This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/2Pollaski2Furious on 2024-08-10 15:29:17+00:00.

Holy cow we’ve reached the halfway point its a miracle

55: TEXAS LONGHORNS (lost to Iowa State 24-0) [2015] \

After a disastrous 1-4 start, the 2015 Longhorns looked to be finally turning the corner after upsetting #10 Oklahoma, and then taking down Kansas State to move within a game of .500. And then they rolled into Ames and got straight up Cyclpwned. Not only were the Longhorns kept off the board and barely scraped past the 200 yard mark, they didn’t even make an excursion past the Iowa State 47 until the final minute.

54: OREGON DUCKS (lsot to Oregon State 38-34) [2022]

Despite being blown out by Washington a few weeks prior (cough), the #9 Ducks controlled their own fate as they rolled into Corvallis for their annual Civil War matchup. Beat Oregon State- and they were off to challenge USC for the Pac-12 championship. Even with a loss, the Ducks were in, just so long as Washington lost as well. And things were looking great- the Ducks dominated and with just 18 minutes to go, led 31-10. But the Beavers roared back, scoring a shocking 28 points in less than ten minutes of gameplay- all without throwing a single pass! Oregon couldn’t respond over the last eight minutes, and with a Washington victory in the Apple Cup later that night, the Ducks were relegated to the Holiday Bowl. Ya hate to see it.

53: LSU TIGERS (lost to Auburn 18-13) [2016]

You didn’t think that 2009 Ole Miss game was going to be the only Les Miles Clock Management Special on here, did you? With 24 seconds left, the Bayou Bengals trailed Auburn 18-13, and faced a 3rd and 16 from the Auburn 20. QB Danny Etling threw to Malachi Dupre for ten yards, but Dupre could not get out of bounds, and LSU scrambled to get the fourth down snap off. The clock was down to 5 when the ball was snapped, and Etling threw a quick pass, hitting Dural Travin with one second left- short of the end zone, but good enough for the first down. But LSU was flagged for an illegal shift, pushing them back 5 yards from the original snap. Again on fourth down with a second left, Etling rolled out and hit his man in the end zone for the miracle TD- only replays confirmed the clock had hit zero well before the ball was snapped, and Auburn escaped. It would prove to be Les Miles last game on the LSU sideline, as the Mad Hatter was fired the very next day.

52: COLORADO BUFFALOES (lost to Stanford 46-43) [2023]

There were three games on Friday the 13th in October of 2023, and of the three, no one in their right mind would have expected this would have been the most memorable one. First, Tulane surged in the fourth quarter to take down Memphis to set the early pace in the American, and then Fresno State outdueled Utah State 37-32 in a fantastic Mountain West thriller. Meanwhile, Colorado, who welcomed back star two-way threat Travis Hunter back from an injury this game, was apparently returning to form and dominating Stanford, going up 29-0 at halftime. But Stanford- particularly wide-receiver Elic Ayomanour- exploded in the second half, going on a 36-7 run and forcing overtime. In the second OT, Colorado QB Shadeur Sanders went to the end zone and was picked off, leading the door for Stanford to finish the historic comeback victory with a winning FG. The game proved a death knell to the Buffs season- they wouldn’t win another game and flatlined to 4-8 after a well publicized 3-0 start.

Okay, Story time! So its weird- I wasn’t really much of a college football fan growing up, but I absolutely LOVED the Bowl Season. I once helped my Dad’s friend win his office pool (I just picked the team with the better record), and I would actually make my own “cards” where I drew the bowl logo and wrote out the team names. I didn’t know much about the teams, but man I loved how cool the bowl logos were (my fave was the Copper). As for the actual bowls, I really only watched the New Years Bowls, and I always looked forward to the Orange Bowl halftime show, which was arguably better than the Super Bowl’s back then. Again, outside of the major teams like Michigan or Nebraska I didn’t really know much about any of them, but it was a fun day of football nonetheless.

After my friend introduced me to the NCAA Football video game series, I began paying a bit more attention. But it wasn’t until I moved to Ellensburg to attend Central Washington just before the 2004 season started that I truly fell into the college football hole. Without really knowing anyone in town, I turned to watching college football in my apartment on weekends, and became involved in some online communities, particularly ESPN and a now defunct message board called CFBMedia. The Tank Job of the Week came about thanks to two main influences. The first is ESPN’s Bottom 10, particularly the “coveted #5 spot”. The second is the excellent website WrestleCrap, which has for years compiled a long, LONG list of the most hilariously bad things to have ever happened in professional wrestling. It made me realize that people celebrate the bad almost as much as the good, and I thought a weekly award to the team that screwed it up the most would be a great way to make inroads with my new online community.

Coincidentally, this also was the week I learned that the Jefferson Pilot Game of The Week was available to watch for free online. Because boy did I pick the right week to start this.

51: FLORIDA GATORS (lost to Mississippi State 38-31) [2004]

Florida was ranked 20th and 4-2 entering this game, having lost heartbreakers to very good Tennessee and LSU squads. Mississippi State was 1-5, which included double-digit losses to Vanderbilt and UAB plus a 9-7 debacle against Maine. They had lost 9 straight against SEC opponents. But the Bulldogs came out fighting this day, and gave Florida all they could handle, leading the Gators into the fourth quarter, but Florida tied things up at 31 with five minutes left. After State downed out, Florida took over with great field position, but QB Chris Leak was intercepted just past midfield, giving State their own chance to end this. With 43 seconds left, Jerious Norwood took a handoff, cut through the Florida defense, and surged into the endzone, shocking the Gators. The stunning defeat proved the death knell of Ron Zook’s tenure, as he was informed shortly after that while he would finish the season, he would not be returning to Gainesville in 2005.

TOMORROW: Manny Diaz rides the Mormon Trail, and the Mountaineers cometh.