Right, I forgot that that was the year where the Big East actually had three teams still undefeated at the start of November--West Virginia, Louisville, and Rutgers. #5 Louisville knocked off #3 West Virginia on November 2, moving up to #3 themselves--and remember, #1 and #2 at that time were Ohio State and Michigan, who would still have to play each other--and then one week later, they took on #15 Rutgers, who'd been off the previous week.
Louisville led 25-7 late in the first half, but failed to score at all in the second half. Still, as time wound down, the game was tied, 25-25. Rutgers got a first down in the Louisville red zone and began rushing to burn up the clock, Louisville calling timeouts after each rush. After getting third and four and burning Louisville's last timeout with just over a minute remaining, Rutgers took a knee for a loss of three, then let the clock run down before calling their own timeout and lining up for a 33-yard field goal.
Wide right.
Flag on the field.
Offsides, Louisville. Ito's second attempt from 28 yards was true. 28-25, and it's Rutgers that's still undefeated.
Rutgers would go on to lose the very next week to Cincinnati, but a West Virginia loss to South Florida gave the Scarlet Knights a second chance at making the BCS. All they needed to do was beat the Mountaineers.
Rutgers never beats the Mountaineers. 41-39 in triple overtime was the final, so Louisville, which didn't lose again, got the BCS bid.
Think about that again. Louisville didn't lose again after that heartbreaker against Rutgers. And the only other major-conference team that went undefeated was Ohio State.
It's no sure thing because the Cardinals would've still had to pull off the win in overtime, but it's quite possible that that one offsides call cost Louisville--and the Big Least--a bid in the national title game.
This was the season that made me a college football fan, by the way. I'd never really bothered getting into it before, but I did always read the sports section of my local paper and that year Rutgers actually managed to steal the headlines away from the pro teams. The Scarlet Knights went back to being hopeless the following year (though it would take a few years for them to return to being truly awful), but I was already hooked--and Oklahoma-Boise State might've been part of the reason for that.
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"Everyone has a dick although it may not be physical. You just have to learn to access it within your mind." - blindhobo13