Move over Odell Beckham Jr., and make way for Rob Carter Jr.
If you’ve never heard of the Robert Morris University cornerback before this weekend, that’s understandable.
But now?
Carter is responsible for the most viral highlight of the first full weekend of college football season and an early favorite for Catch of the Year.
Playing single coverage down the field against Utah State receiver Grant Page, Carter slowed his timing to be even with Page and skied for an unbelievable one-handed interception that left the crowd, the broadcasters and the audience in disbelief.
Carter palmed the ball with one hand in midair as he was falling backward and then twisted his body to do a full 360-degree turn before crashing to the turf with possession.
Robert Morris was leading Utah State, 14-10, late in the first half when Carter stole the show.
But Utah State scored 26 unanswered second-half points to steal the victory.
As you would expect, Carter claimed the No. 1 spot Saturday on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays.
“Take another look at this,” anchor Linda Cohn said. “Are you kidding me?”
The announcers on Mountain West Network were literally laughing at the absurdness of the catch.
“Big Cat” from Barstool Sports asked on X if it was the “Greatest interception ever?”
Who is Carter?
He’s a 5-foot-10, 175-pound sophomore from Danville, Pa. — located about four hours across Pennsylvania from Pittsburgh-based Robert Morris.
He played in 10 games last season with 22 tackles.
It was Beckham Jr. who normalized the one-handed catch with his career-changing one-handed touchdown grab for the Giants against the Cowboys in 2014.
Since then, receivers everywhere have practiced their one-handed catches, preparing to snag the uncatchable pass in a game.
But it’s rare to see a defensive back pull it off.
So much for the adage that cornerbacks are receivers with bad hands.
