The 2014 season in The American conference featured a slew of memorable games for fans to binge on replays until next season. You’re about to read my picks for the AAC’s best games in ’14, but before moving on, let’s layout what makes a great game (hint: it’s not just a close score).
The best games are almost always close; often decided in the final minutes, or, better yet, final seconds of regulation. Sometimes ridiculous offensive stats by both teams make a game great, or one defense makes a big play to seal a neck-and-neck battle. Major comebacks are often in best-game contention. And sometimes the only reason a game is considered one of the “best” is because of the ramifications on the line for each team at the time the game was played.
Each of my top-five AAC games of 2014 contains at least one of these components. Also, the best teams usually play the best games, so don’t be surprised if you see each of the AAC co-champs in these rankings. Okay, you will see each co-champion in at least one of these games.
Warning: There’s no way you can disagree with the top three games I picked (you’ll see why), but feel free to disagree with Nos.4 and 5 in the comments section below.
Now, let’s get our reminiscing on.
Honorable Mention: Tulsa 38, Tulane 31 (2OT)
The AAC’s preseason bottom-dwellers kicked off 2014 with an action-packed performance that fans crave after going nearly eight months without their precious college football. The ‘Wave and ‘Hurricane combined for 1,108 yards of offense and eight touchdowns. This game had it all: a 400-yard passer, a 200-yard receiver with three TDs, a 200-yard rusher with a 90-yard touchdown run, and two overtimes. Can’t ask for more from a Week 1 opener. The teams combined to win only five games in 2014, but at least they provided a fair share of entertainment to start the season.
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5. East Carolina 28, Virginia Tech 21
Significance: ECU traveled to Blacksburg, Va., to face a Hokies team coming off a 35-21 upset of eventual national champion Ohio State on the road. Fans in and around the AAC knew the Pirates were a dangerous team, but few believed they were strong enough to march into Lane Stadium and knock-off then-No.17 Virginia Tech. The first-quarter was as shocking of a start to a game as any in 2014, as ECU jumped out to a 21-0 lead. The Pirates appeared to be on their way to matching Virginia Tech with a major road upset of their own — then the Hokies’ historically dominant defense showed up. Virginia Tech stifled quarterback Shane Carden and the Pirates’ offense for most of the second-half, and the Hokies offense clicked in time to tie the game at 21 with 1:20 left in the fourth. Then Carden happened. (Read “Play of the game” for the exciting conclusion).
Play of the Game: With Virginia Tech fatally kicking the ball out of bounds, ECU was set-up at its own 35-yard line, and had the AAC’s best quarterback in the backfield. The Pirates weren’t playing for overtime. Carden completed passes of 31 and 28 yards to receiver Cam Worthy, and was helped by an illegal substitution penalty on Virginia Tech to set the ball at the Hokies’ one-yard line with 20 seconds remaining. Then the senior put the game away with a QB-sneak off the left tackle for six, completing the 28-21 upset. At the time, ECU’s win in Blacksburg made it the most talked about team outside the Power Five for the next seven weeks.
Game MVP: Shane Carden — The quarterback was the catalyst for ECU’s win, throwing for 427 yards, three touchdowns, and running for the game-winning score. Carden threw the third-most yards a Virginia Tech defense has ever allowed to one quarterback in a game.
4. Cincinnati 54, East Carolina 46
Significance: Both teams knew the loser of this one would be firmly out of AAC title contention, especially given that then-AAC leading Memphis finished its conference slate with Tulane, USF, and UConn — teams that combined to win seven games in ’14. The game began as a back-and-forth affair, until Cincinnati scored three straight touchdowns to take a 38-20 lead early in the third-quarter. ECU proceeded to score four of the next five touchdowns, with QB Shane Carden tossing two TD passes and running for another score as the Pirates — unbelievably — hurried back for a 46-45 lead with 1:02 left in the game. With the ball on his own 35, UC quarterback Gunner Kiel only needed 1:02 to complete three consecutive passes to set his kicker Andrew Gantz up for a potential game-winning 47-yard field goal…
Play of the Game: Gantz delivered with a 47-yard field goal to put the Bearcats up 48-46 with 15 seconds left. After scoring a useless TD (Vegas might disagree) off a failed ECU lateral, Cincinnati finally walked away with a 54-46 win, bowl eligible, and firmly in contention for at least an AAC co-championship.
Game MVP: Gunner Kiel — The Bearcats quarterback out-dueled the AAC’s top passer, Shane Carden, tossing four touchdowns to go along with 436 yards passing and an average of 9.9 yards per pass attempt. Kiel’s three straight completions in the final drive were pivotal in preparing Gantz for a realistic field goal try.
3. Houston 35, Pittsburgh 34
Significance: If you love college football and the bowls, you know about this game. If football was played in three periods like hockey, this game would have finished as one of the worst AAC games in 2014. Thank goodness for fourth quarters. Down 31-6 in the fourth, Houston recovered two masterfully executed onside kicks, and Cougars QB Greg Ward Jr., led four touchdown scoring drives (with a Pitt field goal sandwiched in-between) to diminish Pittsburgh’s 25-point advantage into just a one-point 34-33 edge. Instead of playing for overtime, Houston kept the offense on the field to attempt a game-winning two-point play…
Play of the Game: Lined up for two, the Cougars had only two possible outcomes: lose by one, or win by one. Ward received the snap, immediately rolled to the right — directing traffic with his non-throwing arm — then, barely stepping inside the 10-yard line, tossed a lob to the right corner of the end zone to 6-3 wide receiver Deontay Greenberry, who used his size to come down with the two-point play as a Pitt defender closed in. Greenberry was a fourth-quarter hero, catching two of the Coogs’ last four touchdowns and snagging the game winning two-point conversion. Houston’s 35-34 25-point fourth-quarter comeback was the largest comeback in regulation in bowl history.
Game MVP: Greg Ward Jr., and Deontay Greenberry — Have to go with co-MVPs for this one. Ward threw three fourth-quarter touchdowns — two caught by Greenberry — to set up a potential game-winning two-point conversion. Well, you know the rest of the story. Ward finished with 274 yards passing, 92 yards on the ground, and a 3-0 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Greenberry finished with 85 yards receiving on four catches (long of 38 yards), two touchdowns, and caught an unforgettable two-point play that will live in Cougar-lore forever.
2. UCF 32, East Carolina 30
Significance: ECU was already out of AAC title contention with an early November loss to Temple and a narrow defeat to Cincinnati in the fourth-ranked game on this list. UCF, on the other hand, had a share of an AAC championship to play for in the regular-season finale. As mentioned in the intro, sometimes “best games” don’t earn their significance until the waning moments; this game earned its No.2 ranking in the final five seconds of regulation. Shane Carden tossed three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to give the Pirates a 30-26 lead after trailing 26-9. Faulty clock-management on the Pirates’ final drive allowed UCF time for one last prayer to Mother Mary…
Play of the Game: Knights quarterback Justin Holman had one last chance to win his team the game and an improbable second-straight AAC title. With the ball on his own 49, Holman took the snap, then dropped back to the 40 before heaving a desperation pass to the end zone. Receiver Breshad Perriman snuck behind two ECU defenders who badly misjudged Holman’s pass and came down, untouched, with an incredible 51-yard touchdown that gave the Knights a jaw-dropping 32-30 win. UCF left Greenville, N.C., with an AAC title on top of sinking the Pirates, who once garnered a No.18 ranking in the polls, to a disappointing 8-4 season.
Game MVP: Breshad Perrimon — Can it be anyone else? Perrimon ran like a ghost in the game’s final seconds to appear behind two Pirates defenders who were unaware they had let Perrimon sneak behind them to grab the 51-yard game winner. Hail Mary touchdowns are one of the most unlikely scores in college football, and the player on the receiving end of one has to have sniper-like focus to haul one in. Perrimon had 136 yards receiving and one touchdown, but his sole TD was the only score that ultimately mattered.
1. Memphis 55, BYU 48 (2OT)
Significance: The Tigers were playing in the AAC’s premier bowl game upon finishing the regular season with a 9-3 record and a share of the AAC championship. Memphis went 3-9 the previous season, but swapped wins and losses in 2014 with guidance from emerging coaching phenom Justin Fuente and sophomore quarterback Paxton Lynch, and was playing for its first 10-win season since 1938. The Miami Beach [brawl] became one of the most entertaining bowls of the season, as both teams traded punches (literally, when the game ended) throughout regulation, with no team having more than a 10-point lead at any point. Down 45-38, Lynch led a game-tying drive with less than a minute left to send the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl into overtime. BYU drew first blood in OT, kicking a field goal, but the Tigers matched it with a 54-yard kick of their own. Lynch played superb football in the second OT, throwing a touchdown strike to Roderick Proctor to put Memphis ahead 55-48. A BYU interception two plays later sealed the Tigers 10-win season and ignited a brawl that created buzz for several weeks following the game.
Play of the Game: Despite his three INTs, Lynch had five touchdowns next to his name (two passing, three rushing) and one final play on fourth-down at the BYU five with 55 seconds left to tie the game at 45. The sophomore scrambled for nearly 11 seconds before launching one into the end zone that receiver Keiwone Malone — streaking from the left side of the end zone — cradled in-between four Cougars for the tying touchdown. Lynch said later that Malone wasn’t even the intended receiver.
Game MVP: Paxton Lynch — Lynch could have been the villain in the eyes of Tiger fans before his previously mentioned touchdown prayer. The QB tossed three costly interceptions that kept BYU in the game, but his seven total touchdowns (four passing, three rushing) and late-game heroics made him the game’s MVP and Memphis’ savior. Lynch finished with 306 passing yards and 38 yards rushing. His four touchdown passes combined with three rushing TDs were the most by a QB to score both passing and rushing touchdowns in a game since Tajh Boyd in 2012.
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