This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/Pollaski on 2024-07-14 14:55:35+00:00.
The Tank Job of the Week is an award for the FBS team that did the best job of humiliating itself over the weekend. Whether they blew a large lead, choked away a spot in the limelight, lost a game they had absolutely no right losing, or completely screwed everything on a last second blunder, the TJOTW winner sets the gold standard in college football misery. Over the next seven weeks, we are counting down my 100 greatest tank jobs over the last 20 years. WARNING: You will be hurt.
(video links and a link to the entire list in comments)
94: OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS (lost to Central Michigan 30-27) [2016]
This is another game where you actually have to question who actually did the tanking here- the Cowboys or the officials. And lets not give OSU a pass here- they definitely could have, and should have stopped the final play- a Hail Mary that fell well short of the goal line but was pitched to a looping Corey Willis who just made the corner post for the winning score. Nor should this game have even been close- the Cowboys were three touchdown favorites and would go on to finish 10-3 and ranked 11th, while the Chips would end up needing the game for bowl eligibility.
But the play never should have happened. Oklahoma State held the ball on fourth down with just a couple of seconds left, and in lieu of punting decided to simply try to run the clock out by having the quarterback chuck it away. Unfortunately, since the QB was still in the pocket, there were no receivers in the area, and CMU was rushing, they ruled the play intentional grounding. Even more unfortunately, they ruled that because the game can’t end on a penalty, Central Michigan, who got the ball off the turnover on downs, would get one untimed play.
That’s not how the rulebook works, like, at all, and I remember being incredibly confused, along with pretty much everyone else, watching this unfold live. If a penalty results in a replay of the down, then yes, you get one untimed down. However, if the penalty results in a loss of down- such as intentional grounding- the game ends. That’s why you can take an intentional safety to preserve a lead and try to extend the play by having your linemen hold onto defenders like they’re dance partners. Or why the game simply ends if there’s something like offensive pass interference.
Neither the MAC officials on the field, nor the Big 12 officials in the replay booth, caught this, and as a result, the Cowboys would be knocked out of national championship contention in just the second week of the season- something they otherwise would have been very much in had they headed into Bedlam at 10-1.
93: FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES (lost to Georgia Tech 22-16)
Do I just have an anti-2015 ACC bias? After all I’m ranking the three most notorious games from that season in the 90s, when you could definitely argue that all three could be much higher. I’ll let you be the judge, but keep in mind, the competition is fierce.
Unlike 2015 Georgia Tech. I wish I had my old records with me, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the Jackets were the 2015 Tank Job of the Year. GT started off ranked 16th in the country, and absolutely demolished their first two opponents (Alcorn State and Tulane) by a combined score of 134-16. Then they came up short in a close one to top-10 Notre Dame, lost to an unranked Duke, and then their next three to sit at just 2-5 heading in.
Florida State, on the other hand, was as hot as they could be. They were 6-0, and had lost just once in the past three seasons, running headfirst into the Oregon buzzsaw in the 2014 Rose Bowl. They had won 28 consecutive ACC games before what would come to be known as the Miracle on Techwood Drive.
With the score tied at 16, Roberto Aguayo lined up to put the Jackets away and escape Bobby Dodd Stadium. But the kick was blocked (snuffed, rubbed out, erased!), and Georgia Tech picked it up and ran it down the field. Only Aguayo himself was able to get anywhere near the returner, and when he whiffed his tackle, pandemonioum erupted in Atlanta. WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!
For what its worth, I’ve never liked Mark Jones’ call on this. It sounds like he’s trying way too hard to make a memorable quote and the worst thing is, as evidenced by my entry, he succeeded.
The weird thing is, coming out of this game, the Seminoles weren’t hurt that badly- they lost just four spots in the AP Poll, dropping to #13. At the time it was considered Georgia Tech finally turning the corner after hitting the skids early on. But it would end up being the Jackets only conference win and they would finish a disastrous 3-9 (1-7). As for FSU, while this was symbolically viewed as the end to their ACC dominance, the true end would come a couple of weeks later, when they lost to Clemson in what was a true passing of the torch game. The Seminoles would end up finishing 10-3.
UP NEXT: How bad does it have to be for VANDERBILT to win TJOTW? And the first of what will prove to be several crazy bowl meltdowns.