Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
College football is 31-derful
By John Walters
Baskin-Robbins is not the only enterprise that enjoys a fruitful, long-standing relationship with the number 31. College football fans also know, and were reminded again last Saturday, that 31 is a prime number both figuratively and literally.
So many memorable college football games have a connection to the number that it has become imperative for us to devote an entire A-List to it. And while this list is not exactly 31 units long, that's okay. Baskin-Robbins doesn't exactly have 31 flavors, either (the original concept, by the way, was to have a flavor for every day of the month).
Tom Osborne's brave decision to go for two may have cost Nebraska the '83 National Championship.
Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
Notre Dame makes this list three times. It's worth noting that the school is bordered on its western edge by Indiana Route 31.
Herewith, are the most memorable "31" games in college football history, in order of greatness:
Miami 31, Nebraska 30, January 1, 1984
People were calling this Cornhuskers team the greatest of all-time. The Hurricanes at this point were still just an upstart team. This game featured a fumblerooski, Mike Rozier, a dude named Stanley Shakespeare (one of two Shakespeares on this list; the name is absolutely inextricable from great drama), and Tom Osborne's brave decision to go for two at the end of the game, even when a tie would likely have given the Nebraska coach his first national title.
Notre Dame 31, Miami 30, October 15, 1988
Catholics versus Convicts, as the T-shirt hawkers billed it. Defending national champion Miami hadn't lost in 36 games. Three years earlier the Hurricanes had handed the Irish their worst defeat in history (58-7) and the year before they'd shut out the Irish and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown, 24-0. The most self-assured road team college football has ever seen, the '80s era Canes entered Notre Dame Stadium without fear. A pre-game brawl only fueled the hype. Notre Dame, aided by Pat Terrell's interception return for a touchdown and his pass deflection on a last-minute two-point conversion attempt, ended the Hurricane streak. The Irish would go on to win the national title.
Nebraska 35, Oklahoma 31, November 25, 1971
No. 1 versus No. 2 on Thanksgiving Day and with the Huskers came in with a 29-game winning streak. Nebraska's Johnny Rodgers fields a punt at his 28 and returns it for a TD, one of the most renowned plays in history (despite an apparent unflagged clip or two). The Huskers win game and national title, while Rodgers wins the Heisman the following year.
USC 34, Notre Dame 31, October 15, 2005
Reggie Bush. Rhymes with ... illegal push. Bush's shove of quarterback Matt Leinart to secure the last-minute Trojans victory (and extend their win streak to 28 games) should not obfuscate his awesome -- perhaps Heisman-winning --performance on this golden afternoon in South Bend.
By John Walters
Baskin-Robbins is not the only enterprise that enjoys a fruitful, long-standing relationship with the number 31. College football fans also know, and were reminded again last Saturday, that 31 is a prime number both figuratively and literally.
So many memorable college football games have a connection to the number that it has become imperative for us to devote an entire A-List to it. And while this list is not exactly 31 units long, that's okay. Baskin-Robbins doesn't exactly have 31 flavors, either (the original concept, by the way, was to have a flavor for every day of the month).
Tom Osborne's brave decision to go for two may have cost Nebraska the '83 National Championship.
Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
Notre Dame makes this list three times. It's worth noting that the school is bordered on its western edge by Indiana Route 31.
Herewith, are the most memorable "31" games in college football history, in order of greatness:
Miami 31, Nebraska 30, January 1, 1984
People were calling this Cornhuskers team the greatest of all-time. The Hurricanes at this point were still just an upstart team. This game featured a fumblerooski, Mike Rozier, a dude named Stanley Shakespeare (one of two Shakespeares on this list; the name is absolutely inextricable from great drama), and Tom Osborne's brave decision to go for two at the end of the game, even when a tie would likely have given the Nebraska coach his first national title.
Notre Dame 31, Miami 30, October 15, 1988
Catholics versus Convicts, as the T-shirt hawkers billed it. Defending national champion Miami hadn't lost in 36 games. Three years earlier the Hurricanes had handed the Irish their worst defeat in history (58-7) and the year before they'd shut out the Irish and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown, 24-0. The most self-assured road team college football has ever seen, the '80s era Canes entered Notre Dame Stadium without fear. A pre-game brawl only fueled the hype. Notre Dame, aided by Pat Terrell's interception return for a touchdown and his pass deflection on a last-minute two-point conversion attempt, ended the Hurricane streak. The Irish would go on to win the national title.
Nebraska 35, Oklahoma 31, November 25, 1971
No. 1 versus No. 2 on Thanksgiving Day and with the Huskers came in with a 29-game winning streak. Nebraska's Johnny Rodgers fields a punt at his 28 and returns it for a TD, one of the most renowned plays in history (despite an apparent unflagged clip or two). The Huskers win game and national title, while Rodgers wins the Heisman the following year.
USC 34, Notre Dame 31, October 15, 2005
Reggie Bush. Rhymes with ... illegal push. Bush's shove of quarterback Matt Leinart to secure the last-minute Trojans victory (and extend their win streak to 28 games) should not obfuscate his awesome -- perhaps Heisman-winning --performance on this golden afternoon in South Bend.
