The 10 Greatest Individual Performances in College Football History
Tim Tebow, Johnny Manziel, and the 10 greatest performances in college football history.
Image via Complex Original
Over the course of a college football season, you’re bound to see a number of outstanding performances by players who look like gods among men. Those incredible individual displays could be the result of exceptional game plans, tremendous offensive lines, or the simple fact that the player in question is the next great NFLer who’s squaring off against future insurance salesmen. Whatever the reason, if a college athlete is able to perform at a high level for an entire season, he’s immortalized with a Maxwell Award, Heisman Trophy, All-American selection, or in rare cases, each of the three.
Luckily, for players to make this list, all they had to do was post one monster game in their four years at school. That being said, most of these dudes weren’t one-hit wonders (in college, that is). Here are the 10 greatest individual performances in college football history.
Byron Leftwich puts himself on the map
Team: (25) Marshall
Opponent: East Carolina
Date: December 19, 2001
Stats: 41-70, 576 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs, 1 rushing TD
In the obscure GMAC Bowl that no one really cared about, Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich put on a performance you might see in an Arena Football League game when he led the Thundering Herd back from a 38-8 halftime deficit to beat East Carolina 64-61 in double overtime. Leftwich threw for a month’s worth of yards (576) and accounted for five of the game’s 16 TDs, with four coming via the pass and another on the ground.
Leftwich’s performance commanded the national spotlight, and it certainly played a role in the Jaguars opting to select him seventh overall in the 2003 NFL Draft. Leftwich’s backup throughout the first three years of his pro career was (coincidentally) David Garrard, who just so happened to be the East Carolina quarterback on the losing end of the 64-61 record-setting, offensive exhibition. However, Garrard outlasted Leftwich in Jacksonville after the Marshall product was cut in the 2007 preseason because hey, NFL defenses aren’t nearly as easy to score on as ECU's.
Tim Tebow caps his career with, what else, a career night
Team: (5) Florida
Opponent: (4) Cincinnati
Date: January 1, 2010
Stats: 31-35, 482 yards, 3 TDs; 14 rushes, 51 yards, 1 TD
His NFL career may have flubbed so badly that he’s now trying his hand at a sport he hasn’t played competitively in over a decade, but Tim Tebow was a legendary college football quarterback. There’s perhaps no better display of Tebow’s dominance at Florida than his final game (the 2010 Sugar Bowl), where he led his Gators squad to a 51-24 victory over a stellar Cincinnati team.
On this night, Tebow completed his first 12 passes and by halftime was 20-for-23 with 320 yards in the air. He finished the game with 482 and did his damage by spreading the ball around to the likes of future NFL bad boys Riley Cooper (181 receiving yards) and Aaron Hernandez (111 receiving yards).
Add Tebow’s 51 rushing yards in the contest, and the southpaw became the only player in college football history with over 500 total yards in a BCS bowl game. With the BCS dead and gone, his record should stick around for eternity. Or at least until the day computers kill us all, take over the earth, and decide to finally reinstitute it.
Bobby Layne puts the team on his back doe, wins Cotton Bowl by himself
Team: (10) Texas
Opponent: (14) Missouri
Date: January 1, 1946
Stats: 3 rushing TDs, 2 passing TDs, 1 receiving TD, 4 extra points
On New Year’s Day 1946, Texas quarterback Bobby Layne torched Mizzou’s defense, scoring all 40 of his team’s points to best the 14th ranked Tigers squad that had gone undefeated in the Big Six Conference. In the contest, Layne went 11-for-12 with two passing touchdowns, three rushing scores, a receiving touchdown, and even booted four extra points. He literally pulled quadruple duty.
Layne went on to enjoy a Hall of Fame NFL career, and his best days came with the Detroit Lions. While the organization is now known for its futility, Layne was the face of a golden era in Detroit football, leading the team to three NFL championships.
Jim McMahon leads a comeback for the ages
Team: (14) BYU
Opponent: (19) SMU
Date: December 19, 1980
Stats: 32-49, 446 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT; 10 rushes, 36 yards
Narratives are all about perspective, so depending on yours, the 1980 Holiday Bowl is either a textbook example of a gloriously absurd comeback or stunningly pathetic choke. It’s your call. But during the game, with his team trailing 45-25 and less than three minutes remaining, BYU quarterback Jim McMahon led three quick scoring drives, the last of which was capped off by a successful 41-yard Hail Mary as the clock ran out. We imagine SMU fans were quite disappointed, but to be fair, it probably helped them prepare for what was soon to come.
Johnny Manziel (a quarterback) sets the Cotton Bowl rushing record
Team: (10) Texas A&M
Opponent: (12) Oklahoma
Date: January 4, 2013
Stats: 22-34, 287 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT; 17 rushes, 229 yards, 2 TDs
Long before he was a national punchline, Johnny Football was tearing through the college ranks. His most legendary performance came at the end of the 2012 season—the one in which he became the first freshman to ever win the Heisman—during the Cotton Bowl.
Texas A&M came into the game as three point favorites, and left after wiping their feet with OU, especially in the second half when they outscored the Sooners 27-0. Manziel led the 41-13 onslaught, tallying 516 yards of offense, which includes 229 rushing yards. That’s good for most rushing yards in the Cotton Bowl’s 77-year history. After suffering the crushing defeat, OU defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said Manziel was the “Best player I've ever played [against]” before adding "He'll have a chance to win four Heismans if he stays healthy."
As we know, Manziel declared for the NFL draft following his sophomore season. Of course, in his pro days, injuries weren’t Manziel's biggest problems…
Melvin Gordon sets a rushing record that lasts for one week
Team: (22) Wisconsin
Opponent: (11) Nebraska
Date: November 15, 2014
Stats: 25 rushes, 408 yards, 4 TDs
Wisconsin Badgers running back Melvin Gordon decimated Nebraska’s D to the tune of 408 yards. Oh, and he only needed three quarters to do it against a Cornhuskers squad ranked No. 11 in the country.
Gordon finished the contest with 25 carries (16 yards per rush). Not to mention, he broke LaDainian Tomlinson’s 15-year-old single game rushing record of 406 yards. The very next week, Oklahoma’s Samaje Perrine eclipsed Gordon’s mark by posting 427 yards on the ground. To be fair, Perrine did it against a much weaker Kansas team, making Gordon’s mark all the more impressive.
"Hail Flutie"
Team: (10) Boston College
Opponent: (12) Miami (FL)
Date: November 23, 1984
Stats: 34-46, 472 yards, 4 TDs
On the day after Thanksgiving, in front of a massive national audience, Doug Flutie had the game (and moment) of his 1984 Heisman Trophy-winning season and his entire football career. It came via 472 passing yards in a back-and-forth contest against Miami, and was punctuated by a Hail Mary you’ve likely seen a hundred times. As the game clock expired, Flutie chucked the ball 65 yards, into a 30+ MPH wind, which found the hands of wideout Gerard Phelan to give the Eagles a 47-45 victory over the Hurricanes. After the game, Miami’s defensive backs said they didn’t know the 5-foot-9 Flutie could throw the ball that far, which is why Phelan caught the pass unimpeded.
Although Flutie did enjoy a few solid seasons in the NFL with the Bills, Chargers, and Pats, he’ll always be remembered for that iconic Hail Mary.
Red Grange has his way with Michigan
Team: Illinois
Opponent: Michigan
Date: October 18, 1924
Stats: 409 total yards, 4 rushing TDs, 1 kick return TD, 1 passing TD
It’s difficult to believe that football was once far more popular on the collegiate level than the professional level in somewhere other than the American southeast. But that was undoubtedly the truth in 1924 when Illinois’s Red Grange decimated a Michigan Wolverines team that had its eyes on a national title.
Grange took the game’s opening kickoff 95 yards to the house, and continued that theme over the course of the next seven minutes by adding TD runs of 67, 56, and 44 yards. It should be noted that he had as many rushing touchdowns in the first quarter as Michigan had allowed in the previous two years combined. But Grange’s beat-down had only just begun. He ran for a touchdown and threw for another.
Unfortunately, records from the time are spotty, so it’s hard to pinpoint his precise stats. But believe it or not, you can check out bits of the game in its terrible non-HD glory here.
Joe Montana shows his mental fortitude in the “Chicken Soup Game”
Team: (9) Notre Dame
Opponent: (10) Houston
Date: January 1, 1979
Stats: 13-34, 163 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT; 7 rushes, 26 yards, 2 TDs
Yes, Joe Montana’s stats stunk on this particular day—his final game quarterbacking the Fighting Irish. But anyone’s numbers would dip if he were fighting hypothermia and had a body temperature of 96 degrees. As Notre Dame emerged from the tunnel following halftime, Montana stayed inside the locker room where he ate chicken soup, leading to some "creative genius" calling it the “Chicken Soup Game.”
Without Montana on the field, the Irish’s deficit continued to grow, ballooning up to a 34-12 Houston lead at the start of the fourth quarter. Despite his condition, Montana returned to the field with 7:37 left facing the same score. Next came a Notre Dame blocked punt TD, followed by Montana captaining two consecutive touchdown-scoring drives (and converting on two straight two-point conversion opportunities). Then, as time expired, he threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to win the game.
This, or some variation of it, established the storybook ending for every football movie or television show ever made. Seriously, Friday Night Lights couldn’t have done it any better.
Vince Young snaps USC’s winning streak to win the National Championship
Team: (2) Texas
Opponent: (1) USC
Date: January 4, 2006
Stats: 30-40, 267 yards; 19 rushes, 200 yards, 3 TDs
College football’s greatest individual performance took place on the game’s greatest stage: the 2006 Rose Bowl, which featured the two best teams in the nation competing for the National Championship. Both squads were undefeated coming in, but USC was riding a 34-game win streak that spanned three seasons, and many fans and analysts were calling them greatest college football team of all time. They were the heavy favorites.
Enter the Longhorns and its All-American quarterback Vince Young, a junior dual-threat who finished second in the Heisman voting to Trojans running back Reggie Bush. On this early January night, Young single-handedly put a stop to USC's dynasty with a performance for the ages.
Young’s most heroic moment(s) came in the fourth quarter with less than five minutes remaining. USC led 38-26 as the clock ticked down when Young sprinted for a 12-yard touchdown. Then, with just 26 seconds left in the game, facing a 4th-down-and-5, he capped off the incredible comeback with a 9-yard scramble into the end zone. The play has turned into an iconic college football moment that makes every highlight reel and video package. Oh, and Young also scored a two-point conversion to give the Longhorns a bit of breathing room. They held on to defeat the Trojans 41-38, propelling the Longhorns to the top of the college football mountain for the first time since 1970.
Young was then selected with the third overall pick by the Tennessee Titans in the 2006 Draft. And well, let’s just say he probably longed for his college days like pretty much every other person starting their first job.