Throughout the month of July, CFB 24/7 is allowing fans to determine the greatest college football play of all time.
With the 24-play, five-round tournament underway, we've asked our experts pick their favorite play among the greatest ever in college football. Here are their selections.
I have watched many of these games live, but I don't go as far back as "Wrong Way Roy."
I had a hard time choosing between "Harvard Beats Yale" -- a game I attended to watch Calvin Hill, who later became the Dallas Cowboys' first-round draft choice -- and Texas vs. USC -- a game I also attended. To watch two great teams with so much football history is always special. That year, Texas fans, coaches and players felt cheated that Reggie Bush won the Heisman Trophy, beating out Texas QB Vince Young for the award. When the Texas defense stopped USC RB LenDale White on fourth down, and Young and Texas started their last-minute drive, nobody at the Rose Bowl sat down. When Young broke out of the pocket for the winning score, to me it became the greatest college game I've ever watched.
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- Chad Reuter NFL.com
Young's dash for glory has added significance
It's fourth-and-5, 26 seconds left, the ball's inside the 10-yard line ... and the 2005 national championship is on the line. There's not much else you could ask for to set up the top college football play of all time. Texas star quarterback Vince Young takes the shotgun snap, gives a cursory look into the end zone and takes off for the right side of the end zone. His long strides help him beat stumbling USC defensive end Frostee Rucker to paydirt, clinching the 2006 Rose Bowl victory over the Trojans and the Longhorns' first national championship since 1981. Other historic plays might be more spectacular, but none of them meant as much to the player, his team and his school.
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- Daniel Jeremiah NFL.com
Cal-Stanford 'Band' play deserves top billing
There are so many great options when it comes to this topic. If I had to choose just one play, I'd have to go with "the band is out on the field!!" play from the 1982 Cal-Stanford game.
The game was over ... yet it wasn't. There is so much to love about this play: the wild laterals, the band milling around the goal line and the amazing play-by-play call. While Mike Silver surely disagrees (Cal alum), this is the greatest play in college football history.
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- Chase Goodbread College Football 24/7
Great Scott: 92-yard TD spawned sensational radio rant
With apologies to Doug Flutie's iconic Hail Mary touchdown to upset Miami, the nod here goes to Lindsay Scott's 92-yard touchdown catch to lift Georgia's comeback win over archival Florida in 1980. It had championship implications, as the undefeated Bulldogs went on to win the national title. It also spurred the greatest radio call in college football history by fabled Bulldogs radio voice Larry Munson, which was actually better in the aftermath of the touchdown than it was during the play.
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- Charles Davis NFL.com
Lucky to have witnessed 'Statue of Liberty' play live
Greatest play in college football history?! A subjective choice to be made, thus, a definitive answer will not emerge.
But, since you asked, and I was there ... the Boise State "Statue of Liberty" play vs. Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl wins for me. The set-up (Boise State vs. MIGHTY Oklahoma!), the game itself (Boise State controls much of the game until OU goes ahead on a late pick-six), and the final drive (Boise State's poise, use of an incredible hook-and-lateral on a fourth-and-long to set up the tying TD), and finally ... the play itself. On a two-point conversion try -- win or lose on one last play -- OU took a timeout after seeing Boise State's offensive set. Boise State did not waver, kept the two-point play on and ... "Statue of Liberty"! Jared Zabransky's terrific ball handling and sleight of hand to All-America RB Ian Johnson helped Boise State pull of the greatest play in college football history. And I was lucky enough to be there to see it.
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