The Colorado Buffaloes’ Fifth Down (1990)
Even casual football fans know that teams are supposed to have four downs to move the football ten yards, but this rule seemed to be lost on the officiating crew of the 1990 college football game between the Colorado Buffaloes and the Missouri Tigers. Down four points with less than a minute remaining, Colorado found themselves in a first-and-goal situation, spiking the ball to stop the clock on first down and running on second down before calling a timeout. However, during the timeout the crew failed to advance the down marker, and Colorado was given three more attempts for a total of five downs, scoring on the fifth to win the game. The controversy carried over to the end of the season when the Buffaloes were voted as co-National Champions despite many questioning the legitimacy of their record.