Kickoff Countdown: 2009 & 34 Seconds From BCS Upheaval

A few seconds can make all the difference. Two of the games on the 2009 regular season’s final day proved just how significant a difference seconds can make on the football field. Subtract 34 seconds and Pittsburgh lands in the Sugar Bowl, and Dave Wanndstedt is perhaps still the Panthers’ coach. Take away just two seconds elsewhere, and Texas loses the Big 12 to Nebraska. A Cincinnati win at Pitt puts the Bearcats in the championship game against Alabama. Take away all 34 of those seconds, and either TCU or Boise State is facing Alabama.

Wild, eh?

The 2009 Big East champion Cincinnati Bearcats could score points in bunches. UC finished No. 4 in scoring offense that season, Brian Kelly’s final as head coach. What made UC dangerous was it needed only a narrow window in which to pile on. Pitt had an opportunity to win the conference championship and go to a BCS bowl for the first time since 2004. And this time, unlike ’04, the Panthers would be less of a default BCS qualifier.

Pitt’s Dave Wannstedt era was underwhelming, but the ’09 team was quite good. Dion Lewis had broken out as a true star. Bill Stull put up impressive numbers to complement the rushing game. And the defense was stout — just not stout enough against UC in the regular season’s final day.

Cincy rolled into Heinz Field 11-0, having survived a stretch without its starting quarterback. The defending Big East champions weren’t just seeking a second conference title, but were very much in the BCS title hunt. Pitt had experience playing the spoiler though, just two years prior preventing West Virginia from playing for all the marbles in the regular season’s final day.

The Panthers flexed their muscles in the second quarter, rolling off 24 points in those 15 minutes. Pitt held a two-touchdown lead with Stull’s three touchdowns leading the way.

Pitt actually led for most of the game. Lewis’ first quarter touchdown gave the Panthers an edge they would not relinquish until six minutes remaining, when an Isaiah Pead scoring rush and Tony Pike-to-Mardy Gilyard two-point conversion tied it at 38. The conversion was critical, as PATs would prove to be deciders down the stretch.

Lewis bookended the Panthers’ scoring, answering Pead’s score with his third of the afternoon. Pitt took a 44-38 lead and were sitting pretty with less than two minutes remaining. Perhaps all the ease with which each team was scoring lulled everyone into a false sense of security. After all, neither offense was playing like the turf was snow-covered and slick. But the elements did come into play on the ensuing PAT attempt, the hold of which slipped loose and resulted into just six points on the Panther score.

The Bearcats took over, and it just 63 seconds marched down Heinz Field to the end zone. Pike hooked up with Armon Binns with 33 seconds remaining. The failed conversion at the other end allowed UC to take the lead for good on the PAT kick. Cincy led that game for all of 33 seconds.

Meanwhile in Texas, the elements played no part under the roof of Cowboys Stadium. But Ndamukong Suh was a one-man natural disaster, stifling the nation’s No. 3 ranked Texas offense all night. Suh attacked attacked and attacked Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, frustrating the Longhorn quarterback and Heisman finalist. McCoy didn’t throw for a single touchdown on the night and failed to surpass 200 yards passing.

The Cornhusker offense wasn’t much better, but it was good enough to take a two-point lead on Alex Henry’s fourth field goal of the night, with under minutes left in regulation.

McCoy and UT got into Husker territory when, on the final snap, a sea of red and white crashed onto him. UT was out of timeouts as McCoy rolled to his right. With Suh in pursuit, he fired off a pass to…no one, really. McCoy was merely trying to stop the clock. Had Herbie Husker been nearby, I don’t doubt McCoy would have channeled his inner Jonathan Moxon and popped his smiling face.

McCoy’s decision to throw it away was right, but the distance with which he threw made for the most heart-stopping seconds in UT football history. The ball hit out-of-bounds with one second left. One second. He holds for just a tick longer, or the ball sails just a bit further, and Nebraska wins. UT is then relegated to a different BCS bowl, Cincinnati is in the title game and Boise State is likely staying on the Smurf Turf for its holiday.

That second was all UT needed to retake the lead and pack its bags for Pasadena. Thirty-four seconds changed a season.