Ohio State punter Cameron Johnston has a real chance of college football glory this season thanks to a freak play on the weekend.
The No. 4 ranked team in the country, Auburn, defeated the number one team in the country, Alabama, in unbelievable circumstances to all but end their chance of three consecutive National Championships.
If you missed the crazy finish of the Alabama and Auburn game, you really need to watch it, click here.
Auburn receiver Sammie Coates caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Nick Marshall to level the score at 28 all with 32 seconds left on the clock.
With two timeouts and 32 seconds, Alabama decided to move the ball quickly into field goal range for the win.
The game looked set for overtime when star running back T.J. Yeldon ran out of bounds after a magnificent 23-yard run and the clock expiring.
A fired up Nick Saban argued with officials to check their ruling. The officials took another look and decided to add one second on the clock.
Auburn fans were furious with the ruling as it gave Alabama a chance to kick a game winning field goal. Luckily for them this ruling turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Adam Griffith, the red shirt (rookie) kicker for the Crimson Tide, stepped out onto the field to attempt the 57-yard field goal. The attempt fell short and landed in the hands of Auburn’s Chris Davis one yard shy of going out of bounds.
Chris Davis evaded six Alabama special teamers on his way to a 109-yard (officially 100) return for a touchdown to give Auburn a spectacular 34–28 win.
The win sent twitter and college football fans around the world into a meltdown.
But the win also meant that Ohio State, home of Australian-born punter Cameron Johnston, got moved up to No. 2 in the BCS standings with a real shot to play in the National Championship game.
Ohio State seemed pretty pumped up by the result with a this video being posted on social media by Ohio State wide receiver Frank Epitropoulos.
A win against Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship will go a long to securing Ohio State a place in the BCS National Championship game.
Michigan State, the tenth ranked team in the country, is renowned for great defense. The Spartans only allow an average of 11.8 points a game on defense.
The 21-year-old freshman from Geelong will play a pivotal role on special teams for Ohio State this weekend against the stingy Spartan defense.
Johnston has recorded 37 punts this season for an average of 43.6 yards including a monster 71 yarder. His average currently ranks him 23rd in the country.
What has been most impressive from Johnston his ability to put backspin on the ball which allows punts to be downed inside the 20-yard line. Urban Meyer has been impressed with his consistent 4.5- or 4.6-second hang time. In his last three games Johnston has forced seven punts to be down inside the opposition’s red zone.
He has become a valuable weapon in clutch moments. In a game against Wisconsin, the Buckeyes had a seven point lead with one minute and 29 seconds left on the clock when Johnston nailed a 55 yard punt that was downed at the Badgers 10.
Just under a month ago, ESPN’s Austin Ward wrote a piece on Ohio State and stated that the Buckeyes have forced 15 fair catches and pinned opponents inside the 10-yard line on 27 percent of their punts.
Urban Meyer should thank his special team coach Kerry Combs, who spent hours watching footage of punters around the globe, but especially Australia, to find Johnston.
Johnston has proven to be one of the keys to the Buckeyes success this season, and with the finish line in sight it would be fantastic to have another Australian in a National Championship game.
Ohio States Big Ten championship game takes place on Sunday December 8 here in Australia, unfortunately no major networks on free-to-air television and Foxtel are airing the game live, but when Johnston leg leads Ohio State to the National Championship game many Australians will be fixed on number 95 of the Buckeyes.
Good Luck Cam!
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