Reliving the Most Inexplicable, Shocking Outcomes of the 2015 CFB Season
When the College Football Playoff committee released the final four teams that would be competing for the national title earlier this week, there weren't any real surprises.
That seemed to fly right in the face of the entire 2015 season, where unexpected endings became standard.
This year, the drama and shock of big-time upsets and once-in-a-lifetime finishes seemed to be constant Saturday storylines. The season started with a game that turned out to be one of its biggest upsets, and fans witnessed a streak of unfathomable last-second plays by the time the middle of the schedule rolled around.
Let's relive 10 of the most shocking outcomes of the 2015 college football season, from the massive upsets to the jaw-dropping endings that made this a season unlike any other.
Which outcome was the most inexplicable for you this season? Have any other nominees in mind? Tell us in the comments below.
South Carolina Beats North Carolina on Opening Night
1 of 10
The day: Sept. 3
The outcome: South Carolina 17, North Carolina 13
The shocker: The final score—but mostly in hindsight
There seems to be one or two of these games every year in college football—a title contender's misstep comes against what appears to be an overmatched team in hindsight.
This year, one of those outcomes came in the first game of the FBS season, when South Carolina and North Carolina kicked off the calendar in Charlotte. The Gamecocks defeated their ACC neighbors by four points thanks in part to UNC quarterback Marquise Williams' two end-zone interceptions.
As the season continued, that final score became stranger and stranger. North Carolina started pummeling most of its competition on its way to an ACC Coastal title, and the Tar Heels had an outside chance at the College Football Playoff heading into conference championship weekend.
South Carolina, on the other hand, would only win two more games. The Gamecocks beat winless UCF, Steve Spurrier abruptly resigned during the middle of a losing streak, and interim head coach Shawn Elliott got one more victory out of his team.
Had North Carolina taken better care of the ball and pulled off that opening-night victory over South Carolina, the Tar Heels would most likely be headed to a New Year's Six bowl. (South Carolina would still probably end up hiring Will Muschamp.)
Portland State Stuns Washington State
2 of 10
The day: Sept. 5
The outcome: Portland State 24, Washington State 17
The shocker: An FCS team knocks off a Washington State team that eventually goes bowling
The 2015 season couldn't have gotten off to a worse start for Mike Leach and Washington State. After going 3-9 in 2014, the Cougars opened up the year with a miserable low-scoring loss against a Portland State team that was coming off a season with the same record—in the FCS.
Washington State had 301 passing yards to Portland State's 61, yet the Vikings were able to rally from a 10-0 halftime deficit thanks to some hard running and several crucial mistakes from the Cougars.
"We never got in a rhythm on offense," Leach said, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "They were a real mature team. They hung together, and we got impatient."
Thankfully for Washington State, Portland State wasn't a bad team at all—it only lost three FCS games this season by a combined 17 points—and Leach's squad found a way to rebound. The Cougars went 6-3 in Pac-12 play and had a late spell in the Top 25.
At the time, this was a candidate for upset of the year. And with the way Washington State turned things around later in the season to qualify for a bowl game, this brand of FCS-on-FBS violence seems out of place.
BYU Wins Twice on "Mangum Magic"
3 of 10
The day: Sept. 5 and Sept. 12
The outcomes: BYU 33, Nebraska 28; and BYU 35, Boise State 24
The shocker: Back-to-back game-winning touchdowns from an inexperienced QB
BYU needed a miracle out of its second-string quarterback in Week 1 against Nebraska, when starter Taysom Hill went down with an injury. Tanner Mangum delivered, lofting up a 42-yard pass that found a leaping Mitch Mathews in the end zone as time expired.
Magnum's last-second touchdown at Memorial Stadium made him a popular name for a few days. What he did a week later made him the early-season sensation of the college football world.
In his first career start, Mangum and BYU were down by four points at home to Boise State. Facing a 4th-and-7 with less than a minute left, Mangum fired another deep bomb—this one falling into the hands of Mitchell Juergens for the go-ahead touchdown. BYU would get a quick pick-six to seal the W moments later.
"You’ve got to enjoy moments like that," Mangum said, per Paul Myerberg of USA Today. "It’s a game. It’s fun to play. When crazy things happen like that, it’s just…wow. Only in football. College football, every Saturday evening, afternoon, you never know what’s going to happen."
Many college quarterbacks don't get to experience the thrill of pulling off the last-gasp win for their respective schools. Mangum was able to stun the country twice in the first two games of his career.
Toledo Upsets Arkansas
4 of 10
The day: Sept. 12
The outcome: Toledo 16, Arkansas 12
The shocker: Arkansas only managed 12 points out of 512 yards of offense
Looking back on the entire 2015 season, Toledo's upset over Arkansas isn't the biggest shock out there. Toledo finished the regular season with a 9-2 record, and Arkansas pulled off a second-half resurrection similar to the one from 2014.
But a look at the box score shows this game was a tough one to explain.
Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen threw for more than 400 yards, and Toledo only had 318 as an entire offense. The Razorbacks had the ball inside Toledo territory six times and only came up with a touchdown and a field goal.
"A game that produces 11 scoring opportunities should expect to produce about 50 points or so," SB Nation's Bill Connelly wrote. "Arkansas-Toledo produced 28. If either team had been capable of turning opportunities into actual production, it would have run away with the game. Instead, Toledo won because the Rockets were less bad at finishing."
Later on down the road, the Arkansas offense would score 50 or more points in four different games. It's hard to believe the team that was capable of such shootouts looked this rough on offense at any point in the year.
Utah Routs Oregon in Autzen Stadium
5 of 10
The day: Sept. 26
The outcome: Utah 62, Oregon 20
The shocker: The margin of victory
When Utah played Oregon in late September, the Utes were looking to continue their red-hot start to the season, and the Ducks were hunting for a strong start to their Pac-12 season two weeks after a tough loss to Michigan State.
But in the second quarter, things started to get out of hand in Eugene. Utah strung together five straight scoring drives as Oregon struggled offensively with a less than 100 percent Vernon Adams Jr. and backup Jeff Lockie.
Shortly after halftime, the roles had been fully reversed—Utah was brutally efficient in scoring, while Oregon couldn't get anything going. Oregon turned the ball over on three of four possessions right out of the locker room, with the only other one turning into a brilliantly executed punt-return touchdown for the Utes. The Ducks would suffer their worst loss at home since 1977.
Oregon would fall once more after the humiliating loss to Utah, but the return of a healthy Adams sparked a high-scoring six-game winning streak to cap the regular season. Meanwhile, Utah lost three of its last six games and never scored more than 35 points for the rest of the year, hanging only nine in a loss to UCLA that ended its Pac-12 title dreams.
But on this night, the Utah offense was the one torching the field at Autzen Stadium.
Texas Shocks Playoff-Bound Oklahoma
6 of 10
The day: Oct. 10
The outcome: Texas 24, Oklahoma 17
The shocker: The spiraling Longhorns upset the Sooners, who go on to win the Big 12
It's hard to overstate what kind of mess Texas seemed to be in heading into its annual rivalry game with Oklahoma. The Longhorns were coming off a 50-7 loss to TCU that featured a halftime retweet from one of their players and some public bashing of teammates from others.
But when embattled head coach Charlie Strong's team took the field at the Cotton Bowl against the undefeated Sooners, it looked completely different.
Texas dominated the trenches against Oklahoma, working the ball over and over again with a run-heavy scheme. The young Texas defense put the clamps down on an Oklahoma offense that was one of the best in the country by season's end.
When the clock hit all zeroes, Texas had its second win of the season, and Strong could hold his head high—with the Golden Hat on top of it.
The rest of the season was up-and-down for Texas, which didn't score a single point against Iowa State but ended the year with a bizarre road upset over a quarterback-less Baylor team. Oklahoma used the disappointment from the Texas loss to go on a tear the rest of the way, taking home the outright Big 12 title and a College Football Playoff spot.
Michigan State Wins on Michigan's Fumbled Punt
7 of 10The day: Oct. 17
The outcome: Michigan State 27, Michigan 23
The shocker: The final play, one that changed the Big Ten race
Now, let's relive the chain of shock waves that rocked college football Saturdays in October. And the first of these chaotic plays was by far the most important, as it had a huge impact in both the Big Ten and national championship pictures.
Michigan State never led rival Michigan in the biggest game of Week 7 until the clock hit all zeroes. With just seconds remaining, the host Wolverines had a two-point lead. They needed to take one more snap—on a fourth down—and elected to punt the ball.
But punter Blake O'Neill lost control of a bad snap, and the ball got away from him before he could get off a last-gasp kick. Michigan State freshman Jalen Watts-Jackson emerged with the ball and raced his way into the end zone as time expired, giving the Spartans a miracle win for the ages.
"It's crazy," Watts-Jackson, who broke his hip on the final play and subsequent celebration, told Dan Murphy of ESPN.com. "[Ten] seconds could take you from just being on the team to people tweeting you and text messaging you saying, 'You're a legend; You're a hero.'"
With the late victory, Michigan State could survive a gut-wrenching loss to Nebraska and still win the Big Ten East with a road win over Ohio State. That sent the Spartans to the title game and the College Football Playoff. If O'Neill handles the snap, there probably is a different look to this year's final four.
Georgia Tech Beats Florida State on a Different "Kick-Six"
8 of 10The day: Oct. 24
The outcome: Georgia Tech 22, Florida State 16
The shocker: More special teams mayhem in a truly wild upset
One week after Michigan and Michigan State, the miracles moved south for Georgia Tech's game against a then-undefeated Florida State team.
This is another one of those "Wait, how did this exactly happen?" upsets. Georgia Tech had lost five straight games heading into this matchup with Florida State, which had won 29 straight ACC games. After this game, the Yellow Jackets didn't win another for the rest of the year, while FSU punched a ticket to the New Year's Six with a 10-2 record.
The ending makes the result even more inexplicable, though, as Georgia Tech blocked a potential game-winning 56-yard attempt from the excellent Roberto Aguayo. While some on the Georgia Tech sideline motioned for the Jackets to land on the ball and head into overtime at 16 all, Lance Austin picked it up after some hesitation.
Austin then weaved his way through a different kind of Atlanta traffic and ran into the end zone for a 78-yard touchdown with no time left on the clock. Georgia Tech grabbed its third and final win of the year thanks to Austin's heads-up play.
Everything about this outcome—the gulf in team quality, the unusual nature of the block and even the "What a Time to Be Alive" call to cap it all—had to be seen to be believed.
Miami Snatches Victory from Duke on a Controversial Return
9 of 10The day: Oct. 31
The outcome: Miami 30, Duke 27
The shocker: The final play, the missed penalties, the ACC's handling of it all, etc.
The last two shocking results might have had more of an impact on the College Football Playoff race, but nothing is topping this Halloween horror show from the ACC in terms of inexplicability.
Duke had just taken a 27-24 lead on Miami with seconds left in regulation, and the Hurricanes' only hope of making something happen was predicated on keeping the ball alive with laterals. Miami—fresh off a 58-0 drubbing by Clemson and the firing of Al Golden, mind you—did just that eight times.
After the eighth one, Corn Elder broke away down the sideline and found the end zone for an ending that seemed to trump the legendary Cal-Stanford play. Then the officiating crew somehow wiped away a flag on an illegal block after a confusing review process and determined the return should stand as a touchdown.
However, days later, the ACC announced the crew missed multiple penalties on the return and that one of the laterals came after the Miami player's knee had already hit the ground. The win still stood for the Hurricanes, but the conference suspended the officials.
Even after admitting the wild return shouldn't have been ruled a touchdown, though, the ACC still awarded Elder with a Special Teams Player of the Week award. Try explaining that.
Arkansas Knocks Off Ole Miss in Overtime Mayhem
10 of 10The day: Nov. 7
The outcome: Arkansas 53, Ole Miss 52 (OT)
The shocker: Almost everything that happened in Arkansas' final possession
By the time November rolled around, the Arkansas offense was clicking in a way few could have expected after seeing the Razorbacks stumble in that low-scoring loss to Toledo. Arkansas had enough firepower to force overtime in a shootout with Ole Miss, and what happened when the Hogs had the ball at the end was truly unbelievable.
Ole Miss scored a touchdown to open overtime, and Arkansas found itself in a quick hole. On 4th-and-25, the Razorbacks needed a ridiculous conversion. When Brandon Allen hit tight end Hunter Henry short of the sticks, Henry spun around and threw a long-range lateral that was up for grabs.
The ball bounced in traffic and somehow found running back Alex Collins in stride. Collins powered his way to a stunning first down, and Arkansas would score a few plays later. The Hogs decided to go for two and the win, and all hope looked lost when Allen threw an incompletion.
But Ole Miss was hit with a facemask penalty, giving the Hogs new life once more. Allen kept the ball on the next play and dove into the end zone for a 53-52 road upset.
That win from Arkansas swung the door open for Alabama, which had lost to Ole Miss earlier in the season, to retake the SEC West division. The Tide would win out, beat Florida in the conference title game and head to the College Football Playoff. Once again, a wild and improbable play had a huge effect on the national title picture.
Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
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