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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/TechnoFullback on 2024-01-01 16:09:30.

Many of you may know about this already, but no doubt some of you may not.

On January 1st, 1954 The 8-2 Rice Owls took on the 6-2-3 Alabama Crimson Tide at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Rice’s All-American (and eventually College Football Hall of Famer) Dicky Moegle was the star of the day, rushing for 265 yards on 11 carries. It was a disappointing performance for an Alabama team led by Bart Starr, after a tough season with several ties versus LSU, Tennessee, and Mississippi State, as well as a 1 score loss to eventual 9-2 University of Southern Mississippi (called Mississippi Southern at the time.)

Alabama struck first with fullback Tommy Lewis scoring a 2-yard TD. It would be their final points of the game, as Moegle started his tremendous performance in the 2nd quarter with a 79-yard run on the first play of the second quarter. Rice would ultimately dominate as they went on to win 28-6.

What makes this game infamous, is not the exemplary performance by Moegle, but a tackle made by Tommy Lewis, who was sitting on the bench at the time.

Midway through the 2nd Quarter, he took the handoff with Rice at their own 5-yard line, broke off the right side, and sprinted down the sideline for what looked like an incredible 95-yard, uncontested touchdown run. Unfortunately, Tommy Lewis had other ideas, and jumped off the bench, without his helmet, and performed a pretty damn good tackle, all things considered, and then returned immediately to the bench.

Moegle would be awarded a 95-yard touchdown. from Wikipedia:

As humorously reported in the Reading Eagle, “The incident became the first in bowl game history where a man on the bench tackled a runner, and also the first where a runner received credit for a touchdown while flat on his back 38 [sic] yards from the goal line.”

The play is available on YouTube, and as it was watched by a national audience on NBC, is one of the most, if not the most infamous tackle in the history of the sport.

From Rice’s YouTube channel:

Happy New Years everyone.