By Brian Reader
Twitter: Breader14
One of my greatest comeback moments as a football player was when I played for the University of Idaho. I was the backup quarterback at the time in my sophomore season with the Vandals to Nathan Enderle, current AFL Portland Thunder quarterback and ex-Chicago Bear. We were playing in my home area of California, versus San Jose State University. As I remember correctly, we were ahead most of the game, but had been just short of capitalizing on a few plays which could have really blown open the score. Well, long story short, we were down 22-25 with a little over 6 minutes to play. Nate was having a good game, but a few balls bounced the wrong way, so Coach Akey (our head coach) decided to give me the nod to try and have the game winning drive.
That year Vandal football had a strong offensive line behind our guards Mike Iupati (49ers pro bowl guard), Bryce Sinclair, Matt Cleveland (CFL lineman), Irvin Stevens, and last but not least, Adam Juratovac (Spokane Shock/ SJ Sabercats). I honestly wish I could have thrown the ball all the way down the field, but there was no need to. With an O-line that good, my job was to get the offense in the right play every time. We executed each play perfectly, and finished in the end zone. In our offense, the quarterback was given a package of plays in a certain formation, which then he deciphered at the line of scrimmage, and put the offense in the best play against the look the defense was giving. I believe the drive sequence went something like: run, pass, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, touchdown!
We ended up scoring with 30 seconds remaining on the clock. San Jose State kept giving us the same look over and over again, so I basically called the same play over and over… and sure enough, it worked like clockwork. Final score, Vandals 29, Spartans 25. That game was definitely a highlight of my college career. The odds were against us and yet we were able to come from behind to win the game in my own back yard of the Bay Area, my entire family there to watch. It couldn't have been
any better.