Change One Play In CFB History For Maximum Impact

selmaborntidefan

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Josh Pate is running with the best ones tonight, and I thought this might be a place to discuss some of these and get widespread contribution.

What one play in CFB history IF CHANGED has the biggest so-called "butterfly effect" and changes the sport the most?

Here are a few that came to my mind:

2013 The Play That Shall Not Be Mentioned - prevented a potential 3-peat

1990 Fifth Down - I'm serious. Look at the polls, think about how it would have jiggered the bowl games...and tell me you even have any idea who wins the national championship. Sure, Colorado doesn't BUT WHO DOES? And if it's Miami...that makes them 3-peat in 1991...does Washington even get considered for a split title? And then Alabama is playing Miami going for a 4-peat. There's a lot wrapped up in that one play.

2011 OK State vs Iowa St -
Pokes Quinn Sharp missed a 37-yard game-winning FG with a minute left that would have won the game, kept them undefeated, and cost Alabama the BCSNC. And it has long been rumored - and later confirmed - that it was during this time the first Texas flirtations with Saban were ongoing. If he doesn't have a dynasty in the making...does he go? Does OK State beat LSU (no, they don't)? And before anyone says it, "NO!" This doesn't prevent a four-team playoff, which was in response to Congress and despite revisionism had nothing to do with the all-SEC rematch.

1984 Orange Bowl - if Osborne either kicks the point or they make the 2-point play, they win the national title. Does the Miami dynasty even happen? Does Schnellenberger's stock rise enough for him to leave for a nonexistent USFL franchise? Does Osborne - with the pressure off - win even more titles than he did?

1993 Boston College vs Notre Dame - if the Irish win, who do they play in what game and who wins the title? Does it prevent Bowden from his first and give Holtz his second? Does it set the stage for the Nebraska dynasty?

2010 Iron Bowl - pick any single play, there are a lot of them. If Alabama wins - Ingram doesn't fumble, the McElroy INT doesn't happen, Mark Barron not hurt - TCU plays Oregon. Do the low ratings expedite a playoff?

2008 Texas vs Texas Tech - without Harrell to Crabtree, Texas finishes the year unbeaten and plays Florida. How does that change the outlook for both teams and both conferences? (Probably not that much but who knows?)

I'll add more as I think of them.
 

DzynKingRTR

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Dec 17, 2003
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Josh Pate is running with the best ones tonight, and I thought this might be a place to discuss some of these and get widespread contribution.

What one play in CFB history IF CHANGED has the biggest so-called "butterfly effect" and changes the sport the most?

Here are a few that came to my mind:

2013 The Play That Shall Not Be Mentioned - prevented a potential 3-peat

1990 Fifth Down - I'm serious. Look at the polls, think about how it would have jiggered the bowl games...and tell me you even have any idea who wins the national championship. Sure, Colorado doesn't BUT WHO DOES? And if it's Miami...that makes them 3-peat in 1991...does Washington even get considered for a split title? And then Alabama is playing Miami going for a 4-peat. There's a lot wrapped up in that one play.

2011 OK State vs Iowa St - Pokes Quinn Sharp missed a 37-yard game-winning FG with a minute left that would have won the game, kept them undefeated, and cost Alabama the BCSNC. And it has long been rumored - and later confirmed - that it was during this time the first Texas flirtations with Saban were ongoing. If he doesn't have a dynasty in the making...does he go? Does OK State beat LSU (no, they don't)? And before anyone says it, "NO!" This doesn't prevent a four-team playoff, which was in response to Congress and despite revisionism had nothing to do with the all-SEC rematch.

1984 Orange Bowl - if Osborne either kicks the point or they make the 2-point play, they win the national title. Does the Miami dynasty even happen? Does Schnellenberger's stock rise enough for him to leave for a nonexistent USFL franchise? Does Osborne - with the pressure off - win even more titles than he did?

1993 Boston College vs Notre Dame - if the Irish win, who do they play in what game and who wins the title? Does it prevent Bowden from his first and give Holtz his second? Does it set the stage for the Nebraska dynasty?

2010 Iron Bowl - pick any single play, there are a lot of them. If Alabama wins - Ingram doesn't fumble, the McElroy INT doesn't happen, Mark Barron not hurt - TCU plays Oregon. Do the low ratings expedite a playoff?

2008 Texas vs Texas Tech - without Harrell to Crabtree, Texas finishes the year unbeaten and plays Florida. How does that change the outlook for both teams and both conferences? (Probably not that much but who knows?)

I'll add more as I think of them.
About a month ago I saw an article that was title "who should have won the title". It looked back on dual championships and "controversial" titles. It took away a few from Alabama (2011, 2017, and a few from the 60's) because we lost games, but somehow still gave the title to FSU in 93 despite that they lost a game to the other contender head to head. They also still gave the title to Colorado and even mentioned the 5th down and despite that the writer still felt that the Buffs "deserved" the title.
 

tusks_n_raider

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"If only Colt hadn't..."

I kid I kid Selma

One that helps us and hurts Dabo:


2016:

If Clemson gets called for the Illegal Pick Play in the 2016-17 NCG

Alabama wins 4 Straight NC's from 2015-2018


Since Clemson doesn't win the 2016 NC their "Dynasty" never begins and Trevor Lawrence doesn't go there and maybe Dabo's Coaches leave earlier and so they don't have the goods to beat us in 2018 either if they even make the Playoffs.
 
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selmaborntidefan

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About a month ago I saw an article that was title "who should have won the title". It looked back on dual championships and "controversial" titles. It took away a few from Alabama (2011, 2017, and a few from the 60's) because we lost games, but somehow still gave the title to FSU in 93 despite that they lost a game to the other contender head to head. They also still gave the title to Colorado and even mentioned the 5th down and despite that the writer still felt that the Buffs "deserved" the title.
My problem is that they're not consistent.

The same people saying Alabama didn't win it in 1964 because they lost an exhibition bowl game that didn't count NEVER EVER SAY:
- 1950 Oklahoma lost their bowl game (to Bryant's Kentucky team btw)
- 1951 Tennessee lost their bowl game
- 1953 Maryland lost their bowl game
-1960 Minnesota lost their bowl game
- 1970 Texas lost their bowl game (but won the coach's poll)

WHY DID IT ONLY MATTER IN 1964????

And the following national champions didn't even play bowl games:
Minnesota - 1936, 1940, 1941
Ohio St - 1942
Notre Dame - 1943, 1946, 1947, 1949
Pitt - 1937
Michigan State - 1952
UCLA - 1954
Oklahoma - 1956, 1974
Auburn - 1957
Notre Dame - 1966

We only won in 1965 because people got angry over the 1964 thing. And in all honesty, that probably played the larger role in us not winning it in 1966.

You can legit argue we don't deserve 1978; but that was mostly a makeup call for 1977.

The thing I don't like when people go after Colorado is that that's just one of the more famous examples. There are many times when calls in games affect the final outcome - nowhere near as famous - but it aids a team in winning the national championship.

What a lot of people don't know that was taken into account in 1978 was:
a) USC beat Notre Dame only because of a bad call where the Irish recovered a fumble that was mysteriously ruled an incomplete pass
b) USC then beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl when a fumble recovered by Michigan in the end zone was ruled a TD for Charles White (oh - and they won by 7 points).

The coaches went with, "Well, USC beat Alabama head-to-head so therefore champs." The writers went with, "USC should have three losses anyway plus Alabama beat #1."
 
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81usaf92

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Ryan Pflugner doesn’t miss in the Orange Bowl or 2016 Auburn- lsu game doesn’t have instant replay.

But probably the biggest is Colt getting 1 second vs Nebraska. Had he not then Alabama fans would hate the BCS and the playoffs would have happened a lot sooner.

Also another interesting one is if the ref in the 2011 Okie Lite and ISU game called the FG good…
 

selmaborntidefan

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The crazy lateral that Hunter Henry threw backwards to Alex Collins that led Arkansas over Ole Miss which put Alabama in the SEC championship game. Without that Bama probably doesn’t get into the playoff and win the national championship.
I disagree.

Ole Miss had losses to both Florida and Memphis that year. Yeah, they might have made the SECCG - but given what we learned in the next two years, I don't think this one stands up quite as well as it seemed at the time.

Remember - we were #4 in the first ranking that year, Ole Miss was #18. I just don't see a scenario especially after we knocked off #2 LSU where Ole Miss somehow leapfrogs us. I know we didn't know that then - but we've learned it since then.
 

selmaborntidefan

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"If only Colt hadn't..."

I kid I kid Selma

One that helps us and hurts Dabo:

If Clemson gets called for the Illegal Pick Play in the 2016-17 NCG

Alabama wins 4 Straight NC's from 2015-2018


Since Clemson doesn't win the 2016 NC their "Dynasty" never begins and Trevor Lawrence doesn't go there and maybe Dabo's Coaches leave earlier and so they don't have the goods to beat us in 2018 either if they even make the Playoffs.
You can argue that one Colt McCoy play changed the fortunes of two programs incredibly. Texas UNTIL THAT PLAY was an annual 10-win team. From 1998 to that play, they never won less than 9 games and often they won 11. In the last 13 years, they have one 9-win season and one 10-win season...and five losing seasons.

We could conceivably argue that one play going right for Alabama to win the 2006 Iron Bowl keeps Shula another year and costs us Saban, too.
 

PA Tide Fan

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It'll take me some time to come up with an all time play that Selma is looking for but from this past season if TCU misses the last second FG attempt at Baylor then Alabama most likely makes the playoff with 2 losses and who knows what happens from there?
 
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TideEngineer08

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Yeah. The play that Alabama didn’t convert on 3rd and short late against AU in 2013. I think it was Yeldon.

Then the pick play vs Clemson after the 2016 season.

Or any of several other plays in either game.

Thats 2 separate 3-peats right there.

LenDale White getting stopped on 4th down vs Texas in the Vince Young game.
 

BamaFossil

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I don't remember the year. Bama vs. ND in one of the bowls. ND is slightly ahead and clock is winding down. ND has the ball deep in their end of the field. If Bama stops ND on 3rd and long, they kick to Bama and I was confident Bama scores for the win. But... Tom Clement completes a pass from their end zone... First down, and ND runs out the clock.
OK... Maybe not an earth-shaking event in the world order, but I still remember it. Or think I do, anyway.
 

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