Hail Mary Pass - Examples

Examples

See also: List of Hail Marys in American football

In the 1980 Holiday Bowl, BYU was down 45-25 with 4 minutes left in the game. Quarterback Jim McMahon spearheaded a last-gasp come-from-behind victory, capping the comeback with a successful Hail Mary pass to tight end Clay Brown as time expired that tied the game; Kurt Gunther's extra point gave BYU its first-ever bowl win, defeating SMU 46-45. This game is known among BYU fans as the "Miracle Bowl".

Another Hail Mary pass came in a 1984 game between Boston College and Miami (FL). With just 6 seconds left on the clock, Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie threw what was by then commonly called a Hail Mary pass, which succeeded primarily because Miami's secondary stood on the goal line to keep the receivers in front of them, and failed to cover a post route being run by Gerard Phelan. Miami's defense was based on the assumption that Flutie wasn't able to throw the ball as far as the end zone, but Flutie hit Phelan in stride against a flatfooted defense a yard deep in the end zone. A connecting road in Natick, where Flutie played for the high school, has been named "Flutie Pass".

Other examples include a 64-yard pass from Colorado QB Kordell Stewart to WR Michael Westbrook to beat Michigan on 24 September 1994 (Stewart's pass traveled 73 yards in the air, from the Colorado 26 to the opposite 1 yard line, was tipped, then caught by Westbrook 4 yards deep in the endzone. See this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nt6HjqtJt8), the Bluegrass Miracle, a Hail Mary pass by LSU Tigers QB Marcus Randall with 2 seconds to go in the Kentucky-LSU game on 9 November 2002, and the Locket play, a Hail Mary pass by Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins to wide receiver Keith Nichol to beat Wisconsin on 22 October 2011.

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