‘Orange Crush’ Tabbed Among Top Plays Since 2000

Clemson’s 14-1 season in 2016 was capped off, of course, by Deshaun Watson’s touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow with one second left that sealed one of the greatest national championship games of all time – the Tigers’ 35-31 defeat of Alabama.

This week, the epic Watson-to-Renfrow connection was ranked by ESPN among college football’s top 25 plays since 2000.

The legendary “Orange Crush” play – which went down in college football history on Jan. 9, 2017, and will live on forever – landed at No. 13 in ESPN’s ranking of the most significant and wildest plays of the last 25 years.

“The play forever known as “Orange Crush” delivered Clemson its second national title in school history in the 2017 national championship game and the first under coach Dabo Swinney,” ESPN’s Andrea Adelson wrote. “In an epic back-and-forth game, Alabama had scored to go ahead 31-28 with 2:07 left. Plenty of time remaining for the Tigers’ offense. Quarterback Deshaun Watson marched them down the field, reaching the 2-yard line with six seconds left.

“Watson found Hunter Renfrow in the end zone for the winning score — thanks, in part, to a rub route Artavis Scott ran to give Renfrow just enough space to get open. Clemson scored with one second left to win 35-31.”

That unforgettable play is ranked right ahead of the controversial “Bush Push,” which occurred during the Southern Cal-Notre Dame game on Oct. 15, 2005, and secured a 34-31 victory for No. 1-ranked USC en route to an eventual appearance in the BCS National Championship Game.

No. 1 on ESPN’s list of the top 25 plays of the 2000s, which was voted on by ESPN college football writers, is the “Kick-Six” where Auburn’s Chris Davis returned a missed field goal attempt 109 yards for a touchdown as time expired to give Auburn a 34-28 win over Alabama in the 2013 Iron Bowl.