5. SEC, 1997: Tennessee 30, Auburn 29—Peyton Manning’s final game against an SEC opponent was quite a battle. Their opponent, the 9–2 Tigers, had plenty of trouble moving the ball on the ground (negative 15 yards rushing for the game) while quarterback Dameyune Craig completed just 14 of 34 passes through the air. But the Volunteers turned the ball over six times on the game to Auburn’s one.
Thanks to the Tennessee miscues, Terry Bowden’s team held a 20–7 lead before team Manning got untracked. The future NFL star threw three second-half touchdown passes—including a 73-yarder in the fourth quarter—to lead the Volunteers to a 30–29 comeback win.
In all, Tennessee’s 502–247 advantage in total yards (Jamal Lewis had 127 rushing yards) was just enough of an advantage to overcome the negative-five turnover discrepancy.
4. Big 12, Kansas State 35, Oklahoma 7—The Sooners entered this contest with a 12–0 record, a number one ranking, and looked nearly invincible. Bob Stoops’ squad was averaging 48.3 points per game coming into the game, but Stoops’ defensive coordinator, and brother, Mike had just accepted a job to coach Arizona, possibly splitting his focus for the conference title game which seemed a formality at the time.
Kansas State came in with a 10–3 record, but had few believers following a team that had earlier lost to Marshall.
The heavy underdogs let up a touchdown in the first quarter before settling down and scoring three of their own in the second to take a surprising 21–7 lead into halftime. The highlight was their third score—a 60-yard touchdown reception by running back Darren Sproles that left OU’s defense shell-shocked.
The Cats score twice more in the second half to put away the Sooners and send the BCS into chaos.
Sproles ended up with 235 yards rushing yards (on 22 carries) and 88 yards receiving while Heisman hopeful Jason White was 27/50 passing for the Sooners with two interceptions as Oklahoma was shut out the final three quarters.
3. SEC, 2008: Florida 31, Alabama 20—The first of two straight SEC Championship games between these two powerhouses pitted the top-ranked and undefeated Crimson Tide against Tebow’s second-ranked Gators.
Saban was in just his second season at the helm of Alabama and was looking to immediately put the Crimson Tide back into prominence while Florida coach Urban Meyer was looking for his second title in four years in Gainesville.
Through three quarters it looked like Saban’s crew might prevail, clinging to a 20–17 lead after overcoming a 10-point halftime deficit.
Florida somehow pulled...
Florida somehow pulled it out in the fourth though against a defense that had only once allowed a team more than 21 points all season. Tebow (14/22 passing for 216 yards, 3 TDs) led the Gators to a pair of touchdown drives in the decisive quarter, the final one with just over two minutes remaining to take home the SEC title. One month later the Gators defeated Oklahoma to win the national championship.
2. Big 12, 1998: Texas A&M 36, Kansas State 33—Kansas State entered this critical contest 11–0 and in the mix for a shot at the national championship for the first time in the school’s miserable gridiron history.
The Cats were third in the BCS on that final weekend, but got what they thought they were looking for when second-ranked UCLA lost that very afternoon. The score was displayed on the scoreboard during the game to a round of celebration. At the time, K-State held a commanding second half lead over the 10–2 Aggies.
The lead would soon disappear though.
Trailing 27–12 heading into the fourth quarter Texas A&M woke up, rallying for two scores to send the game to overtime. After holding K-State to a field goal in the second OT, A&M quarterback Branndon Stewart found Sirr Parker for a 32-yard touchdown to win the game. The still-stunned Wildcats would go on to lose 37–34 to unranked Purdue in the Alamo Bowl, while the Aggies jumped to the prestigious Sugar Bowl.
1. Big 12, 2009: Texas 13, Nebraska 12—Two teams with very contrasting styles came to play with BCS implications on the line. The undefeated, pass-happy Longhorns were in line for a shot at the national championship with a win, while Nebraska was looking to ride their defense to a BCS Bowl.
The game was a struggle from the start as Nebraska defensive Ndamukong Suh put on a show for the ages with his 12 tackle, (6 for losses) 4.5 sack performance against Colt McCoy’s offense. The Huskers totaled nine sacks on the day and held Texas to just 202 yards, though Nebraska’s already-sluggish offense could barely mount an attack against the Longhorns stellar defense, totaling just 106 yards themselves.
On the strength of four field goals (two in the fourth quarter), Nebraska held a slim 12–10 lead late in the fourth as McCoy’s offense took the field for the final time. McCoy drove the team into field goal range (29-yard line) before trying to attempt a final pass with just seconds remaining. Unable to find an open receiver, he held the ball for a bit before final throwing it out of bounds—just as the clock struck zero.
Thinking it was over, Nebraska’s sideline stormed the field while Texas Coach Mack Brown pleaded for another second to be put on. The wish was granted and Hunter Lawrence hit the game-winning field goal as time ran out.
