Holy Cow, the season is over. Football is over until April when we get Spring games for college. But honestly, how fun are those unless it is your team? Since this year is over, I thought it would be a good time to look back and see the top moments in football from this past year. This is for both college and professional.
Note: These may not be the absolute best, but they definitely set the tone for either the team's season, great triumphs, or were just plain amazing.
Here are my top moments 20-16:
20. Kony Ealy's interception and return against the Broncos in Super Bowl 50
Let's start out with something that was super recent. Believe it or not, I was talking to my friend before the game started about how underutilized Ealy was in the Panther's defense. A second round pick in the 2014 draft, many thought this former Mizzou Tiger was a steal. The Panthers failed to every use him to his full ability since they had Kwon Short, Jared Allen, and Greg Hardy.
During the second quarter, Broncos' quarterback Peyton Manning dropped back for a pass on 3rd & 8. The pass was tipped and caught by Ealy at the Carolina 20 and he began his return. I don't know if you've even seen a 290 lbs man juke out people before, but it is impressive. Ealy dodged three tacklers, including wide out Emmanuel Sanders. It was quite a sight. Even though this play only resulted in a 19 yard gain at the point of the catch, it was easily one of the more exciting moments from the Super Bowl.
19. Dalvin Cook breaks FSU single-season rushing record in eight games in Week 11
There is no hiding the fact that I love Dalvin Cook and hope to see him wearing the Dallas Star on his helmet one day. He will be one of the best backs in the league soon enough. This past year, Cook set out for records. The original record for most rushing yards in a single season at Florida State was held by Warwick Dunn. Dunn ran for 1,242 yards in the 1995 season for the Seminoles. This looked like nothing when one looks at Cook's stats.
Cook entered Week 11 of the season against NC State just 12 yards shy of the record. Here is the big thing about this: This was Cook's eighth full game. FSU had their bye week in week 4. Cook only played two snaps of their game against Wake Forest (76 yards on one carry) before pulling his hamstring and sitting out the rest of the game. Cook also sat out all of the Syracuse game to nurse his hamstring again. It took one carry for Cook to reach the record going for 22 yards. Cook's final rushing yards rest at 1,691 on the season.
18. Todd Gurley rushes for 144 yards in the second half of his first game against Arizona in Week 3
Todd Gurley was arguably the riskiest pick of the 2015 NFL Draft. Coming off of an ACL surgery, rarely does a running back reach 100% again. This was not the case for the new AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Gurley was held to only two yards in the first half of the game on three carries. Against the Cardinals' stellar defense, this would surprise no one. Once the second half got underway, so did Gurley. The former Bulldog would rush for an additional 144 yards and two scores on his final 16 carries. In a rookie's first game, this is definitely one of the top performances. He also won Pepsi Rookie of the Week for this game.
17. Colt's fake punt against New England in Week 6
This might be the Worst of the Worst and #1 on Com'on Man for the next year. Is it worse than the Butt Fumble? No, but it is a close second.
Towards the end of the third quarter in Indianapolis, the Colts are facing 4th & 3 on their own 37 yard line. Suddenly, every Colt except for the long snapper and punter move to the far, right side of the field. It gets worse. Anderson (the punter) is taking the snap from under center with four Patriots on the other side. Anderson takes the snap and is almost immediately tackled for a loss by Brandon Boldin. This is probably the worst play of the year, but one of the most memorable.
16. Miami beats Duke off of 8-lateral kick return as time expires in Week 9
This was one of the most talked about plays of the year. Why is it not higher? Just wait. Duke scores what looks like the go-ahead touchdown with only six seconds left in the game. The score was 27-24. Duke only kicks the ball 39 yards to prevent the Hurricanes from having a big return. This clearly did not work.
It took 5 players, 8-laterals, and 91 yard return, but the Canes somehow pulled off a 30-27 victory. And by somehow, I mean four missed penalties and a downed player. On this play, there were 2 missed holding calls and two blocks in the back. Also, before the 5th lateral, the player's knee was clearly down before the ball came out. The ACC Officials were all suspended for the events of this play. It was a great play though.
#15-11 will come on either Tuesday or Wednesday!
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