ON THIS DATE IN 1985: Pete Noga uses his head to tie SDSU

Pete Noga used his head to get to the kicker and then used it again to block the kick.

On this date in 1985, Noga blocked a 36-yard field goal on the final play of the game to give Hawaii a 10-10 tie with San Diego State in front of a small crowd of 23,664 at Aloha Stadium.

Noga told teammate Mike Beazley before the play that if someone could clear the Aztecs’ tight end, he was sure he could get to the spot. Beazley obliged and Noga took Chris O’Brien‘s boot off of his facemask to preserve the stalemate. Sam Moku also provided pressure on O’Brien, who had not missed a kick all season and held the WAC record.

“It’s something Pete deserves the credit for,” Beazley told the Star-Bulletin’s Paul Carvalho. “He just told me ‘Mike, this is it. We’ve got to do something.’ Instead of rushing, which I am supposed to do, I reached out and pulled the tight end towards me to create a bigger gap for Pete. It might be illegal, I don’t know. But we had to do something.”