"Trouble With The Snap!" - 10 Years Ago Today, Michigan vs Michigan State Gave Us an All-Time College Football Choke Job (BONUS: Other Fun College Football Choke Jobs)
That has to be one of the most improbable, most heartbreaking choke jobs in the history of sports. All at the hands of a punter. That isn't fair. Punters don't sign up for that. It's one to lose a game because of some idiot kicker. That happens multiple times a week. But of all the punters in the history of the world (including Hall of Fame NFL punters who played 20+ year careers), how many of them have ever even been in a position where losing the game for your team was possible? The only other instance I can think of is in the NFL. Giants vs Eagles. Winner goes to the playoffs. All he had to do was kick it out bounds.
The Eagles used to be so cool.
That Michigan-Michigan State "Trouble With The Snap!" game was 10 years ago today (October 17th, 2015). So long ago that I remember cheering for Michigan. People forget they used to be kind of a sad program. As a fan of Big Ten football, I just wanted to see them be a respectable program again. I had no idea what was coming around the corner...
In honor of one of the greatest chokings in college football history, here are some more chokings of college football history. Not necessarily the "best" ones. I'm not even sure they all qualify as a "choke". But all of these games were pretty damn funny.
Miami Refuses to Take a Knee (2003)
This all-time choke job was recent enough, I'd imagine most college football fans remember it like yesterday. The game was over. Georgia Tech's defense took their last timeout on 2nd & 12 with 1:18 left on the clock. The game clock is 40 seconds. That equates to 1:20. Just take 2 knees and the game is over.
But nope. They ran the ball and fumbled. I believe the prevailing theory (Mario Cristobal may have even said this at some point) was that they wanted to get their running back to the 100 yard mark? But the box score says he had 106, which means he was already there. But who cares what his reasoning was. There's no reasoning in the world that would justify his decision to keep running plays there.
Beyond the fumble, there were a couple atrocious plays by Miami's DB's on that final Georgia Tech drive. One horrific judging of a football, and one busted coverage. How a defense can end up in this position when up 3 with a few seconds left in the game (especially when Georgia Tech had no timeouts, just tackle in bounds and the game is over) is beyond me.
Ole Piss Loses The Egg Bowl (2019)
This is more hilarious than it is a true "choke". I think to truly choke a game, you need to at one point have had the game already won. But this was very funny. To be honest, I think the refs should have let that celebration go. I actually thought it was kinda clever. But apparently fake urination is where SEC refs draw the line.
So all things considered, in a heated Egg Bowl between sworn enemies Ole Miss and Mississippi State. With how much those two teams hate each other. To lose a game to your arch in-state rival because your star receiver couldn't help but do a dog piss celebration. And the kicker couldn't bail him out. That qualifies as a choke in my book.
Shoutout Mississippi State's live mascot Bully.
I like to think Elijah Moore saw Bully on the sideline, which gave him the idea to piss like a dog right in his face. I like to think that without Bully, Mississippi State doesn't win the Egg Bowl that year. Good boy.
Alexis Serna Missed Extra Points
This one is pretty crazy. Shoutout to Reddit for this. I was unfamiliar with the tale of mid-2000's Oregon State kicker Alexis Serna. In the first week of the 2004 season, Oregon State traveled to Baton Rouge to face Nick Saban's #3 LSU Tigers. It was a dog fight from start to finish. Oregon State's defense in particular was incredible. They should have won that game. But they ended up losing (22-21) in OT.
How exactly did they choke it away? Oregon State's Freshman kicker, Alex Serna, in his first college football game ever, missed 3 extra points. Here's how the scoring went:
1st Quarter - Oregon State TD (missed XP, off right upright) – 6-0 OSU
2nd Quarter - Oregon State FG (40-yarder, well done Alexis!) – 9-0 OSU
3rd Quarter - LSU TD (XP good) – 9-7 OSU
3rd Quarter - Oregon State TD (missed XP, off right upright) – 15-7 OSU
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4th Quarter - LSU TD (1:20 remaining, 2pt conv. good) – 15-15 TIE
OT1 - LSU TD (XP good) – 15-22 LSU
OT1 - Oregon State TD (missed XP, wide right) – 21-22 (LSU wins)
It's a bit of a long highlight, but if you skip through to the Oregon State scores you'll get the gist of it.
What a nightmare. As nightmare of a start to your collegiate kicking career as you can have. It's amazing Alexis Serna didn't just call it quits after this. But he stuck with. Serna kicked for Oregon State for 4 years. Those 3 missed extra points in that first game vs LSU would be the only missed extra points of his entire collegiate career.
And guess what Alexis Serna went on to win next season?
Kinda underwhelming stats for the best kicker in college football… I also found that in Oregon State's second to last regular season game vs Stanford, they lost 17-20, and Alexis Serna went 1 for 4. But he still won the Lou Groza Award. We can't take that away from him. Unless some allegations come out.
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Mel Tucker $80M Choke (No Pun Intended)
Speaking of allegations. On November 24th, 2021, the Michigan State Spartans signed head coach Mel Tucker to a 10-Year, $95M contract. The money was guaranteed. Michigan State was so enthralled with Mel's 16-14 record, along with his recent 11-point loss to unranked Purdue (Nov 6), and a 49-point thumping at the hands of #5 Ohio State (Nov 20), that they simply couldn't wait any longer to make Mel Tucker the 6th highest paid coach in college football, and the highest paid African-American coach in college football history (to be fair, he did go 11-2 and will Big Ten Coach of The Year that season, so he had a good year).
Next season he went 5-7. But who gives a shit. Mel had $95M in guaranteed money coming his way. Mel Tucker seemed to be doing the thing college football fans always joke about. Sign a record breaking contract, then fuck off until you get fired, collect your impossibly big buyout, then ride off in to the sunset.
But then he literally and figuratively choked it all away. The season after, MSU started out HOT with a couple big W's over Central Michigan and Richmond. Then…… the USA Today published a story about how Mel Tucker was caught masturbating on the phone with an anti-sexual violence advocate/rape survivor who had come to Michigan State to speak to his team. Mel Tucker was fired for cause, and Michigan State was off-the-hook for the $80M remaining on Mel Tucker's contract.
He did file a wrongful termination and defamation lawsuit against the university. But last I can find, Mel Tucker apparently has gone missing? His lawsuit apparently came to a standstill because Mel Tucker just kinda disappeared?
That one is a bit of a different style of college football choke job. But a choke job nonetheless.
ALMOST CHOKE: 2014 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl
It seems like a shame to not include the legendary inaugural 2014 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl between the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and the Central Michigan Chippewas. Even though Western Kentucky won this game (by 1-point), to have a 4th quarter this disastrous, it has to qualify as a choke to some extent.
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One of the most impossible comebacks you'll ever watch. All to fall short on a failed 2-point conversion back shoulder fade attempt. The final knife to the heart of everyone who bet Western Kentucky -2.5. They fended off the comeback, but to be up 35 points heading into the 4th quarter and fail to cover -2.5… that deserves a mention in the choke blog.
That's only a handful of fun college football chokes. There's some more obvious ones (like the Stanford Band choking away the game vs Cal by running onto the field). Speaking of crowds of people on the field before the game is over… the Virginia field storm vs Florida State earlier this year had SO MUCH potential for disaster. It wouldn't have necessarily been a choke… but if that back judge threw a pass interference flag. By the time anybody would have realized it, the crowd was all but fully covering the field.
But those are my favorite. Or the one's I found most interesting. Someday I'll have to dig a little deeper into the history books and see what else I can dig up that I might not even know about.