2007 Trinity Vs. Millsaps Football Game - Final Play

Final Play

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. Believing that 60 yards was too far away to complete a Hail Mary pass, Trinity coach Steve Mohr called for a 10-15 yard underneath route. 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):

• 1. 13 Blake Barmore, Quarterback (2)
  2. 80 Shawn Thompson, Wide Receiver (3)
  3. 7 Riley Curry, Wide Receiver (4)
  4. 50 Josh Hooten, Offensive Lineman (2)
  5. 3 Michael Tomlin, Wide Receiver (2)
  6. 68 Stephen Arnold, Offensive Lineman (1)
  7. 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.

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."

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 Hooten 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. Millsaps safety Michael Sims, the closest player to Curry when Curry caught the last lateral, later admitted that he turned around and started walking away, believing the game to be over.

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. 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." 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." 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."

The San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio's WOAI, MSNBC, CBS Sports and The Dallas Morning News called the play the "Mississippi Miracle". The Dallas Morning News, Sports Illustrated, and ESPN used the term "Lateralpalooza".