Looking back at BYU Football’s best last-second wins

PROVO, Utah – Amid an already legendary season, the BYU Cougars’ dramatic last-minute win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys will live on in BYU football history. With Jake Retzlaff taking control of his legs and arm, BYU fans will long remember where they were when redshirt junior found Darius Lassiter on the edge of the field for a game-winning 35-yard touchdown.

In honor of the Cougars’ thrilling victory to remain undefeated, KSL Sports dug into the archives to find some of the program’s most monumental last-second victories.

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September 15, 2015 – BYU 33 Nebraska 28

The Cougars opened the season at famed Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska, entering the final quarter trailing 28-24. Backup QB Tanner Mangum staged a comeback for the ages. On 4th and 3, Mangum scrambled to his right before uncorking a 42-yard bomb that Mitch Matthews landed on the goal line for the game-winner. The loss marked the first time since 1985 that Nebraska opened the season with a loss.

September 30, 2011 – Utah State 24 at BYU 27

In 2011, former Utah State quarterback and Cache Valley native Riley Nelson came off the bench to score the last-second goal against his former team. Replacing starter Jake Heaps, Nelson completed 10 of 14 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns while also carrying 11 balls for 62 yards to help the Cougars claw their way back from a 24-13 deficit with 12:43 left recover. Nelson started the drive at the four-yard line, threw 66 yards and ran for the other 30 yards, while BYU marched 96 yards in nine plays and won the game when Marcus Matthews, Mitch’s brother, tipped a pass into a touchdown the Aggies had to be beaten.

November 25, 2006 – BYU 33 Utah 31

The genesis of one of the Cougar’s most famous sets, Beck to Harline, marks BYU’s last victory in Salt Lake City. Trailing 24-14 early in the fourth quarter, John Beck led a comeback that gave the Cougars a 27-24 lead with 6:37 left. After the Utes responded with a touchdown to change the lead with 1:19 left, the Provo team’s outlook looked bleak. Beck and the Cougars drove 75 yards in 1:09 to give Utah the loss when Beck and Harline scored the winning score from 11 yards out.

December 19, 1980 – “Miracle Bowl” – BYU 46 vs. SMU 45

Jim McMahon cemented his name in BYU football history when he led the Cougars with 21 fourth-quarter points to defeat the SMU Mustangs in the 1980 Holiday Bowl. McMahon capped the comeback with a 41-yard Hail Mary pass that somehow found the arms of Clay Brown amid a sea of ​​Mustang defenders. McMahon threw for 446 yards and four touchdowns in the victory.

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Brian Preece is a KSLsports.com insider covering locals in the MLB and the Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball coverage here.

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