The Wildest College Football Stories from the 2021 Season
The 2021 college football season finished just over a week ago, and it already feels like it ended too soon.
There were plenty of mind-boggling and head-scratching moments that took place both on and off the field.
From Brian Kelly leaving Notre Dame to go to LSU, the top recruit in the nation flipping from Florida State to HBCU Jackson State or an assistant coach's girlfriend's pet monkey biting a trick-or-treating child on Halloween, let's run through college football's wildest stories from 2021.
We'll go in chronological order for this one.
Jimbo Fisher Becomes the First Former Assistant to Beat Nick Saban
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It feels weird remembering this considering Texas A&M finished the year 8-4 and fifth in the SEC West, right? Still, this was a big moment for Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher, and the top-ranked Tide losing to an unranked Texas A&M team was one of the sport's craziest moments of the season.
Alabama came into this game undefeated, whereas the Aggies were coming off back-to-back SEC West losses to Arkansas and Mississippi State. Bama was an 18-point favorite heading into this one.
But the Aggies shocked the college football world and upset the Tide anyway. TAMU went to the locker room with a 24-10 lead, but Bama made it a close one in the second half.
The Tide scored two touchdowns in the third quarter—one off a blocked punt and another from a 29-yard touchdown pass from Bryce Young. Texas A&M had a 96-yard kickoff return in between the two scores that made it a 31-24 game at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Bama had three scoring drives, including a Young touchdown pass to Williams that gave the Tide, complete with a successful two-point conversion from Young, a 38-31 lead. Meanwhile, the Aggie offense had three punts off drives that resulted in a combined 18 yards. But TAMU wasn't done yet.
Aggie quarterback Zach Calzada, who has since transferred to Auburn, led a six-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that tied it up at 38 with three minutes left in the game. Texas A&M's defense then forced a Bama three-and-out.
Although Calzada went in the injury tent after the score, the QB came out and played hero on the Aggies' last possession. After completing two big pass plays and an 11-yard run, a 12-yard completion put the Aggies at the Alabama 30 to set up the game-winning field goal. A couple of successful run plays and a defensive pass interference further shortened the field, and Aggie kicker Seth Small nailed the 28-yard field goal to complete the upset.
A video of Small's family watching him kick the game-winning field goal made this game all the more memorable.
Fisher didn't end the season as the last former Saban assistant to defeat his former boss—Georgia's Kirby Smart became the second with the Dawgs' national title victory over Alabama.
Tennessee Fans Throw Golf Balls, Mustard Bottles at Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin
2 of 8I don't think any of us college football fans will forget this one. In mid-October, Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin made his first return to Knoxville as a head coach. In case you forgot, Kiffin infamously left the Tennessee head coaching job for USC in 2010 after just one season. He had returned there with Alabama twice as an offensive coordinator, but that wasn't quite the same as him returning with a new team as a head coach.
Ole Miss had a 31-26 lead in the fourth quarter, but in the game's final minute, Tennessee had the ball on its own 36-yard line facing a 4th-and-24. Although Vols receiver Jacob Warren fell short of the first down marker, Tennessee fans inside the stadium disagreed. Not only did they start booing, shortly after the officials stated Ole Miss would get the ball back on a turnover on downs, Vol fans started throwing things from the stands onto the field.
What resulted next caused a nearly 20-minute delay, Tennessee's band and cheerleading team being escorted off the field and the Vol student section being escorted out of the stadium.
Vol fans threw everything you could think of onto the field. One of the most prominent objects was a yellow golf ball that Kiffin proudly picked up on the sideline during the ordeal. There were also water bottles, empty beer cans, and even a dang bottle of mustard that pelted the field during the chaos.
When the game finally resumed, it had an exciting finish. Tennessee got the ball back with 27 seconds left, and the offense got down to Ole Miss' 21-yard line. Ole Miss' defense stopped Tennessee's final play, however, giving Ole Miss the win.
"I don't know if I'm more excited that we found a way to win or that I didn't get hit with the golf balls that they were throwing at me," Kiffin said on SEC Network after the game as he held up the golf ball he caught.
"I still have my souvenir golf ball," Kiffin said. "I also got hit with bottles with some brown stuff in them. I don't think those fans would waste moonshine. You've got one of the most passionate fan bases in America. A call didn't go their way."
Tennessee ended up getting fined $250,000 by the SEC for everything that happened. I don't think any college football fans will ever forget the images of the golf ball and mustard bottles pelting Tennessee's field for some time.
Illinois Upsets Penn State in College Football's First-Ever 9-OT Game
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Penn State entered Week 8 of the college football season sitting at 5-1 and had playoff hopes in-tact. But those hopes went up in smoke as the Nittany Lions lost to a sub-.500 Illinois team at home on Homecoming Week. This was also college football's first nine-overtime game ever.
This game was low scoring, ending regulation tied at 10, but no one could have predicted how badly both offenses could be in this game.
In the first two overtime periods, both kickers made field goals to make it 16 apiece. That forced the game into a third overtime, and unlike in previous years where both offenses had the opportunity to score in each overtime period thereafter, both teams had to try for two-point conversions instead.
The overtime rule change was a direct result of the 2018 game between Texas A&M and LSU that went into seven overtimes. What the NCAA probably didn't think of when they made this rule change was the possibility of offenses being so putrid that neither of them can score two-point conversions, resulting in even more overtime periods.
This is exactly what happened in this one. It was tied at 16 until the eighth overtime, as both Illinois and Penn State finally scored on their two-point conversions. In 9OT, Illinois scored two points on a passing play, and the Fighting Illini defense stopped Penn State's ensuing attempt. That sealed Illinois' upset victory, marking the end of a hilarious 9OT game highlighted by terrible offenses.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
That Time Texas Assistant Jeff Banks' Girlfriend's Pet Monkey Went Viral
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This might be one of the wildest college football stories of the last decade, and it's not even close. The story centers around Texas special teams coordinator Jeff Banks, his girlfriend's pet monkey, Gia, and a Halloween haunted house in which a child was allegedly bitten by said monkey. Yeah, there's a lot to unpack here, so let's dive into it.
On Nov. 1, sports photographer Tom Campbell first reported the story on Twitter. Campbell added that the monkey's jaws had to be "pried off of a small child." Campbell included a screenshot of Banks' girlfriend, Danielle Thomas, posting on social media inviting children and their parents to the "haunted house/maze" at their house.
College football fans on social media began doing some digging, and as it turns out, the monkey belonged to Thomas, who was once an exotic dancer who went by the stage name Pole Assassin. In fact, the monkey, Gia, oftentimes appeared with her on stage, as seen on the monkey's Instagram account.
After news of the alleged bite surfaced, Thomas took to Twitter to post a video that she later deleted of her walking through her backyard, showing where she kept the monkey.
Thomas added in the video that the child went to where the monkey was kept "without her permission" and ignored a sign that said, "Do Not Enter" and warned against touching the monkey.
Look, if I was a kid on Halloween at a haunted house and saw a sign that said "Do Not Enter," I would very much assume that was part of the haunted house, but I digress.
"MonkeyGate" was one of college football's most talked-about stories all season long, and I think you can see why. The story hasn't exactly stopped there. In early December, Banks and Thomas were sued by the child and their parents.
The lawsuit alleges that the monkey "aggressively bit down on [the child's] hand and refused to let go" after the child attempted to get a high-five after being told the monkey was trained to do so.
This Halloween monkey story will certainly be talked about for years to come in college football.
Kansas Beats Texas in Austin for the 1st Time Ever Thanks to Walk-on Jared Casey
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Texas proved it was back in 2021 by losing to Kansas at home for the first time in school history. Kansas beat the Longhorns 57-56 in overtime in a thrilling finish that resulted in a Jayhawks win in Austin for the first time ever.
Kansas had beaten Texas three times in the two teams' series history, two of those coming long before both teams joined the Big 12. The last time Kansas upset Texas came in 2016, during Charlie Strong's last season in Austin.
Although Kansas went to the locker room at halftime with a 35-14 lead, Texas made things interesting in the third quarter. The Longhorns offense put together three touchdown drives to make it 42-35 heading into the fourth.
Kansas went up two scores with less than 10 minutes left in the game, but Texas put together two quick scoring drives in the last five minutes to tie things up at 49. To overtime we went!
Texas scored a touchdown in the first overtime possession, making it 56-49. Kansas countered with a touchdown of its own, but Jayhawks head coach Lance Leipold opted to go for the two-point conversion instead of an extra point.
Kansas drew up a play for Jared Casey, a walk-on from Plainville, Kansas. Casey caught the game-winning pass from quarterback Jalon Daniels, and Casey became an overnight hero in his home state. A video of Casey's parents watching the last play of the game went viral on Twitter, and Casey even got an NIL deal with Applebee's as a result of the win.
"I knew no one was on me and was waving my arms real big," Casey, said of the game's final play to ESPN. "I'm obviously a shorter guy than most tight ends, probably the shortest tight end in the Big 12. Let's just be honest.
"Jalon [Daniels] made a great throw. I got hit pretty hard, but it really didn't matter at the time. I felt it the next day, but not then."
Lincoln Riley Leaves Oklahoma for USC
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During a wild coaching carousel in 2021, one of the most surprising moves came just hours after Oklahoma's final regular-season game against Oklahoma State.
Despite Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley adamantly telling reporters after a 37-33 loss to OK State that he wouldn't take LSU's vacant head-coaching position, less than 24 hours later, it was announced that he would be taking the USC job.
Unsurprisingly, Oklahoma fans weren't too happy with their head coach leaving. There were a couple of signs that read "traitor" displayed prominently on OU's campus the day Riley left, as well one fan calling him "enemy # 1."
A candidate for Oklahoma's state treasurer even hilariously tried to comfort Sooner fans by explaining that Riley would pay more in income tax living in California compared to if he stayed in Norman.
You can't exactly blame Sooner fans—they aren't really used to head coaches leaving the program for other jobs. In fact, Oklahoma hadn't had a head coach leave for another job since 1946 when Jim Tatum left for the Maryland job.
Riley, who was 55-10 in his five seasons in Norman, told Fox Sports' Joel Klatt how difficult it was to leave Oklahoma in such a short period of time.
"Probably the toughest [conversation] was with the players. We've been on an unbelievable run with those guys. I love those guys. They've given everything to the program and were so good to me. So none of that was easy. It was the toughest part about this."
Oklahoma has since hired former Sooners and Clemson Tigers defensive coordinator Brent Venables to replace Riley, but Sooner fans might not get over this any time soon.
Riley brought his defensive coordinator, Alex Grinch, and a number of other former OU assistants with him to USC. Oh, and he's flipped multiple Sooner recruiting commits to USC. Yeah, Oklahoma fans will be angry about this for some time.
Brian Kelly Leaves Notre Dame with His 'Fahmuhly' to Go to LSU
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As if the Lincoln Riley news weren't shocking enough, one day later, on Nov. 29, it was reported that longtime Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly was accepting the LSU job. Kelly, who was 113-40 at Notre Dame over 12 seasons, led the Fighting Irish to two College Football Playoff appearances.
Interestingly enough, Kelly's players even found out through the media reports of the move instead of hearing from their head coach themselves. Kelly sent a text apologizing to his players for having to find out from the media and added that he would have more to share during a team meeting the following morning.
That meeting didn't last too long, according to various media reports. Per ESPN's Adam Rittenberg, Kelly met with the team for 11 minutes, but Pete Sampson of The Athletic later reported that the meeting was closer to two minutes. Later that day, a video leaked of Kelly's farewell speech, which lasted just under four minutes.
But the drama didn't stop once Kelly arrived in Baton Rouge. A couple of days after he accepted the LSU job, Kelly appeared at a Tigers basketball game.
During an on-court appearance addressing the crowd, the Massachusetts native spoke with what sounded like a new Southern accent. How he pronounced the word "family" quickly went viral on Twitter.
ESPN's Jeff Darlington took things a step further by creating a side-by-side video of Kelly's pronunciation of family during his team meeting and a few days later at LSU, showing the drastic difference.
A month later, Kelly appeared on the ESPN broadcast of LSU's bowl game against Kansas State. The new Tigers head coach seemed to joke about—or at least attempted to—the accent he used, saying that people like himself from Boston "don't have strong accents." OK, Coach!
The accent isn't exactly the only cringeworthy thing Kelly has done since arriving at LSU. On Dec. 12, a video of Kelly dancing with 5-star LSU QB commit Walker Howard to Garth Brooks' "Callin' Baton Rouge" went viral for obvious reasons.
College football fans are eager to see what Kelly does next, whether it's on or off the field.
Nation's No. 1 Overall Recruit Flips from Florida State to HBCU Jackson State
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Last but certainly not least, one of the wildest college football stories came during recruiting's early signing period.
On ESP's first day on Dec. 15, one of the biggest recruiting surprises perhaps in the history of college football came, as five-star cornerback Travis Hunter flipped from Florida State to Jackson State.
This is significant for a few reasons. First, Hunter is the No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2022, per 247Sports. The nation's top-ranked recruit flipping from a Division I program to an FCS school is virtually unheard of.
Second, Hunter was committed to Florida State since March 2020, so this was a devastating loss to FSU's 2022 class coming at the very last minute.
The last piece of this story that makes it so interesting is that Jackson State's head coach is former Florida State cornerback Deion Sanders. Sanders flipping the nation's No. 1 overall recruit from his alma mater to HBCU Jackson State is a pretty significant feat.
Although there were rumors that Hunter received a $1.5 million name, image and likeness deal to sign with JSU, Sanders has since vehemently denied the claims.
Florida State fans didn't take the news of Hunter's flip lightly. A Twitter space subtly named "Fire Mike Norvell" went viral and was live for hours (just days earlier, Norvell had been given a one-year contract extension after a 5-7 season). The space was essentially a group therapy session for FSU fans to voice their frustrations with Norvell and the current state of the program in light of the Hunter flip.
Hunter's flip, paired with Florida State fans' reactions, was a pretty perfect way to end 2021.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
