Too bad voters don't seem to remember the 2 int's and 78 yards Troy threw for against PSU until his "creative" 37 yard highlight. It's called a desperation pass. The receiver who got that open and stayed with the play should get most of the credit. Almost as bad as Flutie getting all of the credit for that heave he had against Miami. Does anyone ever mention the receiver who made that miracle happen? ...
His name was Phelan. Gerry Phelan. I saw the game. "It's called a desperation pass." Actually is was a play in BC Coach Bicknell's playbook. One BC had run 3 times before that season, once successfully.
"The receiver who got that open and stayed with the play should get most of the credit." The play was designed for all the receivers to flood one area of the end zone AND for Phelan to be the primary receiver. He's the guy that was supposed to go up for the ball. If he couldn't catch it, he was supposed to tip it to one of the other receivers situated strategically as they had PRACTICED throughout the season.
Miami had the play scouted but they underestimated the ability of Flutie to throw the ball long INTO a 30 mph wind. The Cane defenders bunched up where they expected the ball could be thrown - short of the endzone.
The fact that it was the last play of the game, that Flutie was being chased around the backfield by an All-American defender, that he was back at his 37, in a 30 mph wind, and he threw a strike, not a "heave" 60 yards downfield to the designated receiver - not just any receiver was remarkable. Flutie executed the play as they practiced it, only this time under great duress, adverse conditions, and time pressure. That was excellence. That was the quintessential Heisman moment!
If Phelan had dropped the ball more people would remember him, like ND fans remember the interception Bercich didn't make in the '93 BC game, or FSU fans with "Wide Right".
