The 10 Most Shocking Moments of the 2014 College Football Season

What makes college football so fun and compelling is how error-prone it is. We're talking about a sport played by 18- to 23-year-old non-professional athletes. What could possibly go wrong?

(It should be noted that 18- to 23-year-olds are generally unpredictable anyway. Now put a football in their hands on national television.) 

Looking back, the 2014 season was as exciting as any one in recent memory. Trying to recap all of the insane moments that happened is basically impossible, but we'll try nonetheless to capture the most shocking. 

The Pac-12 alone could have a claim to all 10 moments, but we'll try to be more diverse. Which moments from the 2014 season, including bowl games, were the most shocking? The answers are in the following slides. 

Did we miss any? Share your favorites in the comments below. 

10. Offensive Pass Interference on Notre Dame

The game that once looked like a de facto playoff quarterfinal game ultimately didn't have the national ramifications it was supposed to.

But it did have a memorable ending. 

Down 31-27 to Florida State with under 30 seconds to play, Notre Dame faced a 4th-and-goal play from the 2-yard line. Irish quarterback Everett Golson connected with a wide open Corey Robinson in the end zone for the go-ahead score. However, the play was called back for offensive pass interference in what is now known as the pick play. 

A redo of the down from the 18-yard line was unsuccessful, as Golson's pass was picked off. Florida State's undefeated streak stayed alive at 23 games. Notre Dame would go on to lose four of its final five regular-season games.

At the time, though, it was a game between Top Five teams that came down to the final play. Controversial ending or not, that's all fans could have wanted.  

9. Baylor Mounts a Comeback

USA TODAY Sports

As we all came to realize, a 21-point lead over Baylor with 11:38 remaining might as well be a seven-point lead with an entire half to go. 

TCU found that out the hard way in a wild 61-58 loss to the Bears on Oct. 11.

Up 58-37 thanks to a Marcus Mallet pick-six, the Frogs looked to be in great shape to move on to 5-0. Instead, Baylor began the ensuing drive on the TCU 45-yard line and scored four plays later.

That was the beginning of the comeback. The Bears quickly put up 21 unanswered points to tie the game at 58 before kicker Chris Callahan nailed a 28-yard field goal as time expired to give Baylor a 61-58 win. 

The loss is all that stood between TCU and a likely playoff spot. 

Interestingly, the Bears were part of two 20-point comebacks in 2014-15, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Baylor blew a 20-point lead to Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl. 

8. Connor Halliday Throws for 734 Yards and Six Touchdowns...and Loses

USA TODAY Sports

Washington State doesn't exactly make things complicated on offense. The Cougars finished the season ranked first in passing yards (477.7 per game) and dead last in rushing (31.8). 

Not surprisingly, quarterback Connor Halliday was putting up video game numbers before he sustained a season-ending leg injury against USC in November. In a 60-59 loss to Cal, Halliday threw the ball 70 times for a mind-boggling 734 yards—an FBS record—six touchdowns and, amazingly, no interceptions. 

For the record, Cal quarterback Jared Goff had a more modest 527 yards passing and five touchdowns. 

Lo and behold, what did the game come down to? A missed 19-yard field goal by Washington State kicker Quentin Breshears. 

Halliday finished the season ranked fourth in pass attempts (526) and first in yards per game (430) despite missing the final three games of the year. 

7. Florida Rushes for 418 Yards Against Georgia

USA TODAY Sports

Did anyone see this coming? Anyone? Bueller?

Florida surprised everyone—maybe even itself—when it put up a whopping 418 yards rushing on Georgia in a 38-20 rout on Nov. 1. This was a Gators offense, mind you, that the week before averaged 2.8 yards per rush in a blowout loss to Missouri. Offense has been the Gators' weakness ever since Urban Meyer left after 2010. 

But the rushing attack couldn't be stopped that day. Running backs Kelvin Taylor and Matt Jones had nearly identical stats—25 carries each for 197 and 192 yards, respectively—and quarterback Treon Harris attempted merely six passes. 

It's not like Georgia didn't know what was coming. It just couldn't stop it. 

6. The Miami Beach Bowl Brawl

One of the better bowl games from 2014 sadly won't be remembered for the final score, but rather for what happened after the whistle blew. 

Memphis and BYU had just finished a double-overtime game in the Miami Beach Bowl—won 55-48 by the Tigers—when a brawl broke out on the field. Helmets were swinging, cheap shots were made and it was an overall awful situation. 

Gordon Monson of The Salt Lake Tribune expanded on what the brawl meant for BYU's image: 

"

Truth is, BYU is too caught up in the presentation of standard-keeping, always needing to put forth a certain image, you see. One of the Cougars' priorities that appears to have had a heavier presence under the rule of coach Bronco Mendenhall is exposure for the Mormon faith by way of its football team, missionary work in helmets and pads brought forth to a football-crazed nation.

"

It's a shame. The Miami Beach Bowl will be remembered for several years not for the great game it was, but for what unnecessarily transpired afterward. 

5. Arizona State Scores a Hail Mary

USC had this one in the bag—or so everyone thought. 

Following a 53-yard touchdown run from running back Buck Allen, the Trojans had what looked to be a solid nine-point lead over Arizona State with three minutes remaining. About 20 seconds later, however, Sun Devils backup quarterback Mike Bercovici hit receiver Cameron Smith for a quick 73-yard score to make it a two-point game. 

After a three-and-out by USC, Arizona State got the ball back on its own 28-yard line. A few plays later, Bercovici hit receiver Jaelen Strong for a 46-yard Hail Mary as time expired for the 38-34 win.

The stunning part was that, somehow, it looked effortless. Strong jumped for the ball, but he wasn't necessarily challenged for it. Still, it was an astonishing end to an entertaining game. 

4. Arizona Scores a Hail Mary

What's better than one Hail Mary? How about two—and from the same conference, no less.  

Pac-12 After Dark produced some wild finishes, perhaps none more so than Arizona's 47-yard heave to the end zone to come away with a 49-45 win over Cal. 

Arizona had been in some tight games already, namely against UT-San Antonio and Nevada, but this was when the "Cardiac 'Cats" moniker really took over.

Arizona found itself down 31-13 entering the fourth quarter but slowly crawled its way back. Down 45-43 but out of field-goal range on the final play of the game, freshman quarterback Anu Solomon chucked the ball into the corner of the end zone, where it was pulled in by receiver Austin Hill. 

It would be the first of many close calls for Arizona throughout the season, but none was more exciting. 

3. Ameer Abdullah's Game-Winning Catch and Run vs. McNeese State

Week 2 for the Big Ten was miserable. Michigan State couldn't outlast Oregon. Ohio State was upset by Virginia Tech at home. Michigan was shut out by Notre Dame. Iowa barely escaped Ball State.

Grouped in with the rest of those games was Nebraska's 31-24 escape over McNeese State. But there was one major difference: The Huskers had arguably the play of the day thanks to running back Ameer Abdullah.

Tied at 24 with under a minute to play, quarterback Tommy Armstrong hit Abdullah on a shallow crossing route. Abdullah was well covered and should have been taken down right away. Instead, the senior broke somewhere between five and 50 tackles on his way to a 58-yard go-ahead touchdown. 

As far as individual effort plays go, you'd have a hard time finding one more impressive than that one. 

2. Houston's Insane Comeback Against Pitt in the Armed Forces Bowl

USA TODAY Sports

Talk about your fourth-quarter comebacks. Baylor and Michigan State don't hold a candle to Houston's 29-point come-from-behind stunner against Pitt in the Armed Forces Bowl. 

Up 31-6 with just under 14 minutes to play, the Panthers allowed the Cougars to go on a 29-3 run to win 35-34. Houston recovered not one, but two onside kicks and completed a two-point conversion in the process. Had Houston not gone for two, the game would have been tied at 34, making overtime a possibility. 

"We decided to go for two at the end because we had the momentum," interim coach David Gibbs said, per The Associated Press (via ESPN.com). 

Of all the wild finishes in college football this past season, this ranks as the most unlikely comeback. It also marks an unimaginably heartbreaking loss for the Panthers.

1. The Bahamas Bowl

OK, I lied. Three Hail Marys is best—and this one had laterals. 

Admit it: Bowl season was a whole lot of fun. Are there too many games? Let's put it this way: If every bowl ended like the Bahamas Bowl did, there couldn't possibly be enough. 

The Christmas Eve game between Western Kentucky and Central Michigan, though in its first year, was an all-timer, with 97 points, 1,254 yards of offense and a stunning final play in regulation. 

The play had it all: A Hail Mary attempt and not one, not two, but three successful laterals plus the touchdown dive. Attempting to seal the game for good, Central Michigan opted to go for two—and, naturally, failed. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All stats courtesy of CFBStats.com.