Each week, Rivals.com's Woody Wommack and Rob Cassidy take a look around the world of high school and college sports to spotlight unique, bizarre and utterly ridiculous moments.
MORE: Strange moments in National Signing Day history | Exclusive college sports coverage
1. Everything is bigger in Texas, including the Hail Mary
High school football just means more in the state of Texas, as evidenced by the massive crowds that turn out to watch on a weekly basis across the state. Over the weekend, the Cowboys' AT&T Stadium was packed with fans to witness a state title clash between unbeaten North Shore High School and unbeaten Duncanville High School.
As it would turn out, the fans got more than their fair share of action. The contest went back and forth, filled with scoring. Duncanville took a 36-35 lead with 1:02 left in the game and seemed to have the title in hand.
That’s when the magical happened. Northshore drove to midfield and with three seconds left, let a prayer fly, one that would be answered with an incredible touchdown pass to win the title.
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2. Refs nearly steal a record
Plenty of people have plenty of snarky things to say about the non-glamour bowl games, but for the players and the hardcore college football fans, the pre-Christmas bowls are full of surprises.
In last week’s Hawaii Bowl, an all-time record-breaking performance was almost wiped from the books, thanks to a ridiculous call by the officials.
Coming into the game, Louisiana Tech defensive end Jaylon Ferguson needed just 1.5 sacks to tie Terrell Suggs for the FBS record for career sacks. Things got off to a good start, with Ferguson recording a sack in the first quarter of the game. Shortly thereafter, Ferguson recorded another sack, putting him into sole possession of first place -- at least for a few seconds. A phantom facemask penalty nullified the sack, leaving Ferguson still .5 behind Suggs.
Luckily for Ferguson, who some are comparing to current NFL star Khalil Mack, he got his redemption in the second half, recording a sack with four minutes left in the game to take the record from Suggs.
MORE LOUISIANA TECH COVERAGE: BleedTechBlue.com
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3. Houston president’s declaration comes back to haunt her
When Major Applewhite was hired to lead the Houston football program following Tom Herman's exit for Texas two years ago, Cougar football was riding high. So it’s understandable that university president Renu Khato would let a few boasts fly. When she proclaimed that “Winning is defined at University of Houston as 10-2” and that Houston would “fire coaches at 8-4,” at a university holiday party, the words probably got a cheer or two from the faculty in attendance. Thing is, Applewhite proceeded to go 7-5 and 8-5 (including a 70-14 disaster of a bowl loss) in his first two seasons as coach.
Does it mean anything? Who knows? Things coaches or administrators say rarely do. And nobody wants to see anyone fired, but rich people being forced to feel sheepish is always worth a note and smile.
Here’s to you, Renu.
MORE HOUSTON COVERAGE: CougarsDen.com
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4. Urban Meyer to teach America’s youth about character
Multiple outlets reported that former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, who was suspended during an internal investigation into whether or not he covered up domestic violence accusations against one of his assistant coaches, would begin teaching a course in "leadership and character" on Ohio State’s campus.
Seriously.
The same Urban Meyer. Not a different guy with the same name.
The Urban Meyer who was suspected of deleting a chunk of his text messages before turning his phone over to Buckeye officials as part of the investigation. That guy. The very same one.
Amazing.
MORE OHIO STATE COVERAGE: BuckeyeGrove.com
