College Football: The 15 Greatest Crunch-Time Players in the Last 25 Years
There is nothing more important in the wide world of sports than the ability to perform at the highest level when your team needs it the most.
Being "clutch," as it's most often referred to, is a matter of heart and determination much more so than talent, though it certainly doesn't hurt to have impressive raw ability. However, the recent struggles of LeBron James in the 2011 NBA Finals tell a cautionary tale of how immense talent is anything but a correlate of late-game moxy.
The same can be said of college football, a sport in which legends are borne of grit and guts in moments when the potential for glory is greatest.
With the emergence of pro-style and sneaky spread offenses over the last quarter century, the definition of "clutch" in college football has expanded to include a multitude of gunslinging quarterbacks who can scoot when necessary.
Here, then, are 15 of the best crunch time players to have graced the college football world over the past 25 years.
Cam Newton, Auburn
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Cam Newton is the latest face of "clutch" to be etched into the collective conscience of college football.
The 2010 Heisman Trophy winner led the Auburn Tigers to an undefeated BCS National Championship season, during which he almost single-handedly engineered seven victories by eight points or less.
Few football fans in the state of Alabama will soon forget Newton's virtuoso performance in the Iron Bowl, when he led the Tigers all the way back from a 24-point deficit for a 28-27 win, passing for 216 yards and piling up four total touchdowns amidst the most dramatic come-from-behind victory in the school's 117-year football history.
Vince Young, Texas
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Comparing Cam Newton to Vince Young may be a bit lazy, but it is certainly appropriate nonetheless.
The two-time Rose Bowl MVP tormented his Big 12 opponents with late-game heroics, Oklahoma State and Kansas in particular, before closing out his collegiate career with one of the most thrilling individual performances when he threw for 267 yards and ran for another 200 and three touchdowns to defeat USC and earn the 2006 BCS National Championship for Texas.
Tim Tebow, Florida
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Dual-threat quarterbacks have taken over in recent years as the best crunch-time performers, with Tim Tebow among the best of the bunch.
A two-time BCS National Champion and winner of the 2007 Heisman Trophy, Tebow left an indelible mark on the college football cosmos when, following a disappointing loss to Ole Miss during the 2008 season, he vowed that he wouldn't allow Florida to lose another game.
And backed it up, leading the Gators to a 12-1 record and a win over the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Eric Crouch, Nebraska
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Of course, it's not exactly a new thing for dual-threat quarterbacks to come through in a pinch.
Take Eric Crouch, for example. During his Heisman Trophy season in 2001, Crouch did everything humanly possible to give the Nebraska Cornhuskers a shot at the national title, including a 95-yard touchdown run against Missouri (the longest in school history) and a 63-yard touchdown pass against Oklahoma on a play in which he served as both quarterback and receiver.
Tommie Frazier, Nebraska
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As good as Eric Crouch was in the clutch at Nebraska, his career accomplishments pale in comparison to those of fellow Cornhusker Tommie Frazier.
Frazier led so many blowout wins that it may be tough to judge his ability in crunch time, though he certainly had plenty of success with the game on the line. As a sophomore, he guided Nebraska to a 14-13 victory over UCLA and led Nebraska to a game-winning drive against Florida State in the Orange Bowl, earning game MVP honors even though the Huskers lost.
His greatest clutch performance came in the 1995 Orange Bowl against Miami when, after being pulled early in the game by head coach Tom Osbourne for some poor plays, Frazier re-entered the game with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and led Big Red back from a 17-9 deficit to win 24-17 and earn his second consecutive MVP award.
Kerry Collins, Penn State
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The Nebraska Cornhuskers will be joining the newly-expanded Big Ten in 2011—the same position Kerry Collins found himself in with Penn State,
Collins became Joe Paterno's starting quarterback the year after the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten and promptly led the team to a 12-0 record, including road wins Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, each by seven points or less.
Ron Dayne, Wisconsin
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To be considered a great crunch time player, one must not only perform at the highest level with the game on the line, but also throughout the most important games on the schedule.
Such was certainly the case with Ron Dayne, who thrice rushed for 200 yards or more in bowl game victories, including the back-to-back Rose Bowls in which he earned game MVP honors.
Brian Griese, Michigan
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In the grand scheme of things, Brian Griese will likely be remembered more for being Bob Griese's son than for what he did himself, though such a perspective wouldn't be fair to what he accomplished during his time at Michigan.
Griese led the Wolverines to an undefeated season in 1997, capped off by a victory over Washington State in the 1998 Rose Bowl that cemented the Maize and Blue as the national champions.
What's arguably more important, at least for the folks in Ann Arbor, is the fact that Griese went 3-0 against arch rival Ohio State, including consecutive nail-biting upsets of the hated Buckeyes in 1995 and 1996.
Jake Plummer, Arizona State
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Jake Plummer nearly guided Arizona State to what would have been the school's first national championship in football following the 1996 season, though the fact that the Sun Devils fell short should not be held against him in measuring his "clutch-ness."
To get ASU to the precipice of the national title, "Jake the Snake" had to engineer courageous comebacks against USC and UCLA, the first requiring two overtime sessions and the second coming by way of three Plummer touchdowns in the final eight minutes of the game.
Cade McNown, UCLA
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Speaking of UCLA, the Bruins had their own "Mr. Clutch" in the 1990s to be proud of: Cade McNown.
Despite his NFL failures, McNown deserves praise for his efforts in hard-fought victories over Pac-10 foe Oregon in 1998 and Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl earlier that year.
Thrilling as those moments were, McNown will forever be remembered in Westwood for his four victories over crosstown rival USC, with particularly honors incurred for rallying the Bruins from a 17-point hole in 1996 and tossing three TD's in a Blue and Gold win in 1997.
Matt Leinart, USC
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Like McNown across town, Matt Leinart was the king of clutch at USC before becoming an abject failure in the NFL.
The 2004 Heisman Trophy winner guided Pete Carroll's Trojans to two national titles and nearly nabbed them a third, though if there's one moment that he'll be remembered for, it'd have to be the infamous "Bush Push" that helped cap USC's comeback win over Notre Dame in 2005.
Joey Harrington, Oregon
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What is it with Pac-10 quarterbacks going bust in the NFL?
Before breaking hearts and crushing dreams in Detroit, Joey Harrington was actually a darn good signal-caller at Oregon, winning 25 of his 28 career starts while leading the Ducks to three bowl wins and nine fourth-quarter comebacks.
Jared Zabransky, Boise State
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Jared Zabransky isn't exactly a household name in the football world these days, but his brilliance helped to bridge the gap in the Boise State dynasty between the Dan Hawkins days and the current Chris Petersen era.
After all, it was Zabransky who stewarded the Broncos' run to a perfect 13-0 season in 2006, capped by an all-time classic upset over heavily-favored Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl that required Zabransky to execute a hook-and-lateral to tie the game and a Statue of Liberty play to win the game with a two-point conversion in overtime.
Which, as you may remember, he did rather beautifully and flawlessly.
Matt Ryan, Boston College
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The roots of Matt Ryan's reputation as "Matty Ice" extend well beyond his days as a one of the NFL's most clutch signal-callers for the Atlanta Falcons.
Ryan solidified his status as the captain of crunch time when he led Boston College to a furious comeback victory over Virginia Tech in 2007, throwing for two touchdowns in the final three minutes of the game to seal the deal for the Eagles.
Philip Rivers, North Carolina State
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One could argue that Matt Ryan received the baton of quarterback leadership in the Atlantic Coast Conference from North Carolina State's Philip Rivers.
The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback for the San Diego Chargers got off to an audacious start when he led the Wolfpack to six come-from-behind victories as a freshman and didn't stop until he graduated with 51 starts, three bowl wins and 95 touchdowns to his name.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
