Today in “icing the kicker horror stories,” we present Saturday’s college football game between No. 25 Liberty and Virginia Tech.
With eight seconds remaining and the game tied 35-35, Liberty had a 59-yard field goal blocked and returned for a walk-off touchdown by Virginia Tech’s Jermaine Waller.
Or so it appeared to be a walk-off touchdown.
Officials ruled that Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente had called a timeout before the kick. In an effort to ice the kicker on a 59-yard try (a kick with a *highly* unlikely success rate), Virginia Tech actually ruined their own game-winning touchdown.
Well, after the timeout, Liberty decided to just go for it on 4th-and-6. So not only did the timeout take a Virginia Tech touchdown off the board; it made Liberty realize that a 59-yard field goal attempt was a bad idea. Liberty decided to just go for it on 4th-and-6, and picked up eight yards, while getting out of bounds with five seconds remaining.
That set up a 51-yard field goal try, and Liberty’s Alex Barbir nailed it with one second left. On the ensuing kickoff, Virginia Tech’s lateral return effort didn’t go anywhere, and Liberty came away with a 38-35 victory.
Here’s video of the wild finish:
Despite entering this game as the only ranked team, Liberty was a 17-point underdog in Blacksburg. But Hugh Freeze’s squad proved that their 7-0 record is no fluke.
