BYU Football: 5 Luckiest/Unluckiest Football Moments
By Adam Gibby
![DAYTON, OH - MARCH 17: Two Brigham Young Cougars fans hold up a flag during the first round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament against the Mississippi Rebels at UD Arena on March 17, 2015 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) DAYTON, OH - MARCH 17: Two Brigham Young Cougars fans hold up a flag during the first round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament against the Mississippi Rebels at UD Arena on March 17, 2015 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/c9b5717a16c2884fb13a467ced7013b40ddcc968d367a3cb2c110228275888d9.jpg)
Lucky 1
Lucky – 21 points in the Miracle Bowl
The Miracle Bowl against SMU is the definition of true luck striking over and over again. With four minutes left in the game, the Mustangs scored to take a huge 45–25 lead. As BYU fans started to leave, quarterback Jim McMahon yelled at the fans saying the game wasn’t over yet, and he was right!
McMahon quickly threw a touchdown pass to Matt Braga, and BYU recovered an onside kick right after that. The Cougars went down the field field, ending the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Scott Phillips. The Cougar defense forced SMU to punt on their next possession with only 13 seconds left and BYU’s Bill Schoepflin blocked the punt by SMU’s Eric Kaifes around midfield. After two incomplete passes, McMahon threw a hail mary and it was caught in the endzone by tight end Clay Brown to give BYU their first ever bowl game win.
Once again, there was a lot of skill but for BYU to march down the field quickly twice with almost no opposition, pull of the onside kick, block a punt and complete a hail mary pass took nothing less than a complete miracle.
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What do you think is the luckiest moment in BYU Football history? Did we get the list right?