Chippewas fall short of 'Best Play' ESPY
The Central Michigan University Chippewas fell short of the 2015 Best Play ESPY to New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.'s one-handed catch.
The awards took place July 15 in Los Angeles. Though they lost during the inaugural Popeye's Bahamas Bowl, CMU was nominated for their Hail Mary touchdown pass that took place during the game. The team named the play "Hurricane," and it took social media by storm.
Cooper Rush, Jesse Kroll, Courtney Williams, Deon Butler and Titus Davis attended the awards ceremony.
The play received 69 percent of the vote in the first round of voting.
In December 2014 in Nassau, CMU made a last-second 75-yard, Hail Mary touchdown pass, almost allowing them to make a comeback against Western Kentucky University.
Down seven points with one second left, the team was on its own 25-yard line. A pass from Rush was caught by Kroll.
He tossed the ball to Butler, who passed it backward to Williams, who lateralled it to Davis. Davis outran the Hilltopper defense and dove to the pylon in the end zone for an improbable score.
On a two-point conversion attempt, Rush threw a fade pass in the right corner of the end zone, but Kroll couldn't catch the pass. Western Kentucky defeated CMU 49-48.
The play was also named ESPN's No.1 play of the college football season in January. It was No. 2 of the year in 2014, again behind Beckham's catch. The play was also voted the Michigan Sports play of the year by the Detroit Free Press. A video of the team's celebration after finding out they were going to Nassau was viewed more than 65,000 times.
An ESPY Award is presented by ESPN to recognize individuals or teams in achievements and other sports-related performances during the previous calendar year.
