A Look Back: A Game Of Destiny - The 1995 Snow Bowl

Note: This fall marks the 25th anniversary of the Bulldogs' historic 1995 squad. This is the second part of a series celebrating the accomplishments and remembering the 1995 Ferris State University football squad that reached the NCAA Division II National Semifinals for the first time in school history. The first part of the series can be found by clicking here.

November 11, 1995 – A date which will live forever in the annals of the Ferris State University football program.

Not even a blizzard or a 28-0 deficit could stop Ferris State from finishing the 1995 regular season with its 39-game unbeaten streak intact.

The never-say-die Bulldogs completed a perfect 10-0 regular season by never panicking and never blinking in the face of adversity to stun upsetminded Saginaw Valley State, 46-42, in the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference (MIFC) regular-season finale at Top Taggart Field in Big Rapids. The game has often been referred to as the Snow Bowl.

The nationally third-ranked Bulldogs trailed 28-0 after the first quarter in the throes of a blinding storm, which dumped six inches of snow and featured north wind gusts of upwards to 40 miles an hour to go with a 29 degree temperature.

Ferris, which was down 35-14 at halftime, warmed up in the second half as the Bulldogs outscored the Cardinals 32-7 and capped off the remarkable comeback with 2:57 remaining in the contest as tailback Chris Pulliams dashed for a conference-record 97-yard touchdown run as the hosts registered their third-straight undefeated regular season.

The dramatic run was set up when the Bulldog defense caused a SVSU fumble and free safety Charles Anderson recovered the ball at the Ferris three-yard line with 3:15 left to be played.

The next play was one for the record book as Pulliams busted outside and turned up field, going 97 yards to paydirt in 18 seconds. The Cardinals had one final shot at redemption with 2:57 showing on the scoreboard, but could only get to their 26-yard line in four plays before having to turn the ball over to Ferris on downs.

Pulliams finished the game with a MIFC-record 329 yards rushing on 30 carries and scored three TD's. Both Ferris and Saginaw Valley State combined for 821 yards rushing to set a conference mark.

"We never stopped believing," said FSU head coach Jeff Pierce. "You can't doubt yourself and if you do when you're down 28-0 then you will never pull it out. When we were down 28-0, we talked about it and we knew we had been there before. We had to get down to business."



Note: In this silent historic video, one of the iconic moments in Bulldog sports history takes place at Ferris State's Top Taggart Field when Chris Pulliams scores on a 97-yard touchdown run in a driving snowstorm to cap the greatest comeback in NCAA Division II football history. In the final result, Ferris rallied from a 28-0 deficit to beat Saginaw Valley, 46-42, on November 11, 1995. The win helped to propel Ferris to an appearance in the NCAA Division II National Semifinals. 



Note: This video contains highlights of the 1995 Snow Bowl played at Top Taggart Field.