USD Football 1995

AT&T

1995 AT&J LONG DISTANCE AWARDS AT~T salutes the best Long Distance players f or fans of whatever loyalty, few thrills in sport can produce so full-blown a mood swing as one of those rare, athletic master- Reggie Love also score on a 100-yard interception return, and LSU's Eddie Kennison go the same distance on a punt return.

takeaway of the fourth-down pass quarterback Anthoney Hill threw into the end zone. "Thank God, I did. I was tired. I was trying to hide so he (Hill) couldn't see me. I saw him rolling to the left and when I broke on the ball I got it. After that it was, boom, and I was gone. It was the

pieces that becomes the stuff of leg- end-the run, reception or return that goes the length of a football field for a touchdown. When the team you cheer for scores on a long-distance play- going goal line to goal line by whatever means-it is a tremen- dous reaffirmation of faith, a val- idation that the gods of football have finally acknowledged your loyalty and have balanced the scales for all the dropped passes, fumbles and missed tackles that preceeded this glorious moment. And w hen yours is the team scored against, it is a nightmare more appalling for the play's excruciating length, in both time and distance. Speed is at the heart of the blockbuster long-distance play, but a dash of guile and an oppo- nent's mistake are almost equal- ly necessary. All three factors helped safety Harold Lusk pull off what may have been last season·s most thrilling play-a game-winning, NCAA-record, 100-yard interception return in the final 22 seconds of Utah's 45-3 t upset v ictory at Colorado State last October. "I never did anything like that before," Lusk said after his stunning

Brilliant long-distance operators such as Seth Smith (Michigan), Jason Jacoby (Tulsa). Madre Hill (Arkansas), Derrick Mason (Michigan State) and Leeland

M cElroy (Texas A&M), each of whom scored on a 100- yard kickoff return, also made t 994 a year for the record books. Since 1941, incidentally, the NCAA has established a maximum length of all plays at 100 yards, no matter how deep the return man starts his trek from the end zone. And because an offensive team can't start a series on the goal line, the longest run or pass from scrimmage is 99 yards.

Jerald Sowell (Tulsa, 1993), Kelsey Finch (Tennessee, 1977). Rocky Thompson (West Texas State, 1970), Max Anderson (Arizona State, 1967) and the phe- nomenal Gale Sayers (Kan- sas, 1963) are the NCAA ballcarriers of record to each score on a 99-yard run. Only 10 quarterbacks and receivers have hooked up on a 99-yard scoring pass. The latest to do so were Indiana's John Paci and Thomas Lewis, against Penn State in 1993.

Sa.yers Is one of football's Ml-time long-dl.st.ance run- ners. lnduded among his ca.reer highlights Is a 99- yMd run from scrlmmage against Nebr.uk.l 1n 1963. greatest feeling I've ever had!" Lusk's fourth-quarter gem was the defining moment of a remarkable 1994 season that saw North Carolina's

The AT&.T Long Dlstdllce Aw.uds Progr.un honors student-dthletes e.,ch week In six long d/stdllce c.,tegorles. To recog11/ze e.,ch winner, AT&.Tnw