Top 10 Worst College Football Plays of 2014

Well it’s hard to believe we are in the final week of the 2014 College Football season.

It’s even harder to believe a Southeastern Conference team will not be playing for all the marbles. But it did take an old SEC coach in Urban Meyer to actually make another team and conference relevant. The Oregon Ducks just got lucky they didn’t have to play the best conference in the universe as viewed by 13 states that like to vacation around the Gulf of Mexico.

Yes, there were amazing moments this season. It was simply an incredible year filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows for every fan base. A season of firsts and new beginnings filled with just about everything.

But with every amazing catch, clutch pass and huge defensive stop, there was also a ton of uh-oh moments. Those epic fails that had us laughing and even crying.

So sit back and buckle up as Campus Sports takes a look at the Top Ten Worst College Football Plays of the 2014 season.

 

10. Who’s Got #59

You know there are those times on defense when it seems like the other team has as many 15 people. Well, the Penn State Nittany Lions literally were down two men during their loss to the Northwestern Wildcats.

http://youtu.be/WLTkw1n8piQ

The really sad thing is that it’s hard to determine what is worse here. The fact No. 72 Brian Gaia put up zero fight or the fact No. 59 Andrew Nelson put up the block of his life.

The jury might still be out on that one. But either way it was just a horrible moment in 2014

 

9. Somebody Had to Win

So the most wretched game of the 2014 season had to have been the absolute debacle that was the Wake Forest Demon Deacons taking versus the Virginia Tech Hokies.

But as this sports columnist started searching for a play to come from this game as one of the worst, it became clearly evident that the entire contest qualified.

Why? Easy!

The game ended in regulation tied at…

ZERO…

That’s right ladies and gentlemen!

Neither one of these powerhouses scored and it came down to a field goal battle in double-overtime that Wake pulled out 6-3 over the Hokies.

And remember folks, this is the same Virginia Tech team that knocked off the (insert air quotes) amazing Ohio State Buckeyes in the first few weeks of the season.

The other thing that brings this game as one of the worst plays of 2014 is the fact the ACC Digital Network actually devoted three plus minutes to recap this epic contest.

(crickets)

 

8. This Play Makes Me Sick

Most everyone of us has played sports or been involved in an activity at some point and time in our lives. We have all had that moment when we knew the ball was going to come to us, or it was our chance to make the free throw to win the game and you could feel mom’s casserole from two weeks ago trying to escape through your heart and ears.

With that image in mind, let’s introduce you all to Mr. Carter Woods, center for the Arizona Wildcats…

http://youtu.be/itaAcVjBFfs

The truly amazing thing here is the fact that no one flinched! There was no offsides! There was no false start. Heck, the defense didn’t even back away!

What this guy wants to know, though, is what ran through the quarterback’s mind when he received a stinky, slimy, wet ball on the snap.

Definitely a play worthy of one of the worst of 2014!

 

7. Stop Drop and Roll

Not going to lie on this…

This guy is still not too sure what the hell just happened or what the Michigan State Spartan players and coaching staff were thinking with this one.

Yes it was the Oregon Ducks, but what in the living daylights was that hit the deck maneuver going to accomplish?

Maybe it went down like this…

O Line: Coach, we can’t block them. There are too many of them. They are too fast.

Coach: Well, just hit the ground and play dead and see if they stop running. If not, they will kill our quarterback and we can just call the game at that point.

Horrible. Just simply horrible and horrendous.

 

6. The Jameis

No this is not the all you can eat Crab Leg Special at Red Lobster but rather the play that sealed the fortunes of the Florida State Seminoles and quite possible will be the image everyone remembers of Jameis Winston.

http://youtu.be/kDsz-Kt30g8

Thanks to Saturday Down South for adding a little extra humor to the clip.

Even with it being fourth down and the Noles down by 19, many believed it was still FSU’s game to win based on their battle tested season of comebacks.

But that play, whether it was the football gods getting even with Winston for his antics this season or just weak knees at a pressure moment, it was a play so bad it even broke the ankles of the referee.

And the image is one we will forever remember the FSU quarterback by.

 

5. Hot Potato, Hot Potato

Senior Kaelin Clay had a solid senior season for his Utah Utes. The kid caught 43 passes for 523 yards and five touchdowns…

Wait…

Make that four…

The call by the hometown radio crew is purely epic. You can hear the disgust in their voices.

Now for this guys’ rant…

For the love of all that is good and holy, why do these guys feel the need to celebrate before they get to the end zone?  Cross the line, carry the ball with you and do the Wabble with a cheerleader at the goal post for all anyone cares. Just keep the stinking ball with you until you cross the goal line!

So what could have been a tremendous 14-0 lead early against the Ducks turns into a 7-7 tie.

Momentum changed. Blowout ensues.

Just the worst…

 

4. The Worst That Wasn’t

And sometimes in life you get a second chance. Sometimes there is just that play that you get to erase. Even when you are a great player, you have those times where you just want that one play back.

And thanks to one of the worst teams in college football this season, TCU’s Trevone Boykin got that wish.

http://youtu.be/ovw0byladC4

So of all teams to screw up a horrible moment, it was fitting it was the SMU Mustangs. What really threw off Boykin on this was not the offsides jump by the defensive end, but rather they had a 10-year old wearing No. 10 lined up at corner at the bottom in man coverage. (seriously look at how tiny No. 10 is above on the freeze frame)

Funny, sad and ugly all wrapped up into one.

 

3. Just Spike the Ball

Sorry Georgia Bulldog fans. This is not one of your plays or about one of your unwarranted gripes.

But this honor goes to the UMass Minutemen for simply a horrible, horrible play call..

Kids, thanks to UMass, just remember this one simple rule in the final few seconds of the game when you trail by less than three points…

Just Spike the Ball!

To add insult to that debacle, UMass was winning 41-14 at halftime.

This might actually be a description under worst in Webster’s Dictionary.

 

2. The Fred Sanford

Got two words for you…

Booker…

Mays…

http://youtu.be/lEj9o0h2OIk

This is simply the oddest and greatest and laziest call this guy as ever seen in his life.

I like to call it the Fred Sanford. For all of you young ‘uns out there, Google some Sanford and Son’s and you’ll know why. In reality though, the play actually has a name. It’s  called the ‘Fainting Goat’.

You can’t make this stuff up folks…

So let’s break it down a bit…

First of all, if you view the entire clip, the broadcasters calling the game never saw it. Epic Fail No. 1.

Second, the coaches called it the ‘Fainting Goat’ because they couldn’t figure out anything to do with the slot player on the fake punt play. Hmmmm. How about block or be a second or third or fourth option on the play for the fake punt works!

Third, Mays plays his part to perfection. Grabs heart on on snap. Slowly and dramatically faint. Lay on the ground motionless. PERFECT! Not bad for a kid who had 20 catches, 325 yards and four scores on the season.

Well played Mays…

Your interpretation of Fred Sanford and the Fainting Goat allowed you to win social media and the college football season for the funniest and wackiest play.

 

 1. Season Breaker

It’s been pretty clear this old sports writer has had some fun with this list to this point.

But the worst play of the 2014 college football season was surreal and tragic.

The Ole Miss Rebels were driving, trying to rally against the Auburn Tigers to keep their Southeastern Conference Title and College Football National Championship dreams alive.

They say a second isn’t much. But to Laquon Treadwell and the Rebels, it was the sum of all joy, heartbreak, winning and losing all wrapped up into one second…

http://youtu.be/BxTep82fShc

There has been a lot of bad breaks in the game of football over the years and many tragic injuries that puts the game in it’s place when it comes to health and life. But in all of this guy’s days, there has not been a single moment in time when both the outcome of the game, the season of a team, and the future of a young man collided in one single second. Never has that much emotion for so many been wrapped up into one blink of an eye.

One more second or one more step and even if Auburn tackles him an inch higher, Tredwell gets a chance to finish out the season and Ole Miss might still be playing for a National Title.

That second changed the course of history for every team.

Just truly the worst play of the 2014 season and based on the circumstances, quite possible the worst of all- time.

 

Recap

So there you have it!

The best of the worst!

Now it’s your turn. Comment below and post your thoughts or links on what you found to be the worst college football had to offer in 2014!

 

*Section Photo credit and Featured Photo (above) credit to AP and the New York Post.

4-Star Key Decommits from Carolina
4-Star Key Decommits from Carolina