By his sophomore season, Chris Vargas had already earned the nickname “Magic.’’
The quarterback out of Woodland, Calif., had developed a knack for leading his team to come-from-behind victories. Those who witnessed what went down on Nov. 2, 1991 at Mackay Stadium in Reno, Nev., must’ve thought the guy really did have supernatural powers.
Led by Vargas, top-ranked Nevada rallied from a 35-point second-half deficit to beat Weber State 55-49. It remains the biggest comeback in NCAA history. The comeback ranks 36th on the Big Sky Conference’s list of “50 Greatest Men’s Moments.’’
“I guess I had a calming personality,’’ said Vargas, who currently works as a financial advisor in Reno. “I didn’t get rattled too much. The year before, I had come off the bench against Idaho and brought us back. I brought us back in a couple of playoff games. I have some experience in those games. We had the feeling we were never really out of it.’’
Weber State’s 1991 team was led by quarterback Jamie Martin, who went onto win the Walter Payton Award. Martin threw for 280 of his 411 yards and all three of his touchdowns in the first half, as the Wildcats built a 41-14 lead.
“They were a really, really good team, with a great quarterback,’’ said Hall of Fame Nevada coach Chris Ault, who now works as a consultant with the Kansas City Chiefs. “I remember saying at halftime, that along the way, we needed to stand up and start playing Nevada football. We were embarrassing ourselves. We needed to play the way we’d been coached.’’
Vargas remembered the team thinking Ault was going to light into the team during the intermission.
“We thought he was going to rip us a new one,’’ Vargas said. “But he was the calmest I’ve seen him at halftime. It was weird.’’
The second half didn’t get off to a stellar start for the Wolf Pack. Martin scored on a 30-yard run to give the Wildcats a 49-14 lead with about 27 minutes of game clock left. Nevada’s 20-game home winning streak was coming to a humiliating end.
“We were stinking up the field in the first half, and in the third quarter they came out right away and it was the same deal,’’ Ault said. “Our stadium emptied. It’s ironic, because after all these years you’d think we’d had 50,000 people in there celebrating. That cracks me up to this day. It was empty. If I could have left, I would have left right then.’’
By this time, Weber State coach Dave Arslanian was already thinking of what he’d say in the postgame press conference.
“I had a speech prepared,” Arslanian told reporter Joe Santoro on the 20-year anniversary of the game. “I was going to say that these were two great football teams and we were fortunate to win.”
And just like that, the winds started to change. Vargas wound up completing 22 of 38 passes for 346 yards and two touchdowns. Receiver Chris Singleton caught eight passes for 225 yards.
Vargas threw TD passes to Darrell King and Joe King in the third quarter, as Nevada climbed within 49-27. The Joe King TD was set up by a blocked punt by future NFL star Brock Marion. With 11 minutes to play, Vargas scored on a 9-yard run to cut the gap to 49-34. The touchdown was set up by a long pass to Singleton.
The defense played a great second half. Marion had the blocked punt and finished with 10 tackles. William Lackey intercepted Martin twice. Nick Harker tallied two sacks.
“The defense tends to get overlooked in those types of games,’’ Vargas said. “Yeah, the offense came back in the second half and put up a lot of points. But our defense only gave up seven points. They stepped up.’’
Eric Smith scored three short fourth-quarter touchdown runs to cap the comeback.
“Eric was a third-team running back at the time,’’ Ault said. “It was one of those things where he was running the ball well and in a groove, and I wasn’t switching anything.”
It wasn’t as easy as three short touchdown runs. Nevada was helped by a pass interference on a fourth-down play. The Wolf Pack also recovered an on-side kick trailing 49-47. The kick was recovered right on the Nevada sideline. Days after the game, Arslanian told reporters that the ball was recovered out of bounds. He later apologized for the comments.
A couple of plays after the onside kick, Vargas hit Singleton on a long post route to set up the go-ahead touchdown.
“As I broke the huddle I told Chris I was going to take a look at him if the safety comes up,’’ Vargas recalled. “Chris was going to run a post route, and we had a tight end running a 12-yard hook route. Sure enough, the safety cheated and went to the tight end. I threw the post. That’s one vivid memory that comes to mind.’’
With 1:02 to play, Smith scored the game-winning touchdown. The “Miracle on Virginia Street” was complete.
“It was an unbelievable feat,’’ Ault said. “It’s still the greatest come-from-behind win in college football. I can still vividly see it.’’
Nevada left the Big Sky Conference following the 1991-92 athletic season. Ault retired for the third time from coaching following the 2012 season. Many of the Nevada players will gather this week at homecoming festivities, and no doubt the memories of the game on Nov. 2, 1991 will be shared once again.