Alabama’s win continues Valley’s history of great football championships

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee CEO Jay Parry was talking about last year’s well-executed event when she joked that the committee was taking credit for the game as well — an epic, 28-24 New England win over Seattle that was decided on a last second, goal-line interception.

That got us thinking how lucky the Valley has been with the 10 football championships it has hosted (not to mention the 2001 World Series and the 1993 NBA Finals). Of the 10 football title games played in the Valley (college and NFL), only two games have been duds while a handful have risen to epic status.

Alabama’s 45-40 win in the College Football Playoff National Championship game on Monday — coach Nick Saban’s fifth national title — was an entertaining game from start to finish, helping save a dull bowl season. The two teams combined for 1,023 yards of offense and a litany of big plays in front of 75,765 red- and orange-clad fans at University of Phoenix Stadium.

“We didn’t always play pretty in this game and it probably wasn’t one of our best games when it just comes to flat execution,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “But when it comes to competing and making plays when we needed to make them, it was probably as good as it gets. That’s probably why we’re sitting here.”

Alabama’s win lacked the finish to become the Valley’s best championships, but it had enough elements to climb into our top five.

Here is our ranking of the 10 football title games the Valley has hosted. We are confining this list to official national championship games or games played between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation, so we have excluded the 1989 Fiesta Bowl between No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 3 West Virginia in which the Fighting Irish claimed the national title.

OUR TOP 10

No. 10: BCS National Championship, Jan. 8, 2007, University of Phoenix Stadium — No. 2 Florida 41, No. 1 Ohio State, 14: Eventual Cardinal Ted Ginn Jr. returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown for Ohio State but that was just about all the Buckeyes had to cheer about. Gators QB Chris Leak threw for 213 yards and Florida outgained Ohio State 370-82 in perhaps the most one-sided game in Valley championship history.

No. 9: Fiesta Bowl, Jan. 2, 1996, Sun Devil Stadium — No. 1 Nebraska 62, No. 2 Florida 24: Florida led 10-6 after one quarter, but Nebraska led 35-10 at the half in one of the rare routs in Valley championship game history. The Cornhuskers won their second straight title behind QB Tommy Frazier and a star-studded cast that has been voted the greatest college team of all-time by numerous outlets. No opponent came closer than 14 points of the unbeaten Huskers all season.

No. 8: Super Bowl XXX, Jan. 28, 1996, Sun Devil Stadium — Dallas Cowboys 27, Pittsburgh Steelers 17: The Cowboys’ Larry Brown became the first cornerback to win Super Bowl MVP honors by recording two interceptions in the second half. Dallas led 13–0 before Pittsburgh scored with 13 seconds left in the first half to pull within 13–7. Midway through the third quarter, Brown intercepted Steelers QB Neil O’Donnell and returned it 44 yards to the Pittsburgh 18-yard line to set up running back Emmitt Smith’s 1-yard TD run. The Steelers cut the lead to 20–17 on Bam Morris’s 1-yard run midway through the fourth quarter, but Brown recorded his second interception on Pittsburgh’s next drive, returning it to the Steelers’ 6-yard line to set up Smith’s 4-yard rushing touchdown with 3:43 remaining to seal the game.

No. 7: Fiesta Bowl, Jan. 4, 1999, Sun Devil Stadium — No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers 23, No. 2 Florida State Seminoles 16: When Tennessee’s Jeff Hall kicked a 23-yard field goal to give the Volunteers a 23–9 lead midway through the fourth quarter, the game appeared over. But Florida State quarterback Marcus Outzen scrambled for a 7-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 23–16 with 3:42 remaining. With less than two minutes left, Tennessee running back Travis Henry fumbled and Florida State recovered, but Outzen was intercepted by cornerback Steve Johnson to end the rally.

No. 6: Fiesta Bowl, Jan. 2, 1987, Sun Devil Stadium — No. 2 Penn State 14, No. 1 Miami 10: Miami outgained the Nittany Lions 445 yards to 162 but Hurricanes’ Heisman Trophy winning QB Vinny Testaverde was intercepted five times. Linebacker Shane Conlan’s second interception of the game set up D.J. Dozier’s 6-yard TD run with 8:13 to play to give Penn State a 14-10 lead. Miami moved from its own 23-yard line to the Penn State 1-yard line in the closing seconds, but Penn State linebacker Pete Giftopoulos picked off Testaverde at the 1-yard line to preserve the win.

No. 5: College Football Playoff National Championship, Jan. 11, 2016, University of Phoenix Stadium — No. 2 Alabama 45, No. 1 Clemson 40: This game had everything but a fantastic finish. Alabama recovered an onside kick to wrest the lead away from Clemson early in the fourth quarter, the Crimson Tide had three touchdowns of 50 or more yards, Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson was as good as advertised with 405 passing yards, four passing TDs and 73 rushing yards, and the teams combined for 40, fourth-quarter points. Clemson scored a late TD to pull within five, but it couldn’t recover the ensuing onside kick to make the game rise in our rankings.

No. 4: BCS National Championship, Jan. 10, 2011, University of Phoenix Stadium — No. 1 Auburn 22, No. 2 Oregon 19: Wes Byrum kicked a 19-yard field goal as time expired to give Cam Newton a title in his final college game. Darron Thomas’ two-yard shovel pass to LaMichael James for an Oregon touchdown and a two-point conversion pass to Jeff Maehl had tied the game at 19-19 with 2:33 to play, but the signature moment of the game came on Auburn’s game-winning drive. Tigers running back Michael Dyer appeared to be stopped after a 7-yard gain but he was not ruled down and replays showed he had fallen on top of teammate Eddie Pleasant. Oregon players stopped playing and Dyer gained 37 yards to help set up the game-winning field goal.

No. 3: Super Bowl XLII, Feb. 3, 2008, University of Phoenix Stadium — New York Giants 21, New England Patriots 17: The Giants turned in one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history, ending the Patriots’ hopes of becoming just the NFL’s second undefeated team. Giants QB Eli Manning connected with receiver Plaxico Burress for the winning touchdown, a 13-yard pass with 35 seconds remaining in the game, but the signature moment of the game came earlier on the drive when Manning eluded at least four Patriots on third down and lofted a ball to receiver David Tyree. Tyree made a leaping 32-yard catch, pressing the ball against his helmet as he fell, to put the Giants at the Patriots’ 24-yard line with 59 seconds left in the game.

No. 2: Fiesta Bowl, Jan. 3, 2003, Sun Devil Stadium — No. 2 Ohio State 31, No. 1 Miami 24: This game had as many twists as any championship game the Valley has ever seen. The Hurricanes had won 34 consecutive games and were 11 1/2-point favorites but Ohio State led 17-7 in the third quarter before Miami got a touchdown from running back Willis McGahee and a Todd Sievers’ 40-yard field goal as regulation ended to send the game to overtime.

Miami scored in the first overtime on a Ken Dorsey pass to Kellen Winslow Jr. When Ohio State quarterback Craig Krenzel’s pass fell incomplete on fourth down, Miami players rushed the field thinking they had won, but field judge Terry Porter called pass interference, awarding Ohio State a first down. Three plays later, Krenzel scored on a 1-yard run to force the second overtime. Maurice Clarett’s touchdown put Ohio State up 31-24 in the second OT and Dorsey threw incomplete on fourth down to seal the Buckeyes’ win.

No. 1: Super Bowl XLIX, Feb. 1, 2015, University of Phoenix Stadium — New England 28, Seattle 24: The game will forever be remembered for undrafted rookie cornerback Malcolm Butler’s interception on the goal line that prevented Seattle from repeating as champs. Facing second and goal from the 1-yard line, Seattle coach Pete Carroll made the shocking decision to have QB Russell Wilson throw instead of giving the ball to running back Marshawn Lynch, who had been chewing up yardage on the drive. The ending turned the game into an instant classic.

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