BYU in the ESPN SportsCenter Top 10

ESPN’s daily SportsCenter broadcast is known for its popular Top 10 segment—the best 10 plays from around the world in one highlight reel, ranked from the impressive to the Herculean.

We set out to round up every time BYU has made the cut.

We found plenty of BYU #SCTop10 moments. The Cougars have even nabbed the no. 1 spot, the best moment in all of sports. Check out BYU’s jaw-dropping no. 1 play—and all the other BYU SportsCenter highlights we could find—below, listed in chronological order, beginning with the most recent. Know of a BYU SportsCenter Top 10 moment that we missed? Tell us.

Softball Meets Gymnastics

The BYU softball team capped off regular-season play this year with a mind-blowing catch by Caitlyn Larsen Alldredge (BS ’18). In the final play of the game, Alldredge chased a pop-fly foul ball straight into the BYU dugout, toppling head-first over the fence and finishing, legs straight in the air, in a perfect handstand. The stunt earned her the no. 4 shoutout on SportsCenter. Hear her tell BYU Sports Nation how she ran through the fence “like a dog.”

Fancy Glove Work

Facing Santa Clara in April, BYU baseball shortstop Daniel R. Schneemann (’19) made his way to no. 4 on SportsCenter with a beautiful sliding catch and glove toss resulting in two outs. Let’s break that down in slow-mo: Batter hits a grounder. Schneemann slides in to stop it and then—using his gloved hand—flips the ball perfectly to the BYU second baseman who gets the out at second, then whirls the ball to first base for a lightning-fast double play.

Diving In

Outfielder Eric J. Urry (BS ’16) dove into the SportsCenter Top 10 in a 2016 matchup with Kansas. After the opposing batter cracked the ball far into the left field, Urry sprang forward, diving—glove first—to secure the catch. Both hat and sunglasses came off in the impact, but Urry rolled back to his feet like a champ, ball in hand. The game not only resulted in a win for the Cougars but also earned Urry the title of WCC Player of the Week.

Belly Flop Catch

You’ll have to watch this line-drive snag on Brennon R. Anderson’s (BS ’18) Twitter account. In this 2016 game against Arizona, Anderson made a split-second sprint sideways and launched, arm outstretched, to catch the ball—landing belly first in a cloud of dust. The play earned him the no. 6 spot on SportsCenter that night.

Buzzer Beater

With only one second left on the clock, in a game tied 62–62, Lexi Eaton Rydalch (BS ’16) inbounded the ball and dribbled just past half-court in time to throw up a 45-foot buzzer beater. With the swish of the net, Rydalch clinched not only this 2016 victory over San Francisco but also helped her team to a 16-game winning streak and an undefeated season at home.

42 Yards of Perfection

Here it is: BYU’s no. 1 moment on SportsCenter. In the 2015 BYU football season opener against Nebraska—final quarter, final play of the game—BYU trailed, 27–28. Starting quarterback Taysom S. Hill (BS ’16) was out injured. With one second left on the clock, backup QB Tanner C. Mangum (BS ’18) took the snap and chucked up a 42-yard Hail Mary, which Mitchell B. Mathews (BS ’16), in triple coverage, pulled down in the end zone for the touchdown. The BYU reaction was priceless; even the ref got a hug. The play has also been memorialized in Legos.

Stiff-Arm for a Touchdown

In the September 2014 matchup with Virginia, Taysom S. Hill (BS ’16) took the snap and kept the ball, then proceeded to break tackles, weave through defenders, and stiff-arm his last challenger before the goal line. He rushed 15 total yards for the touchdown, and the Cougs carried on for the W.

Can’t Touch This

BYU baseball has thrown only seven no-hitters to date—games in which not a single BYU pitch was hit. The latest feat belongs to Cougar pitcher Kolton G. Mahoney (’15). His 2014 no-hitter against Nicholls State University found its way to no. 3 on the SportsCenter Top 10. On this unseasonably cold March day, Mahoney’s 90 mph pitches helped the Cougars to a 5–0 victory.

Celebrating with the Ref

Sometimes you make the SportsCenter Top 10 by having a little fun. In BYU football’s 2011 matchup against TCU, quarterback Riley K. Nelson (BA ’13) couldn’t hide his excitement after running into the end zone to secure a 2-point conversion. With the ref’s arms out, signaling the successful conversion, Nelson took that as an invitation for a hearty high-five. The act earned him placement on not only the SportsCenter Top 10 but also on the SportsCenter “Not Top 10”—where they rank plays good for a laugh.

Butter Fingers

In the final seconds of BYU’s 2011 matchup with Utah State, BYU was down by four. Quarterback Riley K. Nelson (BA ’13) fired the ball to John (JJ) P. Di Luigi III (’11) in the end zone. The ball slipped right out of Di Luigi’s hands but popped into the ready arms of wide receiver Marcus B. Matthews (BS ’14) for the touchdown—and a spot on the SportsCenter Top 10.

Psych

Yet another 2011 BYU football SportsCenter-worthy moment came in the season finale: the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl against Tulsa. At the 2-yard line, with only 20 seconds left on the clock, quarterback Riley K. Nelson (’13) faked a spike, throwing the Tulsa defense off, and threw a game-winning pass to wide receiver Cody T. Hoffman (’14).

And One More—Before BYU—for Fun

He wasn’t yet a Cougar when he made his appearance on SportsCenter’s Top 10 list, but we had to tack on this impressive run from Beau A. Hoge’s (’19) high school career the year before he played for BYU. In his senior year at Highlands High School in 2014, Hoge weaved down the field for a whopping 82 yards, making his defenders miss him a total of 12 times.