College Publisher Test Site

Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Cindy Fox TAKE ONE (OR FIFTEEN) FOR THE TEAM: Splices of the films show the progression of the miraculous play in still frames (above). Wide receiver Riley Currie, junior, races the ball across the goal line for the score (left) after a play that saw seven different players touch the ball.

Twenty five years after "The Play" featured a five-lateral kickoff return through the Stanford (Calif.) band, the "Mississippi Miracle" replaced it as possibly the greatest college football moment of all time.
With this win, Millsaps College (Miss.) earned its first conference loss. If Trinity wins the last two games of the season, the Tigers win the SCAC's automatic NCAA playoff berth.
The 15-lateral touchdown with time expiring has captured the attention of major media outlets around the country, including ESPN and the New York Times.
The play was named the Pontiac Game Changing Performance of the Week, earning Trinity $5,000 towards its general scholarship fund. The video is now in the running for the Performance of the Year, which could earn the school $100,000 with a win.
"I'm overwhelmed by [the coverage], amazed and the media requests that have come to our department; you can't buy this kind of name recognition," said Director of Athletics Bob King.
This season has been noted for the efforts of quarterback Blake Barmore, senior.
Against DePauw University (Ind.), Barmore threw for a career-high 476 yards and rushed for 42, earning a school-record 518 yards of total offense.
Barmore and Millsaps quarterback Juan Joseph are No. 1 and No. 2 in the conference in passing average per game and overall offense, with Joseph leading in both categories. Barmore leads Joseph in pass efficiency, a statistic that helped the Tigers win the game. Had Barmore missed wide receiver Shawn Thompson, junior, with the play's first pass, the game would have been over.
It was indeed a miracle that the play continued with so many opportunities for fumbles and interceptions, but the play itself was not unplanned.
According to Thompson, Assistant Coach Jason Guthrie made the call, instructing the players to lateral and run until they scored a touchdown.

Continued...

Page 1 of 3 next >

Article Tools