Editor's Note: Dick Weiss, a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame, has covered college sports in Philadelphia and New York for more than 40 years. He will be providing regular commentary for the American Athletic Conference during the 2014-15 season.
The 2014 season ended with some magical postseason performances for American Athletic Conference teams, setting the stage for what should be an exciting 2015 campaign.
by Dick Weiss
The American Athletic Conference may have been a football conference in transition this year, but the University of Houston gave the league one of those timeless magical moments in the postseason.
The Cougars staged one of the most stunning comebacks in bowl history when they rallied from a 31-6 deficit early in the fourth quarter to defeat ACC representative Pittsburgh, 35-34, in Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth.
Junior quarterback Greg Ward Jr. threw three touchdowns during a wild improbable comeback from a 34-13 deficit in the final 6:14 that included two recovered onside kicks in a row, then completed a game-winning two-point conversation pass to wide receiver Deontay Greenberry, who made a spectacular leaping catch in the back of the end zone with 59 seconds left to provide a dramatic finish.
"We've been through a lot of games where we were coming from behind and we got close to coming back and winning the game, but we just couldn't finish it," Greenberry said. "It's all about just never quitting."
After Ward, a converted wide receiver, hit Green with a 25-yard touchdown to pull the Cougars within a point, interim coach David Gibbs, UH's defensive coordinator, made a bold decision to try to win the game in regulation instead of playing for overtime, holding up two fingers.
If they failed, Gibbs said, “It was going to be on me.”
“There was no pressure,” said Gibbs. “There was no decision to be made, because we made it a long time ago.”
Long ago, as in the first day of bowl practice.
"We made a decision that day at practice that if it came down to the end of the game, we were going for two no matter what," Gibbs said. "This is a true story. We started practicing the two-point play the very first practice. So we've probably run that play, I don't know, 25, 30 times in practice."
The victory was a great kickstart to the 2015 season for the Cougars, who pulled off a major coup last month when they hired Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman as their new head coach. Herman, who helped orchestrate the Buckeyes' 42-35 victory over top-seeded Alabama in the national semifinals Jan. 1, will not officially take over until after next Monday night's national championship game against Oregon in Arlington, Texas.
But he should enjoy watching the tape of Gibbs' aggressive playcalling and the largest comeback in an FBS bowl game that didn't go overtime. The Cougars’ scored 22 points – including two touchdowns by Greenberry – had two onside kick recoveries and a two-point conversion, all in the final 3:41.
The American did not have a top-10 team this season like UCF, which outscored Big 12 champion Baylor in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl. But playing entertaining, nationally televised games like this can only help the league in its quest to showcase its skill position stars and gain increased national acceptance.
The American finished 2-3 in post season competition – 3-3 if you include Navy’s win against San Diego State in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego. But there were magical moments and demonstrations of persistence, particularly during Memphis 55-48 double overtime victory against BYU in the Miami Beach Bowl and the Cougars’ win against Pittsburgh in Fort Worth.
Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch had a breakout game against BYU, throwing for four touchdown passes and rushing for threw more scores as the Tigers (10-3), who were co-champions of the league, won their first bowl game since 2005.
Roderick Proctor caught an 11-yard pass from Lynch to put Memphis up in the second overtime and the Tigers held on from there.
Navy, which enters The American next season, rallied to defeat hometown San Diego State when Austin Grebe kicked a go-ahead, 24-yard field goal with 1:27 left.
The winning drive was set up when Navy's Chris Johnson forced forced and recovered a fumble by Donnell Pumphrey, who earlier set San Diego State's single-season rushing record. Fullback Chris Swain converted on a fourth-and-1 and Ryan Williams-Jenkins took a pitch and ran 28 yards to help set up the gamewinner by Grebe.
"Honestly, I wasn't thinking I was going to have to kick it because whenever we get that close, (junior quarterback) Keenan (Reynolds) scores," Grebe said, "I was just glad to make it and send our seniors out on a positive note."
If nothing else, 2014 shows that The American is a breeding ground for prolific quarterbacks. Shane Carden of East Carolina, playing in his final college game, launched 66 passes during a 28-20 loss to Florida in the Birmingham Bowl, completing 34 for 427 yards and two touchdowns while UCF's ever-improving quarterback Justin Holman, completed 23 of 53 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns during a 34-27 loss to North Carolina State in the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl.
Ward, Lynch, Holman and Cincinnati standout Gunner Kiel will all be back next year. They will be joined by Navy’s Reynolds, who needs 14 rushing touchdowns to break the NCAA career record. This growing league has the potential to go on exciting scoring binges with the inspired hires of Herman at Houston, Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris by SMU and Baylor offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery by Tulsa.