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ESPN staff 2y

An unconventional trick play, upsets and game winners: Champ weekend had it all

College Football, Utah Utes, USC Trojans, Ohio State Buckeyes, Georgia Bulldogs, Incarnate Word Cardinals, Purdue Boilermakers, Kansas State Wildcats, TCU Horned Frogs

Conference championship weekend brought a little bit of everything: upsets, down-to-the-wire games, big-name coaching hires and quality plays all around.

Here's the best of what happened in the last weekend of the college football regular season. 


Best trick play

This isn't your average trick play. And it's technically not a trick play at all. However, Georgia safety Christopher Smith tricked LSU so well that he ran this missed field goal attempt all the way to the other end of the field to score a touchdown.

He fooled them, so it counts.

And while we're talking about Georgia, can we just take a moment to appreciate Jalen Carter for being Jalen Carter?


Best troll

Utah ended USC's playoff chances Friday night by beating the Trojans 47-24 in the Pac-12 title game. It was USC's second loss of the season and second loss to Utah, as the Utes successfully defended their conference title.

But the win for Utah wouldn't have been as sweet without some good trolling. During the game, Utah's sideline had some fun poking at the USC towel guys, who tend to get riled up.

Quarterback Caleb Williams paints his nails every week before games, and his message this week was similar to that of what he had against Notre Dame. But this is the kind of thing to come right back around following a loss.

And QB Cam Rising had this to add.

Alas, Ohio State benefitted most from the USC loss, as the Buckeyes are on to the College Football Playoff, while USC is on to the Cotton Bowl.

For more of the best trolls, check this out


Best mishap

Anytime we get a chance to talk about Purdue's big drum, we're going to talk about it. 

It made its way to the Big Ten championship, but because of its very large nature, it did in fact hit a road bump. 

Need to catch up on drum wars? Check this out

Don't worry, though. The drum eventually got out onto the field.


Best game winner

First Kansas State had a big stop at the goal line to prevent TCU from scoring on fourth down, then the Wildcats kicked the game-winning field goal to claim the Big 12 title. 

And, of course, the celebrations continued in the locker room.

But even though the Horned Frogs lost the game, TCU became the first school from Texas to be selected for the College Football Playoff, also giving them reason to celebrate. 


Small-school moment

Just WOW. This touchdown from Incarnate Word is incredible. 

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