Saturday, October 24, 2009

The Legend of Wasean Tait

In the 1995 Las Vegas Bowl a good friend of mine and I both placed what was at the time an insanely large wager of $50 on Toledo getting 3 points vs. Nevada. It was insanely large because after two months of unemployment I was making about $385 a week and had only been working for a month. I wasn't a genius with my money management as a 23-year old . . . so the stakes were huge - there was a day's pay after taxes on this, and probably more money than I had in my checking account.

This was the first bowl of the 1995 season, maybe a week or two before Christmas.

Toledo had a great year that year, they were 10-0-1 and we couldn't believe they were getting points vs. Nevada. This was what we called a 'printing press' - or so we thought.

Toledo jumps to a 21-7 lead and all is well. However, one thing leads to another, an extra point is missed (always when you bet on a team, always) and the game becomes a classic matchup. Despite the incredible Wasean Tait's 3 TD's (18, 31 & 36 yarders), Toledo lets the Wolf Pack back into the game, and in the 4th quarter Nevada tied it up at 34.

In the age before cell phones and unlimited long-distance, I was on the phone with my buddy (who lived a few hours away) for the entire 4th quarter, blowing a significant portion of the potential winnings to the phone bill . . . but to this day it was one of the greatest games I've ever watched and had to share the enthusiasm with someone.

The game goes into overtime - the first overtime game in the history of Division I-A college football. OT was implemented for the 1995 bowl season before going full-bore in 1996. Of course we would have been content with the tie since we were getting 3 points, and were cursing this rule change.

Toledo fell behind on a Nevada field goal to start OT, but just 4 plays later, the incredible Wasean Tait scored the winning TD and we rejoiced.

Tait became a legend to my friend and I, as he carried 31 times for 185 yards and the 4 TDs. He also caught 6 passes for 53 yards.

Here's a summary of that great game, and you can also check out the box score.

Tait ran for 1905 yards & 20 TDs during the regular season, and was a 2nd team All-American. He was a top contender for the Heisman heading into 1996 and he was expected to be a high pick in the 1997 NFL Draft.

Then tragedy struck. Wasean Tait blew out his knee in the 1996 season opener. After 4 operations he was finally able to finish his collegiate career in 1998, but he never did play in the NFL.

3 comments:

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- Daniel

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