Drama is the key to any good story. Drama is generated over time but it builds on the key principle of suspense.
Suspense can be broken down into a very simple equation. Make your character, in this case a team, find themselves in a situation in which a good outcome is unlikely and a bad outcome is very likely.
Saturday played host to a loaded slate of dramatic games but one game in particular provided so much dynamic suspense it was hard to handle. And here’s the best part, no one saw it coming.
There were three match ups of ranked teams last week: Florida State vs. Maryland, Ohio State vs. Northwestern and Washington vs. Stanford. Two of them were compelling but nothing came close to the battle between Rutgers and Southern Methodist University.
Wait Grey, Rutgers and SMU, aren’t they in that stupid American Athletic Conference? Don’t they both suck?
Well yes, (pour some out for the Big East) and yes, neither of these teams have a shot at the National Title but Rutgers did snag a good win against Arkansas and SMU, well SMU’s only win was against Montana St.
Entering the fourth quarter, Rutgers, was leading the game 35-14, a seemingly insurmountable difference for an SMU team that has struggled all year, but that wasn’t the case. An early fourth quarter touchdown was the spark SMU needed to drive an amazing comeback. But this spark was almost diminished when SMU failed to convert their point after attempt.
With 1:19 remaining in the game, SMU scored their third consecutive touchdown triggering a decisive two-point conversion. Upon the snap, the attempt seemed all but finished as multiple Rutgers defenders surged through the line of scrimmage. As the pocket collapsed, SMU senior quarterback Garrett Gilbert went in the only direction he could, backwards. A full twenty yards backwards to be precise.
Then with a little bit of luck, Gilbert picked up a few blocks and frantically scrambled toward the sideline. At the last second, right before he crossed the sideline he turned across his body and heaved a prayer, 20 yards across the field. The throw was so erratic that the camera wasn’t even able to capture the entire throw.
The prayer was answered by senior wide receiver Jeremy Johnson who barely managed to get his toe down in the end zone. The game was tied and sent into overtime. Watch the highlight. It’s amazing.
One overtime period was not enough to settle the deadlock. Neither were two. The game was finally decided when Rutgers freshman running back Justin Goodwin crossed the goal line on a 17-yard scamper to secure victory for Rutgers 55-52.
The lengthy overtime period consisted of a fourth down conversion for both teams and many other electric plays.
Dramatic storytelling was on full display in Dallas on Saturday. The two-point conversion to force overtime was enough to propel SMU-Rutgers to game of the week status, but three overtimes on top of that? Come on.
Here in lies the best part of college football; the game of the week can come from anywhere.
The marquee game of the day is almost always upstaged by a small game from the newly formed AAC or maybe the MAC, Sun Belt or other “mid-major” conference. The depth of games of college football is what separates it from the rest. There are four to six games at four different time slots, each one has potential to be astounding.
