DaytonDailyNews.com

While you Ohio State fans have the thank-you cards out, you might want to address some to these players, who made plays that helped knock off some teams that fell short of the BCS championship game, putting the Buckeyes atop the rankings and in the big game Jan. 7 in New Orleans.

Emanuel Cook

• Sophomore free safety,

South Carolina

• South Carolina 16, Georgia 12 (Sept. 8)

Georgia seemed to finally find momentum with a seven-point deficit when Mikey Henderson returned a punt 32 yards to the South Carolina 47-yard line with 6:06 left in the game. The Bulldogs drove easily to the 11 before facing a third-and-15 play from the 16.

Perhaps using the offensive intuition that helped him rush for 2,027 yards and lead his Palm Beach Gardens High School to a Florida state title as a senior, Cook broke to a Matthew Stafford pass intended for Tony Wilson. He forced the ball to the ground, a play that led to a Georgia field goal and a 16-12 lead that held.

Justin Drescher

• Sophomore long snapper, Colorado

• Colorado 27, Oklahoma 24 (Sept. 29)

Colorado had missed a field goal, intercepted a Sam Bradford pass and lost 10 yards on its next possession when Matthew DiLallo punted from the Buffaloes' 47-yard line. Reggie Smith, the Oklahoma kick returner, fielded the punt at the Sooners' 13-yard line and made it 3 yards before fumbling.

Drescher, the former star offensive guard from nationally renowned Southlake (Texas) Carroll High School, was hustling from his long-snapper position. He sped to the ball and recovered at the OU 16-yard line with 4:44 left. From there, the stagnant Colorado offense scored a tying touchdown, held the Sooners to a three-and-out and drove for the winning 45-yard field goal as time expired.

Terrell Thomas

•Senior cornerback, USC

•Stanford 24, USC 23 (Oct. 6)

USC had scored to increase its lead to 23-14 as a 40-point favorite before Stanford ran seven plays to get to the Trojans' 28-yard line. Still with seven-plus minutes left in the game, Stanford lined up to go for it on fourth-and-2, more as desperation than expectation.

A fifth-year senior from Alta Loma, Calif., Thomas was called for an offsides penalty, an infuriating and unexpected blunder from a defensive back. With new life and a first down, Stanford drove for a field goal, intercepted a John David Booty pass and scored a touchdown with 49 seconds left to complete the mighty upset.

Keaston Kristick

•Sophomore linebacker, Oregon State

•Oregon State 31, California 28 (Oct. 13)

The kickoff by Alexis Serna of Oregon State went only to the California 12-yard line, where Cal's Jahvid Best received and ran. The Beavers had the momentum of a touchdown and two-point conversion just seconds before, but Best moved past the 20-yard line, then past the 30.

Kristick had made just one other special-teams tackle, but he had the experience of a father who was a Division I college cornerback and an uncle who played linebacker at Army. He hit Best, causing a fumble that was recovered by teammate Keith Pankey at the Cal 39-yard line. Oregon State drove for a field goal with 6:13 left, which provided a 10-point lead that held up for the upset.

Geno Hayes

•Junior linebacker, Florida State

•Florida State 27, Boston College 17 (Nov. 3)

Most will remember Hayes for his 38-yard return of quarterback Matt Ryan's third interception to give Florida State its 27-17 lead with 1:10 left in the game. But an earlier play had just as much impact.

As the second quarter started, Boston College was capitalizing on a Florida State field-goal miss with two plays that covered 64 yards to get to the Seminoles' 5-yard line. Hayes then broke up a Ryan pass intended for Andre Callender that ended the Golden Eagles' momentum, and after two incompletions, Boston College missed a field goal. Florida State, with new life, scored its first touchdown on the ensuing drive for a lead it wouldn't surrender.

Josh Syria

•Junior punter, Oregon

•Oregon 35, Arizona State 23 (Nov. 3)

Arizona State was one of just five undefeated teams in major-college football when the Sun Devils used three straight scores to pull within 21-16 with 12:02 left in the third quarter. Oregon, suddenly failing on offense, went three-and-out as Syria and the punt team jogged onto the field.

Syria's college career hadn't taken a straight line. Out of Wenatchee, Wash., he started at Wofford College (S.C.) before transferring to Central Washington and staying away from football. He landed at Oregon in 2006 and redshirted, gaining experience that helped him unload a 48-yard punt that was downed at the Arizona State 4-yard line, pinning the Sun Devils near the end zone to stop their offensive rhythm and swing control back to the Ducks.

Peyton Hillis

•Senior fullback, Arkansas

•Arkansas 50, LSU 48 (Nov. 23)

After scoring in the final minute of regulation to tie the score at 28 and force overtime, LSU took just three plays in its first OT possession to easily take a 35-28 lead. Arkansas had a tougher time, turning its ensuing possession into a fourth-and-10 from the 25-yard line following an incomplete pass to Hillis.

Then, the former No. 1 prospect in the state of Arkansas made one of the biggest plays in his four-year, versatile career. Quarterback Casey Dick passed to Hillis near the right sideline, and he pushed forward for 13 yards and a first down, which led to Arkansas' tying touchdown and two more spectacular overtime periods and an upset of top-ranked LSU.

William Moore

•Junior safety, Missouri

•Missouri 36, Kansas 28 (Nov. 24)

Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing, responding to Missouri's opening score, drove the Jayhawks to the Missouri 26-yard line and took a shot for the end zone. At the 2-yard line was Moore, the hard-hitting pro prospect who doubles as a rapper for the group Fa Sho Entertainment. The interception was Moore's seventh, tying him with Pro Football Hall of Famer Roger Wehrli for most in school history.

The Tigers were still at the 2, though, so Missouri QB Chase Daniel had a role, too. He led the Tigers on a 13-play, 98-yard drive that finished with an 11-yard passing score with 9:21 left in the second quarter and a 14-0 lead.

Tommie Duhart

•Sophomore defensive lineman, Pittsburgh

•Pittsburgh 13, West Virginia 9 (Dec. 1)

Pittsburgh held a 10-7 lead when West Virginia took possession on its own 3-yard line. Backup quarterback Jarrett Brown used two rushes and a completion to get the Mountaineers to the 26 in a game they were expected to handle easily.

Duhart, who originally signed with Pitt out of Belle Grade, Fla., before taking a detour as an All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference player at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, sacked Brown, causing him to fumble. He recovered the ball to set up the Panthers at the West Virginia 17. That play, with 9:28 to play, led to an 18-yard field goal for Pittsburgh and an upset that kept WVU out of the title game.

Curtis Lofton

•Junior linebacker, Oklahoma

•Oklahoma 38, Missouri 17 (Dec. 1)

Even though he was rated the state of Oklahoma's No. 2 prospect out of Kingfisher High School and bench presses 380 pounds, Lofton had totaled just 35 tackles in his first two seasons with the Sooners. This season, he stormed to the team lead in tackles, with 142.

His biggest play, though, might have been in the Big 12 championship game, when he followed Oklahoma's go-ahead touchdown for a 21-14 lead with an interception two plays later that he returned to the Missouri 7-yard line. The Sooners took two plays to take a 28-14 lead with 2:32 left in the third quarter, a commanding lead that dropped the Tigers out of the nation's No. 1 spot on the season's final weekend.

WWW.OSULSU.COM | Who: No. 2 LSU Tigers (11-2) vs. No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes (11-1) | When: 8 p.m., Jan. 7 | Radio: 1410-AM | TV: FOX