The defensive two-point conversion — rare are the opportunities, and rarer are successfully converted ones.
In the second quarter of a game Saturday in Greeley, Sacramento State had just scored a touchdown against the UNC Bears to go ahead 13-10. On the ensuing extra point attempt, kicker Brad Cornish’s PAT was blocked by UNC sophomore defensive back Taylor Risner, which set off a chain reaction of laterals as the Bears scrambled to get to the opposite end zone.
In the NFL and in American high schools, if the PAT is blocked or if the defense intercepts the ball on a two-point conversion attempt, the play is dead. But not so in college (or in Canadian football, either). And if the defense does convert, the team that originally scored the touchdown kicks off again.
Junior cornerback Courtney Hall first grabbed the bouncing ball and started running downfield. He threw it to senior linebacker Dominick Sierra, who lateraled to senior strong safety Kyle Griffin, who flipped it back to sophomore cornerback Brandon Lenoir, who lateraled again to Griffin, who tossed to junior defensive end Mikhail Dubose, who tossed it back one more time to Sierra.
This is where it gets agonizing: Sierra nearly makes it to the end zone, but is shoved by a Sacramento State player. He dives for the goal post, but fumbles the ball and misses.
So to recap: Seven laterals over 34 seconds … all for zero points.
The FCS Division I The Bears (2-4) went on to lose 43-38 — so the point swing, all things being the same, would have made it 43-40. UNC, which won all of one game last year, grabbed its first conference win in two years on Oct. 4 against Northern Arizona, the first time the Bears have ever beaten a ranked opponent. The team faces No. 2-ranked Eastern Washington this week away.
