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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/Pollaski on 2024-07-27 15:15:00+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)
68: ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS (lost to LA-Monroe 34-31) [2012]
Arkansas was going through a transition as the 2007 season came to a close. Sure, the year ended on a high note- a stunning upset over top-ranked LSU in triple overtime, but legendary former head coach Frank Broyles was stepping down as Athletic Director, legendary running back Darren McFadden was headed to the NFL, and slightly less legendary head coach Houston Nutt was on his way to Ole Miss. But then incoming AD Jeff Long announced a bombshell- they had just hired former Louisville coach Bobby Petrino to call the Hogs. To say this was shocking is an understatement- Petrino was in his first season with the Atlanta Falcons, and when I say in, I mean exactly that- the 3-10 Falcons still had three games remaining. But just like that- and apparently just one day after telling the owner of the Falcons he wasn’t going anywhere, Petrino was out and on his way to Fayetteville. It took a couple of years, but things started truly rolling for the Hogs. Arkansas went 10-3 in 2010, finishing twelfth in the nation, and topped it even higher the next year with an 11-2 finish and a #5 ranking after beating Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl. The Razorbacks finally seemed to be turning a corner in the ever-competitive SEC West.
All that changed on April 1, 2012, when word came out that Petrino had been hospitalized in a motorcycle crash. While Petrino initially claimed to have been alone, it soon came out that a young woman- a former Arkansas volleyball player who was now an staffer with the football team, was with Petrino at the time. Even more than that- the two were having an affair, and it was because of this relationship that Petrino got her the job in the athletic department. Needless to say, Petrino was fired.
With less than five months before football season, Arkansas quickly called in John L. Smith. Smith, who had last been a head coach in 2006 with Michigan State, had been Louisville’s special teams coordinator and had just left to take over his alma-mater Weber State, but he agreed to return for a ten month contract- a one season deal. Despite the upheaval, optimism was still rampant in Fayetteville- the Hawgs were ranked 10th to start the season, and after an easy win over Jacksonville State, prepared to face the perennial Sun Belt also-ran the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks. Arkansas entered the game 3 touchdown favorites.
And that’s exactly what they led by halfway through the third quarter- 28-7, despite ULM drawing first blood. On the drive after Arkansas’ fourth touchdown, Monroe was facing a 4th and 10 just across midfield, but quarterback Colton Browning scrambled for a twenty yard gain, and the Warhawks went on to score, making it 28-14. After taking a whopping 18 yard sack on an intentional grounding call, Arkansas was forced to punt from their own 2, setting ULM up again in Hog territory. Again, Arkansas forced 4th and 11, and again, ULM converted, then converted on fourth and goal to close the gap to just seven points. The teams spent the next eleven minutes exchanging punts, until just 2:45 remained, with ULM taking over at their own 10 yard line. Over the next two minutes, they drove down the field, but again would face a 4th and 10, this time at the Arkansas 23. Kolton Browning went for it all, and hit receiver Brent Leonard over the middle, who fell into the endzone. The game was tied, the collapse was complete.
Arkansas tried to drive for the win, but LA-Monroe intercepted the ball at midfield, and we went to overtime. IN the bonus period, Arkansas picked up a first down on a defensive holding call, but then threw three straight incompletions, forcing a field goal. On 3rd and 8 for their own drive, ULM completed a pass that came up just a yard short. But instead of going for the tie, the Warhawks went for it on fourth and 1. As the pocket collapsed around him, Browning ran for it- finding a lane out of the pocket and into the open green. With desperate Arkansas defenders chasing him, he dove for the corner- and crossed just inside the pylon to clinch the shocker.
The win sparked a dream season for the Warhawks, who went 8-5, 6-2 in the Sun Belt (yes, that qualifies as a dream season in Monroe), losing to Ohio in the Independence Bowl. It remains the the most wins and the only time to date ULM has made the postseason as an FBS team. As for Arkansas, they were straight up slaughtered 52-0 by Alabama the following week, and fell apart to a 4-8 record overall. They did, however, manage to win two SEC games- over Auburn and Kentucky (file under Chizik, Gene and Phillips, Joker; reasons why neither have been a head coach since). John L. Smith finished the year, was replaced by Bret Bielema, and headed off to Division II Fort Lewis in Colorado.
67: OKLAHOMA SOONERS (lost to Oklahoma State 38-35) [2014]
Its hardly a hot take for me to be saying that one of the biggest tragedies of the upheaval afflicting college sports is the loss of so many great rivalries. Many teams that had been conference-mates for decades, even over a century, are no longer facing each other, and others are being washed away by necessity as the opponent pool increases. While we were lucky to maintain some classic rivalries such as the Civil War and the Apple Cup for the time being, one of the most notable casualties is the Bedlam Rivalry, which dated back to 1904 and played its 118th and final iteration this past season. While the rivalry got its name from the near riot-like atmosphere of its wrestling meets, the term has been more than appropriate for its football games as well, especially recently- nearly half of Oklahoma State’s 20 victories in the series came in the last thirty years.
The 2014 season was not a banner year for either school. The Sooners began ranked fourth and started 4-0, but were upset by TCU and suffered subsequent losses to Kansas State and Baylor, even falling out of the rankings entirely for a week before reentering, and they entered the regular season finale ranked #20 at 8-3. Oklahoma State had it even tougher- the Cowboys had impressed in their opener by taking a heavily favored Florida State to the limit, and won their next five after that, but came into the game on a five-game losing streak and needing to upset the 21-point favored Sooners in Norman to even get to bowl eligibility.
The game was close to start- both teams exchanged touchdowns, then punts, then touchdowns again. Oklahoma scored their third TD of the game, then shut State down with a three and out, and responded with another touchdown to take a 28-14 lead, which they would take into the half. The Sooners threatened to blow the game wide open early in the third period, but fumbled well into State territory, and neither team managed to score at all in the quarter. Oklahoma State finally broke through early in the fourth, but OU immediately responded to regain the fourteen point lead. Time looked to be running out on Oklahoma’s season as the clock approached five minutes.
But QB Mason Rudolph went a-gunslingin’ and hit Brandon Shepard for two long passes, the last one into the end zone to narrow the gap to seven again. Oklahoma went three and out, and butts all over Memorial Stadium clenched. They promptly unclenched, however, when Rudolph threw an interception on third and 12, giving the Sooners the ball in Oklahoma State territory with 3 minutes left. Oklahoma State had zero timeouts giving OU free reign to kill the clock, and a first down would clinch the victory. The Sooners burned off two minutes, but the goofy run plays they called only moved them backwards, and they were forced to punt the ball back with 1:10 remaining on the clock. Oklahoma State sent the house on the kick, trying for the block, but OU punter Jed Barnett got it away just in time. Cowboy returner Tyreek Hill fair caught the ball at his own 15. Oklahoma State would need 85 yards- or so they thought.
A penalty flag lay on the field- Barnett the punter was down, and the world waited to see if it would be a roughing the punter call, or the less severe running into the kicker call. It was running, and Oklahoma accepted the five yards and a rekick, hoping to pin the Cowboys back even further. On that they succeeded- this time Tyreek Hill caught the ball on his own 8. But the gunner nearest to him overran him, and slipped trying to recover, and Hill took off up the field, breaking a couple tackles and running by a Sooner defender that had been absolutely trucked by a lead blocker. “THIS IS BEDLAM!” screamed announcer Joe Davis as Hill trotted into the end zone. Indeed it was, and Oklahoma State’s bowl hopes would live on into overtime.
The Sooners went first, and couldn’t move the ball at all, leaving Oklahoma …
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