Top 5 Fails of College Football’s Week 6

Les Miles learned the hard way on Saturday that Gainesville, FL, is a long way from Glendale, AZ.

Down 14–6 with just nine seconds to play, Miles had wide receiver Odell Beckham try a hook-and-lateral play similar to the miraculous “Circus” one that Boise State ran in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. Alas, it was not nearly as successful as the Broncos’ rendition.

Florida recovered the subsequent fumble and ran the clock out. After the game, Miles booked a plane ticket to Boise to better learn the play from Broncos’ coach Chris Petersen (kidding).

Florida’s Louchiez Purifoy made an excellent special teams tackle against LSU on Saturday. Hopefully he enjoyed the two seconds he spent soaking up the adulation of the crowd at The Swamp.

Why only two seconds? Because teammate Matt Elam sent Purifoy to the ground with a flying forearm to the back. Maybe that was Elam’s unique way of telling Purifoy not to be boastful. Most likely it was just overexcitement on Elam’s part.

Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase was excited following an impressive five-yard touchdown run in the Illini’s game against Wisconsin. The back judge who witnessed the score from the end zone? Less so.

After celebrating with him teammates, Scheelhaase approached the back judge with his right hand raised to give the ref a high five. But instead of returning Scheelhaase’s gesture of love, the judge stumbled backward as if he were Neo dodging bullets in The Matrix.

Maybe he was hurt by a football player before and had a case of PTSD in that moment.

Yes, even a golden boy like USC quarterback Matt Barkley is prone to epic goofs.

On the Trojans’ second play from scrimmage in Thursday’s game at Utah, Barkley tried to field a horribly low snap from center Khaled Holmes while lined up in the shotgun. Before Barkley could corral the ball, Utah defensive end Nate Fakahafua took it away from him and returned it for a Utes touchdown. Next time, Barkley would be wise to just fall on the ball.

He eventually engineered a 38–28 USC win on the strength of three passing touchdowns. Further proof that it’s not how you start but how you finish.

The football field judge is one of the hardest animals to catch in the wild. Only a well-placed field goal practice net can ensnare these wily creatures.

While trying to keep up with Cornhuskers wide receiver Kenny Bell on a long reception during the Ohio State–Nebraska game, the field judge failed to keep his head on a swivel and ran straight into a field goal practice net on the sidelines.

He had to run up and down the field a lot during a game that ended with a 63–38 score. And he most likely asked both teams to move their nets farther away from the field of play.