More Trick Plays
October 26, 2010
One of the surprise stories of the year is the Michigan State Fighting Chippewas. The Chips have won two games already with trick plays, a fake field goal play called "Little Giants" against Notre Dame and a fake punt called "Mouse Trap" against Northwestern.
There is a long-standing college football tradition of naming trick plays after movies.
At Colorado State's homecoming in 1989 the Rams snuck a recent alum onto the field against Wyoming, and he lined up near CSU's own sideline. He went out for a pass on a fake field goal, caught it, and ran into the end zone even though he had finished his eligibility, in a play known as "The Graduate".
Wisconsin had a famous play in a lunch hour grudge match against Indiana in 1975. They spiked the Hoosiers' Gatorade supply with THC pills and the opposing players were so stoned that there was no "IU D". The Badgers went on to an easy victory. They called their gimmick "High Noon".
Another famous incident occurred at Nebraska in their 1964 game against Kansas. The Huskers had one of their black players don a mini-skirt and wander along the Jayhawk sideline, providing some interesting personal services to the Kansas players. All the players, even the ones on the field, were so excited that they stopped paying attention to the game and Nebraska won easily, after instituting the "African Queen".
Perhaps the most famous such trick play took place in the late 1930s in the Minnesota vs. Ohio State game. The Golden Gophers faced a crucial game-deciding 4th and goal play from the OSU 1 yard line. Legendary lineman Bronko Nagurski had been eating bran all day. Right before the snap he signaled to his teammates to hold their breath and he let one loose. The OSU line got one whiff and collapsed in spasms and the Minnesota RB trotted into the end zone with the game-winning score. Bronko's feat was known as "Gone With the Wind".
And now you know the rest of the story.