Game of the Year of the Day, 2007: Oregon 39, Michigan 7

The date: September 8, 2007

The matchup: Oregon (1-0) at Michigan (0-1)

My second book, The 50 Best* College Football Teams of All Time, came out in March. The title is a misdirection — it’s not about the best teams; it’s about college football at its best and most interesting.

Over the coming weeks, we’re going to take a look at some of the biggest games from these 50 best* teams.

Rose Bowl breakthroughs

1924 Notre Dame, 1925 Alabama, 1931 USC, 1993 Wisconsin, 2004 Texas

Offensive innovation

1906 Chicago, 1943 Iowa Pre-Flight, 1968 Texas, 1991 Florida, 2007 Oregon

Dramatic seasons

1960 Iowa, 1965 UCLA, 1978 Missouri, 1982 Pitt, 2013 Auburn

Star power

1923 Illinois, 1938 TCU, 1980 Georgia, 1984 Boston College, 1999 Virginia Tech

On the rise

1951 Michigan State, 1962 Nebraska, 1970 Alabama, 1981 Florida State, 2002 USC

Mid-majors

1930 Utah, 1970 Dartmouth, 1972 Tampa, 1974 Miami (Ohio), 2010 Boise State

Greatness denied

1941 Northwestern, 1968 Purdue, 1973 Michigan, 1988 Miami, 1990 Virginia, 1998 Ohio State

Incredible defense

1938 Tennessee, 1957 Auburn, 1959 Ole Miss, 1985 Oklahoma, 1993 Texas A&M, 2011 LSU

Perfection

1917 Georgia Tech, 1940 Minnesota, 1945 Army, 1947 Notre Dame, 1955 Oklahoma, 1959 Syracuse, 1991 Washington

The stakes: The newfangled spread offense taking on the bluebloods. (At the time, this game seemed more symbolic than important. Oregon was coming off of a 7-6 season, and Michigan had just lost to Appalachian State.)

The back story: In an effort to shake things up after a shaky year, Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti had brought in offensive savant Chip Kelly from New Hampshire. After a 48-27 win over Houston, the Ducks had an opportunity to show off their new system in front of 100K in the Big House and a national audience. The audition went rather well.

The game:

As far as symbolism goes, it’s hard to top this.

The box score: From GoDucks.

We know the rest of the story. You can read the full 50 Best* chapter here. Oregon charged all the way to No. 2 in the polls and appeared a surefire BCS Championship game competitor until Heisman favorite Dennis Dixon tore up his knee in November. But Kelly’s offense captured the imagination and continued to do so in 2009, when he took over as head coach.