A Northwestern Defender Ripped The Ball Away From A Receiver For A Crazy One-Handed Interception

This play should have gone for an offensive touchdown. Northwestern defensive back Montre Hartage was beaten badly by Indiana wide receiver Luke Timian, and if Hoosiers quarterback Richard Lagow led his receiver down the field, it was going to be six points.

But Lagow threw the ball a little behind Timian, which gave Hartage the chance to recover. Hartage then made one of the best plays of the year by getting an arm in Timian’s face in an attempt to keep the Hoosiers’ receiver from coming down with the ball. The two kept fighting as they fell to the ground, and Hartage somehow managed to rip the ball away from Timian with one hand. Everyone on Northwestern’s sideline lost their dang minds because this was such an amazing play.

You don’t see how amazing this play is until they show it from one of the two replay angles. Hartage was cooked, but a not great throw allowed him to recover, which gave him the opportunity to make an unreal play on the ball for the interception. The Big Ten Network color commentator couldn’t really believe what happened, either, and you can tell that he’s processing everything on the fly through the second replay.

College football has featured a seemingly endless number of absurd interceptions this year. Hartage made a case for inclusion in that discussion on this one.