With his trade from the New England Patriots to the Minnesota Vikings, Randy Moss is the big story this week in the NFL. All the attention on Moss made me remember the game he broke into the national consciousness during his time at Marshall. Or at least my own consciousness because the image of Moss hurdling an Army defender is still vivid to this day.
It was Sept. 6, 1997, at Michie Stadium, and Moss turned the Black Knights’ home opener into a one-man highlight reel. Marshall, playing on its second game as a Division I-A program, got its first score of the afternoon on a 90-yard catch and run by Moss that featured him eluding half the Army defense, including the aforementioned hurdle. Then on Marshall’s first offensive play of the second half, Moss grabbed a Chad Pennington pass over an Army defensive back and ran down the sidelines for a 78-yard score.
“He jumped over a couple of our defenders, and you just don’t see that,” Army cornerback Jamar Mullen told The (Bergen, N.J.) Record after the game. “He beat me on that first TD when I got blocked out, and with his speed, he’s hard to catch.”
On the day, Moss had five catches for 186 yards and the two TDs, as Marshall won 35-25.
Sorry, Army fans, but this is one of the more spectacular college plays you’ll ever see:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOYH6PPYaPI[/youtube]The 78-yarder wasn’t too shabby either:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVrI83btRPs&NR=1[/youtube]
