It has been 25 years since the start of the millennium, when we moved from 1999 — past the Y2K scare — and into the 2000s. That’s a quarter century of college football as we head into the 2025 season.
Given the nice round number, there is inevitably going to be plenty of retrospectives and reflections on the last 25 years in the sport — the moments, the game and the people, players and coaches alike — who played significant roles in making college football culturally impactful in the 21st century. Recently, ESPN ranked the top 25 college football plays since 2000, as eight ESPN writers and two editors compiled nominations (51 in total) and then ranked the best from 25 to 1 using a weight scoring system—25 points were awarded for first-place votes, 24 for second-place votes, and so on until the 25th-place vote received one point.
On the list of top 25 plays of the last quarter century, Oklahoma made three appearances — though only one of the plays went in the Sooners’ favor, while OU was on the wrong end of the other two entries on the list.
Let’s start with the good.
Checking in at No. 9 on the list is none other than Roy Williams’ Superman leap in the 2001 edition of the Red River Rivalry against Texas. You know the play by now: Oklahoma had Texas down at its own 2-yard line when Brent Venables and Mike Stoops called their “Slamdogs” blitz, with Williams shooting the gap between the tackle and guard on the left side of the line.
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The Sooners’ star safety didn’t just burst through that gap; he soared over it — and a lunging whiffed block attempt by the running back — like The Man of Steel and pummeled Longhorns quarterback Chris Simms as he cocked back to pass. Williams’ hit dislodged the ball as Simms’ left arm moved in a forward motion, resulting in the pass fluttering into the arms of linebacker Teddy Lehman, who easily scored from there. The play pushed Oklahoma’s lead to double-digits and sealed a 14-3 victory—the second of five consecutive OU wins in the series during the early 2000s.
The other two plays involving Oklahoma that appeared on ESPN’s top 25 list didn’t work out as well for the Sooners.
Clocking in at No. 21 was another play from that 2001 season, this time in that year’s Nebraska matchup. The play: Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass, a 63-yard trick-play touchdown by the Huskers in the fourth quarter of their 20-10 win against the Sooners in Lincoln, Nebraska. The play involved Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch — that year’s eventual Heisman winner — handing the ball off to Thunder Collins before running out to the flat and veering upfield as a receiver. Collins flipped the ball on a reverse to Mike Stuntz, who found Crouch down the sideline for the long touchdown.
It was one of just two losses for Oklahoma during an 11-2 campaign in 2001.
The other entrant on the list involving Oklahoma is kind of a cheat: It’s a two-for-one from one of the most unforgettable games of the last quarter century — the 2007 Fiesta Bowl between OU and Boise State. The combination of the Broncos’ hook-and-ladder touchdown and their game-winning Statue of Liberty trick play earned the No. 2 spot on the list.
The hook-and-ladder tied the game in the fourth quarter after Oklahoma 35-28 late in the game. Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky completed a pass over the middle to Drisan James, who flipped the ball to Jerard Rabb, who proceeded to sprint to the end zone and tie the game at 35 with seven seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Then, in overtime, with Oklahoma up by one following a Boise State touchdown, the Broncos eschewed the PAT to go for the two-point conversion instead. Zabransky dropped back, faked a throw to the flat on the right side and held the ball behind his back for a couple beats. Broncos running back Ian Johnson took the no-look, behind-the-back handoff and sprinted to the left toward the end zone for the game-winning score — before then proposing to his girlfriend, a Boise State cheerleader, on the sideline amid the celebration.
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