So long, football: The best games I saw in 2011
Great, great Super Bowl. But like every Super Bowl, good or bad, the final game carries a degree of sadness. No more football for six months. Total drag.
Anyway, my 34th football season is in the books. I covered 21 games in the 2011 season. And the best of the bunch had huge impacts on the sport nationally.
Here are the 10 best games I saw in the 2011 season:
1. Giants 37, Cowboys 34, Dec. 11: Dallas led 34-22 with a touchdown scored with 5:41 left in the game. The Cowboys were about to take control of the NFC East. Then Eli Manning took over. He drove the G-Men on TD drives of 80 and 60 yards to take the lead, then Tom Coughlin called timeout just as Dan Bailey was making a tying 47-yard field goal. Jason Pierre-Paul then blocked Bailey’s subsequent attempt, and New York had a wild victory. Three weeks later, the Giants beat Dallas in the Meadowlands for the East title, and now New York has another Super Bowl title.
2. OSU 41, Stanford 38, overtime, Jan. 2: Stanford led 14-0 in the second quarter, but OSU caught up quickly with the Brandon Weeden/Justin Blackmon show. The rest of the game was set – Stanford score, OSU score. The Cardinal had the ball last, but Jordan Williamson missed a 35-yard field goal try on the final play of regulation, then missed a 43-yarder on the first possession of overtime. That left the Cowboys in control, and Weeden’s strike to Colton Chelf carried the Cowboys into the end zone. Replay review returned the ball to the 1-yard line, so Quinn Sharp kicked a 22-yard field goal to win it.
3. Baylor 45, OU 38, Nov. 19: Not every season do you get to see a Heisman Trophy won. But anyone at Floyd Casey Stadium did, as Robert Griffin torched the Sooners early, OU made a spirited comeback to tie, then Griffin delivered the fatal blow in the final seconds.
4. OSU 30, Texas A&M 29, Sept. 24: The Cowboys trailed 20-3 at halftime, and OSU’s hoped-for special season seemed in jeopardy. But within 13 minutes, OSU had taken the lead. A wild fourth quarter kept the game in doubt, but James Thomas’ late interception turned back the final A&M rally.
5. OU 23, Florida State 13, Sept. 17: Seems like forever ago, but this was the game of the week, and it lived up to the billing. The Seminoles tied the game 13-13 in the fourth quarter, but Landry Jones’ touchdown pass to Kenny Stills gave the Sooners the lead with seven minutes left, then Javon Harris’ – yes, Javon Harris – interception set up the clinching field goal.
6. Lions 34, Cowboys 30, Oct. 2: Dallas led 27-3 three minutes into the second half, and Detroit looked like the same old Lions. Then Tony Romo threw two straight interceptions, both returned for touchdowns, and the Lions had hope. In the fourth quarter, Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes, including the game-winner to Calvin Johnson with 1:39 left, and the courses for two seasons were set. Dallas disappointment, and Detroit rise to the playoffs.
7. Iowa State 37, OSU 31, 2 OTs, Nov. 18: An historic game, ISU’s biggest upset ever. A nationally-prominent game, which knocked the Cowboys out of the Big Bowl. A sad game, played on the same day the Cowboys learned of another fatal OSU basketball plane crash. Not a well-played game, but suspenseful. The Cowboys blew a 24-7 lead, then Sharp’s late miss from 38 yards gave Iowa State life. After both teams scored overtime touchdowns, Weeden threw an interception, and the Cyclones stormed to victory.
8. Texas Tech 41, OU 38, Oct. 22: OU’s inefficiency was stunning. The Sooners had won 39 straight at home, but against the worst Tech team in at least a generation, OU fell behind 31-7. The Sooners made a game of it in the fourth quarter, but Tech held and confirmed for finality that something was amiss in Norman.
9. Cowboys 18, Redskins 16, Sept. 26: Dallas won it with six Dan Bailey field goals. JerryWorld, like Texas Stadium before it, is always tension-filled when the Cowboys are monkeying around with a game they should win.
10. OU 31, Iowa 14, Dec. 30: OK, so I didn’t cover 10 great games. I covered nine. Something has to be 10. This one was mostly boring, until Iowa scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to draw within 21-14. The Sooners didn’t put it away until the final 21/2 minutes.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
I liked the beatdowns of OU vs Texas and Kstate, the Florida St game was good too and you mentioned that. Just took my breath away when losing to T-Tech. Until that time, I wanted to believe.
I was very proud of OSU beating a quality Stanford team. It’s over, but I will forever believe they would have had a shot at beating LSU. College football is a political game of greed. What we need is a playoff system, now more than ever. I do believe head to head, Alabama would have defeated OSU, because their D was awesome. But we never got the chance to find out.
Bo
Best games OU played all season…FSU, UT, and KSU. If you were a Baylor fan BU was an Awesome game….it broke the Sooners heart. OSU and KSU was a. Great game, too. Should have made your list….
OSU/K-State must have not made the list because Berry was not covering the game. This list is the Top 10 games he saw IN PERSON.
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