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What I Love, Vol. 1: Andy Katzenmoyer's Nitro Boost

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Each Saturday during the offseason, I'll share something I love about college football and its history.  We start with a play that devastated my own beloved team.  What do you love?

It was my third official college football game as a Missouri student.  (Including Saturdays at Milam Stadium, it was approximately my 30th college game overall.)  Biggest home crowd in 12 years for a fanbase desperate for a reason to ignite.  Mizzou led 10-7 midway through the second quarter, and on third-and-10, they went with their bread-and-butter pass play: a Corby Jones scramble.  And it would have worked too, if not for the Big Kat.

About 55,000 Missouri fans made the same sound at the same time: "YAAAAA! FIRST DOW--OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH."  Katzenmoyer went about 35 yards in three steps.  Corby's hand was severely bruised and hampered by the face mask imprint (seriously), and he finished 9-for-25 with three picks in a 31-10 loss.  Katzenmoyer may not have been big on going to class (THE Ohio State University gives E's instead of F's? Really?), but I was completely and totally convinced that day that he was both the next Dick Butkus and the next Lawrence Taylor.  And of course, six weeks later, Corby recovered from Katzenmoyer's helmet just enough to be done in by Shevin Wiggins' foot.  This fall will be my fifteenth as a Mizzou season ticket holder ... and I have still never seen a hit that even compared.

(Side note: LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT FULLBACK.  Ron Janes was a man's man's man's man's man.)