College Football Rankings: The Top 25 Plays of the 2010 Season

With the regular season of college football over and the bowl games under way, we can look back at the many great plays that we saw this season in college football.

We had Hail Marys, games won on trick plays and plays that just flat-out baffled our minds.

Beyond that, there were the usual crop of hurdling a defender, a powerful sack or a great run.

The following slides consist of the top 25 plays in college football this season, or at least the top 25 plays where there is video evidence that it actually happened.

25. Tyrod Taylor Channels the Vicks

Tyrod Taylor will be finishing his collegiate career against Stanford and Andrew Luck. While Luck will obviously make an appearance here, Taylor has had very good runs, such as this one against NC State. It's not overly amazing, so if there's one I forgot, this can be swapped out.

24. Arkansas Sneaks Out a Win

Big play about 3 minutes in

Arkansas had a tough conference matchup against Georgia and needed a big play to seal a win. Enter Ryan Mallett and Greg Childs to connect for the game-winner to keep Arkansas' BCS hopes alive.

23. Nick Fairley Is a Beast

Nick Fairley has rocketed up draft boards this season not just due to his productivity, but also how he's getting his sacks. This is just one of many hard hits he's made this year, though it was arguably unnecessary.

22. LSU Fakes Out Urban Meyer

In an SEC game, Florida came back and was up on LSU by three late in the game. On fourth down, LSU went for the field goal but instead faked it, throwing a rather odd bounce lateral and getting the first down.

The game-winning catch is a bonus; points off because they barely got the first on the fake.

21. Denard Robinson Makes History Against Notre Dame

For the first few weeks of the college football season, Denard Robinson was the front-runner to win the Heisman. Plays like this are exactly why he was, as he made the longest touchdown run at Notre Dame in its history, 87 yards.

20. The Number One

Baylor's awareness is what gets this on here. If I were to make a "not top 10" list for the year a la ESPN, this would get the top spot. Texas Tech messes up on a first-quarter onside kick, and Baylor picks it up and runs it in for the score without any competition.

At least Baylor was paying attention. A lesser team would have just stood there laughing.

19. Cam Newton Being Cam Newton

Cam Newton's prowess in both running and passing is what helped him win the Heisman. Here's his great running as he evades multiple tackles, and even after being grabbed at the 5-yard line, he's able to make it into the end zone.

18. Clemson Gets a Great TD Against Auburn

The Clemson-Auburn game was shaping up to be a possible upset thanks to this diving touchdown catch by Clemson's Jamie Harper to put the Clemson Tigers up 17-0 in the second quarter.

17. Ole Miss Gives Us the Obligatory Hurdle Video

I traversed far and wide to bring the fans a video of a running back hurdling a defender en route to a touchdown.

Such a play doesn't exist, but we do have that without the touchdown, as Ole Miss' Brandon Bolden hurdles over a defender and then gets pushed out of bounds against Louisiana-Lafayette.

16. Andrew Luck Mows a Man Down

Some people might be wondering how this play is not in the top 10 since it symbolizes just how good Andrew Luck is at keeping his head in the game. To those people, I say I found a better clip of him that appears later.

15. Division III Can Play Football Too

A play as amazing as this would normally be a lot higher, but with the lack of audio and player names, it doesn't help much. Nonetheless, these Division III players give their hearts to the game and deserve a spot in the countdown.

14. Wisconsin Blocks Arizona State Extra Point

Wisconsin nearly missed out on a BCS bowl game thanks to a late comeback by Arizona State late in the game. Wisconsin managed to block the extra point and saved its season, winning 20-19.

13. Julio Jones' Diving One-Handed Catch

Julio Jones makes a perfect one-handed leap into the end zone in a game against San Jose State. That's one of those plays that cements a personal highlight reel and keeps people talking, and by extension helps his draft stock.

12. LaMichael James Channels Barry Sanders

Oregon's LaMichael James placed himself into Heisman discussions for a reason. Part of it was his amazing rushing stats, another part was Oregon's undefeated record and another part was plays like this, a 72-yard touchdown run where he could have just as easily lost yards.

11. LSU-Tennessee and the Insane Ending

In an SEC matchup, Tennessee seems to make the defensive stop at the end of the game and pull off an upset win over LSU.

Or do they? Find out what really happened and why it's on this list.

10. Andrew Luck Spears a Defender

You know you're having a tough game when you have the ball and get laid out cold by the opposing team's quarterback. Those kinds of hits are a one-a-week deal but are definitely rare when a quarterback's making a tackle like that.

9. A.J. Green Makes the Catch of the Year

A.J. Green missed the first four games for Georgia and was making his season debut against Colorado. In the second quarter, he makes what seems to be a one-handed scoop catch for the touchdown. You can see why he will be the top-ranked wide receiver in the draft.

8. Iowa's Defense Pulls Out a Trick TD

There's a reason Iowa was ranked for a good chunk of the season: Their offense and defense can both make plays.

In this matchup against Michigan State, a pass is picked off, and then a lateral is taken in for the touchdown. It put Iowa up 17-0 en route to the Spartans' only loss.

7. Cam Newton's End-of-Half Hail Mary

Here's the play we all saw for days on end. To end the half, Cam Newton threw a Hail Mary in the SEC Championship Game to give Auburn a nice lead at the half.

Yet it's only the second-best Hail Mary in college football this year.

6. Presbyterian Makes the Trick Play of the Year

Presbyterian was playing its first matchup against a BCS team in Wake Forest when it pulled off this bounce pass for the touchdown.

Everything worked perfectly in this amazing play, though now everyone's going to expect a play like that next time they face a BCS school.

5. The Boise State-Nevada Experience

The two great touchdowns by Nevada, the perfect long pass to Titus Young, the two missed field goals...this game was a highlight reel in and of itself.

4. Michigan State's Game-Winning Fake Field Goal

Michigan State and Notre Dame had a competitive matchup that went to overtime. Notre Dame kicked a field goal, and Michigan State was looking to do the same.

On fourth down, they went for the field goal but instead faked it and threw a touchdown pass to give them the win—a huge risk that paid off big-time.

3. The Hawaii Marching Band

Yes, I know this is technically not a play involving football players. That being said, it's awesome, it involves a group of people on the field and they're technically kicking a football, so I'm counting it!

2. ECU Throws a Game-Winning Hail Mary

Early in the season, Tulsa was ahead of East Carolina, 49-45, when ECU threw a Hail Mary into the end zone. It was caught, and ECU pulled out a win.

This is what gave ECU a bowl game and what kept Tulsa from a better one, as the teams would have otherwise been 5-7 and 10-2, respectively.

1. Oklahoma State Makes a Ridiculous Interception

Wow. In a Big 12 rivalry matchup, the ball seems to go out of bounds on a Landry Jones pass when the Oklahoma State defense makes a play that you have to see to believe.