Kaelin Clay of Utah drops the ball on the one-yard line, negating a TD run and setting up a 100 yard Oregon return of the fumble for the TD that ties the game at 7-7.
Kaelin Clay, a wide receiver for the Utah Utes, will now take his place forever alongside Wrong Way Corrigan for committing one of the most unforgettable mistakes in the history of college football in an important game his university played last Saturday night against the now 4th-ranked-in-the-coaches poll Oregon Ducks. The upset-minded Utes already had a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter hen Clay caught a wide-open pass that he quickly converted into a runaway waltz into the end zone for a 79-yard play that should have made the score 14-0, Utes, with the momentum for an upset digging its way in.
There was just one problem. As Clay almost slow-pranced his way into the end zone, he had also taken the additional cool step of simply dropping the ball in the end zone as if to say, “nothing to it.” As his Utes teammates finally caught up with Clay near the back of the end zone to physically congratulate him in boundless joy, a couple of Ducks stopped short at the goal line to stare at the now motionless ball. They each had notice something about Clay’s deposit in their pursuit of him.
Kaelin Clay had not crossed the plane of the goal line when he casually let go of the “touchdown” ball. He had dropped it somewhere near the one-yard line by geometric miscalculation and, even though it now rested a good yard inside the end zone, it had to roll to get there.
The two ball-studious Ducks soon had company around the ball as one Ute player also then arrived, apparently harboring his own frightful apprehensions. A brief two on one scramble ensued before Joe Walker of the Ducks won out for another ambulatory speed journey in the opposite field direction. A platoon of Oregon defenders gathered up field in front of Walker’s almost totally clear path chase to the goal line of quacking Duck aspirations. The protection force knocked out one last poor “Oh No!” Ute defender around mid-field and Walker took it on his own run from there as an all-the-way 99 yard fumble turnover touchdown that produced a swing of 14 points and a 7-7 tie.
From there, the Oregon Ducks added momentum to their already superior talent and rolled to a 51-27 victory in the Salt Lake City home of the #17 Utah Utes.
Roy Riegels takes off on a 69-yard wrong-way run in the 1929 Rose Bowl.
Roy “Wrong Way” Riegels of the California Golden Bears once got twisted in a gang tackle during the January 1, 1929 Rose Bowl and ran the wrong way to score a 69-yard safety for the opposing Georgia Tech Yellow jackets. Riegels was tackled on his own team’s one-yard line by his own teammates, but when California tried to punt out of that terrible location, the punt was blocked for a safety that gave Tech a 2-0 lead. That tw0-point safety would later prove the difference that gave Georgia Tech an 8-7 victory and the 1928 National College Football Championship. Riegels never lived it down from that much higher stakes game, but this one from 2014 is likely to follow Kaelin Clay, as well.
For those of you interested in more on the story of Wrong Way Riegels, check out this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Riegels
We haven’t seen any quotes as of this writing, but young Kaelin Clay has to be totally stunned by his now permanent association with one of the biggest bonehead plays in college football history. We have to wonder if yet realizes that this was not a common house mouse error that people will forget by the next games. No Sir. And No, Maam. It’s much more lasting – as in forevermore.
Unfortunately, whatever the young man does next in life, whether it’s on the field or someplace down the line in his professional life, he’s going to be remembered for this one dumb moment beyond anything else he does. Kaelin Clay will have to get used to people he meets over the years who hear his name and then launch immediately into questions that begin with something like: “Say, aren’t you the former Utah Ute player who once dropped the ball on the one after a long TD pass catch and run? – And didn’t the other team pick it up and run it back for a 100-yard TD run of their own?”
Here’s one of numerous short clips already showing on You Tube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUx69EzR8XA
The Fate of Kaelin Clay which follows is most humbly dedicated to the young man who made this memory possible:
Kaelin Clay – had his say:
“Shall I act to leave – or stay?”
Will you think of me someday?
Now we will! – In what a way!
It’s quite a toll you now must pay!
Nothing tops complete dismay!
In your opinion, who created the most egregious football error? Roy Reigels in 1929? Or Kaelin Clay in 2014? Please leave your yote as a comment in the section that follows.
The Pecan Park Eagle 
November 10, 2014 at 3:59 pm |
As unfortunate as it was, I think Riegels getting turned around is more understandable than Clay trying to be ‘too cool for [his] school’ and dropping the ball too early.
And don’t forget the Jim Marshall’s wrong-way run in the NFL for {?} the Vikings against the 49ers on Oct. 25, 1964. Marshall scooped up a fumble and ran 66 yards into his own team’s end zone to give the 49ers a safety; fortunately, the Vikings still won the game 27-22. Marshall went on to set the NFL record for most consecutive starts at 270 (since broken by Brett Favre), which is mind-boggling when you consider that he was a defensive end. I don’t know why he isn’t in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but it’s not because of his one bone-headed moment.
November 10, 2014 at 4:41 pm |
In an exhibition game, Chris Dishman of the Houston Oilers intercepted a pass and was running for a TD, but turned and held the ball out taunting the player chasing him–and then dropped the ball.