Trinity vs. Cal for best college football finish
Posted by Vince Mullins on October 28, 2007
When I first heard and saw the tape of the famed Trinity College Tigers 15-lateral buzzer-beater over Milsap Majors I was struck not only by the sheer fun of it all, but also by the announcers call at the end saying it was the “most miraculous plays in all of college football”.
One hears the ultimate praise heaped upon so many events that one could be desensitized to the gravitas of the phrase itself – “best of all time”. I have chalked it up to the hosts getting way too involved in the moment, or trying too hard to make even the most mundane game relevant for the viewers – at least keep them glued to their seats long enough to watch the next commercial block.
But in this case the announcers were right – this was in fact the most amazing and miraculous play in the history of college football. The Play is now just a play.
If you haven’t seen the tape (second one is a rare endzone angle)…
15 laterals, no flags and no band in the way – pure football goodness. All natural, safe and effective!
Let us compare this to the mantle-holder for the last twenty years, the end of the Cal-Stanford game in 1982 (digitally-enhanced for your pleasure)…
Let us go point for point.
National Title relevance - PUSH. Neither had any relevance whatsoever to the national title with Miami winning their first under Howard Schnellenberger in early 1983. Trinity supposedly has the edge now in the Division III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Ballhandling – EDGE: TRINITY. Tigers lateraled the ball 15 times and had no issues with any one even being close to tackled. Bonus points to the lineman at the 1:38 mark for indiscriminately flipping the ball over his head to no one in particular AND the proper one-hop final pitch to Riley Curry.
Blocking – EDGE TRINITY. After Curry picks up the last pitch, a Trinity lineman drops an absolute 300 Spartan like block upon a Major, sending him lifeless to the turf with the helmet going in a different direction.
Star Power – PUSH. Sure the Cal-Stanford game had John Elway and a number of future Silicon Valley wizards, but Elway was on the losing side and not in the game at the ultimate moment.
ODDITIES – EDGE: CAL. Did you know that Cal only had ten men on the field? The Stanford Band rushing the field prematurely only made The Play more surreal. Besides the edge in ballhandling, nothing terribly odd about the Trinity play except for its impromptu-jazz-like in-the-moment excellence.
FINAL EDGE: TRINITY
Perhaps I am guilty of the “recency effect” and I am sure Cal supporters (a very intelligent lot) will have a differing opinion.
Let the reign of the Bear King end, and a Tiger will take over the throne to rule over college football for the next 20 years!
