(Courtesy ESPN)
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This is it, you’ve made it. Give yourself a pat on the back. You survived an onslaught of recaps, highlights, and horrific puns to make it to the #1 moment of the 2012-13 football/basketball season. The reason this moment rises above the rest is that it embodies everything in the previous nine. It has the holy-shit-did-that-just-happen factor we saw throughout this countdown combined with the nail-biting anxiety of the outcome of the game being determined by the plays. That’s right, I said plays, as in plural, because this moment was really two nearly subsequent plays wrapped up into one spectacular moment.
So without further stalling, the best moment of the 2012-13 football/basketball season…
It was the Belk Bowl where there was no shortage of offense. With Duke boasting the 5th best scoring offense in the ACC and Cincinnati the #1 scoring offense in the Big East, it was no surprise that the teams combined for double digit touchdowns when it was all said and done. It was also no surprise that both teams went punch for punch as the game wore on into the third and fourth quarters. It appeared as if the team with the final possession would be the one to come out on top.
And with the Blue Devils on the goal line with about 1:32 remaining in the game, it looked like Duke would be that team.
Then senior Brandon Mills and John Williams came up with the biggest play of their UC careers. On 2nd-and-goal with the Blue Devils sniffing the endzone, they opted to play it safe and try to power the ball in on the ground. Bad decision. As soon as runningback Josh Snead took the hand off, Brandon Mills collapsed inside to cut off any running lanes. As Snead tried to power his way through the middle, in an instant he dropped his arm (“high and tight, son!”) and it allowed Mills to lower his shoulder an pop it out. FUMBLE!!!
As soon as the ball hit the ground John Williams pounced on it. He cradled the football underneath his gargantuan body and never let it go, giving possession back to the Bearcats and saving their hides.
But the game wasn’t over yet. Duke and Cincinnati were still tied at 34 with just over a minute to play and the Bearcats 94 yards away from the endzone. Overtime looked like it was in our future. Thankfully Cincinnati had weapons like quarterback Brendon Kay and tight end Travis Kelce at their disposal. Since the quarterback change in the middle of the Syracuse game, the duo had developed a strong relationship quickly. They had accounted for 60% of Cincinnati’s touchdowns threw the air. Kay even caught a touchdown pass from Kelce at one point. Clearly they went better together than peas and carrots.
And with the game on the line, the two ensured that Mills and Williams’ unbelievable play just minutes earlier wouldn’t be wasted. On 1st-and-10 on their 17 yard line, Kay and Kelce unleashed the hellfire.
Travis Kelce burst past the linebackers and secondary with his sub-4.6 Forty speed on a simple seem route. Brendon Kay saw it immediately and floated him a beautiful pass that hit him in stride. 83 yards later and the Bearcats were up for good! Insanity ensued as the Cincinnati contingent in the stands celebrated in tandem with UC’s sideline.
You couldn’t have asked for a more perfect way to put a capper on the Bearcats’ football season.