| FTBL Friday Five: The biggest flops in college football's BCS/CFP games

18Champs

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Every Friday, the Friday Five will rank something in the world of college football -- anything and everything from the logical to the illogical. This week we rank five times a great player had a bad performance at the worst time.

On Thursday night, I sat down to watch Game 6 of the NBA playoff series between the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs. I did this because I enjoy the NBA and the NBA playoffs quite a bit, and even if my expectations for the game weren't high -- how horrible have these NBA playoffs been? -- there wasn't much else on to watch.

I had figured that with the Spurs missing their best player in Kawhi Leonard as well as Tony Parker, the game would be yet another blowout in a series of blowouts we've seen this postseason. Well, I was correct, but not in the way I expected to be.

I figured Houston would be the one doing the blowing out, but the Rockets were on the receiving end. The biggest reason for this was that James Harden, the guy that could soon be named the NBA MVP, had a horrific game. A performance so bad that you actually wonder if he's shaving points for a bit.

The truth is he just had a bad night. It happens to even the best players from time to time, and unfortunately for Harden and the Rockets, it came at the worst possible time.

Well, as I was watching this I was inspired with an idea for this week's Friday Five. In the spirit of James Harden's performance, this week's Friday Five will rank five of the worst performances by great college players in BCS Championship Games or College Football Playoff games.

I had quite a few options to choose from, but in the end, I believe these are the best five.

5. Eric Crouch, 2002 BCS championship: This game was awful for a lot of reasons. First, college football purists were upset before the game even began simply because the BCS Championship Game was being played in the Rose Bowl. So with Miami taking on Nebraska, it marked the first time since the 1919 Rose Bowl that neither the Big Ten nor the Pac-12 (then the Pac-10) was represented in the game.

Then, the game started and things only got worse, as Miami routed the Huskers, taking a 34-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

While it wasn't all on Eric Crouch's shoulders, Nebraska's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback didn't help matters much. He was never at Nebraska for his ability to throw the ball, but unfortunately, when you're down 34 points, you need to pass a bit more often. Which is why Crouch finished the game completing only five of his 15 pass attempts for 62 yards and an interception. He had more success on the ground, rushing for 114 yards on 22 carries, but as the engine of the offense, he was just never able to get things going for the Nebraska offense, as Miami would win 37-14.

It was not a Heisman Trophy performance.

4. Jason White and Adrian Peterson, 2005 BCS championship: I couldn't limit this to just one guy. Oklahoma entered the BCS title game at the Orange Bowl that season with a perfect 12-0 record, just like the Southern California team it would be facing. Well, the game showed that not all 12-0s are created equally, as the Trojans routed the Sooners 55-19.

The game was hyped up as a matchup of two Heisman quarterbacks. USC's Matt Leinart had won the award that season, while Jason White had won it the year before. Only Leinart played like it, as he threw for five touchdowns.

White, on the other hand, finished with more interceptions (three) than touchdowns (two) and averaged only 6.8 yards per attempt despite the fact he completed two-thirds of his passes.

Then there was Adrian Peterson, the Sooners' freshman phenom running back. Peterson entered the game having rushed for 1,843 yards and 15 touchdowns during the regular season, but he was wrapped up by the Trojans defense, managing only 82 yards on 25 carries.


3. Jameis Winston and Dalvin Cook, 2015 Rose Bowl: The very first semifinal in College Football Playoff history featured some memorable moments, but not the right kind for Jameis Winston and Dalvin Cook.

The Seminoles entered the game on a 29-game winning streak, having won the national title the year before. Winston didn't win his second Heisman that season, but he had another good year. Dalvin Cook rushed for over 1,000 yards as a freshman.

And against Oregon, it all went wrong.

While the game was close in the first half, things fell apart in the third quarter as Florida State started turning the ball over on seemingly every other snap. Cook finished the game with 103 yards rushing, but it's the two fumbles he's remembered most for.

Winston threw for 348 yards and a touchdown, but he also threw an interception and was responsible for this fumble.

I still laugh every single time I see that play just thinking of the memes it inspired.

2. Chris Weinke, 2001 BCS championship: One of the worst big games I've ever seen. Seriously, just look at the ENTIRE Wikipedia entry for the game. You might think it's not enough, but trust me, it is.

While there was a lot of bad going around in this one, I have to single out Chris Weinke simply because he won the Heisman that season. Against Oklahoma with the title on the line, however, he only managed to complete 25 of his 51 passes for 274 yards and two interceptions.

I do feel the need to also point out that the Seminoles only rushed for 27 yards, so it's not like Weinke was the only one struggling. But as the Heisman-winning quarterback, sometimes you need to lead your team to glory when it's not at its best. Weinke didn't do that, as the Noles failed to score all night until Oklahoma took a safety with 55 seconds left in the game.

This was only the third BCS title game, and it was bad enough to make you wonder if just using polls wasn't the best way to decide a champion after all.

1. Troy Smith, 2007 BCS championship: My favorite thing about the 2007 BCS title game was all the hoopla before it. Around the country, there were plenty of people who believed that the title game should have been a rematch of Ohio State and Michigan. Michigan finished the regular season ranked No. 3 with an 11-1 record, with its only loss coming to Ohio State in an epic 42-39 Buckeyes victory.

Instead, Florida was chosen, angering plenty, with many Michigan fans blaming it on Urban Meyer's campaigning for the spot -- little did Michigan fans realize they would go on to hate Meyer even more down the road. Well, Florida not only got the spot, but it routed Ohio State in the title game 41-14.

Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith, who had won the Heisman in a landslide, finished the game completing only four of his 14 passes for 35 yards and an interception. He was also sacked five times and would finish the game with 10 rushing attempts (including the five sacks) for minus-29 yards.

As a team, Ohio State would manage only 82 yards.

As for Michigan and its claim to the title game, the Wolverines went to the Rose Bowl instead. While there, they lost to USC 32-18.

So I guess the BCS got it right after all.

Honorable mention: The entire LSU offense, 2012 BCS championship; Everybody on Notre Dame not named Everett Golson, 2013 BCS championship; Connor Cook, 2015 Cotton Bowl; J.T. Barrett, 2016 Fiesta Bowl

http://www.cbssports.com/college-fo...gest-flops-in-college-footballs-bcscfp-games/
 
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