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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/Pollaski on 2024-07-26 16:18:38+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)
NOTE: Actually they won’t be. At least yet. My fundamental clownshow of an ISP is currently in their 14th hour of an outage and, according to the nice customer support lady I just talked to only JUST started investigating the cause and there’s no estimated time for restoration. Furthermore, because everyone’s wi-fi is out now everyone’s on 5G and its gumming the hell out of that too. It was all I could do to hotspot and get to Reddit to post this, trying YouTube is out of the damn question. Anyways, how’s your morning? Let’s do some tank jobs.
70: BOISE STATE BRONCOS (lost to Wyoming 30-28) [2016]
Ever since joining the conference in 2011, its no surprise that Boise State has been the big bad of the Mountain West Conference, especially its Mountain Division, where they don’t have to directly compete against fellow conference powers Fresno State and San Diego State. The Broncos have won five MW Championships, and have won at least a share of the division in nine of the thirteen years they have been in the conference. Wyoming, on the other hand, has proven itself to be one of the toughest jobs in all of college football. The Cowboys haven’t won a conference championship since 1993- and outright since 1988. They have an all-time losing record, both overall and in conference. Its not hard to see why- Laramie is a fairly isolated community in the least populated state in the country. To say nothing of the elevation at over 7,100 feet- one of Wyoming’s greatest home field advantages also scares away plenty of recruits who prefer the more oxygenated havens of the lowlands.
After the 2013 season Wyoming hired Craig Bohl away from North Dakota State. Bohl was the architect of the Bison’s dominance, leading to five straight FCS National Championships, nine in eleven years, and nightmares among mid-level Power 5 schools all across the upper Midwest. Bohl hasn’t had the same success in Laramie that he did in Fargo, obviously, but he’s done pretty well considering Wyoming’s resources- discounting the two years he spent rebuilding, the Cowboys have made the postseason in six of eight years.
Wyoming entered the 2016 season picked to finish dead last in the Mountain Division, and they didn’t inspire much confidence when they needed triple overtime to survive Northern Illinois, then got flattened by Nebraska in the second week. They were 2-2 after being nipped out by Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti, but surprised everyone when they won their first three conference games over Colorado State, Air Force, and Nevada. That set up a showdown with #13 Boise State, who flew into Laramie for their week 9 nighttime matchup. Boise was a two touchdown favorite, and history was on their side- Boise had won all ten previous meetings, and only one had even been a one-score game.
The Broncos’ offense came alive towards the end of the first quarter and drew first blood. Wyoming responded by driving all the way to the Boise State 1, and Craig Bohl elected to go for it, but was stuffed. Boise responded by going all 99 yards in 5 plays to make the lead 14-0, and history looked to be repeating itself. Wyoming finally got on the board, but Boise responded, and Wyoming was held to just a field goal on their next drive, making the score 21-10. Boise threw an interception on their first play of the next drive, setting Wyoming up in Bronco territory, and the Pokes capitalized to close the gap to four. With time running down, Boise put themselves in hail mary range, but QB Brett Rypien was sacked before he could get it off, ending the half at 21-17. There was hope.
Things settled down in the second half until Wyoming got another field goal early in the fourth quarter, closing the gap to 1. Boise responded with a touchdown, but it remained a one possession game, and Wyoming capitalized, getting the 2-point conversion to tie the game up. Both teams exchanged punt, but Wyoming’s boot pinned Boise back at their own 10 with just 1:38 to go, and thoughts were drifting back to Bohls decision to go for it back on Wyoming’s first drive. Then, on second down, Wyoming linebcker Chase Appleby blew through the line and ran straight into Rypien. Somehow, Rypien stayed on his feet, backpedalling, but the ball flew out of his hands, rolling out the back of the endzone, sending Laramie into a frenzy and Appleby into one hell of a dance. The Cowboys led 30-28, and were getting the ball. Boise tried and failed an onside kick, and Wyoming was able to get the first down they needed to ice the game. This remains the only time Wyoming has ever defeated Boise State in football.
Boise plummeted all the way to #24 in the rankings, and be upset by Air Force in the last week of the regular season. As for Wyoming, they lost to UNLV two weeks later in an insane 69-66 triple OT game, and then fell hard to New Mexico in the finale, setting up a three way tie between the Lobos, Cowboys, and Broncos. When the tiebreakers shook out, it was Wyoming getting the nod and the right to host the Mountain West Championship game, where they fell in a close one to San Diego State.
69: IOWA STATE CYCLONES (lost to Iowa 18-17) [2019]
Its no surprise that we humans love bad things. If we didn’t love bad movies, The Room and Plan Niine From Outerspace would have been lost to the sands of time, nor would Mystery Science Theater have existed. If we didn’t love bad singing, American Idol would have died on the pitchroom floor. If we didn’t love bad food (or at least watching people make bad food), Hell’s Kitchen would never have turned Gordon Ramsay into a megastar. And if we didn’t love bad football, following this sport wouldn’t be nearly as fun. From the Bottom 10 to the Sickos Committee to, yes, the Tank Job of the Week, we love to celebrate bad football.
And there may be no more rivalry series that embodies bad football than the Iowa-Iowa State rivalry. It’s not entirely a fair generalization of the CyHawk Rivalry- not every game has been a defensive struggle and somehow each side has won a 44-41 triple overtime game, but there is a reason why Spencer Hall coined the term “El Assico” to describe the series. It’s not hard to see why- the game is played in usually the second or third week of the season, when teams are still gelling, and features one team notorious for its defensive philosophy and another who hasn’t won a conference championship since 1912. It goes beyond that- the Cyclones have never even won ten games in a single year, and in fact, have only won nine games three times. Their ninth-ranked finish in 2020 would be just the third time in the Cyclones history they finished with a number next to their name, and the only time that number was single digits.
Iowa State was ranked to start the 2019 season, however, after fourth-year coach Matt Campbell led his previous two teams to 8-5 record and looked to be possibly turning the corner in Ames. They would drop to 25th after needing three overtimes to get rid of Northern Iowa, and drop out completely when they were idle in Week 2. Nonetheless, word came out that not only were the #19 Hawkeyes coming to town for their Week 3 rivalry showdown, but College Gameday would be making its first ever appearance in Ames. Corso put on Cy’s head, for the record.
The game was pretty much what we’ve come to expect from CyHawk games- close and low scoring, but but the only early disaster was the three hour lightning delay that pushed the start time back. The Cyclones led 7-6 at the half, and expanded it to 14-6 on the second play after halftime with Brock Purdy throwing to Tarique Milton, who streaked 73 yards for the touchdown. Both teams were content to let the clock run- the third quarter only saw five total drives, one of which ended in a field goal for the Hawkeyes. The CyHawking truly began when a penalty forced Iowa State to start the subsequent drive from their own 6. One three and out later, and they were forced to punt- but the punt only went 34 yards and was STILL managed to return to the ISU 25. Iowa capitalized and scored to take a 15-14 lead. Iowa State responded by driving down to the Iowa 9 before stalling out and kicking their own field goal, getting the lead back at 17-15. But Iowa responded in kind, and took a 18-17 lead with 4:55 to go.
Iowa State moved the ball into Iowa territory, but Purdy couldn’t connect on either third or fourth down, giving the ball back to Iowa. But State forced a three and out, and looked to get the ball back with ninety seconds and a chance to win. But as Tarique Milton moved in, waving his arm for a fair catch, he was plowed into by his OWN gunner, the ball bouncing off his teammates back and to the ground where a Hawkeye fell on it to seal the game and complete Peak Cyhawk. In a series filled with brutal…
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