Augsburg's game-winning halfback option pass chosen as Compaq national pass play of the week!

Augsburg's game-winning halfback option pass chosen as Compaq national pass play of the week!

MINNEAPOLIS (11/17/99) -- Augsburg running back Brian Warden's (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran HS) game-winning, halfback-option pass to Mark Johnson (So., Hastings, Minn.) in Augsburg's 7-5 win over Concordia-Moorhead at the Metrodome last Friday was chosen as the Compaq College Football Best Pass/Reception of the Week on Tuesday.

The halfback-option play, which won the Auggies' final game of the season, was chosen by a panel of sportswriters and sportscasters from around the nation. The play is one of 10 outstanding plays from all divisions of college football that are packaged for satellite transmission to all television stations in the United States.

Warden's pass, with 1:34 remaining in the fourth quarter, enabled the Auggie football team to top Concordia for the fourth time in a row and finish 6-4 overall (5-4 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference), only the second time in school history that Augsburg has finished with an above-.500 record in three consecutive seasons.

The pass was the second play by an MIAC team to be chosen among the Compaq College Football Plays of the Week. Gustavus Adolphus College earned the National Play of the Week honor on Oct. 16 for a hook-and-ladder pass from quarterback Joe Thorvig to Greg TeBrake, who lateraled to Ryan Britz for a touchdown in the Gusties' 26-20 win over Bethel. Last week, the University of Minnesota captured National Play of the Week honors on quarterback Billy Cockerham's dramatic fourth-down pass, which was tipped and caught by Arland Bruce to set up the game-winning field goal in Minnesota's 24-23 win over Penn State.

This week's National Play of the Week was Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne's dramatic 31-yard run against Iowa, which earned him the NCAA Division I record for career rushing yardage.

The Compaq College Plays of the Week program is sponsored by Compaq Computer Corporation, with the support of CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America). It is the only program that categorizes and judges plays nominated by colleges and universities from all levels of college football -- NCAA Divisions I, II and III, the NAIA, junior colleges and community colleges. The winning schools receive computer equipment from Compaq, the official computer of the NCAA.

The plays can also be seen on the Burly Bear Network, a campus-oriented cable TV network, and on three web sites using the Real Player or AVI player: http://www.burlybear.com, http://www.sportsnuts.com and http://www.ncaafootball.net.