WEBVTT - I Love the 80s: The Miracle Bowl 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.520 Welcome to Special Teams, a production of I Heart Radio 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:24.119 Greetings and Welcome Inside Special Teams, the podcast where me, 0:00:24.360 --> 0:00:28.000 Jason Smith and Mike Harmon go over special teams from 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:31.880 specific years in sports. We're going back into the nineteen 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:34.120 eighties now, which is a fun time to go. There 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:36.600 were so many wide open, fun games to get to. 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:39.800 And this week we're gonna look back at what many 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:43.120 people say could be the greatest college football game of 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:47.560 the past fifty years, and the eight Holiday Ball also 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:50.640 known as the Miracle Bowl, a game which pitted the 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:53.280 b YU Cougars against the s m U Mustangs. This 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:55.920 is the early days of the Pony Express and Greg 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:59.880 James and Eric Dickerson and Lance mclaney at quarterback against 0:00:59.880 --> 0:01:03.080 the b YU Cougars and Jim McMahon. This back when 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:06.679 b y U was the Boise State of college football, 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:08.880 where every year b y you would win a lot 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:10.360 of games in the Whack and there would be the 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:13.360 question of do they deserve to win a national championship 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:15.560 or not? And we debated, debated, debated. This is a 0:01:15.600 --> 0:01:18.080 big five six year run for b y U and 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:20.760 one future podcast we'll get into the year they actually 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:24.800 did win the national title. But this game, a forty 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:27.840 five win by b y U over s m U, 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:32.960 had absolutely everything in it, including the late comeback by 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:36.360 Mike Harmon's favorite NFL quarterback of all time, Jim McMahon. 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:38.399 Well he does rank up there. Any guy that will 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:43.399 rock aheadman that questions authority and that the NFL commissioner 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:45.520 is all good by me. Blank you rose element or 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:47.480 headband with your name on it. Think about it. That 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:49.720 was the first time you had helicopters going over and 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:52.480 trying to get pictures of what was going on, or 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:54.840 at least that's as early as I remember it. But 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:57.080 as you say, I mean this, this was the B 0:01:57.360 --> 0:02:02.400 y U squad that perennial double digit victories and always 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:04.880 the hand ringing of all right, we keep them out right, 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:07.200 And then you started doing all this other math and 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:10.400 as they kept changing the systems, you kept opening the 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:13.760 door just a little bit. Yeah, they were the They 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:17.519 were the original of the outside the Power five conferences. 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:20.160 How legit are they? And you know they with the 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:23.120 offense they had. Lavell Edwards was an incredible head coach. 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:26.280 You talked about their schedule, all right, they're playing teams 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:28.440 in the whack. They would get outside the whack once 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:31.360 in a while, but is it enough to really show 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:33.480 them and and and spotlight them as one of the 0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:36.680 best teams in college football? And honestly, this game is 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:39.800 the one that really put them on the map because 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:42.040 at this point, the Holiday Bowl is only in its 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:44.520 third season, right, the hollidayall the b y U tradition 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:46.679 there there every year they play in the middle of December. 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:49.079 That was a Holiday Bowl. But it's only in its 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:51.320 third year. You know, the whack champion is committed to 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:54.119 go there. And this is b y U winning its 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:57.760 fifth straight conference title. But they hadn't won the Holiday 0:02:57.760 --> 0:02:59.799 Bowl yet. You know, this is the year they started out. 0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:03.200 They lost opening week to New Mexico, which they finished 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:05.080 four and seven. You look back and go, how the 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:09.000 hell did that happen? One? They lost in New Mexico 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:11.519 opening week? How the hell did they pull that off? Yeah, 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:14.720 going back through that game, I mean, you had a 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:17.400 bunch of sacks, so I mean that that was commonplace, 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:21.600 so you know, offsetting your rushing total, but the rushing 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:25.600 attack didn't exist. They had fifteen penalties for a hundred 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:28.240 and twenty two yards. Uh, so you hang a star 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:31.040 on that one. But you know they won the turnover 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:35.880 battle in a big way. Five the two the final there, 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:39.400 but it didn't matter. Uh New Mexico just enough to 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:42.880 eke out of victory Jim McMahon and with with a 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:46.080 single well, I had two touchdowns on the day, but 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:48.800 just a bunch of field goals. A guy named Pete 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:52.560 Parks for the victory. Just uh. He's a legend and 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:54.840 I'm sure they bronzed his foot and put it in 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:56.840 a trophy case at the end of the season. Go 0:03:56.880 --> 0:03:58.880 and see how good they were and how prolific they were. 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:02.240 We got him and t J. Pete Parks and wrecked 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:06.280 B y U Week one with okay um nicely done. 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:07.800 It was a question of whether you were going to 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:12.600 go there huh, or were you gonna go and uh 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:16.120 turn it into Peter Parker Oregon Parks Department. I could 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:18.680 have done that too. That's good to no summer job 0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:22.320 for Parks departmentalizing the win over B y U. So 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:25.080 if B y U somehow wins that game, we're having 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:28.039 the National Championship conversation for b y U four years 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:31.440 earlier for a maybe not four maybe not. Maybe they 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:34.160 win that one and then somewhere they slip up down 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:37.960 the road. But if you beat a four and seven 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:39.880 team and you win the rest of your games, you're 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:43.120 having the national champion conversation. Because they were that good. 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:46.240 They blew out everybody they played. They led college football 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:49.720 in total offense over five hundred yards a game, scoring 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:53.640 forty six points a game, passing yards four nine yards 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:56.320 a game. I mean, people forget how good and prolific 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:59.279 Jim McMahon was. We remember him as this great leader 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:02.400 and and emotionally what he was for the Chicago Bears. 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:05.000 But in college, I mean he was throwing for forty 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:08.200 touchdowns in four thousand yards. I mean he had a 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:12.320 phenomenal collegiate career. Steve Young was a freshman backup on 0:05:12.320 --> 0:05:16.040 this team. Andy Reid was on the offensive line, Bart Oates, 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:19.159 Visa Kahemma, Tom Homeoll, Kyle Winningham, who was now the 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:22.880 head coach at Utah. But McMahon was the star of 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:25.960 this team, and he winds up going number five overall 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:28.400 of the Bears a couple of years later. But he remember, 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:30.279 he came into the league like he's gonna be the 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:33.200 next big superstar. He's gonna be Dan Marino, the numbers 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:35.640 he putting these electric numbers he's putting up in college, 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:38.279 he's gonna do in the NFL. That was the hype 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:42.840 around Jim mcmah one. Well, and that curiosity of how 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:44.680 that was gonna work, because at that point you still 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:47.520 got a couple of years of Walter Baton left right 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:49.800 as you're flowing through, and it's always been a run 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:53.240 heavy offense. Looking most we don't need to go into 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:56.600 a deep dive of Bears quarterbacking through the years, and 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:59.240 now the Vince Evans years. Well, I mean, look, when 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:02.640 when it's all done. As much people as people hate 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:06.920 on Jay Cutler, you can make the argument pretty easily 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:09.920 he was the best quarterback they've seen since Sid Luckman. 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:14.720 But McMahon with the the braggadocious style. But I mean 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:17.960 go back to his stats, as you mentioned, forty seven touchdowns, 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.200 and this is the thing that's that's the curiosity for me. 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:24.839 Forty seven touchdowns, eighteen picks in his junior year. But 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:31.000 he completed almost sixty of his throws plus yards. And 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:35.120 then he comes back and in that eighty in the 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:40.480 eight one season, complete sixty of his passes again, thirty 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:44.440 touchdowns seven picks. So I mean you're talking about winging 0:06:44.440 --> 0:06:48.080 it around, uh and getting after it. Certainly for Chicago 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:52.800 fans they're expecting big things of an aerial assault. But 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:55.520 we also know that's where wide receivers go to die. Right. 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:58.200 How many guys have been quoted as saying that through 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:01.080 the years and why it's difficult to get people to 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:07.440 come play at a frozen Chicago lakefront for half of 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:12.680 your season. So, but Jim McMahon always a character and 0:07:12.720 --> 0:07:15.720 plenty of stories in the Naked City with him. So 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:18.800 b YU comes into this game eleven and one MAC 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:22.440 champions and they take on SMU eight and three in 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:25.480 the Southwest Conference. And this was the early days, as 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:28.480 I said, of the Pony Express, the most famous team 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:31.720 in SMU history. Craig James went on to the NFL 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:34.880 and you see him announcing everywhere. And Eric Dickerson, who 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:36.640 went on to a Hall of Fame career in the 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:40.800 National Football League. The Eric Dickerson friend of our show. 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:43.280 Eric Dickerson, we have him on all the time, gave 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:45.360 us big headlines a couple of years ago with some 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:50.720 fun stuff he made. He exacted some change in Los Angeles, 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:53.440 got his revenge on on on Jeff Fisher, that's for sure. 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:57.840 But this was the most prolific running offense in college football, 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:00.480 and you have the most prolific passing offense in college football. 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:03.440 I mean, the Pony Express was really both of them. 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:05.880 You you think, well, was it really Dickerson was the 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:08.320 main guy. No, it wasn't. All right this year when 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:10.320 they were both sophomores, right, this is the first year 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:13.320 of their breakout years. James ran for eight hundred ninety 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:17.040 six yards five yards to carry, six touchdowns. Dickerson was 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:21.840 very similar yards five yards per carry, five touchdowns. Their 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:24.080 true breakout, which we'll get into later on, was a 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:27.720 year away, but they really shared the load throughout the time. 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:29.640 So that's why this was the pony that both of 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:32.360 them who could just stop, you know, both of them 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.120 with with different skill sets and and Dickerson was so 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:38.320 powerful and so smooth, and James was so tough and 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:42.400 he was deceptively fast, and you couldn't stop s m U. 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:47.880 And they got into bigger, let's say, controversies and bigger 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:51.880 play on the field in subsequent years. But this was like, Okay, 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:54.240 they got something special going on here at s m U. 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:56.360 As far as getting off the field and winning games, 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:59.720 I was staying away from controversy. That's something completely different. 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:02.640 But you could tell on the field, Okay, they're really good. 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:04.959 They got something going on here. Yeah, we can get 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:08.480 back into controversies, death penalties and others. Put that down 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:12.040 for a future Special Team podcast. But I mean you 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:17.120 look at it here. You mentioned mclenny and Mike Ford, 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:21.960 the other quarterback. I mean they combined to throw forty yards. Yeah, 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:25.800 right now, leven touchdowns, nine interceptions between them. That's how 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:28.760 much in a season lied up in this season in 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:33.880 a season no exactly. Uh Ford completed of his past 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:40.480 attempts mcillanny five not three, not not looking to chuck 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:43.800 it down field doing that two step well, I mean 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:46.880 kind of like you would do in if you want 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:48.720 to do a little bit of line Danson and stuff. 0:09:49.200 --> 0:09:52.040 So it is the Miracle Bowl is all said to 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:54.319 go what it's known now as well, specifically for b 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:56.000 y U teams. I don't think they say the same 0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:59.760 thing at s m U. The comeback for the ages, 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:02.160 we get into it, how it happened and how maybe 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:05.000 it shouldn't have happened. Coming up next on Special teams 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:26.480 the game on Miss lou Sports Network announcers Ray Scott 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:31.040 and Grady Alderman. The Holiday Ball featuring the b y 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:34.360 U Cougars against the SMU Mustangs. We thought we'd see 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:36.960 a lot of offense in this game, and early on 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:39.439 and for most of the game we did, and most 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:42.360 of it came from s m U. It was a huge, 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:46.200 high scoring game and SMU controlled this game deep into 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:51.000 the fourth quarter. Craig James goes off two five yards 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:54.120 rushing in this game. Eric Dickerson runs for a hundred 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:56.199 and ten. You can see the highlights and see the 0:10:56.640 --> 0:10:59.640 story of this game many places on the internet. It 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:02.600 was an unstoppable night for their running game. They got 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:07.640 up nineteen nothing seven. They were up forty five five 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.560 after james Is forty two yard touchdown run with four 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:12.840 minutes to go. So think about this, this is where 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:15.520 are jumping off point is. Craig James runs for a 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:19.240 forty two yard touchdown with four minutes left and they 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:22.560 lead the game forty five four minutes left to go. 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:29.480 SMU total runs for three yards. B y U runs 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:32.880 from minus two. That's the that's the end of the game. 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:35.839 S m You finished with fifty three yards passing. And 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:38.560 just to to tell you how offense, how much offense 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:41.240 you could have running the football. STU was everything on 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:43.800 the ground, nothing through the air. B y U was 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:46.560 the opposite, And until this point in the game it 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:49.880 was all SMU. They ran all over b y U. 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:52.240 And you have a twenty point lead with four minutes 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:55.080 left to go. Fans are leaving the stadium at this 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:57.959 point because all right, it's over, We're done. Look, this 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:00.559 game's in San Diego and it's an easy your commute 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:02.439 for b y U fans and still less you can 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:05.720 get there, but it's Dallas compared to Utah, and fans 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:09.080 were leaving and Jim McMahon starts screaming at the fans 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:11.880 the game isn't over now. A as big a B 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:13.480 y U fan as I might have been, I looked 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:16.160 and said, dude, come on, man, really, what's in that 0:12:16.160 --> 0:12:18.800 gator right on the sideline. We're down by twenty. We've 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:22.600 been terrible all night. All right, we've scored a seven, six, 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:25.560 and six in each quarter. We're really gonna win this game, McMahon, 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:28.360 What is wrong with you? And well, Jim McMahon turned 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:30.040 out to be right. But still at the time I 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:31.880 would have started winging it around. What are you doing 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:34.559 right away than you mentioned some of the stats. I mean, 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:37.800 when you go through and you get to the endpoint 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:44.960 of this game, total net yards, there's a two yard differential, right, SMU, 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:48.440 two more yards? You would think the run game of 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:51.360 Dickerson and James, the way they've dominated they ran the 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:56.600 ball sixties six times, time of possession and a number 0:12:56.640 --> 0:13:00.280 of plays, there's not a whole lot of differential. Number 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:03.280 of offensive plays was a difference of four. It was 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:06.800 very Look, it's a game on the scoreboard, right, one 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:09.120 team runs one too, it was. It was even all 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:10.960 the way. It's about as even a classic and a 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:13.640 comeback game as you could possibly Yet there's no one 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:16.520 number that stands out so far over the rest. Well 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:18.960 mc mahn's passing yards, what about Craig james rushing yards? 0:13:18.960 --> 0:13:20.480 I mean you can you can go back and forth 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:22.400 with all of that thing all day. It was that 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:26.720 equal a game, well, just fantastic on its display, right, 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:29.800 because now we celebrate what they get called as the 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:34.520 lesser Bowl games, the afterthoughts or the for gamblers only, 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:36.840 I think is the subtitle for a lot of it 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:41.720 anymore or the obviously the Alma maters people get excited. 0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:44.880 Don't don't come at me at Swollen Dome if you 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:48.040 feel like you need to. But the idea being that 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:51.400 the throw is But as long as there's some scoring, 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:55.439 you're gonna tune in, especially games for Christmass. This is 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:58.160 the beginning of the Bull season because the Holiday Bowl 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:00.680 was always the week before Chris Miss. This game was 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:03.960 on December, so it was the beginning of the Bull 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:06.520 season when you have that excitement level of okay, we 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:09.480 got college football with everybody's close to getting time off. 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:11.280 I'm gonna be off and be home with my family. 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:13.160 And you know, then you get into the bowl games 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:16.240 after the twenty five when you're off from work and 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:18.240 you get to see this. But you know there's a 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:20.440 special spot for the Holiday but hey, it's one of 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:23.160 the first big early Bowl games, and you know, people 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:26.360 who were watching on ms lou Sports, hey, you got 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:29.360 an absolute thriller. I may or may not have enjoyed 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:33.320 a Holiday Bowl win in my recent past from my 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:39.000 all my mother. So here's where we're at SMU with 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:42.160 the lead, four minutes left to go. B y U 0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:44.520 gets the ball back and they drive down the field. 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:48.640 Not surprising, McMahon throws a touchdown to Matt Braga, and 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:51.400 if you see this play, you can see clearly the 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:54.560 ball hits the ground. Should not have been a touchdown, 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:58.320 but in eighty without the benefit of replay or the 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:03.600 referees in the right spot, this counts McMahon cell cell cell. Baby. 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:07.280 McMahon is running against his body, so he's not running 0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:09.400 to the right, he's running to the left, so he's 0:15:09.400 --> 0:15:12.880 got a square his shoulders and throw and McMahon even says, Hey, 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:15.200 the one thing I could do better than anybody at 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:18.160 quarterback was roll out and throw the football because I 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:20.480 learned for a very young age how to square my 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:23.200 shoulders and throw while I'm running, So I knew I 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:25.240 I I did that great. And I think he wanted 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:27.160 to do that more with the Chicago Bears and on 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:29.560 in his career. But this play, you can see it's 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:32.280 on display. He's running away from his power and he 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:35.440 throws a laser that only goes in one spot where 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:37.360 his player is gonna get it or it's gonna hit 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:39.600 the ground, and it's low to the ground and you 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:41.160 can see Brod gets his hand under it. But you 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:44.080 see the ball bounce and helmet ground but still, hey, 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:47.520 the arms go up, touchdown, b y U. This makes 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:51.280 it forty thirty two. And at this point it's like, Okay, 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:53.640 you had a touchdown, but you know you're still down 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.120 by thirteen, with you know, under three minutes left to go, 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:58.520 this game really isn't gonna happen for you. Still thinking 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:00.480 you're gonna be stay able to alter away, especially with 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:03.320 that run game the way it's been in the number 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:06.640 of yards that you we've seen churned away from James 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:09.800 and Dickerson over the course of the day. But if 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:11.800 you've got a guy with no conscience, and that's the 0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:16.240 one thing with McMahon us as a quarterback, if he 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:19.360 had it in his hands, willing to wing it at 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:22.840 any time. Now he mentioned his career with Chicago Bears 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:26.680 goes back to personnel and who do you trust uh 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:29.640 in that whole thing, because Willie Galt was fast, but 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:32.600 you know a lot of times he wouldn't close the hands. Dude, 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:36.640 you had kend Marjoram. Come on, man, you had kid. Yeah, 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:41.800 no celebrating him. Uh, well, you know, get a way 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:44.600 to get the obscure Bears tight end. You want to 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:47.200 get Emery Moore head in while I was sure a 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:50.320 former Giant, former bear, Emory moorehead nicely done? Was he 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:54.600 married to ag this morehead? You know? For the purposes 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:59.960 of this conversation, happy nuptials. So b y U scores 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:03.440 a touchdown for thirty two. They on side kick, and 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:05.480 they do an on side kick where it's the kicker 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:08.120 who kicks it about ten yards in front of them, 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:10.840 and the players run up to form that protective cone. 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:13.000 So as soon as the ball gets past the ten 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:15.240 yard line, either the kicker or the player next to 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:18.199 him can jump on the football. This works to perfection 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:21.399 because SMU doesn't have anybody near the football, so be 0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:24.919 why you recovers it works. They drive down the field 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:28.879 a touchdown run by Scott Phillips makes it nine, and 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:31.920 oh my goodness, this is now a game. They try 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:34.840 the on side kick again and if it works once, 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:36.680 why not try it again? Right, instead of a different 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:38.879 once kick, We're gonna do it again. So they do 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:42.960 the exact same kick, except this time SMU and you know, listen, 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:45.879 Ron Meyer was a pretty good head coach. Uh, he says, listen, 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:47.879 if they do that again, I'm sure he said. If 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:50.320 they do that again, run forward and get the ball 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:52.639 before it goes ten yards, And that's exactly what happens. 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:55.440 They run the same on side kick to SMU. Players 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:58.520 jump forward before the ball goes ten yards, they jump 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:01.360 on it. They haven't, And you think this game is over. 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:03.680 This has been fun by b YU. They're back within 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:06.160 a touchdown, but really this is gonna be it now 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:08.560 because SMU has the running backs. They've been doing it 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:11.199 all night long, and this game is over. Well, you 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:12.800 think you'll be able to salt it away. You just 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:15.639 need the possession. How do you not cover up on 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.919 side kicks? Repeatedly? Is uh? But you'd be fired on 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:23.000 the spot now with the coverage. I mean you'd have 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:26.080 a fall guy, special teams guy would go, and probably 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:30.560 another assistant coach just for giggles. But you know, watching 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:34.280 the the replays of this and and the highlights as 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:37.399 you roll through, it's it's always the curiosity, like the 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:40.320 kickers not being sneaky. Oh no, no, no, this is 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:42.200 this is what we're doing. Yeah, that's not one of 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:44.159 those misdirection where we're gonna start running one way and 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:45.760 start running the other way. No, I'm just gonna do 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:47.720 it this way, and it works great the first time. 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:50.200 He let's do it again, Well, except this time they're ready. 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:52.679 Ever expect us to do that again? That would be 0:18:52.720 --> 0:18:55.960 too stupid, So let's do it. Uh. So SMU has 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:58.400 the ball and okay, it's easy for them to run 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:00.639 out the clock. Except it's not. They can't get a 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:03.920 first down. Eric Dickerson is tackled as he tries to 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:07.160 take a sweep outside on third down. So now they 0:19:07.200 --> 0:19:09.960 have to punt. But it shouldn't really matter, right because 0:19:10.119 --> 0:19:13.280 SMU was punting with thirteen seconds left in the game, 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:15.280 and they shouldn't have to worry about it. Right, there's 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:17.720 less than twenty seconds to go. We just punt the 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:20.359 ball down, it's all you know. No team in night 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:23.919 could go down the field in ten seconds without time outs. 0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:25.879 All you gotta do is punt the ball away. But 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:28.240 if you ask Jim Harball, hey, how easy is it 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:29.840 to just pump the ball and win a football game 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:33.159 over Michigan State? Uh? Too soon? Too soon for that one, 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:38.080 doesn't No? No, Well, well I'll just hell her to 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:41.320 skip over this party. Listen to the first segment, then 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:43.359 skip a little bit in the beginning of the second 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:47.560 then listen at the end. So all they gotta do 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:49.960 is punt the ball down field, except they can't. Be 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:53.159 Yu gets through. A couple of guys get through, and 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:56.760 they blocked the punt. With thirteen seconds left, they have 0:19:56.920 --> 0:20:00.640 the ball at s m us forty one yard I mean, 0:20:01.040 --> 0:20:03.920 if you're Smu which grabbed the ball, take one step 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:06.199 in punt even if it goes twenty yards. What do 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:08.240 you you? You have the ball where the middle of 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:09.480 the field. The ball is gonna be at the twenty 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:11.359 yard line. All you gotta do is punet So just 0:20:11.480 --> 0:20:13.800 don't worry about getting it getting just grab it one 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:15.240 to kick it even if it goes just pass the 0:20:15.240 --> 0:20:17.680 line of scrimmage. More time is gonna take off the clock. 0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:19.800 There's gonna be ten seconds left. They're gonna have the 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:21.840 ball at their own thirty yard line. The game is over. 0:20:22.119 --> 0:20:25.080 But they get through, they block it, and now b 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:28.040 y U has it thirteen seconds left and they're at 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:30.480 the forty one yard line. They have time for a 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:35.000 couple of plays and the gut untouched. Yeah, it's it's 0:20:35.040 --> 0:20:37.959 amazing how how you blow that that blocking coverage right 0:20:38.000 --> 0:20:41.000 there when you should have everybody's in. Nobody gets in, 0:20:41.040 --> 0:20:43.160 We don't don't don't have to worry about anybody releasing. 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:45.080 We want to make sure we protect the punter because 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:46.960 we just got a punnet. That's all we have to 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:49.679 do is but they you know, your returners set up 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:53.760 on the ten yard line. Man, everything is set up perfectly, 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:59.199 and then you completely biff a blocking assignment. Unbelievable. So 0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:02.359 now thirteen seconds left and McMahon, you're thinking, Okay, this 0:21:02.440 --> 0:21:05.320 could really be a miracle for thirty nine. But what 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:08.360