2007 Trinity vs. Millsaps football game

"The 15-Lateral Play"
Trinity Tigers Millsaps Majors (6-1) (6-1) 28 24 Head coach:  Steve Mohr Head coach:  Mike DuBose AP 19 AP 24 1 2 3 4 Total Trinity 7 3 3 15 28 Millsaps 7 0 7 10 24
Date	October 27, 2007
Stadium	Harper Davis Field
Location	Jackson, Mississippi

The 2007 Trinity vs. Millsaps football game is best known for the memorable play that occurred in the game's last minutes. On October 27, 2007, the NCAA Division III 19th-ranked Trinity University Tigers threw 15 lateral passes and scored a 61-yard touchdown to win a game against the 24th-ranked Millsaps College Majors as time expired in the game.^[1][2][3][4] Media sources called the play the "Mississippi Miracle"^[5][6] or "Lateralpalooza."^[2][6][7] ESPN and other sources said the play was probably "the longest play in college football history"^{[7][8][9][10]} in terms of how much time the play took to complete (over one minute). On January 7, 2008, the final play of the game was named the Pontiac Game Changing performance of the year.

Background

Millsaps brought a 5-0 conference mark into the game, Trinity a 3-1 conference record, essentially turning the regular season contest into a play-in game with the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference's automatic playoff bid on the line. A Millsaps win would secure the playoff berth for the Majors; a Trinity victory would give them control of their own destiny–if they could win their remaining conference games Millsaps would be unable to overtake them.

Coming into the game, Trinity was ranked #19 in the country, while Millsaps was ranked #24 according to the D3football.com poll, despite the Majors one game lead in the conference standings. The previous year, Millsaps had ended Trinity's streak of 13 consecutive SCAC titles with an astonishing 34-12 upset over the Tigers on the same field to clinch the 2006 SCAC crown.

Game summary

Trinity's players take the field

Trinity got the ball to start the game and used four plays, culminating in a 25-yard run by Chris Baer, to score a touchdown. Millsaps was unable to get a first down and they punted back to Trinity. On the punt, Trinity's Caleb Urban fumbled the ball and Eric McCarty of the Majors recovered at the Trinity 40-yard line. The Tigers defense prevented the Majors from reaching the end zone so the Majors attempted a field goal, which was no good. The Tigers punted on their next possession and then Majors quarterback Juan Joseph's pass was intercepted by Lee Patterson at the Trinity 4-yard line. The Tigers also ended their drive when Blake Barmore's pass was intercepted by Ray Kline. Millsaps took over at the Trinity 20-yard line and four plays later scored a touchdown on a 12-yard pass from Joseph to Louis Conley. A punt by each team left Trinity with the ball and the score was tied 7–7 at the end of the first quarter.^[11]

In the second quarter, Trinity held the Majors scoreless and made a field goal to take a 10–7 lead into halftime. The third quarter brought a field goal by the Tigers and a touchdown by the Majors. The score was 14–13 Millsaps coming into the final period of play.^[11]

Millsaps widened their lead with a 9-play 44-yard touchdown scoring drive that used 3:03 of game time. That gave them a 21–13 lead. The Tigers trimmed the lead to 21–16 with a 22-yard field goal by Peter Licalzi. The Majors answered with their own field goal to go up 24–16. Trinity drove to the Millsaps 13-yard line. On fourth down, Blake Barmore completed a pass to Riley Curry for 13 yards for a touchdown, making the score 24–22. The Tigers tried to tie the game with a two point conversion but Blake Barmore's pass attempt failed and Trinity had to kick the ball to Millsaps.^[11]

Leading 24–22, Millsaps got the ball at the Trinity 43-yard line with 2:03 left in the game. They ran four straight rushing plays but were unable to run out the clock. On fourth-and-two with eight seconds remaining, Millsaps backup quarterback Burt Pereira ran to his left in an attempt to run out the clock; however, he went down with two seconds remaining, which gave Trinity possession of the ball and one final play in which to score.^[11]

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring Information Score Plays Yards TOP Trinity Millsaps 1 13:10 54 1:50 Trinity Chris Baer 25-yard touchdown run, Peter Licalzi kick good 7 0 1 04:24 20 1:04 Millsaps Louis Conley 12-yard touchdown reception from Juan Joseph, Taylor Russolino kick good 7 7 2 11:42 32 3:51 Trinity 39-yard field goal by Peter Licalzi 10 7 3 14:41 52 0:09 Millsaps Eric McCarty 52-yard touchdown reception from Juan Joseph, Taylor Russolino kick good 10 14 3 08:42 81 5:56 Trinity 28-yard field goal by Peter Licalzi 13 14 4 11:57 44 3:03 Millsaps Raymece Savage 3-yard touchdown reception from Juan Joseph, Taylor Russolino kick good 13 21 4 10:45 75 1:12 Trinity 22-yard field goal by Peter Licalzi 16 21 4 04:20 5 1:43 Millsaps 33-yard field goal by Sam Herman 16 24 4 02:11 72 2:03 Trinity Riley Curry 13-yard touchdown reception from Blake Barmore, 2-point pass no good 22 24 4 00:00 60 0:02 Trinity Blake Barmore pass complete to Shawn Thompson for 16 yards; Fumble recovery returned 60 yards for touchdown by Riley Curry 28 24 "TOP" = Time of Possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 28 24

Final play

Trinity WR Riley Curry pursued by LB Shawn Gillenwater of Millsaps.

The Tigers had time for only one snap so there was no time to move into field goal range. They needed to score a touchdown in one play, working from their own 40-yard line. The play they ran involved seven players and 15 laterals. The players who touched the ball for Trinity were (in order, number of touches in parentheses):

• #13 Blake Barmore, Quarterback (2)
• #80 Shawn Thompson, Wide Receiver (3)
• #7 Riley Curry, Wide Receiver (4)
• #50 Josh Hooten, Offensive Lineman (2)
• #3 Michael Tomlin, Wide Receiver (2)
• #68 Stephen Arnold, Offensive Lineman (1)
• #25 Brandon Maddux, Wide Receiver (3)

Here is the sequence of the play, broken down for every time the ball changed hands:

• The Pass (Barmore-Thompson)
  • Trinity Quarterback Blake Barmore (#13) took the snap out of a 5-wide shotgun set at the Tigers' 40 yard line, stepped up in the pocket and completed a pass over the middle to Tigers' Wide Receiver Shawn Thompson (#80) at Millsap's 49 yard line.

• Lateral #1 (Thompson-Curry)
  • Thompson (#80) cut back to his right and reached the Majors' 44, then turned around and tossed the ball to Wide Receiver Riley Curry (#7) a few feet away on the Majors' 47.

• Lateral #2 (Curry-Hooten)
  • Curry (#7) advanced the ball to the Millsaps 43 yard line, where he was grabbed by a Millsaps defender near Trinity's sideline. Before he could be downed, Curry lobbed the ball back to Offensive Lineman Josh Hooten (#50), who caught the ball around the Majors' 45.

• Lateral #3 (Hooten-Tomlin)
  • Hooten (#50) immediately flipped the ball behind him to Wide Receiver Michael Tomlin (#3), around the 47.

• Lateral #4 (Tomlin-Arnold)
  • Tomlin (#3) had a pair of Millsaps defenders on him almost instantly and quickly pitched the ball back to Offensive Lineman Stephen Arnold (#68), around the Majors' 48 yard line.

• Lateral #5 (Arnold-Thompson)
  • Arnold (#68) immediately turned and pitched the ball to Thompson (#80), who caught the ball in stride around Trinity's 48.

• Lateral #6 (Thompson-Maddux)
  • Thompson (#80) sprinted left, back towards the middle of the field, but was not able to make any forward progress. Just before he could be tackled, Wide Receiver Brandon Maddux (#25), who was waiting behind Thompson (#80) at Trinity's 46, received the quick pitch.

• Lateral #7 (Maddux-Curry)
  • Maddux (#25) took the ball and cut back in the opposite direction, to the right, towards the Trinity sideline. He raced across the field and down the sideline, all the way across midfield to the Majors' 43. As defenders closed in on him, Maddux (#25) picked up a block from Tomlin (#3) that gave him just enough time to turn around and find a waiting Curry (#7) at midfield.

• Lateral #8 (Curry-Maddux)
  • Curry (#7) caught the backwards pass and was able to reach the Majors' 47 before being pinned on his own sideline by closing Millsaps defenders. Curry (#7) threw the ball back to Maddux (#25) as he was being pushed out of bounds.

• Lateral #9 (Maddux-Barmore)
  • Maddux (#25) caught the ball on Trinity's own 45 near the Tigers' sideline. With two Millsaps defenders closing quickly, he passed the ball across the field to Barmore (#13), who caught it in stride at Trinity's 42.

• Lateral #10 (Barmore-Thompson)
  • Barmore (#13) took the pass and sprinted around the left side all the way down to the Majors' 34. As he was being tackled he turned and threw a backwards pass to Thompson (#80).

• Lateral #11 (Thompson-Curry II)
  • Thompson (#80) caught the ball around the Majors' 37, on the numbers near the Millsaps sideline. He advanced to the Majors 30, stopped, turned and threw a pass to his right.

• Lateral #12 (Curry-Tomlin)
  • Curry (#7) caught the ball in stride at the Majors' 36. He retreated behind the 40 to avoid a defender then cut back to the right. Curry (#7) ran past one defender near the Majors' 40 and pitched the ball backwards just before being tackled around the Majors' 37.

• Lateral #13 (Tomlin-Hooten)
  • Tomlin (#3) caught the pass at the Majors' 41 yard line in the middle of the field with no defenders near him. He raced to the right and managed to flip the ball back to Hooten (#50) at the Majors' 30 before being tackled by a pursuing Millsaps defender.

• Lateral #14 (Hooten-Maddux)
  • Hooten (#50) caught the ball and pitched it to Maddux (#25) who was waiting on the Majors' 31, near the Trinity sideline.

• Lateral #15, Fumble, Score (Maddux-Curry)
  • With several defenders closing Maddux (#25) attempted a backwards pass, however the ball was tipped as he released it and bounced to the turf (technically making it a fumble) and into the waiting hands of Curry (#7), who took the ball at the Majors' 34 in the middle of the field, picked up a block and raced past the last Millsaps defender for the score and the win.^[7]

NCAA statistical guidelines state that the yardage on a play with multiple laterals goes to the ball carrier who had the ball the longest, or the player scoring a touchdown. This is done to simplify things for the official scorer, as opposed to having to record each independent lateral. As a result, the play-by-play record of the game officially records the play as "Blake Barmore pass complete to Shawn Thompson for 16 yards to the MSPS44, Riley Curry for 44 yards to the MSPS0, 1ST DOWN TRINITY, TOUCHDOWN, clock 00:00."^[11]

In the video, it is clear that several Millsaps defenders stopped playing before the play was over. On the thirteenth lateral, Tomlin was taken down but tossed a no-look pitch over his shoulder to Maddux just before his knee hit the ground. Many Millsaps fans believed the play to be over and fireworks were shot off from behind the endzone in celebration. Maddux's final lateral hit the ground and bounced into Curry's hands. It appeared as though two defenders near Curry believed the play was over at that point, and Curry scampered into the endzone untouched. [This contradicts what is listed above for the last three laterals: Tomlin-Hooten, Hooten-Maddux, Maddux-Curry.]

The play took more than a minute of real-time to conclude and analysts have said it is the longest or possibly the longest play in college football history. ESPN said the play took 62 seconds and reports may be the longest play in college football history.^[7] The Frederick News Post said the play took 63 seconds and they also stated "it might very well be the longest play in college history."^[8] NBC said "If this wasn't the most memorable game-ending play in college football history, it likely was the longest play -- by a multiple of two -- in the game's history."^[9] SouthernCollegeSports.com called it the longest play and commented "Perhaps the most amazing thing about this longest play ever is the fact that not a single flag was thrown for a rules infraction."^[10]

The San Antonio Express-News,^[5] San Antonio's WOAI,^[12] MSNBC,^[13] CBS Sports^[14] and The Dallas Morning News^[6] called the play the "Mississippi Miracle". The Dallas Morning News,^[6] Sports Illustrated,^[2] and ESPN used the term "Lateralpalooza".^[7]

Broadcast

The announcing crew for the game consisted of a five-person team with only one video camera. Jonathan Wiener, a Trinity sophomore English major from Jackson, Mississippi, had the play-by-play. Justin Thompson, (brother of Shawn Thompson, one of the play participants) of New Braunfels, Texas, was the color analyst. Bill Swint of New Braunfels, Texas, ran the video camera assisted by Butch Maddux of China Spring, Texas. The video and audio feeds were mixed and uploaded live to a streaming videocast server by Bob Edwards of Dallas, Texas. The game was broadcast live on the internet but was not otherwise televised. According to The New York Times, "Wiener kept his cool through the frenzy and described most of the details precisely as they occurred. The replay of the video with Wiener’s description has been shown on national television and has become a hit on the Internet."^[15] See External Link section below for video links.

As Curry scored the touchdown, Wiener shouted, "Curry scores! The game is over! The Tigers lateraled it and kept lateraling!! And the game is over! The Tigers win! The Tigers win!"^[15]

Analysis

With the win, the Trinity Tigers remained in contention for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) championship as well as an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III playoffs. Millsaps would have secured a spot in the playoffs had they won.^[16] Trinity won the championship for 2007, receiving a playoff berth but was ultimately eliminated in the first round by the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.^[17]

Sports analysts compared the ending to The Play,^[18] the last-second, five-lateral kickoff return during a college football game between the University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears and the Stanford University Cardinal on November 20, 1982.^[19] Jake Curtis of the San Francisco Chronicle said that the Trinity play made the play by California "look like conservative play-calling."^[18] Joe LaPointe of The New York Times called the broadcast of the play "The laterals heard round the world."^[15] The San Antonio Express-News ran a byline calling it "'The most sensational, incredible ending in all of Division III' and then some".^[5] Mike Christensen of The Clarion-Ledger, the hometown newspaper of Millsaps, called it "one of those you-had-to-see-it-to-believe-it plays".^[3] David Chancellor of San Antonio's WOAI called it "one of the greatest plays in sports history".^[12]

ESPN reported, "In the digital age, even D-III games can go global in a flash. And so a slice of fame normally reserved for the semiprofessionals at the big-dollar Division I programs was bestowed upon the Tigers. That night they gathered in the lobby of their hotel near the Millsaps campus to watch, in disbelief, as they made SportsCenter."^[7]

See also

• River City Relay, a similar last-second play in a 2003 NFL game
• List of historically significant college football games

Notes and references

1. ^ "Video of the play". ESPN.com (The Disney Company). Archived from the original on 2007-10-29. http://web.archive.org/web/20071029030250/http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3083220&categoryId=2564308. Retrieved 2007-10-30. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Lateralapalooza". SI.com (Time Warner). Archived from the original on 2007-11-05. http://web.archive.org/web/20071105034706/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/ncaa/10/28/trinity.lateralapalooza.ap/index.html. Retrieved 2007-10-30. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Christensen, Mike (October 28, 2007). "Wild finish - think Cal-Stanford, '82 - beats Majors". ClarionLedger.com (Gannett Company). http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071028/SPORTS030105/710280359/1085/SPORTS. Retrieved 2007-10-30. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Briggs, Jerry. "Football: Trinity wins on miracle play". MySanAntonio.com (San Antonio Express News). http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/localcolleges/stories/MYSA102707.EN.FBCtrinity.millsaps.1b21f550e.html. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} "MySA.com's transcript of the 'Mississippi Miracle' - 'The most sensational, incredible ending in all of Division III' and then some". Chron.com (Hearst Corporation). October 29, 2007. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/fbc/5255897.html. Retrieved 2007-10-30. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d} "Trinity's 'Mississippi Miracle' didn't involve usual suspects". DallasNews.com (Dallas Morning News). November 3, 2007. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/colleges/othertexas/stories/110307dnsposherrington.31bbe39.html. Retrieved 2007-11-03. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Forde, Pat (October 30, 2007). "Trinity's Lateralpalooza rocks Division III and beyond". ESPN.com (The Disney Company). http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3086283&sportCat=ncf. Retrieved 2007-10-30. 
8. ^ ^{a b} Miller, Kurt (November 1, 2007). "Kurt Miller: No gimmicks needed - Unlike the NFL, college football is special". FrederickNewsPost.com (Frederick News Post). http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/online_exclusives_display.htm?StoryID=67086. Retrieved 2007-11-03. 
9. ^ ^{a b} Walters, John (October 29, 2007). "Upon Further Review -- 10/29/08". NBCSports.com (NBC). Archived from the original on 2007-11-13. http://web.archive.org/web/20071113143359/http://www.nbcsports.com/portal/site/nbcsports/menuitem.6f806e473b4cb158fb00ec22493c2d04/?vgnextoid=46f6c3bd7cbe5110VgnVCM10000075c1d240RCRD&cpsextcurrchannel=1. Retrieved 2007-11-03. 
10. ^ ^{a b} "At last, the end finally pays off". SoutherCollegeSports.com. October 31, 2007. http://southerncollegesports.com/fb_07_david_103107.html. Retrieved 2007-11-03. 
11. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Trinity University vs Millsaps College (Oct 27, 2007)". Trinity.edu (Trinity University). October 28, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-11-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20071130024406/http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/Football/Statistics/mc-tu.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-30. 
12. ^ ^{a b} Chancellor, David (October 29, 2007). "The “Mississippi Miracle” -- Trinity Pulls Off One of the Greatest Plays in Sports History". WOAI.com (NBC). http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=5c328d9b-04c1-480c-9ec3-6a444467e714&rss=68. Retrieved 2007-11-03. ^{[dead link]}
13. ^ "15 laterals later, 'Mississippi Miracle' complete - 'We couldn’t do that against air if we tried,' winning Div. III coach says". MSNBC.com. October 29, 2007. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21520271/. Retrieved 2007-11-03. 
14. ^ "Trinity uses 15 laterals to pull out 'Mississippi Miracle'". CBSSports.com (CBS). October 29, 2007. http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/10437762. Retrieved 2007-11-03. 
15. ^ ^{a b c} LaPoint, Joe (October 30, 2007). "Student Announcer Ensures Laterals Are Heard Round the World". NYTimes.com (The New York Times). http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/sports/ncaafootball/30trinity.html?ref=ncaafootball. Retrieved 2007-10-30. 
16. ^ Hawkins, Stephen (October 29, 2007). "Trinity Wins: 15 Laterals on Last Play". AP.Google.com (Associated Press). http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gtT78AR2dROG4bofyMvRrPpJKhPQD8SJ0HO00. Retrieved 2007-10-30. 
17. ^ Athletics
18. ^ ^{a b} Curtis, Jake (October 29, 2007). "15-lateral play gave other guys the run-around". SFGate.com (San Francisco Chronicle). http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/29/SP29T2I8K.DTL&hw=15+lateral&sn=003&sc=903. Retrieved 2007-10-30. 
19. ^ Fimrite, Ron (1983-09-01). "The Anatomy Of A Miracle". Sports Illustrated. pp. 212–228. http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~pattrsn/anatomyofmiracle.htm. 

External links

• "Authorized video of the play on YouTube.com". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHbzQoXuxdU. 
• "End zone view of the play". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7oF4ZDigjM. 
• "Trinity University vs Millsaps College (Oct 27, 2007): Box Score, Play-by-play, Statistics". Archived from the original on 2009-06-20. http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/Football/Statistics/2007/mc-tu.htm. 
• "Miracle in Mississippi - Trinity University Tigers Football - brief description and links collection". http://www.trinitymiracle.com.