RB Respect Month, Day 28: Edgerrin James vs. UCLA (1998)

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Welcome to day 28 of Running Back Respect Month™️! Yesterday, we covered Knowshon Moreno's breakout performance against Florida in 2007. Here's where we're at today, and how the rest of the month looks:

Today: Edgerrin James vs. UCLA (1998)

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This might shock my younger readers, but there was a time in the not-too-distant past where UCLA was a win away from playing in the National Championship. That's right! On December 5, 1998, all the Bruins had to do was beat a 7-3 Miami team on the road for a spot in the inaugural BCS Title Game in Tempe, Arizona, and wait for the results of the Big 12 and SEC Title games featuring Tennessee and Kansas State:

All three were undefeated, and this was a scenario the BCS was created in-part to help solve. Not everyone was happy with the new way of determining the national championship, though:

Regardless, you had three undefeated teams, all playing on conference championship weekend as a final audition to make the national title. You can't get much more dramatic than that. And if you're wondering why UCLA and Miami were playing on conference championship week? Well, a literal hurricane postponed the game earlier in the season:

Three months later, it looked like the Bruins had punched their trip to Sun Devil Stadium several times throughout the game. They held a 38-21 lead with less than a minute left in the third quarter, and were up 45-35 with six minutes left in the fourth. Luckily for the Hurricanes, running back Edgerrin James came to play:

James ran 39 times for a still-school record 299 yards, scoring three touchdowns –including the game-winner with 50 seconds left– in an incredible 49-45 Miami comeback win. He was simply on another plane of existence from UCLA's defenders:

James and the Hurricanes deserve all the credit in the world for coming back and pulling the upset, but I'd be doing UCLA fans, you, and myself a massive disservice by not pointing out the glaring officiating miss that helped them. With 3:34 left and a 45-42 lead, UCLA quarterback Cade McNown hit receiver Brad Melsby over the middle for a big gain into Miami territory that officials ruled a fumble:

If 1998 had replay review, it would've taken about 30 seconds to be reversed:

I won't go as far as saying officiating cost UCLA the game. They still let Miami drive down the field and score the winning touchdown, then had 50 seconds to work with after, but it was a brutal break given everything that was at stake for them. In the end, James scored the touchdown that completed the comeback, and was at the forefront of the win that led to Miami's resurgence as a national power.

BONUS CONTENT:

• This game had an incredible ripple effect. UCLA's loss meant that Kansas State-Tennessee was the National Championship if they both took care of business later that day. K-State blew a 17-3 lead against Texas A&M in the Big 12 Title and lost 36-33 in overtime, while the Vols beat Mississippi State 24-14 in the SEC Title. UCLA and Kansas State's losses allowed No. 4 Florida State to jump to No. 2 in the final BCS rankings, sneaking into the title game vs. Tennessee. UCLA lost 38-31 to Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, Kansas State lost 37-34 to Purdue in the Alamo Bowl, and Tennessee beat FSU 23-16 in the National Championship.
• UCLA fans weren't the only ones rooting hard for them to win. The Bruins playing in the national title would've given 10-1 Arizona their first ever Rose Bowl appearance. It was such a big deal that ESPN actually had a dedicated camera in the house of an Arizona players' watch party that they cut to multiple times during the Miami-UCLA broadcast. Here's how it looked when Miami took the lead with 50 seconds left:

Arizona beat Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl –I've already written about that game here – but have still never been to the Rose Bowl.