As Verne Lundquist has said goodbye to college football, it leaves us with many spectacular calls over the years. While the last 16 years with the SEC has given Lundquist his most recent notoriety, sports fans also know his calls from The Masters and the NCAA Tournament. But Lundquist’s résumé features figure skating, NFL, NBA, soccer and several other sports over his lengthy career.
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THE MASTERS
Yes, SIR! — 1986
Probably his signature call, Lundquist was at the 17th hole at Augusta National when Jack Nicklaus made a charge at The Masters in 1986. Here’s a portion of the CBS coverage of the final round with Nicklaus tied with the late Seve Ballesteroes. You’ll hear Ben Wright at the 15th hole, a young Jim Nantz who was stationed at the 16th, and Verne calling Nicklaus. The call of Nicklaus’ birdie at 17 comes at 5:16 of this clip.
In your life have you seen anything like that??? — 2005
When Verne returned to CBS in 1998, he was assigned to 16 at Augusta. In 2005, Tiger Woods was dueling with Chris DeMarco and he hit his tee shot over the green. At 13 under, Woods was leading DeMarco by one shot when he made a miracle chip. And it led to another magical moment with Verne at the mic. The analyst with Verne in 2005 was Lanny Wadkins.
OLYMPICS
Tonya Harding drama — 1994
To go over the entire Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan story, we would need an entire day. For starters, Kerrigan was hit on the knee at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit and the whole conspiracy was led by Harding and her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly. Eventually, both went to the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway with Harding the national champion and Kerrigan chosen on a medical waiver. Verne and partner Scott Hamilton were at the mic for CBS when Harding was called out to skate for the long program in the Ladies final. And as you will see, Tonya had a little drama with a shoelace. You could hear both Verne and Scott were more than a little incredulous seeing Tonya with her crocodile tears:
Oksana Baiul — 1994
While the CBS audience was focused on Harding and Kerrigan, Oksana Baiul of Ukraine sneaked in to win the gold medal over Kerrigan in a masterful performance and threw in a couple of triple jumps at the end to wrest first place away from the American.
NCAA TOURNAMENT
By George! The dream is alive! — 2006
From 2000-2014, Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery formed one of the most entertaining announcing teams on the NCAA Tournament. They would call one of the Regional Finals and were split up when Raftery went to the “A” team with Jim Nantz and Grant Hill in 2015. In the Eastern Regional Final in Washington, D.C., George Mason shocked the college basketball world by upsetting UConn in overtime. Verne and Bill were on their “A” game.
Onions! Double Order! — 2009
Siena’s upset of Ohio State in the 1st round is known more for Raftery’s classic “Onions” line, but it was Verne who set him up. https://youtu.be/nqurvDl_Ebk
YEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!! — 1992
Lundquist was partnered with Len Elmore for what is known as one of the greatest college basketball games in history, the 1992 East Regional Final between Duke and Kentucky at the old Spectrum in Philadelphia. The game went to overtime tied at 93. In the extra period, it appeared that Kentucky was going to win after Sean Woods hit a bank shot with 2.1 seconds left putting the Wildcats up 103-102. But you know the story. Grant Hill threw the baseball pass to Christian Laettner after Kentucky coach Rick Pitino elected not to guard the baseline. Laettner hit the shot from the free throw line, Duke won 104-103 and Uncle Verne got to call a truly magical moment that lives in NCAA Tournament lore.
https://youtu.be/J3_IT622Sbc
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Tim Tebow Jump Pass — 2006
Verne had the fortune to be on hand for the Tim Tebow phenomenon at Florida. When the 5th-ranked Gators played number 9 LSU at Gainesville, Florida made a statement that it was force to be reckoned with. Just before the first half ended, Tebow did a jump pass which would become one of his signature moves. It’s at 5:40 of this clip.
Discretion! — 2013
During the LSU-Alabama game at Tuscaloosa in 2013, CBS showed the then-girlfriend, now wife of quarterback AJ McCarron, Katherine Webb who Brent Musburger fawned over earlier in the year during the BCS National Championship Game. That is where Verne elected to take a fun jab at Brent, “I don’t work for that four letter network. Discretion!”
The Prayer at Jordan-Hare — 2013
Auburn took on Georgia at Jordan-Hare Stadium. On 4th down and 18, Nick Marshall threw a 73-yard pass to Ricardo Lewis and the Tigers won over the Bulldogs. Great call by Verne here.
Double Hail Mary — 2016
Had this been played later in the season or even during the SEC Championship, this would have become really legendary. But this being one of Verne’s last SEC games, it gave him a great memory. Georgia scored with ten seconds left to go up 31-28 only to see Tennessee return the favor with a Hail Mary pass of its own with four seconds left. Verne summed it up, “I’m going to miss doing the SEC.” What a game.
The Kick Six — 2013
Our Shlomo Sprung did a great oral history of the Kick 6 which you can read here, so there’s no need to rehash it. Just sit back, watch and enjoy.
Verne has certainly been at many great events throughout his career and luckily, he’ll still be with CBS for The Masters and the NCAA Tournament so there’s potential for some more great calls in the years to come.
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