The most frustrating and infuriating play in football? Dropping the ball before the end zone
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Kyle Bonagura, ESPN Staff Writer
AUTZEN STADIUM WAS in a state of pandemonium Saturday night after Oregon‘s Noah Whittington bolted 100 yards on a kickoff return for what was presumed to be a game-tying, fourth-quarter touchdown against Boise State.
But just as the Ducks were about to kick the extra point to make the score 34-34, referee Chris Coyte waved for a stoppage and turned on his microphone.
“The play is under review,” he said. “The runner may have let the ball go before crossing the goal-line plane.”
Gasp.
Sure enough, replay showed Whittington had committed one of football’s cardinal sins, letting go of the ball just shy of the end zone as he began to celebrate.
But within seconds, Coyte popped back on the microphone with a confusing explanation: “After review, the ruling on the field is confirmed,” he said. “It’s a touchdown.”
The initial replays on the television broadcast were incomplete. They showed Whittington dropping the ball but left out the key element that followed. Oregon’s Jayden Limar, part of Whittington’s escort down the sideline, briefly ran past the fumbled ball, but he turned around and quickly picked it up to avoid a disaster of epic proportions. (He was officially credited with a 0-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.)
Nearby on the sideline, Ducks coach Dan Lanning cycled through the gamut of emotions as anger turned to relief.
“Believe it or not, it’s a situation that we coach a lot, and obviously we don’t coach it well enough,” he said. “That ball should make it all the way in the end zone and be handed to the official. But I promise we’ll be coaching that really hard here moving forward.”
The act of dropping the ball before the end zone isn’t exactly an epidemic in college football, but it happens regularly enough — maybe a few times a season — to instill collective fear across the country. Several coaches emphasized to ESPN this summer that it’s a real concern and something many of them address regularly with their players throughout the year.
“I see it all the time on TV, and I cringe because I have not been a part of it yet,” Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said.
“Yet,” as in this embarrassing play is always looming, ready to disrupt a football game at the most inopportune moment.
WHEN OREGON FANS heard Coyte’s reason for stopping the game Saturday, it would have been only natural for them to recall perhaps the most consequential act of “Dropping the Ball Before the End Zone” in college football history.
In fact, it’s a safe bet many people looked to the person next to them and asked, “Did he just pull a Kaelin Clay?”
On Nov. 8, 2014, No. 4 Oregon visited No. 17 Utah for a game that would have massive postseason implications in the first season of the College Football Playoff. The Ducks (8-1) were led by the eventual Heisman Trophy winner, Marcus Mariota, and needed to avoid a second loss to stay in the playoff mix.
Utah jumped out to a 7-0 lead, and on the first play of the second quarter, quarterback Travis Wilson hit Clay on a deep pass and he raced for what appeared to be a game-changing 79-yard score. Fireworks were set off in the stadium, and for 15 seconds, the TV broadcast focused on the celebration before awkwardly transitioning to an aerial shot of Oregon’s Joe Walker running with the ball in the other direction.
4:11
Utah WR Drops Ball Before Scoring, Oregon Runs It Back
Travis Wilson completes a 78-yard pass to Kaelin Clay, but Clay fumbles just before scoring. Oregon DB Erick Dargan recovers the ball and fumbles, and LB Joe Walker returns it 100 yards for a TD.
Walker was on the opposite 15-yard line before broadcaster Brad Nessler spoke for everyone by asking, “What’s going on on the field here?”
Clay’s fumble was obstructed in the live television shot, but the replay showed he had let go of the football before crossing the plane. Oregon’s Erick Dargan initially attempted to pick it up before Walker got possession and — in one of the most heads-up plays of all time — flipped what appeared to be a 14-point deficit into a tie game.
It’s impossible to say how things would have played out if Utah had gone up 14-0, but the Ducks quickly built on their good fortune and built a 24-7 second-quarter lead before winning 51-27.
“A huge turn of events, obviously, on the fumble going into the end zone,” Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said at the time. “A great lesson for all of us.”
Oregon would win its next three games to secure the Pac-12 title and the No. 2 seed in the playoff, where it beat Florida State before losing to Ohio State in the title game.
For Utah, it’s a moment that lives in infamy.
“It’s something that you certainly teach and practice and drill and hope to never have it occur, particularly in a game, but it did,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “And Kaelin is a heck of a football player; he felt worse about it than anybody. So it’s one of those things that happens on a very, very rare occasion.”
Whittingham is one of many coaches who instructs his players not only to cross the goal line and hand the ball to the official — the fail-safe way to prevent a repeat occurrence — but also to pick up any loose balls if the play is in question.
Against Washington last year, the Huskies led 33-28 when Alphonzo Tuputala intercepted then-Utah quarterback Bryson Barnes and looked to have returned it 76 yards for a score. It was similar to the Clay play in that the television broadcast showed fans celebrating, flashed a “pick-six” graphic and updated the scoreboard to read 39-28.
But, again, replay revealed the premature celebration and showed Utah’s Michael Mokofisi sprinting from 10 yards away to cover it up at the 1-yard line.
Lesson learned, on one side, at least.
THE PATRON SAINT of premature touchdown celebrations is former NFL receiver DeSean Jackson, whose fumble at the 1-yard line against the Dallas Cowboys as a rookie for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2008 remains the most high-profile example of this unique lapse in concentration.
It was the type of moment that could make someone say, “Well, you know he’ll never make that type of mistake again.”
Except in Jackson’s case, this wasn’t his first time. A few years earlier, in the Army All-American high school football game, Jackson broke free for an easy score before he vaulted himself from the 5-yard line in an attempt to flip into the end zone. He came up a half-yard shy and fumbled the ball in the process.
It’s Jackson’s fumble in the NFL, though, that has gotten the most mileage for coaches as they try to guard against repeat gaffes. Compilation videos are easy to find on YouTube, and coaches have made their own cutups in which Jackson is often shown as the prime example of what not to do.
“He did it in high school and the pros, so we’ve shown all of those to make sure that our guys learn from other people,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said. “That’s one of the deals, like score the football, hand the football to the official and then celebrate with your teammates. That’s what we really try to do.”
The lessons don’t always stick.
In 2021, Louisville receiver Ahmari Huggins-Bruce turned a short completion into a 95-yard score, but coach Scott Satterfield noticed immediately that the officials were not treating it like a touchdown.
“I’m, like, ‘What’s going on?’ And they told me, ‘Coach, he dropped the ball,'” Satterfield said.
It was largely forgotten as part of a 30-3 win against Eastern Kentucky, but not by Satterfield.
“Every August — I mean every August — we show film to our players about that particular play because we’ve seen it,” he said. “Whether it be a Leon Lett situation where Don Beebe runs and knocks the ball out or in this case a guy who lets it go too early, we try to show it. So, that’s the only time that’s happened to me, but man, it’s a bad feeling.”
At TCU, coach Sonny Dykes has made it a habit to show a compilation of about 10-12 clips from college and NFL games on Friday nights before games about what not to do. It’s mostly mental mistakes that can unnecessarily swing a game, and three staples are Jackson’s fumble with the Eagles, Clay’s against Oregon and a similar example in Cal‘s win against Texas in 2016, when Dykes was coaching the Golden Bears.
With 1 minute, 22 seconds left and Cal leading 50-43, running back Vic Enwere rushed for what appeared to be a 55-yard touchdown only to enter the premature celebration club by letting go at the 1.
“Vic was like, ‘Yeah, I thought I scored,’ and it was really in style at the time,” Dykes said. “I think the guys wanted to drop it as soon as they could and it was kind of a thing, but he didn’t mean anything by it.”
The play was ruled a touchdown on the field only to be overturned on replay. However, the officiating crew ruled that because there wasn’t an immediate recovery by Texas, the Bears would take over where Enwere dropped the ball. It was a controversial decision because a Texas player did pick it up in the end zone before handing it to an official.
“He handed it to whoever was near the play,” said Mike Defee, the game’s referee and current coordinator of officials for the Mountain West. “If he had picked it up and started to run the other direction, maybe it would’ve been interpreted differently. But his body language showed that he thought the play was over.”
Instead of a Texas touchback, Cal took over at the 1-yard line and kneeled out the clock.
“[Texas coach] Charlie Strong was losing his mind,” Defee said. “He felt like they should have got the ball. It was a big play, but it got to the point where I explained to him the rules are very specific about how we handle this. Your guys didn’t pick up on the fact that it was loose and didn’t do anything with it.”
As this type of play became more of a known issue, officiating crews have also become more adept at noticing it in real time, although it’s not always immediately obvious.
“These plays probably drive coaches crazy,” Defee said. “It drives us crazy because it puts us in a tough situation, but I think for young players, they’re thinking they just made a tremendous play. They’re scoring. I think that it’s a loss of focus on their standpoint, but it creates another dimension for us.
“If we see the ball loose, obviously we want to keep officiating. But if there’s no one that we pick up visually that is making that attempt to recover the ball, we’re going to give it a healthy two, three seconds or so before we kill the play and then invoke the rule that covers that.”
EVEN THE BEST coaching can’t prevent these fumbles.
It happened to a Nick Saban-led team last year on what should have been a 79-yard touchdown for Alabama. It happened to Bob Stoops’ Oklahoma team in 2016, although the officials missed it and Joe Mixon got away with it. (It appears to be a coincidence that both Hall of Fame coaches retired after those seasons.)
0:58
Alabama QB drops the ball before crossing the goal line
Ty Simpson breaks free for the longest run by an Alabama QB in over 20 seasons, but drops the ball just short of the goal line.
It has happened to Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers and Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs.
And as much as coaches teach it and fans scream at the television, it will almost certainly happen again.
In those instances, the players will need to pick themselves (and, hopefully, the ball) up and move forward.
“It’s something we can learn from,” Lanning said, echoing Helfrich from 2014. “I think if you’re not learning as coaches and players, then you’re not doing your job.”
Until then, the coaches — unlike the players in those infamous moments — will refuse to drop it.
The College Football Playoff selection committee members will tell you they don’t rank conferences — they rank teams — but the Big Ten and SEC are leading the way in nonconference wins that will impact the committee’s rankings through Selection Day.
According to ESPN Research, the SEC enters Week 3 with a 27-3 nonconference record (8-2 against Power 4 opponents), while the Big Ten is 31-5 (5-3 against Power 4 opponents). The Big 12 is 24-8 but 5-6 against the Power 4, and the ACC is 22-10 but 3-9 against Power 4 teams.
Those results impact the following conference-by-conference playoff breakdown — listed in order of who is projected to have the most teams in the 12-team field.
Below you’ll find one team in the spotlight for each Power 4 league, and another identified as an enigma. We’ve also tiered schools into three groups. Teams with Would be in status are featured in this week’s top 12 projection, a snapshot of what the selection committee’s ranking would look like if it were released today. A team with Work to do is passing the eye test (for the most part) and has a chance at winning its conference, which means a guaranteed spot in the playoff. And a team that Would be out is playing in the shadows of the playoff — for now.
The 13-member selection committee doesn’t always agree with the Allstate Playoff Predictor, so the following categories are based on historical knowledge of the group’s tendencies plus what each team has done to date. Mississippi State, for example, just earned a big nonconference win against Arizona State, so although the Bulldogs probably aren’t ready for the CFP yet, they’re still listed under Work to do to account for the upward trajectory that win provides early.
Reminder: This will change week-to-week as each team builds — or busts — its résumé.
Jump to a conference:
ACC | Big 12 | Big Ten
SEC | Independent | Group of 5
SEC
Bubble watch spotlight: Oklahoma. The Sooners might have the best quarterback in the country with transfer John Mateer, whose true dual-threat ability was on full display in a statement win against Michigan. Mateer led the Sooners in passing and rushing in a performance that bumped them into the early playoff conversation, but if they occupy that No. 12 spot on Selection Day, they’re out. With the projected Big 12 champion and Group of 5 champion looming outside of the top 12, the committee’s No. 11 and No. 12 teams would get bumped out. The more pressing question, though, is whether Oklahoma has sustainability. ESPN’s FPI gives the Sooners less than a 50% chance to beat Texas, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Alabama. Yes, Mateer gives Oklahoma’s offense a dramatic boost and has revived the program’s hopes of returning to national relevance, but the Sooners have to be better around him to prove the computer projections wrong.
The enigma: Alabama. Were the Tide that bad in their loss to Florida State, or are the Seminoles that good? It’s probably a combination of both, but how those teams fare will impact each other’s résumés in the committee meeting room all season. What if Alabama lost on the road to a top-four ACC champion? What if FSU’s big win was against a five-loss Alabama team that spirals down the stretch? Alabama beat down Louisiana-Monroe 73-0 in Week 2. It was the largest shutout for Alabama since 1951. Yes, it was against a weaker opponent, but Ty Simpson still completed all 17 of his passes — the most without an incompletion in a game in SEC history. So no, the performance against FSU wasn’t good, particularly up front, but ESPN’s FPI projects the Tide to win each of their remaining games — except on Sept. 27 at Georgia, which is a coin toss (53.6% chance for the Dawgs). If Alabama is a two-loss team with losses to the ACC and SEC champs … it’s in the playoff.
If the playoff were today
Would be in: Texas (63%), Georgia (62.4%), Tennessee (53%), LSU (26.5%)
Work to do: Ole Miss (59.8%), Alabama (48.6%), Auburn (33.3%), Missouri (26.7%), Texas A&M (20.6%), South Carolina (19.8%), Oklahoma (19.2%), Mississippi State (1.7%)
Would be out: Arkansas (17.7%), Vanderbilt (10.7%), Florida (5.1%), Kentucky (1.3%)
Big Ten
Bubble watch spotlight: Illinois. The Illini entered this season with high expectations after returning 18 starters from a 10-win team that finished in the Top 25 last year. Saturday’s win against Duke was the first real step in living up to them: a convincing road victory against a respectable program that won nine games last year. Duke was very generous in this game, surrendering five turnovers, and Illinois was hardly flawless, allowing four sacks before halftime. Illinois avoids Oregon, Michigan and Penn State this year, so it will need to take advantage of the opportunities it has, starting on Sept. 20 at Indiana. The toughest game is Oct. 11 against Ohio State, but Illinois will have home-field advantage. If Illinois loses both of those games, it could be a hard sell in the committee meeting room. The Illini would lose the head-to-head tiebreaker to Indiana, which could be the difference in who gets the at-large bid. If their only loss, though, is to Ohio State, even if they finish as the Big Ten runner-up, the Illini could be this year’s version of 2024 Indiana. Speaking of the Hoosiers …
The enigma: Indiana. Are the Hoosiers a playoff team again? They have a more difficult road to prove it, with three games against ranked opponents (Illinois, Oregon and Penn State) — plus a tricky road trip to Iowa. Last year, Ohio State was the only ranked opponent Indiana faced during the regular season — a 38-15 loss. It didn’t matter, though, because IU beat everyone else it played — soundly. The Hoosiers can’t go 0-3 against the ranked teams on this season’s schedule, though, and expect an at-large bid — especially when the nonconference lineup includes Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State. ESPN’s FPI gives the Hoosiers a 61.3% chance to beat Illinois, which would be critical in a debate for an at-large spot. If the Hoosiers lose to Penn State and Oregon, would it be enough to earn a spot as a two-loss team? If they look as dominant as they did last year, then possibly. It would certainly help their case if other Big Ten opponents were above .500 or ranked by the committee.
If the playoff were today
Would be in: Ohio State (82.4%), Oregon (81.5%), Penn State (54.1%)
Work to do: USC (59.3%), Indiana (21.5%), Illinois (14.1%), Wisconsin (2.6%)
Would be out: Nebraska (27.4%), Washington (7.4%), Michigan (4%), Rutgers (3.8%), Minnesota (1.7%), Iowa (0.8%), Maryland (0.5%), Michigan State (0.4%), Northwestern (0%), Purdue (0%), UCLA (0%)
ACC
Bubble watch spotlight: Clemson. The Tigers dropped out of this week’s playoff projection after a second week of ho-hum offense. The LSU defense had a lot to do with making Clemson one-dimensional in the season opener, but Troy? Some of it could have been the letdown effect after losing a tough opener at home, but this is a veteran offense that has sputtered and stuttered. Clemson trailed 16-0 before scoring the final 27 points to win and avoid utter embarrassment. The Tigers needed the largest comeback the school has seen since 2020 against Boston College. Clemson earned a spot in the playoff last year as a three-loss ACC champ, so the Tigers certainly aren’t eliminated. They will be, though, if they don’t get that offense moving.
The enigma: Georgia Tech. With Haynes King in the lineup, Georgia Tech is a tough team capable of building upon last year’s seven-win season under coach Brent Key, but is this team capable of being more than a CFP spoiler? Remember, the Jackets beat Miami last year and pushed Georgia to eight overtimes — in Athens. This year, they avoid Miami, Florida State and SMU. Even without King, who was sidelined on Saturday with a lower-body injury, the Jackets beat overmatched Gardner-Webb 59-12 and backup quarterback Aaron Philo got some meaningful reps. The committee will learn more about both Clemson and Georgia Tech on Saturday when the Jackets host the Tigers — a game ESPN’s FPI gives Georgia Tech a 55.9% chance to win. If that happens, Georgia Tech should be favored in every remaining game — except the regular-season finale against rival Georgia. And — gasp — if Georgia Tech is sitting there on Selection Day having played in the ACC title game and with a lone regular-season loss to Georgia, this “enigma” is suddenly a playoff contender. The Jackets would be a lock with the ACC title, and in high consideration as a two-loss runner-up.
If the playoff were today
Would be in: Miami (33.4%), Florida State (22.8%)
Work to do: Georgia Tech (17.1%), Clemson (11.4%), SMU (8.2%)
Would be out: Louisville (5.1%), Virginia (3.2%), Pitt (2.8%), Boston College (1.8%), NC State (1.7%), Cal (0.7%), Duke (0.6%), Virginia Tech (0.5%), Syracuse (0.2%), North Carolina (0%), Stanford (0%), Wake Forest (0%)
Big 12
Bubble watch spotlight: Iowa State. The Big 12 winner will earn a spot in the playoff as one of the five highest-ranked conference champions, but the ultimate champ in this wide-open league is anyone’s guess. Right now, ESPN Analytics gives Utah the best chance to win the Big 12 (21.9%), followed by TCU (19.9%), BYU (17.7%) and then Iowa State (9.5%). The Cyclones, though, would have a slight edge with the committee because of two Power 4 wins against Kansas State and rival Iowa. Still, the league isn’t represented in our latest projection of the committee’s top 12. That’s because other teams have better résumés or have looked better (or a combination of both), and because Iowa State’s season-opening win against K-State will be devalued a bit after the Wildcats lost to Army (which lost to Tarleton State!). The committee also looks at opponents’ opponents. ESPN’s FPI projects Iowa State will lose to both BYU and TCU, but this is the kind of conference race that should go into late November — like it did last year. A two-loss Big 12 champ is in, but anything less than a title would open the door for debate.
The enigma: Texas Tech. The boosters have poured money by the bucketful into a highly rated class of 22 transfers. Billionaire Cody Campbell said publicly the school’s collective has raised $63.3 million since it was formed in 2022. And coach Joey McGuire was quoted this summer in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal saying it’s “the best roster I’ve ever been a part of.” Now it’s time to see if they got their money’s worth. So far, the Red Raiders have scored 129 points in two games — albeit against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Kent State. ESPN’s FPI says Texas Tech will lose two regular-season games — Sept. 20 at Utah and Nov. 8 against BYU. And the Oct. 18 trip to Arizona State is a 50-50 game. If Texas Tech finishes the regular season as a two-loss team — and doesn’t win the Big 12 — it probably won’t have a résumé impressive enough for an at-large bid. If the Red Raiders’ lone loss is a close one in the Big 12 title game, though, it would give the league a strong chance at two CFP teams.
If the playoff were today
Would be in: Iowa State (12.9%)
Work to do: Utah (27.2%), TCU (24.8%), BYU (22.8%), Texas Tech (11.1%), Baylor (5.7%)
Would be out: Kansas (6.3%), Arizona (3.4%), Arizona State (3.1%), UCF (1.7%), Houston (1.1%), Cincinnati (0.9%), Kansas State (0.7%), Colorado (0.4%), West Virginia (0.1%), Oklahoma State (0%)
Independent
Would be in: Notre Dame (24%). This is a team the committee would like better than the computers right now, as the Allstate Playoff Predictor gives Notre Dame the 18th-best chance of getting into the playoff — behind the likes of Auburn, Nebraska and TCU. The close loss at Miami didn’t doom the Irish. A home loss on Saturday to Texas A&M, though, and the Irish are in trouble. ESPN’s FPI gives Notre Dame a 71.2% chance to win at home — and the second-best chance in the country to win out (behind Ohio State). If that happens, and Notre Dame finishes as a one-loss team (possibly to the ACC champs), the committee would consider Notre Dame for one of the top four seeds and a first-round bye. Those spots are no longer reserved for conference champions, so there’s no ceiling anymore for the independent Irish. Without a conference championship game, though, Notre Dame’s résumé has to stand on its own on Selection Day. That’s why a second loss could be so damaging — there’s no opportunity to lock up a spot as one of the five highest-ranked conference champions, and there’s not another chance to impress the committee against a ranked opponent. So, if the Irish start 0-2, even if they run the table, they will have to bank on wins against the likes of Arkansas, Boise State, USC, Navy and Syracuse to earn an at-large bid. It seems … like a stretch.
Group of 5
Bubble watch spotlight: South Florida. The Bulls have already defeated the computers, which projected an 0-2 start. Now, with statement wins against Boise State and Florida — two teams that were ranked in the AP Top 25 at the time — South Florida is leading the race for a Group of 5 playoff spot. ESPN’s FPI gives Miami a 72.3% chance to beat South Florida at home on Saturday, but even if the Bulls lose, they will still impress the selection committee with their 2-0 start. If South Florida wins the American Conference, it should earn a spot in the playoff because it’s going to be hard for another Group of 5 champion to finish with a better résumé. Things could get interesting if South Florida runs the table but loses in its conference title game. The committee would consider the Bulls for an at-large spot along with the top Group of 5 champion. With regular-season wins against Boise State, Florida and Miami — especially if the Canes win the ACC — no other Group of 5 team would beat that résumé. Only two weeks into the season, South Florida is already ranked No. 3 in the country in ESPN’s strength of record metric, trailing only Ohio State and Florida State. The selection committee is using a similar metric this season to help evaluate how teams performed against their schedules.
The enigma: Tulane. According to the Allstate Playoff Predictor, Tulane has the second-best chance in the American to reach the playoff (19.8%) behind South Florida. The Green Wave earned a Power 4 win in their opener, albeit at home against an unranked Northwestern team. Tulane has another chance to start to separate itself from the other Group of 5 contenders on Saturday against Duke, but the biggest opportunity will be on Sept. 20 at Ole Miss. This would be even more impressive than South Florida’s win at The Swamp because the Rebels look like a tougher opponent. ESPN’s FPI gives Ole Miss an 87.3% chance to win.
If the playoff were today
Would be in: South Florida (34%)
Work to do: Tulane (19.8%), Memphis (16.6%), UNLV (11.1%), Navy (2.8%)
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