🤯 Worst Play in College Football History

NC State had the win secured, until they didn't. Plus MNF insights and player props

Author

Ian Maclin
September 21, 2026

On Saturday, we witnessed a collapse so avoidable it should have never happened. NC State had their game won. Up by three, six seconds on the clock, ball on their own 5. Every coaching manual on the planet says the same thing: snap it, take the safety if you have to, walk off with the win.

That’s not what happened. Instead, the Wolfpack handed Vanderbilt a 35-31 victory in a way that's being called the worst final play college football has ever seen.

On the final snap, CJ Bailey was in his own end zone when he rolled right, trying to squeeze out the last seconds. Vanderbilt's Miles Capers ran him down from behind and jarred the ball loose. Cayden Daniels fell on it in the end zone for a Vanderbilt touchdown as the clock hit zero. It was the Commodores' only lead of the entire game. A booth review put one second back on the clock, which let Vanderbilt kick the extra point and seal the victory.

The collapse is more painful in context. NC State led 24-7 in the third quarter and was chasing its first road win over an SEC opponent since 1977. That drought lives on.

Even the winning coach couldn't quite process it. Clark Lea admitted afterward that his team "cheated the football gods" and got away with it. NC State's Dave Doeren was just as blunt, saying the plan all along was to take the safety and that there was never any intention of trying to run the ball into contact on that snap.

The historical rarity makes it worse. Teams leading with the ball in the final 10 seconds of regulation had gone 1,046-1 over the last 20 college football seasons. The only other blowup on record belongs to Michigan's botched punt snap against Michigan State back in 2015. NC State just joined that list for handing away a win nobody thought was in danger.

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John Harbaugh spent 18 years in Baltimore building defenses on one principle: stop the run, live with the pass. Across those seasons, the Ravens gave up under 97 rushing yards a game at a stingy 4.08 per carry, while surrendering nearly 254 per game through the air.

The 2026 Giants are already wearing that same jersey. Week 1 against Dallas, they held the Cowboys to 69 rushing yards on 18 attempts, the 5th-best mark in the league, and Jerry Jones walked away admitting his own team got outplayed. Edmunds and Reese combined for 13 tackles up front, and Javonte Williams never got loose.

New York's pass defense was even sharper in Week 1, ranking 3rd in yards allowed per attempt. That's the opposite of the historical Harbaugh split. Dallas was playing from behind most of the game, forcing empty drop backs rather than methodical ball movement and could not find the execution.

A year ago, this same front finished dead last in yards per carry allowed. One clean game doesn't erase that history, especially on the road, where last season's Giants leaked nearly 162 rushing yards per contest.

Puka earned a 33% target share from Stafford in Week 1, the type of workload that keeps a floor high even on rough days like his 5-for-9 stat line. New York allowed a 65% completion rate last week, and Nacua profiles as exactly the outlet Stafford leans on under pressure. Watch the injury report, he's questionable, but if he plays, seven catches is very much in play.

Parkinson has a 70% hit rate over his last 10 outings, his single reception in Week 1 was a fairly big outlier. The Giants defense under Harbaugh will take away the deep shot which pushes checkdowns straight to the tight end, and that's Parkinson's whole job description. Expect some positive regression from his two targets in week 1.

Kyren converted a goal-line carry last week and owned over half the Rams' goal-line work a season ago, good for 10 rushing scores. New York's front looked strong on paper in Week 1, but the context matters.

The Giants forced their opponents into the passing game early in Week 1 but last year this defense allowed the third-most rushing touchdowns in football (19) with the league's worst success rate near the goal line. Williams has scored in 4 of his last 5 games and was the Rams’ only scorer last week.

🌲 The Pine Line

💰️ The Thompson twins made history this weekend. Two brothers have never signed NBA contracts this big.

⚽️ Only one other player has ever done this in MLS. The 39-year old icon continues to set records.

🎾 Ben Shelton's week to forget just got worse. The Czech Republic's win in Prague sent the US team packing.

💪 The Giants Struck Gold at Tight End

One week in, and Isaiah Likely is making a case for TE1 in football. Eight targets, eight grabs, 78 yards, two scores and the top receiving EPA of any tight end in the league. He was just the guy Jaxson Dart needed to get the Week 1 win.

The target share tells you everything: 28% of the Giants' looks went his way, second-most at the position, on a route tree that put him near the goal line all afternoon. Four red-zone targets, four red-zone catches, a stat line unmatched by anyone else in his position. When a coordinator hands you that many high-value touches in week one of a new system, it’s a good sign. Don’t forget, Likely was in Baltimore with Harbaugh but had to share the playbook with Mark Andrews.

Monday night, he gets a Rams defense with more questions than answers. Myles Garrett is on IR already, Aaron Donald is two years removed from real football, and L.A. hasn't recorded a sack yet this season. That's a clean pocket all night for Dart, and a soft underneath zone for our Tight End target.

The Giants are nearly a touchdown underdog on the road, which likely means more dropbacks, and therefore more chances for their most-trusted red-zone target. Isaiah Likely’s Anytime Touchdown prop sits at +290 on FanDuel. Given the usage, the matchup, and a quarterback who already looks locked in with him, that number feels like a gift.

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