# List of nicknamed college football games and plays

Several college football games and plays throughout its history have been given names by the media, football fans, and as part of a team's or rivalry's lore as a result of a distinctive play associated with the game, a unique outcome of or circumstance behind the game, the rivalry or undefeated nature of both teams, or for other reasons that make the game notable.
The following is a list of games that have been given names that are widely used or recalled in reference to the game or as part of an American college team's lore. This list does not include games named only after being a bowl game or a playoff game unless they are referred to by a separate nickname.

## List
### Nicknamed games

| Name | Date | Away team | Score | Home team | Notes |
| First College Football Game | November 6, 1869 | Princeton Tigers | 4–6 | Rutgers Queensmen | First collegiate soccer match, and the birth of soccer in the United States. |
| The Birth of Black College Football | December 27, 1892 | Biddle football team | 4–0 | Livingstone football team | First game between two historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). |
| Hampden Park Blood Bath | November 24, 1894 | Yale Bulldogs | 12–4 | Harvard Crimson | Notoriously violent Harvard-Yale contest resulting in crippling injuries to four players, causing the contest to be suspended until 1897. |
| C6H0 | October 29, 1921 | Centre Praying Colonels | 6–0 | Harvard Crimson | Named based on a Centre College professor stating that Harvard had been poisoned by the impossible C6H0 chemical formula in reference to the final score, resulting in their upset defeat and the formula name being painted throughout Danville, Kentucky. |
| The Game That Changed The South | January 1, 1926 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 20–19 | Washington Huskies | The first radio broadcast bowl game and first national championship victory of the Alabama Crimson Tide. |
| Tall Grass Game | October 6, 1928 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 6–22 | Wisconsin Badgers | Played on a football field where the grass had not been mowed in a week, and resulted in a Wisconsin upset dubbed by fans as "The Victory In The Tall Grass". |
| Game of the Century (1935) | November 30, 1935 | 1935 SMU Mustangs football team | 20–14 | TCU Horned Frogs | Match between two undefeated and untied Southwest Conference teams, with victory necessary to secure the conference championship. The first Texas football game to be broadcast nationwide. |
| When Punts Rained from the Sky | November 11, 1939 | Texas Tech Red Raiders | 0–0 | Centenary Gentlemen | Game marred by torrential downpour and muddy field conditions that prevented running or passing, forcing both teams to punt the ball 77 times together in hopes of a fumble recovery. |
| Fifth Down Game (1940) | November 16, 1940 | Cornell Big Red | 0–3 | Dartmouth Indians | Game conceded by Cornell after film confirmed that errors by the game officials had allowed an un-permitted fifth down as the last play of the game. |
| Game of the Century (1946) | November 9, 1946 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 0–0 | Army Cadets | Game played between No. 1 (Army) and No. 2 (Notre Dame) ranked teams, resulting in a defensive battle leading to zero points scored and allowing both teams to finish the season undefeated. |
| Snow Bowl (1950) | November 25, 1950 | Michigan Wolverines | 9–3 | Ohio State Buckeyes | Big Ten Conference football championship-crucial game impacted by two inches per hour of snowfall and significant wind chill. |
| Game of the Century (1966) | November 19, 1966 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 10–10 | Michigan State Spartans | Considered one of the greatest games in college football history, played between two undefeated teams resulting in a tie, with criticism levied at playcaller Ara Parseghian for running the ball on five of six plays in the last minutes. |
| Game of the Century (1967) | November 18, 1967 | UCLA Bruins | 20–21 | USC Trojans | Widely regarded as the signature game in the UCLA–USC rivalry, having a 64-yard run by O. J. Simpson for the winning touchdown considered one of the greatest run plays in college football history. |
| Harvard Beats Yale, 29–29 | November 23, 1968 | Yale Bulldogs | 29–29 | Harvard Crimson | Significant Harvard last-moment comeback by scoring 16 points in the final 42 seconds to tie the game. |
| Game of the Century (1969) | December 6, 1969 | Texas Longhorns | 15–14 | Arkansas Razorbacks | No. 1 Texas visited No. 2 Arkansas, with United States President Richard Nixon attending to award a presidential plaque to the winner. Highest Nielsen TV rating in American football history at 52.1 (a 74 share), college or professional. |
| Game of the Century (1971) | November 25, 1971 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 35–31 | Oklahoma Sooners | Match between undefeated teams, helping to give the winning Nebraska program a national following. |
| Punt Bama Punt | December 2, 1972 | Auburn Tigers | 17–16 | Alabama Crimson Tide | Iron Bowl game where Auburn blocked two Alabama punts and ran them back for touchdowns to win the game. |
| The Vote for the Roses | November 24, 1973 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 10–10 | Michigan Wolverines | One of the most controversial games in NCAA history, due to game's tie outcome resulting in Ohio State being voted into the Rose Bowl instead of Michigan. |
| The Toilet Bowl | November 19, 1983 | Oregon State Beavers | 0–0 | Oregon Ducks | Notorious poorly played game with eleven turnovers and four missed field goals, and presently the last Division I 0–0 final score. |
| Hail Flutie | November 23, 1984 | Boston College Eagles | 47–45 | Miami Hurricanes | Game known for a last-second Hail Mary pass from quarterback Doug Flutie to wide receiver Gerard Phelan to give Boston College the win. |
| Earthquake Game | October 8, 1988 | Auburn Tigers | 6–7 | LSU Tigers | Game where an important play triggered a crowd reaction that registered on a seismograph. |
| Catholics vs. Convicts | October 15, 1988 | Miami Hurricanes | 30–31 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | Match between two undefeated teams involving Notre Dame's Catholic image and Miami's perceived flamboyance and player arrests. |
| Fifth Down Game (1990) | October 6, 1990 | Colorado Buffaloes | 33–31 | Missouri Tigers | Game involving an officiating error that allowed the Colorado Buffaloes to score a touchdown at the end of the game and claim the 1990 Division I-A 1990 national championship. |
| Wide Right I | November 16, 1991 | Miami Hurricanes | 17–16 | Florida State Seminoles | Named after a missed 34-yard potential game-winning field goal "wide to the right." |
| Wide Right II | October 3, 1992 | Florida State Seminoles | 16–19 | Miami Hurricanes | Similarly named after a missed potentially game changing field goal to the right. |
| Game of the Century (1993) | November 13, 1993 | Florida State Seminoles | 24–31 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | Matchup between two unbeaten teams. |
| Band Brawl | September 19, 1998 | Southern Jaguars | 37–7 | Prairie View A&M Panthers | Named after a halftime brawl between the marching bands of the two schools, resulting in several injuries and suspensions on both bands for two games. |
| The Snow Bowl | December 31, 2000 | Mississippi State Bulldogs | 43–41 | Texas A&M Aggies | Occurred during a snowstorm rare for the Shreveport region that persisted throughout the game. |
| Miracle on the Mountain | October 12, 2002 | Furman Paladins | 15–16 | Appalachian State Mountaineers | Game involving a failed two-point conversion attempt culminating in Furman's loss. |
| The Brawl | November 20, 2004 | South Carolina Gamecocks | 7–29 | Clemson Tigers | Extensive and violent brawl between both teams, resulting in both teams being suspended from participating in any bowl game for the season. |
| Game of the Century (2006) | November 18, 2006 | Michigan Wolverines | 39–42 | Ohio State Buckeyes | Match between two rival undefeated teams, resulting in Ohio State claiming the Big Ten championship and several players on both teams receiving awards and recognition. |
| The Upset / Appalachian State Miracle | September 1, 2007 | Appalachian State Mountaineers | 34–32 | Michigan Wolverines | Referred to as one of the greatest and most unlikely upsets, resulting in Michigan dropping from the top five to out of the top 25 of the AP Poll, and causing reforms to the poll to allow FCS teams to be part of the rankings. |
| Game of the Century (2009) | December 5, 2009 | Florida Gators | 13–32 | Alabama Crimson Tide | Match between two 12–0 teams, often seen as the beginning of the Alabama dynasty. |
| One Second Left | December 5, 2009 | Texas Longhorns | 13–12 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | Ended with an egregiously elapsed second reverted by review, allowing Texas to score the game-winning field goal and advance to the BCS title game. |
| Separate But Equal Bowl | January 4, 2010 | Boise State Broncos | 17–10 | TCU Horned Frogs | First game where two teams from the BCS non-AQ (automatic qualifying) conferences, the historic predecessor to today's Group of Five conferences, earned BCS bowl berths in the same season. |
| Game of the Century (2011) | November 5, 2011 | LSU Tigers | 9–6 | Alabama Crimson Tide | Match between two rival 8–0 teams. |
| Trouble With the Snap | October 17, 2015 | Michigan State Spartans | 27–23 | Michigan Wolverines | Michigan–Michigan State football rivalry game where Michigan's punter fumbled the snap, resulting in the ball being returned for a touchdown on the last play of the game. |
| Battle at Bristol | September 10, 2016 | Virginia Tech Hokies | 24–45 | Tennessee Volunteers | Played at Bristol Motor Speedway. Holds the record for the largest single-game attendance of an NCAA football game at 156,990. |
| Cheez-It Bowl | December 26, 2018 | California Golden Bears | 7–10 | TCU Horned Frogs | Infamous for having nine interceptions, with six occurring in the first half. |
| Game of the Century (2019) | November 9, 2019 | LSU Tigers | 46–41 | Alabama Crimson Tide | Match between two top-ranked teams, with both teams tied for first place in the Southeastern Conference's West Division entering the game. |
| Mormons vs. Mullets | December 5, 2020 | BYU Cougars | 17–22 | Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | Named after BYU's Mormon affiliation and the mullet haircuts worn by many Coastal Carolina players. |
| Shoe Throw Game / Shoe Game | December 12, 2020 | LSU Tigers | 37–34 | Florida Gators | Notorious for Florida cornerback Marco Wilson throwing an opponent's shoe down the field to celebrate a defensive hold, resulting in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that granted LSU a first down, culminating in a game-winning field goal. |

### Named individual plays, series of plays, and in-game instances

| Name | Date | Away team | Score | Home team | Notes |
| Billy Cannon's Halloween run | October 31, 1959 | Ole Miss Rebels | 3–7 | LSU Tigers | An 89-yard punt return by Billy Cannon resulting in the game's only touchdown. |
| The Gator Flop | November 27, 1971 | Florida Gators | 45–16 | Miami Hurricanes | A play where nearly the entire Florida defense fell to the ground to allow Miami to score, giving Florida QB John Reaves the ball back so he could beat Jim Plunkett's NCAA record for all-time passing yardage. |
| The Kick | September 24, 1977 | Oklahoma Sooners | 29–28 | Ohio State Buckeyes | Oklahoma kicker Uwe von Schamann's last-second 41-yard field goal to win the game. |
| The Play | November 20, 1982 | Stanford Cardinal | 20–25 | California Golden Bears | Five lateral passes during a kickoff return allowing the Golden Bears to score a controversial last-moment game-winning touchdown while the Stanford Band had already entered the field. |
| Miracle at Michigan | September 24, 1994 | Colorado Buffaloes | 27–26 | Michigan Wolverines | Colorado quarterback Kordell Stewart's 64-yard Hail Mary pass to Michael Westbrook to win the game in the final play of the game. |
| Flea Kicker | November 8, 1997 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 45–38 | Missouri Tigers | A last-seconds play involving the ball being kicked up twice to allow Nebraska to score a game tying touchdown, with overtime ending in their victory. |
| Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass | October 27, 2001 | Oklahoma Sooners | 10–20 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | Significant play with Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch receiving the ball to run untouched to the end zone for a 63-yard touchdown, helping Crouch win the Heisman trophy. |
| Bluegrass Miracle | November 9, 2002 | LSU Tigers | 33–30 | Kentucky Wildcats | 74-yard game-winning touchdown pass with no time left on the clock after the ball was tipped by a Kentucky defender and then caught by Devery Henderson to run the ball into the endzone. |
| Holy Buckeye | November 9, 2002 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 10–6 | Purdue Boilermakers | Named after Brent Musburger's exclamation as Ohio State quarterback Craig Krenzel threw a 37-yard pass down the left sideline caught by Michael Jenkins in the endzone to score the game-winning touchdown. |
| The Mississippi Miracle / Lateralpalooza | October 27, 2007 | Trinity Tigers | 28–24 | Millsaps Majors | A game-winning 61-yard touchdown involving 15 laterals considered to be "the longest play in college football history". |
| Prayer at Jordan-Hare | November 16, 2013 | Georgia Bulldogs | 38–43 | Auburn Tigers | Game-winning 73-yard Hail Mary pass tipped by a Georgia defender before being caught for the touchdown. |
| Kick Six | November 30, 2013 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 28–34 | Auburn Tigers | A short 57-yard field goal attempt caught by opposing Auburn's Chris Davis to run the entire field into the end zone to win the 78th Iron Bowl. |
| Miracle on Techwood Drive | October 24, 2015 | Florida State Seminoles | 16–22 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | A blocked final field goal attempt that was returned for a touchdown by Georgia Tech's Lance Austin, resulting in an upset victory. |
| Block Six | October 22, 2016 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 21–24 | Penn State Nittany Lions | A blocked field goal resulting in a 70-yard return touchdown, regarded as the best play in Penn State football history in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. |
| 2nd and 26 | January 8, 2018 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 26–23 | Georgia Bulldogs | Play from the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship involving a game-winning 41-yard touchdown pass by Tua Tagovailoa to DeVonta Smith following a 16-yard sack. |
| Piss and Miss / Ole Piss | November 28, 2019 | Ole Miss Rebels | 20–21 | Mississippi State Bulldogs | Play series involving Elijah Moore mimicking a dog urinating in the end zone to celebrate a touchdown bringing the game to 21–20, resulting in a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that led to an extra-point miss by kicker Luke Logan and resulting in Ole Miss's loss in the Egg Bowl. |
| 4th and 31 / Grave Digger | November 25, 2023 | Alabama | 27–24 | Auburn | A game-winning touchdown pass from quarterback Jalen Milroe to Isaiah Bond on a fourth-and-goal situation from the Auburn 31-yard line with 32 seconds remaining. |