Mon May 11, 2009 1:54 pm EDT
An offseason compendium of college football's small pleasures.
The Fat Guy Touchdown is hands-down our favorite play, and one of the purer joys in college football. Watching a 350-pound lineman scoop up a football and run for a score makes us clap with glee like a small child presented with a shiny object, no matter the color of the player's jersey. There are so many pleasures on so many levels: The play is always completely unexpected by at least one team, the bruiser holding the ball has a markedly higher tendency to knock heads as he trundles down the sideline, and most of all, there's the look of sheer, exhausted glee on the kid's face as he crosses into six-point territory. The endzone is not -- and probably has never been -- a place they get to bask in very often, and watching a hulking defender savor a rare moment in the spotlight is enough to warm even the most black and pitted of hearts.
Very occasionally, the Fat Guy Touchdown comes as the result of devious offensive gameplanning, as in Nebraska's infamous 1984 Orange Bowl fumblerooski:
Every now and then, a short and sweet one will come along, as when Georgia's David Pollack intercepted South Carolina's Corey Jenkins in 2002 (complete with bonus sideline reporter gaffe!): But for our money, nothing beats Myron Pryor, a Kentucky defensive tackle taken by New England in this year's draft, and his "310 pounds of glory" run against archrival Louisville last September:
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Other things we love: Potentially dangerous animal mascots, frat guys on camera, midnight games in Hawaii, players impersonating coaches.
Dr. Saturday is a college football blog edited by Matt Hinton. Email him tips and feedback.

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Another good fat-guy score: Troy offensive guard Junior Louissaint (6'1", 277) picking up a fumble by the tailback and chugging 63 yards for a TD in Troy's 24-14 upset of Missouri in 2004. This YouTube calls it a "lateral," but it was a fumble -- watch as Louissaint starts running out of gas around the 10 and the Mizzou defense still can't take him down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvx3vrhrm9g
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"Talk about some beef in the end zone."
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2:10 into the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ-1Ct3l7M0
Not quite 310 pounds of glory, but a DT TD nonetheless.
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Domata Peko showing of his 15 inch vertical
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Andre Smith is a very big man. And he scored a touchdown.
Don't believe he is a big man? Watch this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF2nYd2NOys
My God who let that man run without a shirt?!?
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Ndadomukong Suh's return against Colorado: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DZqbl-_sKY
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