Rutgers scores a touchdown on a crazy lateral play (but then they don't), a breakdown
What Happened
In a close game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Indiana Hoosiers, the score is tight as the teams battle down the stretch. With the game on the line, the Rutgers offense takes the field facing a crucial third-and-23 situation late in the fourth quarter. Rutgers quarterback Gavin Wimsatt drops back and is immediately met by the Indiana pass rush, losing 10 yards on the play. Undeterred, Wimsatt gathers his teammates and lines up for the next snap. What unfolds is a chaotic sequence of lateral passes and desperate attempts to keep the play alive. Wimsatt takes the snap and immediately begins lateraling the ball, first to wide receiver Aaron Young, then to tight end Johnny Langan. The ball is tossed back and forth, with players from both teams diving and scrambling to secure possession. Rutgers wide receiver Isaiah Washington eventually scoops up the ball and races towards the end zone, weaving through Indiana defenders. As the crowd erupts, Washington crosses the goal line, seemingly scoring a game-tying touchdown for Rutgers. However, the officials quickly review the play and determine that Wimsatt's final lateral was actually a forward pass, negating the score. "That's tough," says Indiana head coach Tom Allen, shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm just trying to make a play," Wimsatt later explains, his voice heavy with emotion. "We were down and I wanted to give us a chance to win." Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano tries to console his dejected quarterback, reminding him that "we're going to learn from this and come back stronger." Despite the heartbreaking end to the play, the Rutgers players and coaches can take solace in the effort and teamwork displayed during the wild sequence. As the clock winds down, Indiana holds on to secure the victory, but the memory of Rutgers' gutsy, unconventional attempt will linger in the minds of all who witnessed it.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentabsolutely wild play in rutgers indiana
game my twitter lit up break this down
break this down so let's take a look at
it first and ten
naturally takes the sack loses a bunch
of yards 14 yards then
he's gonna pick up one yard this dude's
gonna get slammed to the ground he's
gonna get
stared at say what up and then we're
back at it third and 23. what are we
going to do here
we're going to lose about 10 more yards
have some fun got to lose ground
if you want to gain ground and now comes
the fun play one
two three we'll just watch it live speed
that's four
this is the fun one that's five
i'll go through it we'll break it down
let's just watch what happens five this
guy's going to make it
nope goes six seven eight little hot
potato a little juke by the qb here
nine okay so there you go now he's off
to the races
heading for the end zone for six they
would still need
i think two point conversion and then
they need to do it all over again
so you know long journey but that's fun
indiana coach can't believe it what the
hell's going on
out there let's take a look at what
happened we got the first pass
number 15. all right he's going to catch
it looks like 18's coming behind him
right away 42
like kind of botches that tackle kind of
doesn't
he gets this one off to 18. 18 gets it
quickly back to the qb
he passes it to the big dude he doesn't
catch it now he's getting tackled
bam fat on fat collision so here it is
from another angle
number six on indiana what were you
doing dude
look at number six come in and try to
strip him like i mean who cares about
that
six how does that help you just tackle
the dude
um so then he's got a couple guys on him
and just tosses it backwards
i love the toss and uh 99 or 98 on the
team just
big boy collision boom love it
15. the first guy he's back at it makes
the catch he gets
tripped up there by number four this is
actually the best play
or the the play saving play save the
touchdown number four
tracking it the whole way finds his dude
finds the lane kind of slips
and punches his knee actually it's a
little slip
little left hand punch to the knee 15
throws it
and this is where it got called back
because it was a forward pass
barely number 77 takes it and it's like
nah get me out of here i don't want it
but here look so you can see
he let go like right around the 35 yard
line you can see number 77 on the right
shuffle his feet over and catch it
i mean it's just barely a forward pass
but it is now the qb getting all jukey
again
it's like the third time the qb's
touched the ball this play he's just
dancing out there
throws a nice pass number two misses
pretty big he's off to the races
none of this matters at all really but
it's fun
number 47 number six on indiana didn't
really do the whole play
but a lot going on now the refs come
back and like sorry to ruin all the fun
but that guy threw the ball forward
which is totally illegal
can't do it so we can't allow it so you
know
the weird part is number 15 jones is
like upset
like crying it's like his coach has to
be like hey man
that was a weird play that was totally
like you know we don't practice that and
you threw it
maybe half a foot forward nothing to cry
about
bizarre play can't be hanging your head
up on bizarre plays
in my opinion i mean good job good
effort i'd say
not like we were going to come back and
win that's what the coach should have
said
dude not like we were going to come back
and win