Tennessee Volunteers

5 Best College Football comebacks so far in 2016

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Through just four weeks of the college football season, there have already been a number of impressive comebacks in some big games.

The Tennessee Volunteers came back from down big at halftime over the Florida Gators to finally win their first game against their SEC rival in 11 years.

That game got us thinking about all of the wild endings to games this college football season. With so many late heroics, which games had the most impressive comebacks through the first four weeks of the year?

Here are the five most impressive comebacks this season, including some that ended on the final play and others that were thanks to some simple second-half domination.

Sep 10, 2016; Stillwater, OK, USA; Central Michigan Chippewas wide receiver Jesse Kroll (88) passes the ball to Central Michigan Chippewas wide receiver Corey Willis (8) during the fourth quarter at Boone Pickens Stadium. Central Michigan won 30-27. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

5. Central Michigan’s Hail Mary

The only reason we’re not putting Central Michigan’s Hail Mary lateral play over Oklahoma State higher on this list is because it technically was never supposed to happen. Still, you can’t knock the Chippewas for playing their butts off the entire game to set themselves up for a miracle.

The Chippewas got one untimed play after the Cowboys tried to end the game by throwing a pass out of bounds as time expired. Central Michigan took advantage by having Cooper Rush bomb a pass downfield to Jesse Kroll who then pitched the ball off to Corey Willis. The receiver then sprinted to the opposite side of the field and lunged into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.

It was by far the most controversial ending of the season, but fans of MACtion will be talking about the Central Michigan Hail Mary lateral for years to come.

Sep 17, 2016; Oxford, MS, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Hurts (2) attempts to stay inbounds during the third quarter of the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Alabama won 48-43. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

4. Alabama Shakes off Ole Miss

The Alabama Crimson Tide are the defending national champions. Naturally, they’re going to be a tough team to beat. The Ole Miss Rebels thought that they were going to have a chance to take down the No. 1 team in the country last week, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

Ole Miss was able to take an early 24-3 lead in the second quarter last week thanks to some big plays from Chad Kelly and even a defensive touchdown. Alabama was quickly able to gain some ground before halftime thanks to a last-minute punt return touchdown to go into the locker room down just 24-17.

Alabama went on to go on a 31-3 run to take a 34-27 lead before eventually winning 48-43. It wasn’t the prettiest win for the Crimson Tide, but they showed their opponents that they can never let up regardless of what the score is if they want to have any chance at taking the defending national champs down.

Unfortunately for the Rebels, this wasn’t the only time that they made it on the losing side of this list, but we’ll get back to that later.

Sep 23, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes wide receiver Tim Patrick (12) celebrates with wide receiver Cory Butler-Byrd (16) after catching an 18-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left for the winnning score against the USC Trojans during a NCAA football at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Utah defeated USC 31-27. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

3. Utah’s Game-Winning Drive

We had two genuinely exciting comeback victories this week, but Utah’s didn’t come until the final minute of action on Friday night against the USC Trojans.

Things were not looking good for the Utes early in the second half when USC’s Sam Darnold ran in an eight-yard touchdown to help the Trojans go up 24-10. However, the Utes were helped out by a fumble recovery in the end zone on a goal line stand.

Utah inched even closer in the fourth quarter when Troy Williams hit Raelon Singleton for a 10-yard score to close the gap at 27-24. The Utes got another chance to score late in the game, but were backed up in their own territory.

Methodically, the Utes went 93 yards down the field on a five-plus minute drive to try and get the win. The drive was capped off by the game-winning touchdown from Williams to Tim Patrick with just 16 seconds remaining to grab the win.

Nothing is more deflating for an opponent than giving up such a long drive that leads to a touchdown, especially when it’s for the win. Utah asserted their will on that final drive, and he have to give them props for that.

Sep 5, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles wide receiver Kermit Whitfield (8) scores a touchdown as Mississippi Rebels defensive back Jaylon Jones (31) defends in the third quarter at Camping World Stadium. Florida State Seminoles won 45-34. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

2. Florida State’s 2nd Half Over Ole Miss

Sorry, Ole Miss fans. You know that this one was coming.

The college football opening weekend was a wild one with games like Notre Dame over Texas on Sunday and even Florida State over Ole Miss on Monday night. Even though the Seminoles got the win, it looked like the Rebels were going to dominate the whole way early on.

Like they did against Alabama, the Rebels were able to take a solid 28-6 lead before the Seminoles were able to grab a touchdown just before halftime to go into the locker room down just 28-13.

That was the start of an absurd 36 unanswered points from the Seminoles. Redshirt freshman Deondre Francois was a big part of that comeback, throwing for 419 yards and two touchdowns in the win.

Ole Miss has not been a great second half team this season, but that’s been great news for teams like Florida State and Alabama.

Sep 24, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; The Tennessee Volunteers celebrate after a victory over the Florida Gators at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee won 38 to 28. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

1. Tennessee Ends the Streak

The losing streak is finally over for the Tennessee Volunteers after Saturday’s win over the Florida Gators. For 11 years the Volunteers had been mercilessly taunted by Gators fans, and it looked like it would be a 12th year early on during Saturday’s game.

The Volunteers were down 21-0 before grabbing a field goal and going into halftime down 21-3. Tennessee even elected to take a knee on their final drive of the first half, leading the entire stadium to boo them into the locker room.

However, those boos may have lit a fire under the Volunteers players, especially quarterback Josh Dobbs. The Tennessee QB started to throw darts around the field, leading to touchdown after touchdown.

Tennessee wound up scoring 38 unanswered points behind five total touchdowns from Dobbs in route to a 38-28 victory.

With a 4-0 record, the Volunteers are looking as legit as ever. A comeback win over Florida could help the Volunteers make some noise when the College Football Playoff committee starts to pick their final four teams.

However, Tennessee is going to need to keep winning in a tough SEC if they want to prove that they belong in that discussion.

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