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College Football

Top 25 moments in 2016 college football season

Chris Wright

By Chris Wright

Published:

This isn’t your typical Top 25 college football poll.

It’s a collection of the best and most significant moments after three weeks. Some occurred on the field, some off it and some are surely to be replaced by even better moments in coming weeks.

1. FSU receiver Travis Rudolph makes a friend for life in Bo Paske.

2. Tributes to the late Sam Foltz, the Nebraska punter who was killed in a car accident while returning from a kicking camp in Wisconsin. Foltz was a counselor at the camp.

Nebraska paid tribute by lining up with 10 players on its first punt attempt this season.

In Week 3, Oregon kicker Matt Wogan honored Foltz by placing flowers at the 27-yard line.

3. James Conner shouldn’t be playing football. As dramatic as Nick Chubb’s return was, Conner returned to Pitt’s lineup and scored 2 touchdowns just four months after beating cancer.

4. Jacob Eason’s 4th-down touchdown pass to beat Missouri. Twenty years from now, Bulldogs fans might still be talking about the day the legend was born.

5. Houston puts the College Football Playoff selection committee on notice by upsetting then-No. 3 Oklahoma in Week 1. The Cougars are now 3-0 and are No. 6 in the country. Few obstacles appear in their path toward a Thursday, Nov. 17 home showdown with Louisville.

6. Speaking of which, pick a game, pick a stat, pick a play, Cardinals QB Lamar Jackson is electrifying college football. He has accounted for more TDs (18) than 114 teams. Yes, teams.

He absolutely destroyed Florida State, all but ending the Seminoles’ playoff hopes. Houston and Louisville were ranked No. 15 and No. 19, respectively in the preseason AP Top 25.

7. Alabama overcoming a 21-point deficit at Ole Miss, the largest comeback under Nick Saban. The Tide wiped it out with a 45-6 run that included three non-offensive touchdowns.

8. Welcome back, Nick Chubb. The Georgia star ripped off 222 yards against North Carolina in his return from a season-ending knee surgery. He capped it with a Chubb-like 55-yard touchdown run.

9. These guys never learn. Clemson’s Ray-Ray McCloud and Cal’s Vic Enwere join the club of premature touchdown celebrators. Fortunately their teams held on to win.

10. A week after giving up a touchdown, Clemson gets a gift.

11. We could devote an entire series to blown calls. Miami still thinks it was robbed of the 2002 national title because of a late, phantom pass interference call that set up Ohio State’s tying score. Fast forward to Week 2 of 2016, when officials botched an intentional grounding call at the end of the Oklahoma State-Central Michigan game. The call gave Central Michigan the ball and one more chance. That’s all it needed.

12. Texas coach Charlie Strong has a legitimate beef, too. In Week 3, Texas recovered the ball Enwere dropped, but officials ruled it wasn’t immediate. Part of their reasoning was that they had ruled the play a touchdown, and several players ran by the ball.

Replay overturned the touchdown, but gave Cal the ball at the 1.

https://twitter.com/hamire05/status/777396027418677248

I had no idea there was an expiration date on a fumble recovery.

13. This goes out to all of the unlucky souls who get in this man’s way. Meet Leonard Fournette, the angriest running back on planet Earth.

14. Early candidate for the play of the year, which Matt Hinton described thusly: “Texas Tech ran a double reverse, a flea flicker and a screen pass on the same play. Of course it scored.”

15. There have been dozens of great catches in 2016, but this one from Ohio State’s Noah Brown was, wow.

16. Dan Skipper, Arkansas’ 6-10 left tackle, blocks TCU’s field goal attempt with 28 seconds left to force overtime, where, of course, the Razorbacks won.

17. LSU’s Tre’Davious White with the unofficial 145-yard punt return for a touchdown.

https://twitter.com/Spark_Sports_/status/774793027361484800

18. Texas outlasts Notre Dame 50-47 in double overtime. Too many plays to mention. Tyrone Swo0pes’ 6-yard TD run wins it. Early candidate for Game of the Year.

19. North Dakota State upsets No. 13 Iowa on a last-second field goal at Iowa City. It was shades of Appalachian State’s 2007 upset at No. 5 Michigan.

20. The national anthem at the Battle of Bristol.

https://twitter.com/carcot24/status/775033378538217472

21. Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly struggles with the “like” button in response to a tweet suggesting the Irish should fire defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder.

https://twitter.com/nironside247/status/777570821527236608

22. That’s how many catches Zay Jones had against South Carolina. Jones set an ECU record and was one reception shy of tying the FBS single-game record, held by Cal’s Chad Hansen.

23. This one was reserved for the man and brand who wore it. Michael Jordan (with an assist from Derek Jeter) was honored before Michigan’s home opener. Why? Jordan wanted Michigan to be the first Air Jordan football program.

24. LSU’s “Gridiron Gold” uniforms. Everybody’s doing something, seemingly every week, but this look was stylish without trying to be Oregon-like over the top.

25. Christian McCaffrey can still fly.

Too low on the Top 25? There’s a good bet Stanford’s Heisman hopeful will top this next week.

Chris Wright is Executive Editor at SaturdayDownSouth.com. Email him at cwright@saturdaydownsouth.com.

Chris Wright
Chris Wright

Managing Editor

A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.

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