# Is Cal-Stanford's "The Play" the greatest play in college football history?.... **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 9, 2019, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cal-stanfords-the-play-the-greatest-play-in-college-football-history/843201 "2019-11-09T13:47:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2019, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cal-stanfords-the-play-the-greatest-play-in-college-football-history/843201/61 "2019-11-17T04:25:33Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > No, I am correct. I just [downloaded](https://operations.nfl.com/media/3831/2019-playing-rules.pdf) a copy of the NFL 2019 rule book. On page 15, Rule 4, Section 8: > > … > > I haven’t looked, but I’m 99.99% certain that the NCAA rule book reads much the same way. I have no idea why you would assume that. Rules are different at all levels of the game, and the NCAA book is freely available [online](http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/FR19.pdf). 3-2-3-1 ARTICLE 3. a. A period shall be extended for an untimed down if one or more of the following occurs during a down in which time expires (A.R. 3-2-3-I-VIII): 1. A penalty is accepted for a live-ball foul(s) (Exception: Rule 10-2-5-a). The period is not extended if the foul is by the team in possession and the statement of the penalty includes loss of down (A.R. 3-2-3-VIII). ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2019, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cal-stanfords-the-play-the-greatest-play-in-college-football-history/843201/62 "2019-11-17T06:09:55Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > The [Fumblerooski](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIRgXCB_sQE) in the Orange Bowl has to be in contention Is that play still allowed or did they rewrite the rules to ban it after that game? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2019, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cal-stanfords-the-play-the-greatest-play-in-college-football-history/843201/63 "2019-11-17T06:16:47Z")
> [@Joeu](#): > > It was an elite, expensive private school (still is, of course), while Berkeley was public and inexpensive. Even though Berkeley was considered the flagship of the UC system, it was still a UC school, and at that time in-state tuition was only a few hundred dollars a semester, and if you had a certain high school GPA and test scores, you were guaranteed admission to one of the UC schools, and usually your first or second choice. A large proportion of Berkeley students were at Berkeley either because they were rejected at Stanford, or couldn’t afford it. Or both. We were all very sure that Berkeley gave the equivalent (or superior) education, but Stanford students absolutely were NOT in agreement with that. They treated us with condescending pity, and we treated them with angry resentment. > > So it wasn’t just a football rivalry, but a much deeper and wider rivalry. All that made this unusual victory all the sweeter. T-shirts with the play diagrammed on them appeared on campus within a week. Word. You forgot to mention the grade inflation and ease of graduation if you were at Stanford versus the insane meritocracy that ruled in the UC system. China Guy, UCD alumni from that time. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2019, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cal-stanfords-the-play-the-greatest-play-in-college-football-history/843201/64 "2019-11-17T17:00:05Z")
> [@Darth\_Sensitive](#): > > I have no idea why you would assume that. Rules are different at all levels of the game, and the NCAA book is freely available [online](http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/FR19.pdf). > > 3-2-3-1 > > ARTICLE 3. a. A period shall be extended for an untimed down if one or more of the following occurs during a down in which time expires (A.R. 3-2-3-I-VIII): > > 1. A penalty is accepted for a live-ball foul(s) (Exception: Rule 10-2-5-a). The period is not extended if the foul is by the team in possession and the statement of the penalty includes loss of down (A.R. 3-2-3-VIII). See post #60. I retracted that claim and offered an apology. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cal-stanfords-the-play-the-greatest-play-in-college-football-history/843201/65 "2019-11-17T17:24:34Z")
Miami beat Duke a few years back on a similar last second play that did not get as much publicity. And the refs missed some calls . they had 8 laterals [Miami's 8-Lateral Miracle Kickoff Return Touchdown To Beat Duke (HD) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YXwuaniPoc) ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cal-stanfords-the-play-the-greatest-play-in-college-football-history/843201/66 "2019-11-18T04:57:20Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Miami beat Duke a few years back on a similar last second play that did not get as much publicity. And the refs missed some calls . they had 8 laterals Damn, that was nice. They ran backwards so much I thought they would never get it going! Dennis ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cal-stanfords-the-play-the-greatest-play-in-college-football-history/843201/67 "2019-11-18T14:06:34Z")
It’s not the greatest play in college football history. It’s the greatest play in ANY sport’s history, and I say that as a guy who 1. Isn’t really much of a football fan, 2. Has no interest in college football at all, and 3. Once watched his favorite team in any sport win a World Series on a walk-off home run. I do not know how you can possibly top the total, wonderful, hilarious absurdity of this play. If you had written this into a movie people would literally have said “That is the stupidest thing ever and it would never happen for real in a billion years.” I’ve probably seen The Play a thousand times, and so has everyone, I guess; the repetition of it has almost taken away the wonder. But if you haven’t seen it in awhile look it up because a few years of not seeing it bring back that wonder. It’s just a one in a trillion thing, and so hilariously funny. I mean, it’s already utterly magnificent, with four or five laterals, when, as the camera is panning to the viewer’s right, the guy yells “Oh, and the band is out on the field!” and you think “The who?” and sure enough, there they are, and I think there’s some kind of a mascot who has a red and white striped shirt on and looks like Waldo, and they’re honking and banging away but then they start scattering in a panic like squirrels, and there’s like a hundred of them, and the announcer is at this point screaming like the Allies are invading Normandy and he’s announcing it live while leaping from a C-47 with the 101st Airborne, and then of course the guy spikes the trombone player. I mean, it’s just… I still can’t believe this really happened in real life and it’s not a fever dream. I am an atheist but this existence of this play really challenges that, because it’s evidence God is real and wants to reveal His existence through the most preposterous miracles. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cal-stanfords-the-play-the-greatest-play-in-college-football-history/843201/68 "2019-11-24T03:23:52Z")
BTW, [Cal beat Stanford](https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2019-11-23/pac-12-football-stanford-cal-chase-garbers)\*today \*with just over a minute to go. Happy Dance and go suck eggs Stanford sissy boys… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cal-stanfords-the-play-the-greatest-play-in-college-football-history/843201.md?page=3)