Ranking the 10 Most Important Plays of the 2018 College Football Season
If you had to sum up the 2018 college football season in just its 10 most important plays, these would be those defining moments.
Before you begin your protests of this ranking, be sure to note we're looking for the most important plays. Not the wildest plays or the most athletic plays, but rather the moments that were turning points in determining who had a shot at a national championship.
One other thing to note before diving in: Though there were certainly a few injuries (UCF's McKenzie Milton and Virginia Tech's Josh Jackson, in particular) that impacted the national landscape, we won't be highlighting those here. With so many quality moments to choose from, it didn't feel necessary to rehash some of the gruesome ones.
These 10 plays are ranked in ascending order of overall impact. When in doubt, ask yourself how differently the season would have played out if that play hadn't happened.
Honorable Mentions
- Kyler Murray's game-sealing 4th-and-5 conversion at West Virginia.
- Georgia's botched field-goal attempt against LSU, after which nothing could go right for the Bulldogs.
- Penn State's Miles Sanders fumbles late in the first half, giving Ohio State life for the first time all game.
- USC blocks Washington State's game-tying field-goal attempt, keeping the Cougars from ever seriously entering the CFP conversation.
10. UCF Gets 71 on 4th-and-1
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Memphis scored on all five of its possessions in the first half of the regular-season game against UCF, leading 30-17 at intermission. And as the rain came pouring down in the second half, it became clear that scoring opportunities (and ball security) would be few and far between.
Still trailing by 13 late in the third quarter with the ball on his own 29, UCF head coach Josh Heupel decided to take a huge risk rather than punting the ball back to Memphis.
On 4th-and-1—a long one, at that—UCF handed the ball off to Taj McGowan. Memphis's best edge-rusher, Bryce Huff, made it into the backfield untouched, but he was just half a step too late to bring down McGowan.
From there, Trysten Hill—normally a defensive lineman but a fullback for this play—barreled over Memphis' T.J. Carter, paving the way for McGowan to break free for a 71-yard touchdown run.
Had McGowan been tackled shy of a first down, Memphis most likely wins this game. Even if the Tigers didn't gain a single yard on that fictitious possession, they could have bled the rest of the third-quarter clock before attempting a 47-yard field goal to take a 16-point lead. Given the field conditions, UCF would've been hard-pressed to fight back from that deficit in 15 minutes.
Even if McGowan had been tackled shortly beyond the first-down marker, it would've been tough sledding for the Knights. They had only scored on one of their previous four possessions and still would've had 70 yards to go just to trim the deficit to six.
But they benefited from Memphis crowding the box, turned a gutsy play into a huge touchdown and eked out a 31-30 victory to keep the two-year winning streak intact. It was the only game during the regular season that UCF won by a margin of fewer than 11 points.
9. Kentucky Seals the Deal, Ends Curse with Fumble Recovery
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At the time, this was just a wacky play and a feel-good moment for a Kentucky program that had been tortured by Florida for decades. The Gators were No. 25 in the Week 2 AP poll, and the Wildcats hadn't even received a single vote following their season-opening close call against Central Michigan.
After the fact, it turns out this was the pivotal play in a game between two teams that finished in the Top 15 of the College Football Playoff rankings.
Florida was down by five on its own 25 with nine seconds remaining. The odds of the Gators scoring a touchdown were slim to none. Then again, it was Feleipe Franks, who threw the 63-yard Hail Mary against Tennessee last season, so anything was possible.
A 15-yard out route followed by a 60-yard rocket was at least feasible, especially considering Kentucky had lost three of the last four meetings by less than a touchdown and seemed destined to keep losing heartbreakers against the Gators.
That out route never happened, though, because Josh Allen—as he did so often throughout the season—found his way into the backfield and got a hit on Franks. It initially looked like an incomplete pass, as it fluttered forward nearly 10 yards. But upon further review, the refs determined the ball was out before Franks' arm was coming forward, so it was a fumble.
Davonte Robinson grabbed the ball on one bounce and eventually found the end zone after looking around for an official to toss the ball to, giving the Wildcats a 27-16 victory.
Though both teams fared well in the rankings, the outcome didn't change much about the overall bowl picture. Florida still wouldn't have gotten into the playoff with a 10-2 record, and this win wasn't quite enough for Kentucky to reach a New Year's Six bowl. All the same, this was a massive moment for the Wildcats, as it paved the way for them to win at least nine games in a season for the first time since 1984.
8. 2-for-1 Failed 2-Point Conversions
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Were it just the one noteworthy failed two-point conversion, it wouldn't be worthy of a spot in the top 10. But if we combine a pair of botched attempts in high-scoring affairs with major national ramifications, that's impossible to ignore.
The first one happened in Bedlam.
Oklahoma State's Taylor Cornelius had just found Tylan Wallace for a 24-yard touchdown on 4th-and-12, eclipsing 500 passing yards for the day. Thanks in large part to a Matt Ammendola missed extra point earlier in the quarter, those six points made the score 48-47 in favor of the Sooners.
Rather than attempting the extra point for a best-case scenario of overtime against the most unstoppable offense in the nation and a worst-case scenario of another missed PAT, OK State head coach Mike Gundy decided to roll the dice.
Cornelius rolled out to his right, looking in Wallace's direction the entire way. Had it been a good pass, he likely would have found him in the back corner of the end zone. But he tried to throw it on the run and missed his target by a mile. Oklahoma held on for the win.
There was also Ohio State's near-loss to Maryland.
Dwayne Haskins had more than 400 passing yards. J.K. Dobbins had more than 200 rushing yards. But it wasn't enough to make up for how easily Maryland was moving the ball against the Buckeyes defense. They went to overtime tied at 45, and Ohio State—after a 4th-and-1 conversion—scored a touchdown on its opening possession.
Maryland quickly found the end zone as well thanks to Anthony McFarland, who finished the day with 21 carries for 298 yards and two touchdowns. But rather than handing him the ball one last time, the Terps ran pretty much the same play as Oklahoma State did. Tyrrell Pigrome rolled out to his right and had a wide-open Jeshaun Jones in the end zone, but he threw the ball on the run and missed his mark.
If nothing else, those missed two-point tries left us with an awful lot to argue about heading into conference championship week. Had Oklahoma State and Maryland both converted and won those games, there would not have been a single one-loss conference champion threatening to keep the SEC from sending two teams to the playoff.
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7. Ohio State Blocks Punt for TD, Reclaims Momentum in 'The Game'
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Dwayne Haskins torched Michigan's secondary for six touchdowns and just under 400 yards. Mike Weber had a solid day on the ground, rushing for nearly 100 yards and a score. But it was a special play on special teams that we'll remember most from The Game.
Thanks to a pair of touchdowns in the final minute of the first half, Michigan was finally starting to find its rhythm. But a dropped pass by Zach Gentry on third down forced the Wolverines to punt down by eight. They hadn't allowed an Ohio State touchdown on any of its previous three possessions, though, so the hope was they would get the ball back before too long with the same deficit.
Chris Olave had other ideas.
Even most Buckeyes fans had probably never heard that name before this game. The 3-star true freshman entered the day with just five receptions for 70 yards and no touchdowns and two tackles. But he was Urban Meyer's secret weapon against Michigan. Olave scored Ohio State's first two touchdowns, both of them on 24-yard receptions. And then on this punt, he looped around, got a head of steam and dove at Will Hart to block it.
The ball deflected to Sevyn Banks, who caught it on the fly in full stride for an easy 33-yard return for a touchdown.
That was the moment that broke Michigan's will to fight.
Shea Patterson compounded the issue by throwing an awful interception on the following drive, but the Wolverines gave up on defense after that blocked punt. After holding the Buckeyes to 72 yards and three points on their first 15 plays of the second half, Ohio State went 194 yards and scored four touchdowns on its next 12 offensive snaps.
The Buckeyes won the Big Ten East Division and remained in the hunt for the playoff, while the Wolverines were kicked to the curb.
6. Kellen Mond's Overturned Interception Leads to All of the Overtimes
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With less than 40 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and LSU leading by a touchdown, Texas A&M's Kellen Mond bobbled the snap, bent over to pick it up and threw what appeared to be the game-ending interception.
LSU dumped Gatorade on coach Ed Orgeron's head, and those of us with a quick trigger on the remote control changed the channel because we didn't care to waste valuable time watching Joe Burrow take one knee to end the game.
However, the officials reviewed the play and determined that Mond's knee was on the ground when he picked up the ball, so the Aggies retained possession. Two plays later, Mond converted on 4th-and-18 to get into LSU territory.
After the refs put one second back on the clock following a controversial spike—there's no way Texas A&M's offensive line was set when the ball was snapped—Mond threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to force overtime.
And then another.
And another.
A few more, too.
There were a total of seven overtimes—throughout which poor Coach O's attire went from cold and wet to sticky and miserable. In the end, not only was that shower premature, but it was erroneous. Texas A&M emerged with the 74-72 victory.
It was arguably the most entertaining game of the season, and it was temporarily a critical one for the College Football Playoff picture. In the unlikely scenario that Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio State all lost their conference championship games, a 10-2 LSU possibly would've gotten the No. 4 seed—given its head-to-head win over Georgia. But 9-3 LSU was out of the conversation altogether before championship week even began.
5. Chris Finke Hauls in Brandon Wimbush Bomb
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One of the biggest "What Ifs?" of the season: What if Brad Hawkins had intercepted this pass?
Chris Finke basically caught the ball out of Hawkins' hands, so it's not a ridiculous question to ask. It probably should have been an interception.
Aside from this pass, Brandon Wimbush struggled with the Wolverines defense. If we turn this 43-yard touchdown into an interception, he finishes 11-of-22 for 117 yards with two picks, and Michigan doesn't have to contend with a 14-0 deficit midway through the first quarter of the first game of the season.
Other events in this game likely would have unfolded differently, but the final margin was only seven points. Maybe this game goes to overtime where Michigan wins, or even the Wolverines pull off the road victory in regulation, given how much trouble Notre Dame had moving the ball in the second half.
Michigan's hopes for a Big Ten title still would've come down to The Game against Ohio State, but the Wolverines would have finished 11-1 with quality road wins over Notre Dame, Michigan State and Northwestern, plus home wins over Penn State and Wisconsin. Even if it wasn't Michigan that reaped the long-term benefits, losing this game possibly would have kept Notre Dame from finishing in the Top Four in the CFP rankings.
The irony, of course, is that the most important pass of Notre Dame's season was thrown by a quarterback who lost the job after just three weeks. Had Ian Book been the Irish QB from the get-go, maybe they take care of business against Michigan without much trouble.
4. Georgia's No-Good, Very-Bad Fake-Punt Attempt
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It was 4th-and-11 with three minutes remaining in a tie game and the ball on the 50 when Georgia head coach Kirby Smart decided to call for a fake punt.
Whether you thought it was incredibly gutsy or downright stupid, it didn't work. Justin Fields got tackled nine yards shy of the line to gain, followed five plays later by Alabama scoring the SEC Championship-winning touchdown.
It's beyond difficult to understand the thought process. Even if Jake Camarda boots the punt into the end zone for a touchback, Georgia could have forced Alabama to go 80 yards in three minutes with its backup QB. And even though the Crimson Tide had all the momentum at that point, you have to like the Bulldogs' chances of winning in overtime with Tua Tagovailoa out of the game.
Instead, Smart gift-wrapped a short field and gave it to Jalen Hurts and Nick Saban as an early Christmas present.
It wasn't even a well-designed or well-concealed fake, either. With backup QB Justin Fields in the game as the up man, Alabama had to think something was fishy. And aside from having a punt returner deep, the Crimson Tide were in a conventional defensive set and seemed to be ready for that exact call. Every receiver was blanketed, and the outside linebackers played contain defense to keep Fields from breaking off a run to the outside.
That thing was dead on arrival.
Perhaps the most outrageous part is that the previous two punts were the perfect opportunities to break out that trickery. At the end of the third quarter, Georgia punted on 4th-and-2 from its own 47. On the following drive, it punted on 4th-and-4 from the Alabama 48. Fake on either of those and maybe you get the necessary couple of yards for the first down. Trying it on 4th-and-11 was...well, it was something.
Georgia may well have lost the game anyway, but it felt like the Dawgs were throwing in the towel at this point.
3. Oklahoma Averts Army Disaster with an Interception
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After more than three months, it seems like the only way to neutralize Oklahoma's offense is by keeping its defense on the field. The Sooners averaged more than 50 points per game during the regular season and scored at least 37 in every game but one: an overtime affair with Army in which the Black Knights had four drives that each featured at least 16 plays and drained at least eight minutes and 54 seconds off the clock.
The first three of those drives resulted in touchdowns, and it looked like the fourth was going to result in the game-winning score.
Tied at 21 with more than 12 minutes remaining, Army stuffed Trey Sermon on back-to-back plays at the 1 to force an Oklahoma turnover on downs. And then it gradually marched down the field, converting on 3rd-and-short not once, not twice, not thrice but whatever the word would be for four times.
The Black Knights moved the ball all the way to the Oklahoma 30 before consecutive two-yard losses—two of just five tackles for loss in the game for Oklahoma—left them facing a 3rd-and-14 just outside of field-goal range. Kelvin Hopkins Jr. tried to force a pass to Camden Harrison, but it got deflected at the line by DT Dillon Faamatau and caromed right into the arms of LB Kenneth Mann.
Oklahoma missed a chip-shot field goal at the end of regulation, but the Sooners did win with a touchdown in the first overtime period. Had they lost the game, there's no way they would have been in the CFP conversation after the subsequent loss to Texas.
But it's perhaps more interesting to consider how much the national perception of Army would have changed if not for that interception. Aside from the season-opener at Duke, this was the only game the Black Knights lost all season. If they were 10-1 with this high-quality road win, could they have gotten into the running for a New Year's Six bowl?
2. Tua Tagovailoa's First TD Pass
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Hey, remember when we weren't sure whether Tua Tagovailoa or Jalen Hurts would be Alabama's starting quarterback?
That was fun, right?
I'm not ashamed to admit that I was one of the fools who thought it was Hurts' job to lose. Even though he wasn't the primary reason the Crimson Tide went 27-2 over the previous two seasons, the fact remains that he was on the field for the vast majority of a lot of wins. I thought that would mean more than Tagovailoa's performance in the second half of last year's national championship.
But all it took was one drive for me to realize I was terribly wrong.
Tagovailoa's first pass in the season opener against Louisville went for 14 yards on a 3rd-and-13 conversion. Hard to argue with that debut. Two more darts and an eight-yard scramble later, and it was 2nd-and-2 from the Cardinals 11.
Tagovailoa spun away from one would-be sack and took a hit from another while delivering a touchdown strike to Jerry Jeudy. Tagovailoa laid on the turf for a few seconds for the first of many lower-body injury scares in his sensational season, but he was fine, and the debate about Alabama's QB was over.
Elusive as he may be, Hurts never could have made that play. It was an eye-opening moment in which it became clear that Tagovailoa was Alabama's best chance at a national championship.
Really, the debate was probably over weeks or months before that. Hurts didn't even see the field until Alabama was up 21-0, and his first two drives resulted in punts. But it wasn't until that first half against Louisville that Nick Saban let the rest of the world know what a phenom he had at his disposal.
1. Chase Brice Saves Clemson on 4th Down
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Down by three with six minutes remaining, Clemson needed to go almost the full length of the field to keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive.
But the Tigers didn't have Kelly Bryant at quarterback. He had announced his plans of transferring out of the program just a couple of days prior to this game against Syracuse. They didn't have Trevor Lawrence, either, as he was knocked out of the game late in the first half due to a neck injury.
Rather, it was little-known, third-string-turned-backup QB Chase Brice who had to lead the most important drive of the season—not just for Clemson, but for college football as a whole, because Clemson probably would not have gotten into the playoff if it had lost this game.
Brice only had to throw the ball once on this 13-play, 94-yard drive. (Travis Etienne and Tavien Feaster did most of the work on the ground.) But that lone pass on 4th-and-6 was brilliant, connecting with Tee Higgins on a corner route in between three Syracuse defenders for a 20-yard gain.
For good measure, Brice kept the ball on a read option the following play, rushing for 17 yards to get the Tigers down to the Syracuse 15 in case they needed to kick a game-tying field goal. But they went ahead and won the game in regulation with a touchdown instead.
With a healthy Lawrence, Clemson won every subsequent game by at least a 20-point margin, dominating the months of October and November. But the Tigers never would have survived that Bryant-to-Lawrence transitional week without Brice.
Kerry Miller covers college football and men's college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @kerrancejames.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
