College Football Stories

Throughout our bowl series, we have recounted some fantastic games. We have had high-scoring affairs, crazy finishes, marquee match-ups of premier programs, and games in some of the best settings that college football has to offer. This story is not one of those stories. If there was ever a time for a story about college sports to be for mature audiences only, this would be it. On New Year’s Eve 2008, the Oregon State Beavers and Pittsburgh Panthers squared off in one of the most disgusting football games you’ll ever see.

Disclaimer: if you or anyone you know has been diagnosed as a casual fan of the sport of college football, please seek immediate assistance after reading this story. Better yet, stop reading now and save yourself from the side effects of learning anything about the 2008 Sun Bowl. For the die-hard fans of the sport, you probably already know the outcome of this game, so go ahead and strap yourselves in for some turbulence.

Panthers

Head coach Dave Wannstedt and the Pitt Panthers strolled into West Texas ranked No. 18 in the nation, with a 9-3 record. Pitt finished second in the Big East that season, and even managed to upset Notre Dame in a four overtime thriller in South Bend. The Panthers were, by every metric, a solid football team. They averaged nearly 30 points per game and had beaten a top-10 team during the regular season. Twice, they scored over 40 points in a single game.

The offense was led by running back LeSean McCoy, who had over 1,400 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns. Conor Lee was the Big East’s best kicker, going 20 for 23 on field goals during his final season. The defense featured future NFL Draft picks linebacker Scott McKillop, and defensive ends Jabaal Sheard and Greg Romeus. These three players each had double digit tackles for loss.

Beavers

Oregon State showed up in El Paso at 8-4, ranked 24th in the country. Mike Riley’s Beavers started the year with a disappointing 2-3 record. One of those two victories, however, was one of the more memorable Thursday night college football games of all time. The Beavers shocked the top-ranked USC Trojans at home in Corvalis. The Beavers finished the year on a six game win streak prior to a rivalry loss to the Oregon Ducks.

Oregon State featured future Atlanta Falcons running back Jacquizz Rodgers, who had over 1,200 yards rushing to go along with 11 touchdowns. His brother, wide receiver James Rodgers, had over 1,800 all-purpose yards and 10 TD’s. Unfortunately for the Beavers and everyone who watched the game, the Rodgers brothers were inactive for the Sun Bowl due to injuries. Fifth-year senior WR Sammie Stroughter had nearly 1,000 yards receiving and 7 TD receptions. Defensively, DE Victor Butler and defensive tackle Stephen Paea were future NFL players that combined for over 30 tackles for loss.

Each team’s punter averaged nearly 40 yards per punt during the 2008 regular season. Oregon State’s Johnny Hekker was a starter in his true freshman season. Pitt’s Dave Brytus was a senior who had transferred in from Purdue two years prior. You may be wondering, dear reader, why I would think to mention the punters for each of these ranked, bowl teams. Specialists aren’t even really football players, are they? This is where the story gets a little gross.

First Half

The 75th annual Sun Bowl was only the second time that Pitt and Oregon State had ever faced off. The first meeting was a 38-13 Pitt win in the 2002 Insight Bowl. The Beavers received the ball to start the game. On the game’s second play from scrimmage, Stroughter took a fly sweep 17-yards for a first down. The next play, Oregon State RB Ryan McCants fumbled and Pitt recovered the ball in Beavers’ territory.

Quarterback Bill Stull and the Pitt offense took over at the Oregon State 43-yard line. The Panthers first play was an overthrown play-action pass intended for WR Jonathan Baldwin. Stull’s second pass sailed off the hands of WR Derek Kinder and was intercepted by Beavers defensive back Keenan Lewis. Less than a minute into the game, the two teams combined for five offensive plays and two turnovers.

Oregon State quarterback Lyle Moevao hit McCants for four yards on a play-action roll out to start the next OSU drive. McCants moved the sticks on the next play after a gain of 9-yards on the ground. Two plays later, Panthers’ DE Romeus sacked Moevao for a loss of 7-yards and the Beavers drive stalled. Hekker punted and Pitt took over at their own 31-yard line.

Pitt’s drive lasted four plays and went only 18-yards, including a 5-yard penalty against OSU. MCoy ran for five-yards and gained a first down. Stull found WR LaRod Stephens-Howling for a gain of 8-yards to set up a short second down. The next two Stull passes missed the mark and the Panthers sent the punt unit out. Brytus’ punt pinned the Beavers inside their own 15-yard line.

Moevao found Stroughter for a big gain of 24-yards on third-and-long during the Beavs’ next possession. The other five plays on the drive combined for four yards. Enter Hekker and the special teams unit to punt the ball away from the OSU 41-yard line to the Pitt 13. A Stephens-Howling 29-yard rush on second-down wasn’t enough to kick start the Panthers’ next drive. Five plays and 36-measly-yards were all that Pitt could muster before punting it back to OSU. Brytus hit a 51-yard boot that found its way into the end zone for a touchback.

The Beavers returned the favor with a short, bliss-less drive of their own. Starting at their own 20-yard line, Moevao and Co. moved the chains once after Stroughter’s 18-yard completion. On the second play of the second quarter, Hekker nailed a 46-yard punt and put Pitt at their own 11-yard line. The next drive for each team resulted in a three-and-out, completing a run of seven straight drives ending in punts.

With just under 10 minutes remaining in the half, Pitt finally put together a drive worth writing about. Stull and the Panthers moved the ball a miraculous 47-yards on 11-plays. Pitt picked up the first two third-downs on the drive after a 4-yard McCoy rush and an 11-yard reception from WR Cedric McGee. Later on the drive, Stull’s pass intended for Kinder on fourth-and-three was off the mark, and Oregon State took over at their own 37-yard line. At least they went for it.

Running back Jeremy Francis took the hand-off on the first play of the Beavers next drive nearly 20-yards to the Pitt 44-yard line. Two plays later, Moevao evaded pressure and found senior WR Shane Morales for an 18-yard gain just outside of the red zone. After a four-yard rush from McCants to set up a 3rd-and-6, Moevao’s screen pass to Francis was sniffed out and blown up by Pitt LB Austin Ransom for a loss of five. On fourth-and-long, Oregon State kicker Justin Kahut lined up for a 44-yard field goal attempt from the right hash mark. Kahut, unfazed by the wind and the poor snap/hold, nailed the kick and we had points in El Paso! Beavers led 3-0 with 2:18 remaining in the first half.

Pitt went three plays, negative three yards and punted on their next possession. Brytus flipped the field with a 45-yard punt, and the Beavers started at their own 30-yard line. With 1:22 left in the second quarter, Moevao and the OSU went to work. Morales hauled in a 17-yard reception on the first play of the drive. Two plays later, on third-and-12 from their own 45-yard line, Stroughter reeled in a catch near the sideline good for 18-yards and another first down. Moevao called his own number on a quarterback draw for 10-yards on 4th-and-3 to extend the drive.

Moevao connected with WR Chris Johnson for gains of 6 and 4 yards on the next two plays to get down inside the Pitt 10-yard line. Tight end John Reese appeared to haul in a leaping touchdown on a corner route, but did not survive the ground and thus, even after video review, the pass was ruled incomplete. Moevao’s next pass was intercepted by Pitt LB McKillop in the end zone and the half came to close.

The first half ended with 283 total yards from scrimmage, two interceptions, one lost fumble, and three total points. Hekker and Brytus combined for 8 punts for 345 yards. They were just getting started.

Second Half

You may be thinking to yourself, “Jeez, that was terrible football; I don’t think it can get any worse than that”. I’m telling you right now, you’re wrong. The third quarter featured seven total drives, four by Oregon State, and three by Pitt. Six of these drives ended with a punt. The final five of these seven drives were all three-and-outs that combined for 1 net yard. You read that correctly: five drives, one yard.

Pitt’s first drive of the half went six plays for 26 yards, highlighted by McCoy picking up a first down after back-to-back carries to start the third quarter. Stull found Kinder for a gain of 12-yards to get the ball to the Panthers’ 39-yard line. Three plays later, Pitt turned to Brytus to punt the ball away. The Beavers took over at their own 20-yard line after a short return by Stroughter.

With under 11 minutes left in the third quarter, Oregon State embarked on an 11-play, 60-yard drive, holding the ball for nearly five minutes. Morales hauled in completions of 22- and 15-yards. Francis ran the ball three times for 24-yards. Stroughter had another big catch for 14-yards. After getting all the way down to the Pitt 7-yard line, Moevao was sacked by Romeus for a loss of 13-yards and the Beavers would be forced to settle for a field goal attempt. Kahut’s kick missed the mark, and the score remained 3-0 OSU with 7:20 left in the third quarter.

After the punt-fest that was the remainder of the third quarter, over 40,000 fans in Sun Bowl Stadium were undoubtedly discussing whether this dreadful football performance was worth the price of admission to see The Village People’s half-time performance.

The fourth quarter would be even worse than the one-millionth rendition of the “YMCA”. Hekker punted 4 times, while Brytus punted twice. On ten drives in the fourth quarter, the furthest either team moved the ball was 38-yards. Pitt’s first drive ended with a Stull sack-fumble on third-and-five. Two drives later, the Beavers turned it over after a Moevao pass was intercepted by Pitt cornerback Aaron Berry. With under four and a half minutes left in the game, Pitt started a drive near midfield. This was after a 52-yard boot from Hekker was returned for 22-yards by the Panthers’ T.J. Porter.

McCoy started the drive with two runs from the Wildcat formation to gain a first down. In fact, the Panthers spent four of their five offensive plays on this drive with McCoy in the Wildcat formation. They only gained twelve yards, however, and kicker Conor Lee trotted out for the first time all day to attempt a 58-yard field goal to tie the game. Although Lee was 20 of 23 on the year, his longest made kick to date was from 44-yards out. The kick had the distance but sailed wide to the right. The scored remained 3-0 Beavers with two minutes to play.

Somehow, Pitt would get another opportunity to tie or win the game. After Oregon State went three-and-out, the Panthers took over at their own 11-yard line after a beautiful 46-yard punt from Hekker. In place of the injured Stull, Panthers’ QB Pat Bostick was sacked on first down for a loss of three yards. With no timeouts remaining and the clock running, the Panthers had to hurry. Bostick connected with TE Dorin Dickerson for gains of 16- and 20-yards to get the ball to midfield. Bostick spiked the ball with 11 seconds left. On the next play, Beavers DB Slade Norris sacked Bostick to end the drive and the game. Mercifully, this one was finally over.

Post-mortem

This was a game for the ages. And when I say that, I mean this game has gone down in history as one of the single worst bowl games ever played. Highlights from this game could be used to torture our nation’s enemies during war. The box score and stat sheet from this one is probably what makes birds fly into plane engines.

Pitt and Oregon State combined to go 6 for 34 on third and fourth downs. *vomits* Pitt had 178 total yards, and was 9/28 through the air. Gross. Despite having Shady McCoy, the Panthers only managed 89 total rushing yards on 37 attempts. Disgusting. The Beavers did cover themselves in glory, either. They had 239 yards through the air, but when you factor in the 43 pass attempts and the two interceptions and one lost fumble, the Beavers offense was putrid.

Their were two gentlemen that held up their end of the bargain. Punters Johnny Hekker and Dave Brytus put on an absolute clinic. Hekker punted 10 times for 450 total yards. He pinned Pitt inside their own 20-yard line five times, including once inside their own 5-yard line. Brytus had 9 punts go for 394 yards, including four inside the 20-yard line.