The 12 Things You'll Remember About The 2009 College Football Season

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

BROOKLYN -- One more year-ender list for you here on One Great Season. Today, let's look back at the 12 things you'll remember most about the 2009 college football season:

12) The Oregon Ducks lay an egg at Boise on the season's opening weekend, and before they can get to the locker room, starting running back LaGarrette Blount lands a punch on the chin of a Boise lineman, triggering a near season-long suspension for Blount.

11) Miami's Jacory Harris throws for 386 yards and two touchdowns in a wild, 38-34 defeat of Florida State on Labor Day to close out an exciting opening weekend of college football.

Follow | Subscribe | Donate

10) Sam Bradford lands awkwardly on his shoulder after a hard hit by BYU linebacker Coleby Clawson in the season opener. The injury would keep Bradford sidelined until Oklahoma's annual mid-season Red River Rivalry game with Texas, when Bradford would re-injure the shoulder and miss the rest of the season.

9) Kentucky's Taylor Wyndham knocks out Florida's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Tim Tebow in the Gators' 41-7 win in Lexington on Sept. 26.

8) Much to the delight of USC haters everywhere, Oregon puts a major hurt on the visiting Trojans on Halloween, 47-20. Eight weeks removed from the season-opening debacle at Boise, the Ducks were suddenly sitting pretty atop the PAC 10 after the win and even earned some mentions in the BCS title game conversation.

7) California's Jahvid Best goes up and over the Oregon State defense, but then lands awkwardly on his back and neck in a game at Berkeley on Nov. 7. Best lay motionless, but then regained use of everything before being diagnosed with just a concussion. It was a serious enough concussion though, as Best did not play the rest of the season.

6) West Virginia kicker Tyler Bitancourt nails a 43-yard field goal on the last play of the game to give the Mountaineers a 19-16 defeat of visiting No. 9 Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl in Morgantown on Nov. 27.

5) C.J. Spiller sets a Clemson record with 310 all-purpose yards in a thrilling, 40-37 win at No. 10 Miami. Spiller returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, scored on another long pass play and also rushed for 81 yards.

4) Mark Ingram vaults to the top of the Heisman race with a 246-yard effort against South Carolina. The Gamecocks came into the game with a stingy defense, but Alabama's Heisman-winning back torched the visitors for 10.3 yards a carry in the 20-6 win on Oct. 17.

3) Still playing with heavy hearts after the shooting death of cornerback Jasper Howard, Connecticut wins in overtime at Notre Dame on Nov. 21. An emotional Huskies coach Randy Edsall gives one of the more memorable interviews of the season with NBC just moments after the game ended.

2) Cincinnati's Armon Binns makes a diving catch of a Tony Pike pass in the end zone with 33 seconds left in the Bearcats' game at Pittsburgh. All that was left was the point-after attempt that eventually gave the visitors a 45-44 defeat of the Panthers, completing a comeback that saw UC trail 31-10 late in the first half. The victory on Dec. 5 gave Cincinnati its first 12-0 season in school history, the Big East Championship and a second straight BCS bowl bid.

1) Later that night, Texas kicker Hunter Lawrence drills a 46-yard field goal after officials ruled there was still time enough for one more play in the Big 12 Championship game. Lawrence's kick gave the Longhorns a 13-12 win over a game Nebraska team, sending UT to the national championship game against Alabama.