gifted with excellent field position after Ronnie Harmon’s 48-yard return.  Their ensuing 41-yard field goal sent Aztec fans home sad.

#10 2021 Michigan State 37, Michigan 33.  The archrivals had never met undefeated and as Top 10 teams in late October.  The Wolverines squandered a 30-14 lead late in the 3rd quarter, despite totaling 552 yards of offense. Kenneth Walker III fueled a spirited Spartan rally.  Walker provided the most legendary performance in the intense rivalry as the shifty runner tallied 5 touchdowns on 197 rushing yards.  Michigan’s brilliant defensive end, Aidan Hutchinson, scored on a strip-sack TD in the 2nd quarter only to be overturned after several minutes of analysis.  Later, the Big 10 acknowledged that the officials had made mistakes in the game.

#11 2005 Texas 38, Michigan 37.  Vince Young was on his way to establishing himself as the greatest player in Rose Bowl history.  The Texas QB was unstoppable in the second half as he engineered a last-ditch, comeback win.  His play gave notice as to what happen one year later in yet another epic comeback in the Rose Bowl to dethrone USC for the national championship.

#12 2001 South Carolina 37, Alabama 36.  The Odyssey views Gamecock fans as THE best.  Williams-Brice always rocks despite the anchor of many mediocre seasons.  Alabama held a 36-24 lead with 6 1/2 minutes to go behind a brilliant game from option QB, Tyler Watts.  The Gamecocks responded with two late TD’s to win its first game EVER against the Tide.  Not only did the goal posts come down but they were carted outside the stadium as we were almost hit by a wayward goalpost.

#13 2013 Ohio State 42, Michigan 41.  The Buckeyes arrived in Ann Arbor 11-0 and huge favorites against the Wolverines. QB Devin Gardner had the game of his life and kept the Wolverines alive against a potent OSU offense led by Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde.  When UM scored in the last minute, Brady Hoke elected to go for 2.  No bueno.

 #14 2001  Ole Miss 35,  LSU 24. Spending Saturday night in Baton Rouge for a rivalry game should be on everybody’s bucket list.  First-year starter, Eli Manning, did not get the memo that he was supposed to be intimidated as he led the Rebels to a comeback victory.  Afterwards on talk radio, fans ripped into the LSU coach for the upset loss, questioning his competence.  The coach’s name: Nick Saban.

#15 1992 USC 31, San Diego State 31.  The Aztecs blew a chance for a program-changing win as USC made a shocking visit to San Diego in the opener.  SDSU’s Andy Trakas missed field goals from 30 and 55 yards in the game’s final moments as San Diego State was pained by another bitter tie.  Skeptics wondered if Marshall Faulk’s gaudy stats were a byproduct of playing against lesser competition.  Faulk’s 220 yards in 27 rushing attempts emphatically answered that question.

#16  1988 Oklahoma State  62, Wyoming 14.   This Holiday Bowl mismatch was less a game than a coronation for the greatest offense of its generation.  The Cowboys’ excellent QB, Mike Gundy, had a stellar receiver to target, Hart Lee Dykes.  I probably should mention that Oklahoma State also happened to have a running back named Barry Sanders. In Sanders’ college finale, he did not disappoint with 222 yards rushing and 5 touchdowns to wrap up what was the best season ever for a running back.

#17  1971 Michigan 10, Ohio State 7.  Billy Taylor’s game-winning TD run  with 3 minutes to go would ordinarily have been the highlight.  Not even close!  When pass interference was not called on Michigan’s Tom Darden in the game’s final moments, Woody went berserk.  The crazy man, totally despised in Ann Arbor,  stormed onto the middle of field, breaking a yard marker over his knees en route. The crazed Hayes provided the greatest moment of theater ever for the ecstatic fans in the Big House.  Goodbye Woody, indeed!

#18 2011 Baylor 50, TCU 48.  Baylor’s opener propelled Robert Griffin III into the Heisman race.  More known for his legs going into 2011, Griffin was 21 for 27 for 358 yards against a Horned Frog team coming off an undefeated year and a Rose Bowl victory.  Griffin’s long-ball accuracy was amazing, particularly against a team with the defensive pedigree of the Horned Frogs.

#19 2016 Arkansas State 27, Georgia Southern 26.  A mid-week game in Jonesboro found many leaving the game early.  Big mistake!!  Like there are lots of entertainment alternatives in rural Jonesboro??  Arkansas State overcame 5 turnovers for their improbable triumph.  On ASU’s game-winning drive, the Red Wolves faced 4th and 16 in their own territory in the last two minutes, having used its timeouts.  QB Justice Hansen, not exactly a speedster, rambled for 18 yards on a desperation scramble.  Hansen later found Omar Bayless in the corner of the end zone with 9 seconds left.

#20 2010 Boise State 33, Virginia Tech 30.  Never has an opener in the BCS era had more buzz than this tilt at Landover, Maryland. Such buzz was partly reflected by two passionate fan bases.  When Virginia Tech’s D took the field with 2 minutes to go, nursing a 30-26 lead, the Hokies left way too much time for Kellen Moore to perform his magic (Moore is the all-time leader in QB victories with 50).  Moore only needed a minute to drive down the field and find Austin Pettis for the 13-yard game winner.

#21 1986 Arizona 34, Arizona State 17.  Since the Pac-8 had expanded to the Pac-10, the bitter rivals were in a frantic race to see who would get to the Rose Bowl first.  Arizona State had been on the doorstep multiple times only to be denied by excruciating upsets to Arizona.   In 1986, ASU Wildcat-proofed their trip to the Rose Bowl.  At 9-0-1, ASU visited Tucson with the Rose Bowl bid in tow.  ASU QB Jeff Van Raaphorst proceeded to throw for 437 yards.  While  not showing in the stats, Van Raaphorst really tossed for an additional 106 yards!  Sadly, for ASU, those 106 went to All American Chuck Cecil in the middle of the fourth quarter while ASU was driving deep in Wildcat territory.  Cecil’s game-turning Pick Six electrified the crowd in a way the Odyssey has never seen.  As ASU walked off the field with their 5th consecutive loss to UA in the Territorial Cup, the Sun Devils suffered the further indignity of being pelted by roses from jubilant Wildcat fans. That the Sun Devils would beat a Michigan team, quarterbacked by Jim Harbaugh, in the Rose Bowl provided great balm.  But ASU fans will never forget those repeated horror shows in Tucson.

#22  2003  Ole Miss 43, Alabama 28.  I doubt that Heaven has got anything over a sunny, Saturday afternoon at the Grove.  Especially when Eli Manning goes berserk, leading the Rebels to a 24-0 lead in the first quarter.  The final score was misleading as the Rebels coasted over their frequent tormentors.  Carrying my infant son on a papoose, I uttered to him at the end of the first quarter: “Don’t expect it ever to be this good again.” Manning has special status in the Odyssey.  I saw Ole Miss play 6 times during his tenure, 3 times as a double-digit underdog:  their record was 6-0, including wins at Death Valley and The Swamp.

#23 1972 Washington 22, Purdue 21.  The ranked Huskies were stunned at halftime, trailing 21-0 at Ross-Ade Stadium.  Gary Danielson’s legs were magic as the Purdue QB would rush for 213 yards.  However, the Huskies had the best-named QB in history, Sonny Sixkiller.  More than just a name, Sixkiller excelled in the second half comeback.

#24. 2016 Oklahoma State 43, Kansas State 37.  The visiting Cowboys overcame a two-possession deficit in the fourth quarter at rabid Manhattan.  It was cool to enter a stadium with turrets named after its still-coaching legend, Bill Snyder.  As we encountered a huge picture of Donald Trump during the tailgate and were deeply moved by the pre-game tribute for the five branches of our national security forces, the Odyssey was pretty sure that Hillary Clinton was not going to carry Kansas the following Tuesday.

#25. 2003 Southern Miss 40, TCU 28.  10-0 TCU visited the Rock in Hattiesburg.  The Golden Eagles’ upset victory propelled Southern Miss to the Conference USA title and prompted the Odyssey to participate in its first ever field storming.

SPECIAL HONORABLE MENTION:  2011 San Diego State 23, Army 20.   Visiting West Point and the banks of the Hudson River on a beautiful September afternoon, while observing the 10th anniversary of 9/11, was remarkable.  At halftime, a USA flag was unfurled to cover the entire field. Army’s 407 yards rushing and 42 minutes of possession could not overcome 3 lost fumbles.  The outcome of the game felt secondary to the celebration of America.

STAY HEALTHY AND SEE YOU IN AUGUST!!