The 10 Best College Football Hail Mary passes of the past 30 years

Here is a countdown of the 10 best college hail mary passes caught on video in the last 30 years.  I'm sure there a few I've missed, but these are the ones I could find.

Drum roll please:

10. November 12, 2005 - Washington at Arizona -- Huskies quarterback Isaiah Stanback launches a 69-yard pass to Craig Chambers as the first half expired, helping Washington score the final 31 points of a 38-14 win over the Wildcats.  The play covered 69 yards, and the pass appeared to fly 71 yards in the air.

9. October 16, 2004 - Texas A&M at Oklahoma State -- Another half-ender as Reggie McNeal launches one toward the end zone that is executed to perfection and is tipped into the hands of DeQuan Mobley.  The Aggies went on to knock off the 16th ranked Cowboys 36-20.  The play covered 55 yards, while McNeal's heave covered 58 yards.

8. October 14, 2006 - Arkansas State at Memphis -- This one gets bonus points for two reasons.  One, it won a game on the road.  There are few better feelings in sports than to silence the crowd in someone else's house.  And of course, the homer call on the video.  Patrick Higgins' 53-yard pass was pulled down by Corey Leonard, giving the Red Wolves a 26-23 win at Memphis.  The pass appeared to cover 68 yards in the air.

7. September 13, 2008 - Temple at Buffalo -- Drew Willy found Naaman Rooselvelt on a 35-yard game-winner as the Bulls stunned Temple 30-28 on the game's final play.  The throw appeared to cover 49 yards.

6. November 16, 2001 - Benedictine College vs. Northwestern Oklahoma State -- Benedictine College needed a miracle and received some divine intervention as Matt Fowler hauled in this prayer from Myles Bacon with no time on the clock to give the Ravens their first NAIA playoff win in nine years, 29-27 over the defending NAIA runner-ups.  The play covered 50 yards.  The camera angle doesn't help in determining how far the ball was flung, but the guess here is 55-60 yards.

5. 1980 Holiday Bowl - BYU vs. SMU - Down 45-25 to the Eric Dickerson/Craig James led Mustangs, BYU quarterback Jim McMahon engineered a fourth quarter comeback to lead the Cougars to a 46-45 win.  McMahon hit tight end Clay Brown in the end zone as time expired.  The entire comeback is included in this video, but you can fast forward to the 3:10 mark to see the pass.  The play covered 41 yards, and the pass, which McMahon seemed to heave flat-footed, covered 58 yards in the air.

4. October 14, 1989 - Southern Mississippi at Louisville -- In a foreshadowing of future NFL Hall of Fame career, Southern Mississippi quarterback Brett Favre was staring down 79 yards with a handful of seconds left in a 10-10 tie with Louisville.  Favre scrambled, was hit, stayed on his feet and launched a prayer that bounced off the helmet of Golden Eagle receiver Michael Jackson and was hauled down by Darryl Tillman, who scampered in the remaining 35 yards for the win.  The play covered 79 yards, and Favre's pass appeared to fly 54 yards.

3. November 9, 2002 - LSU at Kentucky (The Bluegrass Miracle) -- This hail mary ranks high only because of its bizarreness.  Kentucky appears on their way to upsetting #14 LSU and Nick Saban in Lexington.  UK takes a 30-27 lead with 11 seconds on the clock.  After getting to the 26-yard line and calling timeout with two seconds left, Kentucky coach Guy Morriss gets a Gatorade bath from his players.  Marcus Randall took the final snap and launched a missile down field.  The Kentucky fans stormed the field in jubilation.  The football glanced off the hands of Tiger receiver Michael Clayton and into the waiting mitts of teammate Devery Henderson, who ran past two UK players and into the end zone.  There were still UK fans running on the field and celebrating, only to see the Tiger players maul Henderson in the end zone.  The Jefferson Pilot broadcast displayed the score on the screen as a UK win, and fireworks went off at Commonwealth Stadium.  There were even UK fans on the goalposts trying to take them down while LSU was celebrating their win on the field (UK football fans have never been known for their wealth of football knowledge).  To add insult to injury, The Bluegrass Miracle won the ESPY for "Best Play."  The play covered 74 yards, while Randall's prayer went 60 yards in the air.

2. September 24, 1994 - Colorado at Michigan -- In what is considered the biggest hail mary pass since Doug Flutie, Colorado's Kordell Stewart chucked a pass an incredible 74 yards in the air.  Even more incredible was Michael Westbrook making the catch at the other end to give the Buffaloes a 27-26 win in Ann Arbor.  The pass deflected off Blake Anderson and right to Westbrook, in a play known as the Miracle at Michigan.  Making the play even more special was the call of ABC's Keith Jackson.

1. November 23, 1984 - Boston College at Miami -- Simply known as Hail Flutie.  I know what you're thinking. It's gotta be a cliche to put Doug Flutie at the top of the list after all these years.  However, the magnitude of Gerard Phelan's catch lingered for years.  BC and Miami hooked up in a classic before a national TV audience.  While Flutie was considered the favorite to win the Heisman trophy, this hail mary may have sealed the Berwanger Trophy for the diminutive quarterback.  Trailing 45-41 with six seconds left, Flutie took the snap and rolled out to the right.  He launched a pass toward the end zone that somehow went between the arms of Hurricane "defenders" Darrell Fullington and Reggie Sutton and found Phelan two yards deep in the end zone.  Behind the Stanford/Cal "The Play", it's likely the most replayed touchdown on TV in college football.  "Hail Flutie" covered "only" 52 yards, but his throw went 65 yards in the air.

So what are your thoughts on this top 10?   

Comments

[Rob]

Thing about that BC-Miami game in '84 was that never...in the 100+ year history of college football..had two opposing QBs each thrown for over 300 yards in a game. Flutie finished w/ 472 passing yards that day, Bernie Kosar w/ 447. That game was historic even before Hail Flutie.

[HK]

I'd like to add Northwestern's hail mary win over Minnesota on October 28, 2000:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRpwy0Nb68Y