American Football · 1984 · Miami, USA
Hail Flutie
A 5-foot-9 college quarterback heaves a desperation 48-yard pass as time expires to beat the defending national champions, and settles that year's Heisman argument.
Boston College 47-45 Miami
Result
48 yards
Pass distance
6 seconds
Time remaining
Boston College were 45-41 down to the defending national champion Miami Hurricanes in the closing seconds at the Orange Bowl on 23 November 1984. The game had been scheduled as a Thanksgiving weekend television showcase for two Heisman Trophy contenders, Doug Flutie of Boston College and Miami's Bernie Kosar, and it had gone back and forth all afternoon.
With six seconds left and the ball on Miami's 48-yard line, Flutie took the snap, rolled right away from the rush and threw it as far as he could towards the end zone. Gerard Phelan came down with it in a crowd of three Miami defenders as the clock expired.
The 47-45 win went out on national television and was being called the Hail Flutie play within hours. Two weeks later Flutie, at 5-foot-9 one of the shortest major-college quarterbacks of his era, won the Heisman Trophy.
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