Column: Oregon Ducks, Alabama Crimson Tide can be happy that mistakes happen

His full name was Thomas Edison Lewis, but that didn’t mean the lightbulb was always on.

Tommy Lewis went to his grave last month, at age 83, after a full life that was not, unfortunately, remembered for his service to his country, church and family.

The first line in Lewis’ obituary was irrevocably linked to the 1954 Cotton Bowl.

That was the day Lewis, an Alabama fullback, somewhat insanely came off the bench to tackle Rice’s Dicky Maegle as Maegle raced down the sideline for a touchdown.

Lewis claimed he was “just too full of Alabama” to allow Maegle to score.

Maegle, of course, was awarded the 95-yard touchdown and Rice won the game, 28-6.

It tormented Lewis that one moment could define him.

“If I could take back anything in my whole life, that would be it,” he would tell reporters in the rare times he even spoke about the incident.

It was easy to think of Lewis this weekend after watching the brain cramps that cost, and conversely saved, some of our favorite college football programs.

“Wrong Way” Roy Riegels, if he was looking the opposite way down from above, would understand.

So might Fred Snodgrass, who dropped a fly ball that cost the New York Giants the 1912 World Series.

Forgive and forget?

The New York Times’ 1974 obit read: “Fred Snodgrass, 86, Dead; Ball Player Muffed 1912 fly.”

If Oregon wins this year’s national title, the pivot point will be a Saturday night live skit in Salt Lake City in which Ducks linebacker Joe Walker raced 100 yards down another sideline for one of the most improbable mood-swing touchdowns in college football history.

Utah had rightly thought it had taken a 14-0 lead as receiver Kaelin Clay ran unimpeded toward the end zone with the long pass from quarterback Travis Wilson that he’d caught.

The fans at Rice-Eccles Stadium erupted as Clay celebrated with teammates in the end zone.

This was the same Clay who was the hero in Utah’s 24-21 win against USC only a few weeks ago, catching the game-winning pass from Wilson with eight seconds left.

This ending was different.

Starting his celebration a game-altering couple of feet too soon, Clay dropped the ball short of crossing the goal line.

The depth of Clay’s blunder was matched only by the brilliance of Oregon players who did not give up on the play and, yes, the Pac-12 Conference officials who did not whistle the play dead.

Oregon defenders Walker and Erick Dargan actually fought over the loose ball in the end zone. Walker picked it up and was led by a convoy of teammates the other way as Utah continued to celebrate.

Instead of trailing 14-0, Oregon tied the game at 7-7 and went on to win, 51-27.

That heads-up play by Walker may have saved Oregon’s season.

“Definitely not a garden-variety 51-27 win,” Oregon Coach Mark Helfrich understated afterward.

Oregon, with victory, clinched the Pac-12 North in advance of a bye week to be followed by closing games against Colorado and Oregon State.

The Ducks will do no worse than retain their No. 4 spot in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings.

Give credit to Utah’s Clay for addressing his mistake. Many college sports information departments would have shielded Clay from the scrutiny.

Clay is already a better man for it.

“I take full responsibility for what happened tonight,” he said. “I will take the criticism and the blame. It was just one of those things. I got excited and let the moment just get away from me.”

Clay’s was not the only cerebellum slip-up to impact the playoff race.

Two-loss Auburn was likely eliminated from contention after fouling up the final seconds of a 41-38 home loss to unranked Texas A&M.

Auburn committed two unforced fumbles in the final 180 seconds to cost the Tigers a chance to stay in the national title race.

The first was a simple handoff exchange near the Texas A&M goal line, while the second was an inadvertent snap from Auburn center Reese Dismukes.

Dismukes hiked the ball as quarterback Nick Marshall was approaching the line to change the play.

How many times had that ever happened?

“Never,” Dismukes said later. “Obviously, it was a miscommunication.”

In Baton Rouge, Alabama kept its national title hopes afloat with a 20-13 overtime win against Louisiana State.

The Crimson Tide victory was aided and abetted by several displays of questionable LSU decision-making.

The most inexcusable was a personal foul penalty called on guard Vadal Alexander that cost LSU a chance in regulation.

The Tigers, with the game tied at 10, seemed primed to win after Alabama tailback T.J. Yeldon handed them a gift fumble, with 1 minute 13 seconds left, near his own goal line.

Alexander’s foul on first down, though, forced LSU back to its 21, where it had to settle for a field goal to put the Tigers up 13-10.

“That penalty changed the complexion of the game,” LSU Coach Les Miles said afterward.

Trent Domingue then made a critical, if not innocent, mistake by booting the ensuing kickoff out of bounds, setting Alabama up at the 35.

The Crimson Tide, without any timeouts, raced downfield and sent the game into overtime with a game-tying field goal.

“You all can look and see the number of ways we could have won this football game,” Miles said.

Alabama scored a touchdown on its first overtime and secured victory on LSU’s failed fourth-down pass to the end zone.

LSU may have deserved a pass-interference call.

Tigers quarterback Anthony Jennings, however, also had open field and could have likely rushed for a first down to extend the drive.

“Obviously, we just needed the first down,” Jennings said.

Coaches tell players to learn from their mistakes and move forward.

The teams that took advantage this weekend said “thanks” and moved on.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com

Twitter: @dufresneLATimes