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.
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Buster Olney
Gerrit Cole‘s season is over, now that he is headed for Tommy John surgery, and the New York Yankees will have to find a way to replicate the production of a Cy Young Award-winning pitcher, someone who is likely to one day make a speech on induction day in Cooperstown.
But this is not a case of a team being blindsided by an injury. Past injuries are the most predictive indicators for future injuries, and after Cole missed nearly the first three months of last season with nerve inflammation in his right elbow, the Yankees knew the chances of losing him were heightened. Their handling of his contract situation last fall was a strong indicator of the uncertainty around Cole.
The pitcher and his agent, Scott Boras, opted out of the last four years of his contract, while asking that the Yankees exercise a $36 million option for the 2029 season, effectively adding a fifth year to his four-year, $144 million deal. Owner Hal Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman declined to do so, firmly holding the line, and days later, Cole returned to the Yankees without any augmentation of his contract. While the Yankees hoped Cole’s elbow would remain functional, as Masahiro Tanaka’s elbow did following a diagnosis of a partially torn ligament in 2014, they weren’t willing to bet another $36 million on it.
But that doesn’t help them very much right now, when they have lost two starting pitchers to significant arm injuries: Before Cole went down, Luis Gil — the American League Rookie of the Year last season — suffered a lat strain this spring that will keep him sidelined for much of the 2025 season. Max Fried, signed to a $218 million contract over the winter to improve a good rotation, will now be the de facto ace, in front of right-handers Clarke Schmidt and left-hander Carlos Rodon. A month ago, there was a lot of speculation about whether Marcus Stroman would be traded, given his standing as the sixth starter behind a five-man rotation, and now Stroman is needed as the No. 4 starter.
Cashman’s habit is to be patient — to weigh internal solutions before diving into another free agent signing or trade. When Cole was sidelined last spring, the Yankees thought Will Warren might step into his spot in the rotation, and instead, Gil surprisingly emerged to fill in for Cole and was one of the league’s best starting pitchers in the first half.
This year, Warren is having a very good spring, having allowed just two hits and a run in eight innings of work, with two walks and 11 strikeouts. Warren, an eighth-round pick out of Southeast Louisiana in 2021, is the front-runner to move into the Yankees’ rotation.
Just as the Yankees continue to weigh market options for hitting help while Giancarlo Stanton is attempting to work his way back from elbow trouble, they will consider free agent possibilities such as veteran right-hander Kyle Gibson. The Yankees paid for insurance on Cole’s contract, and so they will recoup some portion of the salary they owe him; typically, that rate is about 75%. His contract still counts against their competitive balance tax total, but the insurance money will significantly offset the luxury tax they will have to pay for the addition of any replacement: The Yankees are taxed dollar for dollar, 100%, for any additional player salaries they take on. A new $5 million player costs the Yankees $10 million.
Eventually, their best alternatives, if needed, could be through the trade market, and maybe that turns out to be the Miami Marlins‘ Sandy Alcantara, the 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner who is back after an elbow reconstruction. Under the terms of a deal he signed with the Marlins early in his career, Alcantara is making $17.3 million this year and $17.3 million next season, and there is a $21 million option in his deal for 2027.
The Marlins are not expected to contend this year and have been in a cost-cutting mode since Peter Bendix took over the team’s baseball operations after the 2023 season. Last year, the Marlins demonstrated a willingness to deal very early in the season, when they swapped batting champion Luis Arraez to the San Diego Padres in the first week of May.
But the price of a trade in April or May is usually set by the team dealing away a star, and the Yankees would have to pay a big price in prospects in the spring after a rough year for their farm system, which is generally regarded as thin by other teams and ranked No. 21 in Kiley McDaniel’s preseason system rankings. Additionally, the Yankees would presumably compete against other teams if and when the Marlins look to trade Alcantara, leaving them at the same disadvantage they faced when trying to pry Garrett Crochet away from the Chicago White Sox — before Chicago dealt him to the Boston Red Sox.
Over the course of the summer, Gil could return from the injured list, and other pitchers could emerge on the trade market as some teams drift out of contention. If the Toronto Blue Jays struggle in the first half, they could be a key source for all kinds of needs, including starting pitchers. Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer might all draw interest if Toronto ever looks to rebuild and, in the Yankees’ case, is willing to deal within the division.
One or more National League West teams could end up feeding the trade market. The Padres enter this season with high expectations after nearly knocking out the Los Angeles Dodgers last summer, but if San Diego drifts behind in the playoff race, it holds two of the best impending free agents, Dylan Cease and former Yankee Michael King. Similarly, the San Francisco Giants have veteran Robbie Ray, who is under contract for $25 million this year and next, and the Arizona Diamondbacks‘ Zac Gallen will become eligible for free agency in the fall.
Likewise, in the AL West, the Mariners have so far clung to their starting pitchers, like Luis Castillo, but that could change if Seattle sinks in the standings. The Astros demonstrated their willingness to be aggressive with players nearing free agency with their trade of outfielder Kyle Tucker, and if Houston hovers around .500, it could flip Framber Valdez into the market — with his years of postseason experience attractive to contenders.
The pitching market could be flush with options in a few months. And the Yankees might wait until then to make a move to cover for Cole’s absence.
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Jorge Castillo
New York Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole will undergo Tommy John surgery, the team announced Monday, ending his 2025 season before it began and leaving the club staggering from another blow as it prepares to defend its American League pennant.
The decision to have the surgery, which will sideline Cole for the 2025 season and at least part of the 2026 season, was made after seeking a second opinion from Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Monday. Cole will undergo the procedure Tuesday at the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles. In a statement, the club said that “further updates will occur post surgery.”
Cole started two games this spring, giving up seven runs across six innings. On Thursday, he gave up six runs on five hits, including two home runs, over 2⅔ innings to the Minnesota Twins. He said he felt an “alarming” amount of pain that night into Friday morning, prompting him to notify the team and undergo imaging tests, which revealed a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
Cole, 34, went through the same series of stressful events a year ago: Elbow pain in mid-March, tests and opinions from doctors. But the result was different. Cole was diagnosed with nerve irritation and edema and, instead of surgery, he rested and rehabbed. He made his season debut on June 19 and pitched through the World Series without a setback.
In a statement he posted on Instagram later Monday, Cole said the surgery was a “necessary next step for my career,” adding that he has “a lot left to give, and I’m fully committed to the work ahead. I’ll attack my rehab every day and support the 2025 Yankees each step of the way. I love this game, I love competing, and I can’t wait to be back on the mound — stronger than ever.”
The ace logged 124 innings over 22 starts between the regular season and playoffs, tossing at least six innings in three of his five postseason outings. He then opted to alter his offseason throwing program by starting it earlier to continue his positive momentum. He said he was “in a really good spot” compared to other years at the start of camp.
But less than a month later, his season has been declared over.
Cole’s injury is the second major blow to the Yankees’ starting rotation this spring after Luis Gil, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, sustained a lat strain that was expected to sideline him for at least three months.
Without the two right-handers, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt will top the Yankees’ starting rotation. Marcus Stroman, who was notably not expected to make the Opening Day rotation, is projected to slide into the No. 4 spot with Will Warren, a rookie who made his debut last season, and Carlos Carrasco, a soon-to-be-38-year-old veteran in camp as a non-roster invite, as the leading internal candidates to round out the quintet.
Other options in camp include right-hander Allan Winans, who has eight career starts on his résumé, and left-hander Brent Headrick, a starter in the minors who has never started a game in the majors.
The Yankees could also opt to sign a free agent — veterans Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn are among those available — or swing a trade for an established starter.
Cole, a six-time All-Star, won the 2023 AL Cy Young Award and was the runner-up two other seasons. He has tallied at least 200 innings in six of his 10 full seasons (not including last year and the COVID-shortened 2020 season). He is as close to an old-school frontline workhorse in his prime that exists in baseball. It’s why the Yankees chose to sign Cole, a lifelong Yankees fan, to a nine-year, $324 million deal with a no-trade clause in December 2019 — the largest contract given to a pitcher at the time.
The agreement included a player opt-out after last season that the Yankees could’ve voided by attaching another year and $36 million to the four years and $144 million remaining on his contract. Cole exercised the opt out, but he never became a free agent and didn’t receive the extra year. Instead, the two sides agreed to continue as if Cole didn’t opt out two days later, keeping him under contract through the 2028 season at $36 million per year.
The Yankees have insurance on Cole’s contract, which will allow them to recoup some money for the time he’s out.
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out seven over five impressive innings and Shohei Ohtani ripped a 118.5 mph double during the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ penultimate game of the spring schedule on Monday.
Yamamoto threw 75 pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Camelback Ranch. His fastball touched 97 mph and four of the seven strikeouts came on his splitter. The Japanese right-hander gave up one run on four hits in his final spring training start, walking one as the Dodgers went on to win 6-2.
Yamamoto is scheduled to start the Dodgers’ regular-season opener against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo on March 18. Ohtani is expected to be the designated hitter.
Ohtani’s third extra-base hit of the spring came in the first inning and the reigning National League MVP jogged into second base for the easy double. He grounded out in the second and struck out in the fourth.
Ohtani is 6 of 17 this spring (.353) with two doubles and a homer. The 30-year-old is trying to bounce back from offseason shoulder surgery.
Rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki is scheduled to start the final spring training game for the Dodgers on Tuesday. He’s expected to start the second Dodgers-Cubs game in Japan on March 19.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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