I shed a tear as January hits realizing football is over. But we're in for some very good playoff games. Let me give the full predictions
AFC:
Wild Card:
Chargers over Titans-Yes it was close a few weeks ago but Kerry Collins possibly running the Titans offense=doom for Tennessee.
Jaguars over Steelers-Pittsburgh has lost its Willie(the only thing the Rams did for me 2 weeks ago)so the run game is done while Big Ben is big busted up.
Divisionals:
Colts over Chargers-Indy has Marvin Harrison back and I believe they will fix their mistakes from November.
Patriots over Jaguars-This will be interesting for the Pats have not faced them all year(unlike the division champions) look for a classic in Foxboro.
AFC Championship:Patriots over Colts-Manning is winless in the cold Foxboro winter and even with Harrison this won't be his day.
NFC:
Wildcards:
Redskins over Seahawks-Seattle's been mediocre most of the year and doesn't have their passing game up so I see Washington upsetting the 'Hawks.
Giants over Buccaneers-The Bucs don't really have a run game and Garcia will be harassed all day. Also, the G-Men are 7-1 on the road this year.
Divisionals:
Cowboys over Redskins-I think Washington has Dallas' number but I don't think they're going to be able to beat them.
Packers over Giants-Yes, the Giants are a road team and yes, they already faced Green Bay and should know what to do this time after the loss, but they won't win. Theres a difference between Tampa Bay in January and Green Bay in January.
NFC Championship:Cowboys over Packers-Dallas was too much for Green Bay last time and Favre is 0-8 at Texas Stadium.
Super Bowl XLII:Patriots over Cowboys-This WILL be a shootout, I see it coming down to the final play with New England winning 48-45 or some crazy score like that.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Top 10 of the Last 10:The Greatest Team Ever?(Part 3:The Aftermath)
The game was over. Texas had dethroned USC and Vince Young solidified his place in history. In a span of 367 days Vince Young took Texas into the Rose Bowl to beat Michigan, took them to Columbus to beat Ohio State, rally against Oklahoma State, finally defeated Oklahoma, sailed passed Texas A&M, destroyed Colorado, and dethrone USC all seemingly single-handedly. Just as Keith Jackson said, "He should buy some property here, he owns this place." For College Football, it was the end of an era as ABC Sports telecast-ed their last game.
8 months later, ABC Sports became ESPN on ABC and aired their first game,. In April, Keith Jackson retired ending close to 50 years of broadcasting. USC wound up with 574 total yards to Texas' 556. Leinart would finish 29/40 for 365 yards and a touchdown, Young would be 30/40 for 267 yards and 200 rushing yards to combine for 467 total yards and 3 touchdowns(all rushing). LenDale White would have 124 yards and 3 touchdowns. Reggie Bush only had 82 yards and 1 touchdown while Selvin Young had 45 yards and 1 touchdown. The next week, Young and Bush declared themselves eligible for the NFL Draft.
Bush would be the 2nd overall pick to the Saints, Young would be 3rd overall pick to the Titans(LenDale White would follow him), Michael Huff would be the 7th overall pick to the Raiders, and Matt Leinart went to the Cardinals. The next year, USC would go 11-2 winning the Pac 10 and beating Michigan in the Rose Bowl 32-18 while Texas went 11-2 finishing 2nd in the Big 12 South and beating Iowa in the Alamo Bowl 26-24. This year, USC was favorite to win the National Championship but fell to Stanford and Oregon to finish 10-2 and another Pac 10 Championship and will be playing Illinois tomorrow while Texas went 10-3 finishing 2nd in the Big 12 South and beating Arizona State in the Holiday Bowl 52-34. In their rookie years, Bush helped the Saints go 10-6 before losing to Chicago in the NFC Championship, Leinart and the Cards went 5-11, Young turned the Titans from 2-7 to 8-8(with thrillers against Indy, Houston, and the G-men in between). This season Young has led the Titans to their first playoff appearance since 2003.
8 months later, ABC Sports became ESPN on ABC and aired their first game,. In April, Keith Jackson retired ending close to 50 years of broadcasting. USC wound up with 574 total yards to Texas' 556. Leinart would finish 29/40 for 365 yards and a touchdown, Young would be 30/40 for 267 yards and 200 rushing yards to combine for 467 total yards and 3 touchdowns(all rushing). LenDale White would have 124 yards and 3 touchdowns. Reggie Bush only had 82 yards and 1 touchdown while Selvin Young had 45 yards and 1 touchdown. The next week, Young and Bush declared themselves eligible for the NFL Draft.
Bush would be the 2nd overall pick to the Saints, Young would be 3rd overall pick to the Titans(LenDale White would follow him), Michael Huff would be the 7th overall pick to the Raiders, and Matt Leinart went to the Cardinals. The next year, USC would go 11-2 winning the Pac 10 and beating Michigan in the Rose Bowl 32-18 while Texas went 11-2 finishing 2nd in the Big 12 South and beating Iowa in the Alamo Bowl 26-24. This year, USC was favorite to win the National Championship but fell to Stanford and Oregon to finish 10-2 and another Pac 10 Championship and will be playing Illinois tomorrow while Texas went 10-3 finishing 2nd in the Big 12 South and beating Arizona State in the Holiday Bowl 52-34. In their rookie years, Bush helped the Saints go 10-6 before losing to Chicago in the NFC Championship, Leinart and the Cards went 5-11, Young turned the Titans from 2-7 to 8-8(with thrillers against Indy, Houston, and the G-men in between). This season Young has led the Titans to their first playoff appearance since 2003.
The Worst Team Ever:The 2007 St. Louis Rams
Song of the Season:Mad World by Gary Jules
Its over...the season has come to an end and once again its over not in February or even January but December. For the 3rd year in a row. The last time we were in the playoffs Atlanta killed us. The last time we were playing Arizona killed us. Its official Kurt Warner owns the Rams and Scott Linehan should be gone. Let me take this 1 game at a time.
Week 1 vs Carolina:This was make or break. If we win(which I was sure we would've) it was going to be a good year but if we lose, its going to be bad. We start out hot and led 13-7 at halftime. The 2nd half comes along, Pace gets hurt. Panthers 27 Rams 13.
Week 2 vs San Francisco:I made it a goal to sweep the Niners. We did very good stopping Alex Smith and containing Frank Gore but a Torry Holt fumble turns the ship around. However, we managed to gain momentum with stops and a score but a Dante Hall fumble leads to a Niners score. With 50 seconds to go, Wilkens misses a 50 yard field goal and final score:49ers 17 Rams 16.
Week 3 vs Tampa Bay:I didn't watch this one but all I know is that Brian Leonard started instead of Steven Jackson and the Bucs kill our offense. We have yet to beat Tampa since the 1999 NFC Championship. Buccaneers 24 Rams 3
Week 4 vs Dallas:At this point we're literally dead in the water and I was out of my brain on a 5:15. We held Dallas for a while but the Romo run was a momentum shift and we died in the 3rd Quarter. Cowboys 35 Rams 7.
Week 5 vs Arizona:Bulger's gone, Jackson's gone, the O-line is decimated. We took out Leinart early and tried to take out Warner. Freorotte and Leonard played their best games of the year but alas Cardinals 34 Rams 31.
Week 6 vs Baltimore:This made me hate Freorotte. We had several chances to get momentum and beat the Ravens but Freorotte threw 5 picks. Ravens 22 Rams 3.
Week 7 vs Seattle:I made another goal to beat Seattle at least once. Bulger and Jackson are back but ineffective. Seahawks 33 Rams 6.
Week 8 vs Cleveland:Why should I care? Why should I care? I didn't watch this one instead I was in Bunker Hill watching the Dolphins/Giants with my cousin. We were close at the end and it looked as if we were going to make a come-from-behind rally but Bulger was picked off. Browns 27 Rams 20.
Week 10 vs New Orleans:Again didn't watch it at least not until the end. From what I saw we killed the Saints and let them back in only to shove them out. Rams 37 Saints 29.
Week 11 vs San Francisco:Probably the best DEFENSIVE game we played all year. Again we contained Frank Gore and stopped Tim Rattay. Rams 13 49ers 9.
Week 12 vs Seattle:We rode the 2-game winning streak into a match-up against my most hated Rams rival. We fought hard and led 19-7 but lost Bulger and the game after Freorotte fumbled at the 1. Seahawks 24 Rams 19.
Week 13 vs Atlanta:I thought this was easy. We played well but we let them back in in the 2nd half. Freorotte played his best game and we won. Rams 28 Falcons 16.
Week 14 vs Cincinnati:I knew we were screwed the minute I read this on the schedule. We stopped Carson Palmer and Ocho Cinco but forgot about the run game. At the end it bit us in the ass. Brock Berlin didn't help either. Bengals 19 Rams 10.
Week 15 vs Green Bay:This looked easy...until Week 3. We did well for the first half but again fell apart in the 2nd. I missed most of us via blackout. Packers 33 Rams 14.
Week 16 vs Pittsburgh:Damn the NFL Network for broadcasting us all over the country. It was supposed to be a big night because we were retiring Marshall's jersey. Instead we played with no awareness(especially in the 4th Quarter) and our defense imploded. Steelers 41 Rams 24.
Week 17 vs Arizona:Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goodbye. I really cared less. The only positives that can come out of this is me winning my Fantasy league courtesy of Kurt Warner and the firing of Scott Linehan. Cardinals 48 Rams 19.
Whose fault is it that we're 3-13? I'd say coaches and players. The players lost to Carolina, San Francisco, Arizona, Cleveland, Seattle(the 2nd time), and Green Bay. While the rest were do to coaching. If Linehan isn't gone by the end of January then theirs a serious issue.
Its over...the season has come to an end and once again its over not in February or even January but December. For the 3rd year in a row. The last time we were in the playoffs Atlanta killed us. The last time we were playing Arizona killed us. Its official Kurt Warner owns the Rams and Scott Linehan should be gone. Let me take this 1 game at a time.
Week 1 vs Carolina:This was make or break. If we win(which I was sure we would've) it was going to be a good year but if we lose, its going to be bad. We start out hot and led 13-7 at halftime. The 2nd half comes along, Pace gets hurt. Panthers 27 Rams 13.
Week 2 vs San Francisco:I made it a goal to sweep the Niners. We did very good stopping Alex Smith and containing Frank Gore but a Torry Holt fumble turns the ship around. However, we managed to gain momentum with stops and a score but a Dante Hall fumble leads to a Niners score. With 50 seconds to go, Wilkens misses a 50 yard field goal and final score:49ers 17 Rams 16.
Week 3 vs Tampa Bay:I didn't watch this one but all I know is that Brian Leonard started instead of Steven Jackson and the Bucs kill our offense. We have yet to beat Tampa since the 1999 NFC Championship. Buccaneers 24 Rams 3
Week 4 vs Dallas:At this point we're literally dead in the water and I was out of my brain on a 5:15. We held Dallas for a while but the Romo run was a momentum shift and we died in the 3rd Quarter. Cowboys 35 Rams 7.
Week 5 vs Arizona:Bulger's gone, Jackson's gone, the O-line is decimated. We took out Leinart early and tried to take out Warner. Freorotte and Leonard played their best games of the year but alas Cardinals 34 Rams 31.
Week 6 vs Baltimore:This made me hate Freorotte. We had several chances to get momentum and beat the Ravens but Freorotte threw 5 picks. Ravens 22 Rams 3.
Week 7 vs Seattle:I made another goal to beat Seattle at least once. Bulger and Jackson are back but ineffective. Seahawks 33 Rams 6.
Week 8 vs Cleveland:Why should I care? Why should I care? I didn't watch this one instead I was in Bunker Hill watching the Dolphins/Giants with my cousin. We were close at the end and it looked as if we were going to make a come-from-behind rally but Bulger was picked off. Browns 27 Rams 20.
Week 10 vs New Orleans:Again didn't watch it at least not until the end. From what I saw we killed the Saints and let them back in only to shove them out. Rams 37 Saints 29.
Week 11 vs San Francisco:Probably the best DEFENSIVE game we played all year. Again we contained Frank Gore and stopped Tim Rattay. Rams 13 49ers 9.
Week 12 vs Seattle:We rode the 2-game winning streak into a match-up against my most hated Rams rival. We fought hard and led 19-7 but lost Bulger and the game after Freorotte fumbled at the 1. Seahawks 24 Rams 19.
Week 13 vs Atlanta:I thought this was easy. We played well but we let them back in in the 2nd half. Freorotte played his best game and we won. Rams 28 Falcons 16.
Week 14 vs Cincinnati:I knew we were screwed the minute I read this on the schedule. We stopped Carson Palmer and Ocho Cinco but forgot about the run game. At the end it bit us in the ass. Brock Berlin didn't help either. Bengals 19 Rams 10.
Week 15 vs Green Bay:This looked easy...until Week 3. We did well for the first half but again fell apart in the 2nd. I missed most of us via blackout. Packers 33 Rams 14.
Week 16 vs Pittsburgh:Damn the NFL Network for broadcasting us all over the country. It was supposed to be a big night because we were retiring Marshall's jersey. Instead we played with no awareness(especially in the 4th Quarter) and our defense imploded. Steelers 41 Rams 24.
Week 17 vs Arizona:Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goodbye. I really cared less. The only positives that can come out of this is me winning my Fantasy league courtesy of Kurt Warner and the firing of Scott Linehan. Cardinals 48 Rams 19.
Whose fault is it that we're 3-13? I'd say coaches and players. The players lost to Carolina, San Francisco, Arizona, Cleveland, Seattle(the 2nd time), and Green Bay. While the rest were do to coaching. If Linehan isn't gone by the end of January then theirs a serious issue.
Top 10 of the Last 10:The Greatest Team Ever?(Part 2:The Game)
The days leading up to the game featured ESPN doing a segment on Sports center where they compare the 05 Trojans to other teams. The ESPN Analysts overall stated that the 05 Trojans was the greatest team of all-time even in comparison to the 1944 and 1945 Army Black Knights, the 1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the 1983 Nebraska Cornhuskers, the 1987 Miami Hurricanes, the 1988 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers(that averaged over 50+ a game), and the 2001 Miami Hurricanes a team that featured Najeh Davenport, Clinton Portis, Jeremy Shockey, Andre Johnson, Jonathan Vilma, Ed Reed, Frank Gore, Willis McGahee, and Sean Taylor. Some criticized ESPN but the Longhorns used it as motivation.
On January 4, 2006, the game was played as a sold out Rose Bowl crowd got ready to watch the most anticipated game in College Football history...USC vs Texas. USC elected to receive the ball to start the game and in their opening drive, the Trojans were stopped on a 3 and out. The Trojans were forced to punt but returner Aaron Ross fumbled the ball and the Trojans got it back at the Texas 48. 4 plays and a LenDale White touchdown later and it was 7-0 USC.
Texas got the ball but both Vince and Cousin Selvin had problems moving the ball and as a result, the Trojans got it back. The rest of the first quarter would be nothing and after 1 it was USC 7 Texas 0. At the start of the 2nd Quarter, USC got the ball at their own 45. Leinart connected with Bush for 35 yards until Bush's ill-fated lateral fell into the hands of the Longhorns preventing the game from becoming a blowout early. At their own 18, the Longhorns drove down the field but only managed a field goal to make it 7-3.
USC once again got the ball back and once again drove down the field until Matt Leinart's pass was intercepted by Michael Griffin preventing the Trojans from going up by 10. Both the Young cousins went to work(with Jamaal Charles in the mix). On 1st and 10 at the Trojans' 22, Young ran for 12 yards then lateraled to Selvin who went for 10 and scored. Unnoticed was that during the play, Vince's knee had gone down but it counted anyways and it was now 9-7 Longhorns.
The Trojans got the ball back but again failed to score. The Longhorns then got it back and a Ramonce Taylor 30 yard run made it 16-7 for Texas. Most of the Pasadena crowd was shocked that the Trojans had fallen behind the way they had(most of the fans were USC fans considering that the Rose Bowl is only 10 minutes from USC's campus). As the 1st half was coming to a close, USC put together a nice little drive for insurance before halftime. Mario Danelo's field goal was good and as a result it was at halftime Texas 16 USC 10.
Texas got the ball to start the 2nd half but the drive went nowhere. Following a few Matt Leinart passes and a LenDale White touchdown, USC took the lead 17-16. The Longhorns retaliated with a touchdown of their own following another Vince Young run to make it 23-17. But once again Leinart drove the Trojans down field and again LenDale White would score to give the Trojans a 1 point lead. The 3rd Quarter would end with Young driving the Longhorns back into Trojans territory. After 3 it was USC 24 Texas 23.
The Longhorns drive ended in a miss, however, as David Pino missed a field goal. USC got the ball back and drove again to make it 31-23 with 11:10 remaining. However, the Young cousins drove the Longhorns back but again the Longhorns had to settle for a field goal to make it 31-26 with 8:33 remaining. The Longhorns defense continued to flounder and again USC scored when Leinart connected with Jarrett to make it 38-26 with 6:26 left. It appeared as if the Trojans would three-peat.
However, no one told the Longhorns offense as Young drove the team down field again to make it 38-33 with 3:58 left. The Longhorns had to stop the Trojans or else USC would be champions. SC again recklessly drove down the field. However, they faced 4th down for the first time in 2 quarters. On 4th down, the handed it off to LenDale White who was stopped short giving the Longhorns the ball with 2:09 left and 1 timeout. 1st and 10 was a loss of 2 for the Longhorns, and 2nd down was incomplete. On 3rd and 12, Young connected with Quan Cosby for 7 yards plus a USC facemask gave Texas a 1st down at the USC 46.
On 1st down, Young connected with Brian Carter for 9 and ran for 7 for a 1st down. On 1st and 10 at the 30, Young went for 17 to Brian Carter to place it at the Trojans 13. However, 1st down was incomplete. On 2nd down, Young ran for 5 to place it at the 8. 3rd down was also incomplete. On 4th and 5 at the 8, Young dropped back and rolled out to his right getting the corner of the end zone and a touchdown for Texas to make it 41-38.
USC would have one more chance with a return and a 25 yard pass to Bush. However, Leinart's 1st down pass was incomplete and time ran out giving Texas the National Championship.
On January 4, 2006, the game was played as a sold out Rose Bowl crowd got ready to watch the most anticipated game in College Football history...USC vs Texas. USC elected to receive the ball to start the game and in their opening drive, the Trojans were stopped on a 3 and out. The Trojans were forced to punt but returner Aaron Ross fumbled the ball and the Trojans got it back at the Texas 48. 4 plays and a LenDale White touchdown later and it was 7-0 USC.
Texas got the ball but both Vince and Cousin Selvin had problems moving the ball and as a result, the Trojans got it back. The rest of the first quarter would be nothing and after 1 it was USC 7 Texas 0. At the start of the 2nd Quarter, USC got the ball at their own 45. Leinart connected with Bush for 35 yards until Bush's ill-fated lateral fell into the hands of the Longhorns preventing the game from becoming a blowout early. At their own 18, the Longhorns drove down the field but only managed a field goal to make it 7-3.
USC once again got the ball back and once again drove down the field until Matt Leinart's pass was intercepted by Michael Griffin preventing the Trojans from going up by 10. Both the Young cousins went to work(with Jamaal Charles in the mix). On 1st and 10 at the Trojans' 22, Young ran for 12 yards then lateraled to Selvin who went for 10 and scored. Unnoticed was that during the play, Vince's knee had gone down but it counted anyways and it was now 9-7 Longhorns.
The Trojans got the ball back but again failed to score. The Longhorns then got it back and a Ramonce Taylor 30 yard run made it 16-7 for Texas. Most of the Pasadena crowd was shocked that the Trojans had fallen behind the way they had(most of the fans were USC fans considering that the Rose Bowl is only 10 minutes from USC's campus). As the 1st half was coming to a close, USC put together a nice little drive for insurance before halftime. Mario Danelo's field goal was good and as a result it was at halftime Texas 16 USC 10.
Texas got the ball to start the 2nd half but the drive went nowhere. Following a few Matt Leinart passes and a LenDale White touchdown, USC took the lead 17-16. The Longhorns retaliated with a touchdown of their own following another Vince Young run to make it 23-17. But once again Leinart drove the Trojans down field and again LenDale White would score to give the Trojans a 1 point lead. The 3rd Quarter would end with Young driving the Longhorns back into Trojans territory. After 3 it was USC 24 Texas 23.
The Longhorns drive ended in a miss, however, as David Pino missed a field goal. USC got the ball back and drove again to make it 31-23 with 11:10 remaining. However, the Young cousins drove the Longhorns back but again the Longhorns had to settle for a field goal to make it 31-26 with 8:33 remaining. The Longhorns defense continued to flounder and again USC scored when Leinart connected with Jarrett to make it 38-26 with 6:26 left. It appeared as if the Trojans would three-peat.
However, no one told the Longhorns offense as Young drove the team down field again to make it 38-33 with 3:58 left. The Longhorns had to stop the Trojans or else USC would be champions. SC again recklessly drove down the field. However, they faced 4th down for the first time in 2 quarters. On 4th down, the handed it off to LenDale White who was stopped short giving the Longhorns the ball with 2:09 left and 1 timeout. 1st and 10 was a loss of 2 for the Longhorns, and 2nd down was incomplete. On 3rd and 12, Young connected with Quan Cosby for 7 yards plus a USC facemask gave Texas a 1st down at the USC 46.
On 1st down, Young connected with Brian Carter for 9 and ran for 7 for a 1st down. On 1st and 10 at the 30, Young went for 17 to Brian Carter to place it at the Trojans 13. However, 1st down was incomplete. On 2nd down, Young ran for 5 to place it at the 8. 3rd down was also incomplete. On 4th and 5 at the 8, Young dropped back and rolled out to his right getting the corner of the end zone and a touchdown for Texas to make it 41-38.
USC would have one more chance with a return and a 25 yard pass to Bush. However, Leinart's 1st down pass was incomplete and time ran out giving Texas the National Championship.
Top 10 of the Last 10:The Greatest Team Ever?(Part 1:The Build-Up)
Recap:
10.Rams/Redskins 2006
9.2005 Fiesta Bowl
8.Rutgers/Louisville 2006
7.2006 Orange Bowl
6.2001 Maryland Terrapins
5b.Stanford/USC 2007
5a.App State/Michigan 2007
The 2005 season depending on how you view it in comparison to other seasons is widely considered to be the greatest season in College Football history. Every week was filled with great games and greater success and great stories. The story for this blog is of the 2006 Rose Bowl between USC and Texas, the National Championship. To get to how we got to this point we go back to the past.
In the 1960's, USC and Texas emerged onto the scene as big time contenders. Under Coach Darryl Royal, the Longhorns ran the Wing-T offense(aka the offense Boonsboro runs)and they did it to perfection. In 1963, the Longhorns won their first National Championship beating Navy 28-6 in the Cotton Bowl. As the decade went on, the Longhorns were the top power in the South and would win it again in 1969 after beating Southwest Conference Rival Arkansas and was rewarded with the National Championship trophy by President Richard Nixon afterward.
In 1976, Royal retired and for the next 25 years, Texas floundered around occasionally winning the Southwest Conference and appearing in the Cotton Bowl. The other team in the picture is the USC Trojans. USC first played football in 1888 beating the Alliance Athletic Club 16-0. The game would be the start of a tradition of winning. In 1932, USC established itself on the map of College Football at a time when only teams east of the Mississippi mattered by winning the National Champion undefeated.
In the 1940's and 50's SC would have up and down seasons but through it all appeared in 5 Rose Bowls winning 3. In 1959, the Trojans hired John McKay and it was the start of good times in Los Angeles as in McKay's tenure, USC won 2 Heisman trophies(Mike Garrett in 1965 and OJ Simpson in 1968), 4 National Championships(1962, 1967, 1972, and 1974), 5 Rose Bowls(1962 over Wisconsin, 1967 over Indiana, 1969 over Michigan, and 1972 and '74 over Ohio State), and 9 conference championships. In 1975, McKay left for the NFL and John Robinson was hired. Within 3 years, Robinson coached USC to 2 National Championships in 1978 and 1979 going 67-14-3 from 1976-1982. After Robinson, USC began a sturdy decline.
In 1983, the Trojans had their first losing season in 22 years by going 4-6-1. However, the Trojans bounced back in 1984 under Coach Ted Tollner and went 9-3 winning the Pac 10 and the Rose Bowl over Ohio State. Despite a successful '84 campaign, Ted Tollner would not last long as the Trojans went 6-6 in 1985 and 7-5 in 1986 ending the '86 season losing to Notre Dame 38-37 after leading 37-17 and Auburn in the Citrus Bowl. In 1987, USC hired Larry Smith. In Smith's first season, USC went 8-4, won the Pac 10 and got back to the Rose Bowl but lost to Michigan State 20-17. However, 1988 brought different fortunes as the Trojans started out 10-0 entering a late-November showdown with 1 Notre Dame in the Coliseum.
With a win, USC would be in contention to be 1 and win the National Championship. However, USC fell short 27-10 and lost the Rose Bowl to Michigan a month later. In 1989, USC had another shot at the 1 Irish with Freshman sensation Quarterback Todd Marinovich. But once again the Irish held strong but the Trojans bounced back and beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl 17-10 3 months later. In 1992, after going 6-5-1, USC fired Larry Smith afterward, the Trojans decided to invest in the past to find a future.
In 1992, USC hired back John Robinson, fresh off of jumping off the sinking Los Angeles Rams ship. In his first year back, Robinson turned USC around sending it back to the top of the Pac 10 sharing the 1993 title at 8-5. In '94 with star receiver Keyshawn Johnson, the Trojans managed to go 8-3-1 en route to a 55-14 blowout of Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl. In 1995, the turnaround was complete and the '95 season was magnificent for the Trojans as they finally ended their 11 game losing streak to Notre Dame, went 9-2-1, won the Pac 10, and beat Northwestern in the Rose Bowl 41-32. Robinson would retire and the next day, Paul Hackett took over.
The Hackett era at SC is forgettable to say the least for the Trojans as they went 33-29 from 1996-2000 and only made 1 bowl appearance(a 28-19 loss to TCU in the Sun Bowl). Meanwhile in Austin, Texas had hit rock bottom by 1998 and was looking for a new coach. So they traveled to Chapel Hill and hired Mack Brown, coach of North Carolina. Mack Brown made an immediate impact and turned the program around quickly going 27-11 in his first two seasons. In 2001, Texas went 11-2 ending the season with a 47-43 victory over Washington. Things wouldn't fare so well for the 6-6 Trojans who fell to Utah 10-6 in the Las Vegas Bowl, the first season under Pete Carroll.
2002, however, for the Trojans turned out to be a great year. The season started out with 2 consecutive wins over Top 25 teams Auburn and Colorado. However, the Trojans hit a bump in the road at Manhatten with a 27-20 loss to Kansas State. They bounced back to shut out Oregon State but fell to Washington State. After that, however, they lost not the rest of the year. The Trojans would go 8-0 to end the season beating ranked teams such as 12 Notre Dame and 3 Iowa in the Orange Bowl by a combined 82-30 to finish at 11-2.
As for the Longhorns, they managed to start 5-0 but fell to Oklahoma and Texas Tech by an average of 7 points earning a spot to the Cotton Bowl(beating LSU 35-20). However, the biggest reward for the Longhorns was earning the 1 recruit in the country...Vince Young. Over the next 2 years, USC would go a combined 25-1 winning 2 National Championships(split with LSU in 03 and beating OU in 04) while picking up star talent such as Reggie Bush, Sedrick Ellis, Steve Smith, Chauncey Washington, LenDale White, Dwayne Jarrett, and Keith Rivers. Meanwhile the Longhorns had trouble winning the Big 12 and beating rival Oklahoma.
In 03, the Longhorns were destroyed by Oklahoma 65-13 and a 12-0 loss against the Sooners in 04 would be the difference for the Longhorns making it to the National Title. However, under Quarterback Vince Young and Running Back Cedric Benson, the Longhorns managed to go 11-1 in 2004, earning a birth to the Rose Bowl where they knocked off Michigan 38-37. After the game Young was quoted in saying "I'll be Back" implying that he'd be in Pasadena again next year...playing for the National Championship. Three days later, USC would destroy Oklahoma 55-19 to win the National Championship in the Orange Bowl.
Going into the 2005 season the general assumption among most College Football fans was that USC was going to run away with their 3rd(or 2 and half or just 2nd depending on how you view)straight National Championship. With a flashy offense and a hard-hitting defense, it seemed that no one could stop the Trojans. Opening day in September would be a demonstration of whats to come for both teams as USC decimated Hawaii in Honolulu 63-17 and Texas demolished Louisiana-Lafeyette 60-3. The following week, both teams faced challenges in the form of Arkansas and Ohio State.
USC managed to destroy Arkansas totaling over 700 yards and winning 70-17 while Texas struggled against the 4 Buckeyes but managed to pull off the upset in Columbus 25-22. In Week 3, USC faced 24 Oregon on the road in what seemed like a challenge turned blow out as the Trojans won 45-13. The following week the Trojans faced the challenge of fighting from behind as they trailed Arizona State 21-3 at halftime and rallied to take the lead with 3 minutes to go to win 38-28. On October 8th, Texas finally faced the demon that had been holding them back for years, Oklahoma. In an uncharacteristic blowout, Texas beat Oklahoma 45-12.
The next week, USC faced a rival of their own, Notre Dame. The Irish was the surprise team of 2005 for they had combined for a 11-13 record over the previous 2 years and had lost to the Trojans 3 times in a row by 31 points. However, this team was explosive and on a cool day in South Bend, they pushed the Trojans to the limit. The Trojans struck first jumping out to a 7-0 lead but Notre Dame responded with a Travis Thomas run to make it 7-7. At the end of 1 the score was:USC 14 Notre Dame 7.
In the 2nd Quarter, the Irish held the Trojans and at halftime it was:Notre Dame 21 USC 14. The 3rd Quarter would be quiet as a Reggie Bush run made it after 3:USC 21 Notre Dame 21. The 4th Quarter would be a tense quarter as Notre Dame took a 24-21 lead to start the quarter but USC took the lead back at 28-24 with 5 minutes to go. However, the Irish were not done as they drove the length of the field to make it 31-28 with 2:04 to go.
The Trojans managed to get the ball at their own 24 with 1:54 remaining. Leinart's first down pass fell incomplete to Dwayne Jarrett. On 2nd Down he was sacked by Trevor Laws losing 10 yards. On 3rd and 20, he connected with Reggie Bush to make it 4th and 9 with under a minute and 20 time go. On 4th and 9, Leinart connected with Dwayne Jarrett for 61 yards and a first down at the Notre Dame 13. Leinart's next pass fell incomplete but he connected with Bush on 2nd and 10 making it 3rd and 4. On 3rd and 4, Bush ran for 5 getting to the Notre Dame 2 yard line.
With under 10 remaining, Leinart rolled left and was tackled 1 yard short and time expired giving Notre Dame a 31-28 victory. Or so the Irish thought at least. With fans pouring onto the field the officials gave SC the ball with 6 seconds to go at the Notre Dame 1 for the ball had been knocked out of bounds. The next(and final play) Leinart faked the spike and was seemingly stopped a yard short until Reggie Bush pushed him in the end zone giving USC the go ahead touchdown and a 34-31 victory. The Trojans had escaped the Irish.
For the next few weeks, neither USC or Texas would be challenged. SC's last real challenge occurred on a warm November night in Los Angeles against Fresno State. Going into the game, the Bulldogs were the Number 16 team in the country with only 1 loss. Many predicted that it would be a blowout but no one told the Bulldogs. Immediately the Bulldogs jumped out to a 7-0 lead much to the shock of the LA crowd. But SC would fight back and tie it up. At the end of the 1st Quarter it was USC 7 Fresno State 7.
The 2nd Quarter was much of a surprise itself as Fresno State took an 11 point lead, the 2nd biggest deficit the Trojans faced all year(18 vs ASU). At halftime it was Fresno State 21 USC 13. The 3rd Quarter was all Reggie Bush as he scored two key touchdowns and after 3 it was USC 41 Fresno State 28. With under 10 to go the score remained the same until FSU scored 2 touchdowns in under 15 seconds to make it 42-41. But the Trojans continued to fire as LenDale White scored to make it 47-42. A Mario Danelo field goal would make it 50-42.
The Bulldogs made one final drive attempt at winning and even drove down to the USC 25. However, Paul Pinegar threw his 4th interception of the evening and abruptly, the shootout was over. The Trojans were guaranteed an 11 win season for the 4th year in a row. Reggie Bush had a career performance with 513 total yards. The final weekend of the year would be a display of who's better between the two. USC went up against cross-town rival UCLA(Ranked 11 with a 9-1 record) many predicted it as a challenge for the Trojans.
However, a challenge it was not as USC jumped out to a 24-0 lead going onto win 66-19 as Reggie Bush racked up 260 yards(part of 430 rushing yards by the Trojans)beating his long-time(dating back to High School)rival Maurice Jones-Drew who only had 84. However, as SC was destroying UCLA, the Longhorns made an example of their own in the Big 12 title game. The Colorado Buffaloes were the best team in the Big 12 North at 6-5 and was practically burning out under certain NCAA violations the result was total annihilation of Colorado as in only 37 and a half minutes, the Longhorns racked up 70 points to beat the Buffs 70-3.
In that game, CU only managed under 200 total yards. In comparison, Texas outscored USC but the Trojans had more yards in all categories than the Longhorns. The next day USC and Texas was announced as the National Championship game and a week later, Reggie Bush was awarded with the Heisman trophy. The stage was set and as I always say "Everybody in, everybody in, the shows about to begin, the stars are all here and ready, so everybody in, everybody in".
10.Rams/Redskins 2006
9.2005 Fiesta Bowl
8.Rutgers/Louisville 2006
7.2006 Orange Bowl
6.2001 Maryland Terrapins
5b.Stanford/USC 2007
5a.App State/Michigan 2007
The 2005 season depending on how you view it in comparison to other seasons is widely considered to be the greatest season in College Football history. Every week was filled with great games and greater success and great stories. The story for this blog is of the 2006 Rose Bowl between USC and Texas, the National Championship. To get to how we got to this point we go back to the past.
In the 1960's, USC and Texas emerged onto the scene as big time contenders. Under Coach Darryl Royal, the Longhorns ran the Wing-T offense(aka the offense Boonsboro runs)and they did it to perfection. In 1963, the Longhorns won their first National Championship beating Navy 28-6 in the Cotton Bowl. As the decade went on, the Longhorns were the top power in the South and would win it again in 1969 after beating Southwest Conference Rival Arkansas and was rewarded with the National Championship trophy by President Richard Nixon afterward.
In 1976, Royal retired and for the next 25 years, Texas floundered around occasionally winning the Southwest Conference and appearing in the Cotton Bowl. The other team in the picture is the USC Trojans. USC first played football in 1888 beating the Alliance Athletic Club 16-0. The game would be the start of a tradition of winning. In 1932, USC established itself on the map of College Football at a time when only teams east of the Mississippi mattered by winning the National Champion undefeated.
In the 1940's and 50's SC would have up and down seasons but through it all appeared in 5 Rose Bowls winning 3. In 1959, the Trojans hired John McKay and it was the start of good times in Los Angeles as in McKay's tenure, USC won 2 Heisman trophies(Mike Garrett in 1965 and OJ Simpson in 1968), 4 National Championships(1962, 1967, 1972, and 1974), 5 Rose Bowls(1962 over Wisconsin, 1967 over Indiana, 1969 over Michigan, and 1972 and '74 over Ohio State), and 9 conference championships. In 1975, McKay left for the NFL and John Robinson was hired. Within 3 years, Robinson coached USC to 2 National Championships in 1978 and 1979 going 67-14-3 from 1976-1982. After Robinson, USC began a sturdy decline.
In 1983, the Trojans had their first losing season in 22 years by going 4-6-1. However, the Trojans bounced back in 1984 under Coach Ted Tollner and went 9-3 winning the Pac 10 and the Rose Bowl over Ohio State. Despite a successful '84 campaign, Ted Tollner would not last long as the Trojans went 6-6 in 1985 and 7-5 in 1986 ending the '86 season losing to Notre Dame 38-37 after leading 37-17 and Auburn in the Citrus Bowl. In 1987, USC hired Larry Smith. In Smith's first season, USC went 8-4, won the Pac 10 and got back to the Rose Bowl but lost to Michigan State 20-17. However, 1988 brought different fortunes as the Trojans started out 10-0 entering a late-November showdown with 1 Notre Dame in the Coliseum.
With a win, USC would be in contention to be 1 and win the National Championship. However, USC fell short 27-10 and lost the Rose Bowl to Michigan a month later. In 1989, USC had another shot at the 1 Irish with Freshman sensation Quarterback Todd Marinovich. But once again the Irish held strong but the Trojans bounced back and beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl 17-10 3 months later. In 1992, after going 6-5-1, USC fired Larry Smith afterward, the Trojans decided to invest in the past to find a future.
In 1992, USC hired back John Robinson, fresh off of jumping off the sinking Los Angeles Rams ship. In his first year back, Robinson turned USC around sending it back to the top of the Pac 10 sharing the 1993 title at 8-5. In '94 with star receiver Keyshawn Johnson, the Trojans managed to go 8-3-1 en route to a 55-14 blowout of Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl. In 1995, the turnaround was complete and the '95 season was magnificent for the Trojans as they finally ended their 11 game losing streak to Notre Dame, went 9-2-1, won the Pac 10, and beat Northwestern in the Rose Bowl 41-32. Robinson would retire and the next day, Paul Hackett took over.
The Hackett era at SC is forgettable to say the least for the Trojans as they went 33-29 from 1996-2000 and only made 1 bowl appearance(a 28-19 loss to TCU in the Sun Bowl). Meanwhile in Austin, Texas had hit rock bottom by 1998 and was looking for a new coach. So they traveled to Chapel Hill and hired Mack Brown, coach of North Carolina. Mack Brown made an immediate impact and turned the program around quickly going 27-11 in his first two seasons. In 2001, Texas went 11-2 ending the season with a 47-43 victory over Washington. Things wouldn't fare so well for the 6-6 Trojans who fell to Utah 10-6 in the Las Vegas Bowl, the first season under Pete Carroll.
2002, however, for the Trojans turned out to be a great year. The season started out with 2 consecutive wins over Top 25 teams Auburn and Colorado. However, the Trojans hit a bump in the road at Manhatten with a 27-20 loss to Kansas State. They bounced back to shut out Oregon State but fell to Washington State. After that, however, they lost not the rest of the year. The Trojans would go 8-0 to end the season beating ranked teams such as 12 Notre Dame and 3 Iowa in the Orange Bowl by a combined 82-30 to finish at 11-2.
As for the Longhorns, they managed to start 5-0 but fell to Oklahoma and Texas Tech by an average of 7 points earning a spot to the Cotton Bowl(beating LSU 35-20). However, the biggest reward for the Longhorns was earning the 1 recruit in the country...Vince Young. Over the next 2 years, USC would go a combined 25-1 winning 2 National Championships(split with LSU in 03 and beating OU in 04) while picking up star talent such as Reggie Bush, Sedrick Ellis, Steve Smith, Chauncey Washington, LenDale White, Dwayne Jarrett, and Keith Rivers. Meanwhile the Longhorns had trouble winning the Big 12 and beating rival Oklahoma.
In 03, the Longhorns were destroyed by Oklahoma 65-13 and a 12-0 loss against the Sooners in 04 would be the difference for the Longhorns making it to the National Title. However, under Quarterback Vince Young and Running Back Cedric Benson, the Longhorns managed to go 11-1 in 2004, earning a birth to the Rose Bowl where they knocked off Michigan 38-37. After the game Young was quoted in saying "I'll be Back" implying that he'd be in Pasadena again next year...playing for the National Championship. Three days later, USC would destroy Oklahoma 55-19 to win the National Championship in the Orange Bowl.
Going into the 2005 season the general assumption among most College Football fans was that USC was going to run away with their 3rd(or 2 and half or just 2nd depending on how you view)straight National Championship. With a flashy offense and a hard-hitting defense, it seemed that no one could stop the Trojans. Opening day in September would be a demonstration of whats to come for both teams as USC decimated Hawaii in Honolulu 63-17 and Texas demolished Louisiana-Lafeyette 60-3. The following week, both teams faced challenges in the form of Arkansas and Ohio State.
USC managed to destroy Arkansas totaling over 700 yards and winning 70-17 while Texas struggled against the 4 Buckeyes but managed to pull off the upset in Columbus 25-22. In Week 3, USC faced 24 Oregon on the road in what seemed like a challenge turned blow out as the Trojans won 45-13. The following week the Trojans faced the challenge of fighting from behind as they trailed Arizona State 21-3 at halftime and rallied to take the lead with 3 minutes to go to win 38-28. On October 8th, Texas finally faced the demon that had been holding them back for years, Oklahoma. In an uncharacteristic blowout, Texas beat Oklahoma 45-12.
The next week, USC faced a rival of their own, Notre Dame. The Irish was the surprise team of 2005 for they had combined for a 11-13 record over the previous 2 years and had lost to the Trojans 3 times in a row by 31 points. However, this team was explosive and on a cool day in South Bend, they pushed the Trojans to the limit. The Trojans struck first jumping out to a 7-0 lead but Notre Dame responded with a Travis Thomas run to make it 7-7. At the end of 1 the score was:USC 14 Notre Dame 7.
In the 2nd Quarter, the Irish held the Trojans and at halftime it was:Notre Dame 21 USC 14. The 3rd Quarter would be quiet as a Reggie Bush run made it after 3:USC 21 Notre Dame 21. The 4th Quarter would be a tense quarter as Notre Dame took a 24-21 lead to start the quarter but USC took the lead back at 28-24 with 5 minutes to go. However, the Irish were not done as they drove the length of the field to make it 31-28 with 2:04 to go.
The Trojans managed to get the ball at their own 24 with 1:54 remaining. Leinart's first down pass fell incomplete to Dwayne Jarrett. On 2nd Down he was sacked by Trevor Laws losing 10 yards. On 3rd and 20, he connected with Reggie Bush to make it 4th and 9 with under a minute and 20 time go. On 4th and 9, Leinart connected with Dwayne Jarrett for 61 yards and a first down at the Notre Dame 13. Leinart's next pass fell incomplete but he connected with Bush on 2nd and 10 making it 3rd and 4. On 3rd and 4, Bush ran for 5 getting to the Notre Dame 2 yard line.
With under 10 remaining, Leinart rolled left and was tackled 1 yard short and time expired giving Notre Dame a 31-28 victory. Or so the Irish thought at least. With fans pouring onto the field the officials gave SC the ball with 6 seconds to go at the Notre Dame 1 for the ball had been knocked out of bounds. The next(and final play) Leinart faked the spike and was seemingly stopped a yard short until Reggie Bush pushed him in the end zone giving USC the go ahead touchdown and a 34-31 victory. The Trojans had escaped the Irish.
For the next few weeks, neither USC or Texas would be challenged. SC's last real challenge occurred on a warm November night in Los Angeles against Fresno State. Going into the game, the Bulldogs were the Number 16 team in the country with only 1 loss. Many predicted that it would be a blowout but no one told the Bulldogs. Immediately the Bulldogs jumped out to a 7-0 lead much to the shock of the LA crowd. But SC would fight back and tie it up. At the end of the 1st Quarter it was USC 7 Fresno State 7.
The 2nd Quarter was much of a surprise itself as Fresno State took an 11 point lead, the 2nd biggest deficit the Trojans faced all year(18 vs ASU). At halftime it was Fresno State 21 USC 13. The 3rd Quarter was all Reggie Bush as he scored two key touchdowns and after 3 it was USC 41 Fresno State 28. With under 10 to go the score remained the same until FSU scored 2 touchdowns in under 15 seconds to make it 42-41. But the Trojans continued to fire as LenDale White scored to make it 47-42. A Mario Danelo field goal would make it 50-42.
The Bulldogs made one final drive attempt at winning and even drove down to the USC 25. However, Paul Pinegar threw his 4th interception of the evening and abruptly, the shootout was over. The Trojans were guaranteed an 11 win season for the 4th year in a row. Reggie Bush had a career performance with 513 total yards. The final weekend of the year would be a display of who's better between the two. USC went up against cross-town rival UCLA(Ranked 11 with a 9-1 record) many predicted it as a challenge for the Trojans.
However, a challenge it was not as USC jumped out to a 24-0 lead going onto win 66-19 as Reggie Bush racked up 260 yards(part of 430 rushing yards by the Trojans)beating his long-time(dating back to High School)rival Maurice Jones-Drew who only had 84. However, as SC was destroying UCLA, the Longhorns made an example of their own in the Big 12 title game. The Colorado Buffaloes were the best team in the Big 12 North at 6-5 and was practically burning out under certain NCAA violations the result was total annihilation of Colorado as in only 37 and a half minutes, the Longhorns racked up 70 points to beat the Buffs 70-3.
In that game, CU only managed under 200 total yards. In comparison, Texas outscored USC but the Trojans had more yards in all categories than the Longhorns. The next day USC and Texas was announced as the National Championship game and a week later, Reggie Bush was awarded with the Heisman trophy. The stage was set and as I always say "Everybody in, everybody in, the shows about to begin, the stars are all here and ready, so everybody in, everybody in".
2007-2008 Bowl Game Predictions
It that time again folks, another season of College Football and another round of bowl games good or bad. Here are my predictions for each bowl game.
Poinsettia:Utah vs Navy
Prediction:Run vs Pass in this one, I'm not sure if Paul Johnson is coaching this game. If he is, however, I will go with Navy. If not then Utah.
New Orleans:Florida Atlantic vs Memphis
Prediction:FAU has a good defense and Howard Schnellenberger is a helluva coach. FAU wins give it 35-10.
Las Vegas:BYU vs UCLA
Prediction:These two faced off in Pasadena back in September with the Bruins winning 27-17. This will be a different story for BYU is improved and Dorrell is gone. BYU wins 28-24.
New Mexico:Nevada vs New Mexico
Prediction:Haven't seen New Mexico play but Nevada has a damn good offense. However, its a hoem game for the Lobos so I predict a close one. Nevada wins 38-30.
Papajohns.com:Cincinnati vs Southern Miss
Prediction:Classic CUSA match-up. This is Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower's last game. The Eagles should be ready as will Cincy. Close win for the Bearcats 31-20.
Hawaii:Boise State vs East Carolina
Prediction:Should be a nice high scoring affair between the two schools and coaches Chris Peterson and Skip Holtz who are both on the rise. Boise wins in a close one 27-23.
Motor City:Purdue vs Central Michigan
Prediction:Another rematch, wasn't close the first time but will be closer the second. Purdue wins 37-34.
Holiday:Arizona State vs Texas
Prediction:THE Must Watch game prior to New Years, both teams are good, real good. Dennis Erickson has done a fantastic job turning around the Sun Devils. Will be very close and a great game. Colt McCoy and the Longhorns win 31-27.
Emerald:Maryland vs Oregon State
Prediction:Out of the previous 3 bowl games, this will be the toughest for the Terps. Oregon State has the 2nd best rush defense in College Football. However, Friedgen is notorious for having his Terps ready for bowl games. Maryland wins in a low scoring affair, 17-13.
Champ Sports:Boston College vs Michigan State
Prediction:Ryan's last stand will be easy for BC. Eagles win 31-14.
Texas:TCU vs Houston
Prediction:Art Briles won't be coaching but its a home game for the Cougars. TCU wins 41-38.
Alamo:Penn State vs Texas A&M
Prediction:I don't think Franchione is coaching it won't matter anyway. PSU wins 24-14.
Liberty:Central Florida vs Mississippi State
Prediction:Kevin Smith WILL have a big day. He is simply phenominal and MSU has a bad rush defense. I say Central Florida wins 34-27.
Meineke Car Care:Wake Forest vs UCONN
Prediction:Wake STiLL has a good defense, so does UCONN, I think at least. Wake wins 17-10.
Independence:Alabama vs Colorado
Prediction:Nick Saban will be pissed off coming into this game following the criticism from the LA-Monroe game. I say Tide rolls Buffs 24-20 should be a good game.
Insight:Oklahoma State vs Indiana
Prediction:IU has a good offense as does Ok. State. I think IU will come out playing well but will lose 34-30.
Peach:Auburn vs Clemson
Prediction:Tigers win...(Auburn btw)
Music City:Florida State vs Kentucky
Prediction:Andre Woodson is way better than Drew Weatherford or Xavier Lee. I initially thought FSU but I'm going with Kentucky in a close one 27-24.
Humanitarian:Fresno State vs Georgia Tech
Prediction:Tech has no coach and a lot of worries. The Dogs win 17-3.
Sun:USF vs Oregon
Prediction:Oregon is running the spread offense with a pocket passer against a team that shut down WVU. Bulls win 34-7.
Armed Forces:Air Force vs Cal
Prediction:What happened to Cal? From 2 to playing in the lowest Pac 10 bowl. Air Force wins close 21-17.
Capitol One:Florida vs Michigan
Prediction:Yes its Lloyd Carr's last game, yes its Hart, Henne, and Long's last chance to win a bowl. Yes Florida is faster. Florida wins 41-14.
Gator:Virginia vs Texas Tech
Prediction:Virginia lost to NC State and Wyoming, but I still like their defense but they really struggle against the pass and thats all Texas Tech does. Red Raiders roll 34-27.
Cotton:Missouri vs Arkansas
Prediction:Mizzou is PISSED to no end D-Mac should have a big day and it should be close. I think Arkansas will win in a shootout 38-34.
Outback:Tennessee vs Wisconsin
Prediction:Both teams have been shaky but I think the Vols will get their first win against the Big Ten in 5 years they win 16-13 in a low scoring game.
International:Rutgers vs Ball State
Prediction:Ugh...I really don't know I hear Ball State has a good offense and Rutgers has Ray Rice so I guess Rutgers wins 31-24.
GMAC:Bowling Green vs Tulsa
Prediction:Tulsa somehow
Sugar:Georgia vs Hawaii
Prediction:Georgia has a great offense but a shaky defense. Hawaii's defense played well in the last three quarters against Washington. I think it will be close with Hawaii winning 45-42.
Rose:USC vs Illinois
Prediction:How did the Illini even get considered for the Rose Bowl? USC wins big 45-14.
Fiesta:Oklahoma vs West Virginia
Prediction:The best run defense in the country vs the best run offense in the country. This will be a low scoring game because I think OU is just as fast if not faster than WVU. OU wins 14-10.
Orange:Va.Tech vs Kansas
Prediction:Kansas played a weak schedule and Va.Tech is on fire. Hokies win 38-10.
BCS National Championship:Ohio State vs LSU
Prediction:Remember last year? Well expect a closer game. LSU wins 23-20.
Poinsettia:Utah vs Navy
Prediction:Run vs Pass in this one, I'm not sure if Paul Johnson is coaching this game. If he is, however, I will go with Navy. If not then Utah.
New Orleans:Florida Atlantic vs Memphis
Prediction:FAU has a good defense and Howard Schnellenberger is a helluva coach. FAU wins give it 35-10.
Las Vegas:BYU vs UCLA
Prediction:These two faced off in Pasadena back in September with the Bruins winning 27-17. This will be a different story for BYU is improved and Dorrell is gone. BYU wins 28-24.
New Mexico:Nevada vs New Mexico
Prediction:Haven't seen New Mexico play but Nevada has a damn good offense. However, its a hoem game for the Lobos so I predict a close one. Nevada wins 38-30.
Papajohns.com:Cincinnati vs Southern Miss
Prediction:Classic CUSA match-up. This is Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower's last game. The Eagles should be ready as will Cincy. Close win for the Bearcats 31-20.
Hawaii:Boise State vs East Carolina
Prediction:Should be a nice high scoring affair between the two schools and coaches Chris Peterson and Skip Holtz who are both on the rise. Boise wins in a close one 27-23.
Motor City:Purdue vs Central Michigan
Prediction:Another rematch, wasn't close the first time but will be closer the second. Purdue wins 37-34.
Holiday:Arizona State vs Texas
Prediction:THE Must Watch game prior to New Years, both teams are good, real good. Dennis Erickson has done a fantastic job turning around the Sun Devils. Will be very close and a great game. Colt McCoy and the Longhorns win 31-27.
Emerald:Maryland vs Oregon State
Prediction:Out of the previous 3 bowl games, this will be the toughest for the Terps. Oregon State has the 2nd best rush defense in College Football. However, Friedgen is notorious for having his Terps ready for bowl games. Maryland wins in a low scoring affair, 17-13.
Champ Sports:Boston College vs Michigan State
Prediction:Ryan's last stand will be easy for BC. Eagles win 31-14.
Texas:TCU vs Houston
Prediction:Art Briles won't be coaching but its a home game for the Cougars. TCU wins 41-38.
Alamo:Penn State vs Texas A&M
Prediction:I don't think Franchione is coaching it won't matter anyway. PSU wins 24-14.
Liberty:Central Florida vs Mississippi State
Prediction:Kevin Smith WILL have a big day. He is simply phenominal and MSU has a bad rush defense. I say Central Florida wins 34-27.
Meineke Car Care:Wake Forest vs UCONN
Prediction:Wake STiLL has a good defense, so does UCONN, I think at least. Wake wins 17-10.
Independence:Alabama vs Colorado
Prediction:Nick Saban will be pissed off coming into this game following the criticism from the LA-Monroe game. I say Tide rolls Buffs 24-20 should be a good game.
Insight:Oklahoma State vs Indiana
Prediction:IU has a good offense as does Ok. State. I think IU will come out playing well but will lose 34-30.
Peach:Auburn vs Clemson
Prediction:Tigers win...(Auburn btw)
Music City:Florida State vs Kentucky
Prediction:Andre Woodson is way better than Drew Weatherford or Xavier Lee. I initially thought FSU but I'm going with Kentucky in a close one 27-24.
Humanitarian:Fresno State vs Georgia Tech
Prediction:Tech has no coach and a lot of worries. The Dogs win 17-3.
Sun:USF vs Oregon
Prediction:Oregon is running the spread offense with a pocket passer against a team that shut down WVU. Bulls win 34-7.
Armed Forces:Air Force vs Cal
Prediction:What happened to Cal? From 2 to playing in the lowest Pac 10 bowl. Air Force wins close 21-17.
Capitol One:Florida vs Michigan
Prediction:Yes its Lloyd Carr's last game, yes its Hart, Henne, and Long's last chance to win a bowl. Yes Florida is faster. Florida wins 41-14.
Gator:Virginia vs Texas Tech
Prediction:Virginia lost to NC State and Wyoming, but I still like their defense but they really struggle against the pass and thats all Texas Tech does. Red Raiders roll 34-27.
Cotton:Missouri vs Arkansas
Prediction:Mizzou is PISSED to no end D-Mac should have a big day and it should be close. I think Arkansas will win in a shootout 38-34.
Outback:Tennessee vs Wisconsin
Prediction:Both teams have been shaky but I think the Vols will get their first win against the Big Ten in 5 years they win 16-13 in a low scoring game.
International:Rutgers vs Ball State
Prediction:Ugh...I really don't know I hear Ball State has a good offense and Rutgers has Ray Rice so I guess Rutgers wins 31-24.
GMAC:Bowling Green vs Tulsa
Prediction:Tulsa somehow
Sugar:Georgia vs Hawaii
Prediction:Georgia has a great offense but a shaky defense. Hawaii's defense played well in the last three quarters against Washington. I think it will be close with Hawaii winning 45-42.
Rose:USC vs Illinois
Prediction:How did the Illini even get considered for the Rose Bowl? USC wins big 45-14.
Fiesta:Oklahoma vs West Virginia
Prediction:The best run defense in the country vs the best run offense in the country. This will be a low scoring game because I think OU is just as fast if not faster than WVU. OU wins 14-10.
Orange:Va.Tech vs Kansas
Prediction:Kansas played a weak schedule and Va.Tech is on fire. Hokies win 38-10.
BCS National Championship:Ohio State vs LSU
Prediction:Remember last year? Well expect a closer game. LSU wins 23-20.
December 8, 1980
Note:This blog was originally written December 8th of last year. This is a re-post of it with updates.
On this day 27 years ago John Lennon died at the age of 40.I wasn't alive to see the Beatles,I wasn't alive to see the break up of the Beatles,and I wasn't alive to see Lennon's death unfold.But,as a Beatles fan I understand what people must have felt that day.Lennon was about to begin a comeback,when tragedy struck.At 10:50pm that Monday night,John Lennon was walking with wife,Yoko Ono to their home at the Dakota when suddenly a man appeared behind Lennon and yelled out,"Mr.Lennon!".As John turned he was shot 4 times;twice in the left side of his back and twice in the left shoulder.
A doorman walked over finding the dying John Lennon and said to the killer,Mark David Chapman,"Do you know what you've just done?"Chapman responded by saying in cold blood,"I just shot John Lennon".Paramedics responded as John was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital.Chapman co-operated with the police and was arrested.25 minutes later at precisely 11:15pm,John Lennon was pronounced dead at age 40.
News broke out of Lennon being shot on CNN and his death had been announced to the world during the Monday Night Football telecast between the Patriots and the Dolphins.Howard Cosell received word from ABC News and stated as I quote,"This, we have to say it, is just a football game, no matter who wins or loses. An unspeakable tragedy, confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City. John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City, the most famous perhaps of all of The Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead on arrival."
The announcement of Lennon's death was a shock to a generation of fans.On December 14,1980 all around the world people stood together in silence to remember John Lennon.Since his death another Beatle has passed,George Harrison(who wrote the song "All those years ago" as a tribute to Lennon) passed away in 2001.Lennon's assassin,Mark David Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life in 1982 has not gone a day without a single hate letter.His motive for killing Lennon was unnecessary and the murder itself was tragic thing to occur.
If there was a death penalty in New York then he should have been killed by a firing squad with what he did.I hate Mark David Chapman and the fact he's still alive(nevertheless in prison) just annoys me.The son of a bitch got what he wanted and I hope he's happy.He took away from us a musician who despite controversy over remarks was a great guy who believed in peace and helped contribute with Rock n Roll's growth.I wish I had been alived to meet John and when I first became a Beatles fan around 2000 or so I was upset when I found out he had been dead for a while.
If I had a choice to have all the money in the world or a chance to just meet John Lennon,I'd chose to meet John.In 2005,Pink Floyd reunited for the first time in 20 years at the Live 8 Concert.As I witnessed their reunion I wondered what could have been if we had say the Beatles there together with Paul,Ringo,John,and maybe George(if he hadn't passed).
On this day 27 years ago John Lennon died at the age of 40.I wasn't alive to see the Beatles,I wasn't alive to see the break up of the Beatles,and I wasn't alive to see Lennon's death unfold.But,as a Beatles fan I understand what people must have felt that day.Lennon was about to begin a comeback,when tragedy struck.At 10:50pm that Monday night,John Lennon was walking with wife,Yoko Ono to their home at the Dakota when suddenly a man appeared behind Lennon and yelled out,"Mr.Lennon!".As John turned he was shot 4 times;twice in the left side of his back and twice in the left shoulder.
A doorman walked over finding the dying John Lennon and said to the killer,Mark David Chapman,"Do you know what you've just done?"Chapman responded by saying in cold blood,"I just shot John Lennon".Paramedics responded as John was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital.Chapman co-operated with the police and was arrested.25 minutes later at precisely 11:15pm,John Lennon was pronounced dead at age 40.
News broke out of Lennon being shot on CNN and his death had been announced to the world during the Monday Night Football telecast between the Patriots and the Dolphins.Howard Cosell received word from ABC News and stated as I quote,"This, we have to say it, is just a football game, no matter who wins or loses. An unspeakable tragedy, confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City. John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City, the most famous perhaps of all of The Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead on arrival."
The announcement of Lennon's death was a shock to a generation of fans.On December 14,1980 all around the world people stood together in silence to remember John Lennon.Since his death another Beatle has passed,George Harrison(who wrote the song "All those years ago" as a tribute to Lennon) passed away in 2001.Lennon's assassin,Mark David Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life in 1982 has not gone a day without a single hate letter.His motive for killing Lennon was unnecessary and the murder itself was tragic thing to occur.
If there was a death penalty in New York then he should have been killed by a firing squad with what he did.I hate Mark David Chapman and the fact he's still alive(nevertheless in prison) just annoys me.The son of a bitch got what he wanted and I hope he's happy.He took away from us a musician who despite controversy over remarks was a great guy who believed in peace and helped contribute with Rock n Roll's growth.I wish I had been alived to meet John and when I first became a Beatles fan around 2000 or so I was upset when I found out he had been dead for a while.
If I had a choice to have all the money in the world or a chance to just meet John Lennon,I'd chose to meet John.In 2005,Pink Floyd reunited for the first time in 20 years at the Live 8 Concert.As I witnessed their reunion I wondered what could have been if we had say the Beatles there together with Paul,Ringo,John,and maybe George(if he hadn't passed).
Top 10 of the Last 10:The OTHER Upset
Recap:
10.Rams/Redskins 2006
9.The 2005 Fiesta Bowl
8.Rutgers/Louisville 2006
7.The 2006 Orange Bowl
6.The 2001 Maryland Terrapins
5b.USC/Stanford 2007
Earlier this month I discussed Stanford/USC as Number 5 but I split it with this because really both upsets were significantly great in College Football and in the last 10 years for this story lets tell the tale of tape.
Michigan football began in 1879. In their first 30 years of existence, Michigan established itself as a National Power under Coach Fielding Yost winning 4 consecutive National Championships from 1901-1904 and winning the 1st Ever Bowl game, a 49-0 win over Stanford in the Rose Bowl. For the rest of the early part of the 20th century, Michigan ruled the midwest in College Football(along with Notre Dame). However, the 50's and 60's were distraught for Michigan as they struggled. It wouldn't be until 1969 that Michigan was revived from the grave under Bo Schembechler. On November 22, 1969, the turn around was complete as 12 Michigan knocked off 1 and defending National Champion Ohio State 24-12.
Michigan would advance to the Rose Bowl and won their first undisputed Big Ten Title in 20 years. In the 70's, Michigan would post 8+ wins every year for the entire decade. In the 80's, Michigan continued dominance of the Big Ten until the '84 season where they finished a mere 6-6 losing to National Champion BYU in the Holiday Bowl(Yes BYU). The Schembechler era concluded at Michigan on January 1, 1990 with a 17-10 loss to USC in the Rose Bowl. In the 90's Michigan prospered with stars such as Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson, both Heisman trophy winners. In 1997, Michigan finally did it as they went 12-0 en route to a National Championship victory over Ryan Leaf and Washington State in the Rose Bowl.
For the rest of the 90's, Michigan would fail to win the Big Ten and began a slow steady decline in the program. In 1999, despite not winning the Big Ten, Michigan qualified for the Orange Bowl beating Alabama 35-34 in Overtime. In 01, Michigan went 8-4 getting romped by Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl. In 02, Michigan bounced back to finish 10-3 beating Florida in the Outback Bowl. In 2003, Michigan finally returned to the Rose Bowl only to be beaten down by USC 28-14.
In 2004, despite criticism for the lousy game vs SC, the Wolverines managed to come back and win the Big Ten only to lose in the Rose Bowl to Texas 38-37. 2005 had high expectations for the Wolverines as they were ranked No.4 in the Preseason Poll. After beating Northern Illinois, Michigan fell to unranked Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and Minnesota but managed to win 4 in a row entering their November 19th match-up with Ohio State. However, for the 4th time in 5 years, Michigan fell to Ohio State this time 25-21 at home. The loss bumped Michigan from a potential Rose Bowl bid to the Alamo Bowl where they lost to Nebraska 32-28 after leading 28-17. Michigan had finished 7-5 and the critics were talking.
Going into 2006 some predicted Michigan to flounder again to mediocrity but they Wolverines disagreed. Michigan began 2006 with blow out wins over Vanderbilt and Central Michigan going into a September 16th showdown with Notre Dame at South Bend. In South Bend, Michigan destroyed Notre Dame's high-powered offense and ran all over their defense en route to a 47-21 blow out victory. Through the fall Michigan lost not and entered their November 18th showdown with Ohio State 11-0 and 2 in the country. Against Ohio State, Michigan fought long(even rallying from a 14-point deficit)and hard but fell to the Buckeyes, 42-39. Following the game, some argued that Michigan deserved a rematch. However, the BCS disagreed and Florida earned the bid instead sending Michigan to the Rose Bowl.
In the Rose Bowl, Michigan had an opportunity not only to avenge their 04 loss in the Rose Bowl and get 2007 off to a good start but to also claim a share of the National Championship(as Brent Musberger pointed out in the beginning). Michigan held SC in the first half as it was 3-3 at halftime. However, SC's passing game torched Michigan and at one point SC lead 32-11 en route to a 32-18 victory for the Trojans. The loss was devastating for Michigan but good news came as Chad Henne, Mike Hart, and Jake Long all chose to stay for their Senior year with one thing on their minds...National Championship.
Meanwhile over 400 miles away is a small North Carolina school called Appalachian State. App State began Football 50 years after Michigan had in 1928 going 3-6. In the 30's App State found success in Football having 12 straight winning seasons from 1929-1941. The 1948 squad went 8-1-1 earning a bowl bid(the Burley Bowl) only to lose to West Chester State 7-2. Over the years, App State enjoyed success in Football as they rarely lost more than 3 games a year for over 20 years(1956-1976). In 1987, App State finished 12-1 earning a birth to the Semi-Finals of the I-AA playoffs only to fall short. In 2005, after 10 attempts under Coach Jerry Moore, App State finally won the I-AA National Title 21-16 over Northern Iowa.
In 2006, App State repeated defeating Massachusetts for the Championship 28-17 finishing 14-1 overall. Going into this game, however, App State was a major underdog as no I-AA team had ever beaten a ranked I-A school and Michigan was predicted by many to walk away with the National Championship. The game was kicked off at Noon time, the very first game broadcast on the Big Ten Network. On their opening drive, Michigan jumped out in 4 plays to a 7-0 game. App State would strike back though and by the end of the 1st Quarter it was Michigan 14 Appalachian State 7.
In the 2nd Quarter, Appalachian State's offense exploded outscoring Michigan 21-3 en route to a 28-17 lead at halftime. In the 3rd Quarter, the Mountaineers threatened to make it 35-17 but Michigan prevented the touchdown and settled with a Field Goal to make it 31-17. Michigan managed to get a field goal to make it 31-20 and a touchdown(2-point no good) to make it 31-26 after 3. In the 4th Quarter, Mike Hart drove a 54 yard run to make it 32-31 Michigan(2-point no good) and it seemed like the upset was over. With 2 minutes to go, Michigan hoped to connect on a Field Goal, however the kick was blocked and App State got the ball with time. Quarterback Armanti Edwards drove the Mountaineers down field and with 26 seconds to go App State took a 34-32 lead. Michigan only had seconds to go.
On 1st down, Henne's pass was incomplete. However, 2nd was not as Henne connected with Manningham for 42 yards to make it 1st down at the 20. With 6 seconds to go Michigan went for what seemed to be the game-winning field goal only for it to be blocked and the upset was complete as App State came away victorious, 34-32.
The nation was stunned, Ann Arbor was stunned, the BCS was stunned. Never before had a I-AA school beat a ranked I-A school. Sports Illustrated writer Stewart Mandel noted after the upset, ..>..> ..> ..>..>..>
"
This wasn't a high-level I-AA team knocking off a low-level BCS-conference team (like Montana State over Colorado or New Hampshire over Northwestern). This was a team with at least 22 less scholarships and one-tenth as much funding as its opponent (according to public data, Michigan's football program earned more than $50 million in revenue in 2005-06; Appalachian State earned less than $5 million) walking into a 110,000-seat stadium and knocking off a team chock full of Rivals.com five-star recruits and future NFL draft picks."
After the game, Michigan went unranked after being 5(the first time a Top 5 team fell out of the poll). The next week Michigan was blown out by Oregon 39-7 at home but bounced back and was 8-2 by early November until late season losses to Wisconsin and Ohio State pushed them down to 8-4. Recently Coach Lloyd Carr announced his retirement and Michigan is seeking a bowl bid. Meanwhile, App State beat Lenior-Rhyne but loss to Wofford and Georgia Southern and tomorrow plays Eastern Washington in the I-AA playoffs and look to win their 3rd straight National Championship. Overall, however, this is 5 mainly for the shock factor and significance of the game as it set the standard for the upsets in the 2007 College Football season. As a bonus I present to you the final minutes off App State/Michigan.
10.Rams/Redskins 2006
9.The 2005 Fiesta Bowl
8.Rutgers/Louisville 2006
7.The 2006 Orange Bowl
6.The 2001 Maryland Terrapins
5b.USC/Stanford 2007
Earlier this month I discussed Stanford/USC as Number 5 but I split it with this because really both upsets were significantly great in College Football and in the last 10 years for this story lets tell the tale of tape.
Michigan football began in 1879. In their first 30 years of existence, Michigan established itself as a National Power under Coach Fielding Yost winning 4 consecutive National Championships from 1901-1904 and winning the 1st Ever Bowl game, a 49-0 win over Stanford in the Rose Bowl. For the rest of the early part of the 20th century, Michigan ruled the midwest in College Football(along with Notre Dame). However, the 50's and 60's were distraught for Michigan as they struggled. It wouldn't be until 1969 that Michigan was revived from the grave under Bo Schembechler. On November 22, 1969, the turn around was complete as 12 Michigan knocked off 1 and defending National Champion Ohio State 24-12.
Michigan would advance to the Rose Bowl and won their first undisputed Big Ten Title in 20 years. In the 70's, Michigan would post 8+ wins every year for the entire decade. In the 80's, Michigan continued dominance of the Big Ten until the '84 season where they finished a mere 6-6 losing to National Champion BYU in the Holiday Bowl(Yes BYU). The Schembechler era concluded at Michigan on January 1, 1990 with a 17-10 loss to USC in the Rose Bowl. In the 90's Michigan prospered with stars such as Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson, both Heisman trophy winners. In 1997, Michigan finally did it as they went 12-0 en route to a National Championship victory over Ryan Leaf and Washington State in the Rose Bowl.
For the rest of the 90's, Michigan would fail to win the Big Ten and began a slow steady decline in the program. In 1999, despite not winning the Big Ten, Michigan qualified for the Orange Bowl beating Alabama 35-34 in Overtime. In 01, Michigan went 8-4 getting romped by Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl. In 02, Michigan bounced back to finish 10-3 beating Florida in the Outback Bowl. In 2003, Michigan finally returned to the Rose Bowl only to be beaten down by USC 28-14.
In 2004, despite criticism for the lousy game vs SC, the Wolverines managed to come back and win the Big Ten only to lose in the Rose Bowl to Texas 38-37. 2005 had high expectations for the Wolverines as they were ranked No.4 in the Preseason Poll. After beating Northern Illinois, Michigan fell to unranked Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and Minnesota but managed to win 4 in a row entering their November 19th match-up with Ohio State. However, for the 4th time in 5 years, Michigan fell to Ohio State this time 25-21 at home. The loss bumped Michigan from a potential Rose Bowl bid to the Alamo Bowl where they lost to Nebraska 32-28 after leading 28-17. Michigan had finished 7-5 and the critics were talking.
Going into 2006 some predicted Michigan to flounder again to mediocrity but they Wolverines disagreed. Michigan began 2006 with blow out wins over Vanderbilt and Central Michigan going into a September 16th showdown with Notre Dame at South Bend. In South Bend, Michigan destroyed Notre Dame's high-powered offense and ran all over their defense en route to a 47-21 blow out victory. Through the fall Michigan lost not and entered their November 18th showdown with Ohio State 11-0 and 2 in the country. Against Ohio State, Michigan fought long(even rallying from a 14-point deficit)and hard but fell to the Buckeyes, 42-39. Following the game, some argued that Michigan deserved a rematch. However, the BCS disagreed and Florida earned the bid instead sending Michigan to the Rose Bowl.
In the Rose Bowl, Michigan had an opportunity not only to avenge their 04 loss in the Rose Bowl and get 2007 off to a good start but to also claim a share of the National Championship(as Brent Musberger pointed out in the beginning). Michigan held SC in the first half as it was 3-3 at halftime. However, SC's passing game torched Michigan and at one point SC lead 32-11 en route to a 32-18 victory for the Trojans. The loss was devastating for Michigan but good news came as Chad Henne, Mike Hart, and Jake Long all chose to stay for their Senior year with one thing on their minds...National Championship.
Meanwhile over 400 miles away is a small North Carolina school called Appalachian State. App State began Football 50 years after Michigan had in 1928 going 3-6. In the 30's App State found success in Football having 12 straight winning seasons from 1929-1941. The 1948 squad went 8-1-1 earning a bowl bid(the Burley Bowl) only to lose to West Chester State 7-2. Over the years, App State enjoyed success in Football as they rarely lost more than 3 games a year for over 20 years(1956-1976). In 1987, App State finished 12-1 earning a birth to the Semi-Finals of the I-AA playoffs only to fall short. In 2005, after 10 attempts under Coach Jerry Moore, App State finally won the I-AA National Title 21-16 over Northern Iowa.
In 2006, App State repeated defeating Massachusetts for the Championship 28-17 finishing 14-1 overall. Going into this game, however, App State was a major underdog as no I-AA team had ever beaten a ranked I-A school and Michigan was predicted by many to walk away with the National Championship. The game was kicked off at Noon time, the very first game broadcast on the Big Ten Network. On their opening drive, Michigan jumped out in 4 plays to a 7-0 game. App State would strike back though and by the end of the 1st Quarter it was Michigan 14 Appalachian State 7.
In the 2nd Quarter, Appalachian State's offense exploded outscoring Michigan 21-3 en route to a 28-17 lead at halftime. In the 3rd Quarter, the Mountaineers threatened to make it 35-17 but Michigan prevented the touchdown and settled with a Field Goal to make it 31-17. Michigan managed to get a field goal to make it 31-20 and a touchdown(2-point no good) to make it 31-26 after 3. In the 4th Quarter, Mike Hart drove a 54 yard run to make it 32-31 Michigan(2-point no good) and it seemed like the upset was over. With 2 minutes to go, Michigan hoped to connect on a Field Goal, however the kick was blocked and App State got the ball with time. Quarterback Armanti Edwards drove the Mountaineers down field and with 26 seconds to go App State took a 34-32 lead. Michigan only had seconds to go.
On 1st down, Henne's pass was incomplete. However, 2nd was not as Henne connected with Manningham for 42 yards to make it 1st down at the 20. With 6 seconds to go Michigan went for what seemed to be the game-winning field goal only for it to be blocked and the upset was complete as App State came away victorious, 34-32.
The nation was stunned, Ann Arbor was stunned, the BCS was stunned. Never before had a I-AA school beat a ranked I-A school. Sports Illustrated writer Stewart Mandel noted after the upset, ..>..> ..> ..>..>..>
"
This wasn't a high-level I-AA team knocking off a low-level BCS-conference team (like Montana State over Colorado or New Hampshire over Northwestern). This was a team with at least 22 less scholarships and one-tenth as much funding as its opponent (according to public data, Michigan's football program earned more than $50 million in revenue in 2005-06; Appalachian State earned less than $5 million) walking into a 110,000-seat stadium and knocking off a team chock full of Rivals.com five-star recruits and future NFL draft picks."
After the game, Michigan went unranked after being 5(the first time a Top 5 team fell out of the poll). The next week Michigan was blown out by Oregon 39-7 at home but bounced back and was 8-2 by early November until late season losses to Wisconsin and Ohio State pushed them down to 8-4. Recently Coach Lloyd Carr announced his retirement and Michigan is seeking a bowl bid. Meanwhile, App State beat Lenior-Rhyne but loss to Wofford and Georgia Southern and tomorrow plays Eastern Washington in the I-AA playoffs and look to win their 3rd straight National Championship. Overall, however, this is 5 mainly for the shock factor and significance of the game as it set the standard for the upsets in the 2007 College Football season. As a bonus I present to you the final minutes off App State/Michigan.
Sean Taylor was not a convict
I woke up at 10:36 Monday morning to horrid news...Sean Taylor had been shot. I was stunned. Then as Monday went on news reports came in and I was grew sadder. Then on Tuesday, November 27th, at 5:30am...Sean Taylor died. One of the first things that came to my head was his 18 month old daughter who will never know her father and my comments on him 6 months ago. 6 months ago, I was discussing Football when the name "Sean Taylor" came up I called him a typical Miami Hurricane thug convict(based off my deep hatred for the Miami Hurricanes football team and his crimes). The man I was discussing it with was not too fond of my comment and I argued about his off-field actions should have thrown him in prison and its a shame that someone like him is out there making millions while innocent athletes like Hurricane Carter spent 20 years in jail.
I was blind and oblivious as Tuesday went on I learned more about Sean, more than I ever knew before. He wasn't this thug I perceived him as, he was actually a good person. He wasn't this criminal that deserved to be locked up, he was a man who loved and cared for his family. He loved his daughter, he loved his wife, he loved his parents, he loved his community, he loved his teammates, and he loved his fans. He wasn't this greedy Pacman Jones-type he was a man who had a passion for the game. The death of Sean Taylor is damaging to not only the Washington Redskins but the entire league, the University of Miami, the Miami-Dade Community, and any football fan out there. For that I apologize to the Taylor family(both) and I say goodbye to a phenomenal player and a better man.
I was blind and oblivious as Tuesday went on I learned more about Sean, more than I ever knew before. He wasn't this thug I perceived him as, he was actually a good person. He wasn't this criminal that deserved to be locked up, he was a man who loved and cared for his family. He loved his daughter, he loved his wife, he loved his parents, he loved his community, he loved his teammates, and he loved his fans. He wasn't this greedy Pacman Jones-type he was a man who had a passion for the game. The death of Sean Taylor is damaging to not only the Washington Redskins but the entire league, the University of Miami, the Miami-Dade Community, and any football fan out there. For that I apologize to the Taylor family(both) and I say goodbye to a phenomenal player and a better man.
Top 10 of the Last 10:Cardinal Rule
Recap:
10.Rams/Redskins 2006
9.2005 Fiesta Bowl
8.Rutgers/Louisville 2006
7.2006 Orange Bowl
6.The 2001 Maryland Terrapins
2007 is known for being "The Year of the Upset" in the world of College Football. It all began on New Years Day when the Boise State Broncos defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 43-42 in the Fiesta Bowl. Now I know this can be considered cheating mainly due to the fact these events have occurred since I began this list, but I feel that since they're within the 10 year window of my Football fan-ship(January 25, 1998-January 25, 2008) I will include it. This one is actually a tie between 2 upsets this season; Stanford/USC and Appalachian State/Michigan. So I present to you Part 1 with USC/Stanford.
In 2000, after 4 disastrous seasons under Coach Paul Hackett, the USC Trojans hired Pete Carroll, the former Head Coach of the New York Jets and New England Patriots. It was the start of something big in L.A. In his first year, Carroll went 6-6(an improvement over previous year's 5-7)but lost to Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl. However, 2002 would be known as the Comeback year for the Trojans. Behind Senior Quarterback Carson Palmer, the Trojans started 3-2(losing to Kansas State and Washington State)but finished 8-0 the rest of the way to go 11-2 concluding with a 38-17 Orange Bowl win versus Iowa and a Heisman for Palmer.
In 2003, the Trojans began the year at Number 4. However, things looked shaky for the Trojans mainly due to the inexperience of Sophomore Quarterback Matt Leinart. The Trojans came out firing and kicked off 2003 with a 23-0 win over Auburn on the road. However, perfect the season was not as the Trojans lost to California in Berkeley, 34-31 in 3 Overtimes. The lost hurt the Trojans, but they bounced back and reached Number 1 in the AP Poll. However, in one of the most controversial moments in College Football history, USC was passed over in the National Title game for Oklahoma.
It didn't effect the Trojans, however, as they beat 4 Michigan 28-14 to win a share of the National Championship. In 2004, USC went wire to wire, going unbeaten en route to a 55-19 rout of Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. In 2005, the Trojans had hopes to do it again. They came in close contact with a loss on two occasions(at Notre Dame and against Fresno State)but ran the table to earn a spot in the Rose Bowl for the National Championship. In the Rose Bowl, USC struggled against Texas and blew a 38-26 lead with 6 minutes remaining as Vince Young and Texas rallied to beat SC 41-38.
The next year looked to be a rebuilding year as the Trojans but the word "rebuild" was not in the Trojans vocabulary as they started 6-0 but stumbled against Oregon State(a 33-31 loss). However, the Trojans dominantly struck back beating Stanford, Oregon, Cal, and Notre Dame and it looked as if USC was going to contend for a National Championship for a 4th year in a row. However, a 13-9 upset loss to UCLA ended the Trojans hopes. USC, though wasn't done and showcased what it could do in the Rose Bowl blowing out Michigan, 32-18.
Going into the 2007 season with Senior leadership in John David Booty, the Trojans looked poised to make a National Championship run featuring a team loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. It seemed like it would be that way too when the Trojans came out on September 1st and blew out Idaho 38-10 at home. The next game, the Trojans stormed into Lincoln and destroyed the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 49-31. They did it again the next Saturday beating Washington State 47-14 at home. However, the Trojans struggled against Jake Locker and the Washington Huskies but pulled it out 27-24.
Now we stop there and go to Palo Alto in 2001. At the end of the 2001 season, Stanford was without a coach as Tyrone Willingham headed to Notre Dame. The Cardinal decided to hire Buddy Teevens as Coach. However, Teevens struggled and went 10-23 in his tenure before getting fired in 2005. His replacement, Walt Harris, did not fair any better going 5-6 in 2005 and 1-11 in 2006, which led to his dismissal. So Stanford rolled the dice and hired local hero, Jim Harbaugh.
Usually when you want to make a good impression on someone you act professionally and kind. However, Jim Harbaugh made many enemies on his way to the 2007 season. It started in March when Harbaugh claimed that he heard that Pete Carroll would retire after the 2007 season. Then Harbaugh, a Michigan alum, criticized the University of Michigan's academic standards thus making him the most hated man in Ann Arbor. On Pac 10 media day, Harbaugh called USC the best team in college football and the Greatest Team of All-Time.
So Jim Harbaugh manages to become the most hated man in College Football in both Ann Arbor and Los Angeles before he even coaches a game. Harbaugh debuted with Stanford on September 1st...and got crushed 45-17 to UCLA. However, Harbaugh bounced back and the Cardinal beat San Jose State 37-0. Unfortunately for Jim, the Cardinal was crushed 2 weeks in a row by Oregon and Arizona State. So going into the USC/Stanford game in the Coliseum many were predicting USC to kick Stanford's ass and run the score up because Pete Carroll and Crew hate Jim Harbaugh. That and Stanford's QB, T.C. Ostrander suffered a seizure and was out of the game.
So the situation is this:USC and Pete Carroll hate Jim Harbaugh, Harbaugh has *** and ** recruits while SC is stacked with ***** and **** players. So this should be a cake walk, right? The line had USC as a 41 point favorite at home. In the 1st half, Stanford's offense was dead and USC led 9-0 at halftime. In the 3rd Quarter, Booty threw a pick six and it was suddenly 9-7, USC. However, the Trojan offense continued to dominate and at the end of 3 it was 16-7, USC.
After 45 minutes and 6 seconds, Stanford finally scored an offensive touchdown and it was 16-14 with 14:54 remaining. It appeared, however, as though USC would pull away as Booty connected with Ronald Johnson to make it 23-14 with 11:04 left. It would be the last time that USC saw the end zone. A Belch field goal made it 23-17 with 5 minutes left. USC took over at their own 35 but after a first down, the Trojans went backwards and Booty was picked for the THIRD time. With 2:50 remaining, Stanford took over.
Pritchard's 1st pass fell incomplete but a 15 yard penalty placed the ball at the USC 30. 2 running plays by Pritchard and Jeremy Stewart pulled it to the 19 for the Cardinal. However, holding set Stanford back to the 29. Pritchard's passes couldn't connect and suddenly it was 4th and 20. On 4th and 20, Pritchard connected with Richard Sherman and it was 1st and Goal at the 9 with 1:35 left. A Pritchard run brought the ball to the 5, however, they failed to complete passes and a penalty set the ball at the 10 with 53 ticks remaining.
On 4th and Goal, Pritchard dropped back and connected with Receiver Mark Bradford to make it 24-23 with 47 seconds left. The Trojans, however, were not done and they returned the ball to the 40. However, Booty was sacked, incomplete twice, and finally on 4th down, intercepted to seal the upset for the Stanford Cardinal. Jim Harbaugh, 5 games into his career, has pulled off his biggest victory over Number 1, USC. The nation was stunned, 10 minutes away in Pasadena, the score was announced and close to 80,000 Notre Dame and UCLA fans jumped with joy over the SC defeat. The same occurred in Baton Rouge during the LSU/Florida game.
Statistically wise, USC destroyed Stanford. USC had 19 first downs while Stanford only had 16. USC had 459 total yards on offense while Stanford had close to half at 235. Passing wise wasn't much better for Stanford as the back-up Pritchard only threw for 140 yards. However, 5 USC turnovers cost the Trojans the game.
Both teams took a somewhat different direction following the game. USC would beat Arizona the next week and blew out Notre Dame. However, SC was officially knocked out of National Title contention with a 24-17 loss to Oregon. USC stands at 8-2 hoping for a bid to the Rose Bowl while Stanford is 3-7, hoping to finish at a respectable 5-7.
10.Rams/Redskins 2006
9.2005 Fiesta Bowl
8.Rutgers/Louisville 2006
7.2006 Orange Bowl
6.The 2001 Maryland Terrapins
2007 is known for being "The Year of the Upset" in the world of College Football. It all began on New Years Day when the Boise State Broncos defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 43-42 in the Fiesta Bowl. Now I know this can be considered cheating mainly due to the fact these events have occurred since I began this list, but I feel that since they're within the 10 year window of my Football fan-ship(January 25, 1998-January 25, 2008) I will include it. This one is actually a tie between 2 upsets this season; Stanford/USC and Appalachian State/Michigan. So I present to you Part 1 with USC/Stanford.
In 2000, after 4 disastrous seasons under Coach Paul Hackett, the USC Trojans hired Pete Carroll, the former Head Coach of the New York Jets and New England Patriots. It was the start of something big in L.A. In his first year, Carroll went 6-6(an improvement over previous year's 5-7)but lost to Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl. However, 2002 would be known as the Comeback year for the Trojans. Behind Senior Quarterback Carson Palmer, the Trojans started 3-2(losing to Kansas State and Washington State)but finished 8-0 the rest of the way to go 11-2 concluding with a 38-17 Orange Bowl win versus Iowa and a Heisman for Palmer.
In 2003, the Trojans began the year at Number 4. However, things looked shaky for the Trojans mainly due to the inexperience of Sophomore Quarterback Matt Leinart. The Trojans came out firing and kicked off 2003 with a 23-0 win over Auburn on the road. However, perfect the season was not as the Trojans lost to California in Berkeley, 34-31 in 3 Overtimes. The lost hurt the Trojans, but they bounced back and reached Number 1 in the AP Poll. However, in one of the most controversial moments in College Football history, USC was passed over in the National Title game for Oklahoma.
It didn't effect the Trojans, however, as they beat 4 Michigan 28-14 to win a share of the National Championship. In 2004, USC went wire to wire, going unbeaten en route to a 55-19 rout of Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. In 2005, the Trojans had hopes to do it again. They came in close contact with a loss on two occasions(at Notre Dame and against Fresno State)but ran the table to earn a spot in the Rose Bowl for the National Championship. In the Rose Bowl, USC struggled against Texas and blew a 38-26 lead with 6 minutes remaining as Vince Young and Texas rallied to beat SC 41-38.
The next year looked to be a rebuilding year as the Trojans but the word "rebuild" was not in the Trojans vocabulary as they started 6-0 but stumbled against Oregon State(a 33-31 loss). However, the Trojans dominantly struck back beating Stanford, Oregon, Cal, and Notre Dame and it looked as if USC was going to contend for a National Championship for a 4th year in a row. However, a 13-9 upset loss to UCLA ended the Trojans hopes. USC, though wasn't done and showcased what it could do in the Rose Bowl blowing out Michigan, 32-18.
Going into the 2007 season with Senior leadership in John David Booty, the Trojans looked poised to make a National Championship run featuring a team loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. It seemed like it would be that way too when the Trojans came out on September 1st and blew out Idaho 38-10 at home. The next game, the Trojans stormed into Lincoln and destroyed the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 49-31. They did it again the next Saturday beating Washington State 47-14 at home. However, the Trojans struggled against Jake Locker and the Washington Huskies but pulled it out 27-24.
Now we stop there and go to Palo Alto in 2001. At the end of the 2001 season, Stanford was without a coach as Tyrone Willingham headed to Notre Dame. The Cardinal decided to hire Buddy Teevens as Coach. However, Teevens struggled and went 10-23 in his tenure before getting fired in 2005. His replacement, Walt Harris, did not fair any better going 5-6 in 2005 and 1-11 in 2006, which led to his dismissal. So Stanford rolled the dice and hired local hero, Jim Harbaugh.
Usually when you want to make a good impression on someone you act professionally and kind. However, Jim Harbaugh made many enemies on his way to the 2007 season. It started in March when Harbaugh claimed that he heard that Pete Carroll would retire after the 2007 season. Then Harbaugh, a Michigan alum, criticized the University of Michigan's academic standards thus making him the most hated man in Ann Arbor. On Pac 10 media day, Harbaugh called USC the best team in college football and the Greatest Team of All-Time.
So Jim Harbaugh manages to become the most hated man in College Football in both Ann Arbor and Los Angeles before he even coaches a game. Harbaugh debuted with Stanford on September 1st...and got crushed 45-17 to UCLA. However, Harbaugh bounced back and the Cardinal beat San Jose State 37-0. Unfortunately for Jim, the Cardinal was crushed 2 weeks in a row by Oregon and Arizona State. So going into the USC/Stanford game in the Coliseum many were predicting USC to kick Stanford's ass and run the score up because Pete Carroll and Crew hate Jim Harbaugh. That and Stanford's QB, T.C. Ostrander suffered a seizure and was out of the game.
So the situation is this:USC and Pete Carroll hate Jim Harbaugh, Harbaugh has *** and ** recruits while SC is stacked with ***** and **** players. So this should be a cake walk, right? The line had USC as a 41 point favorite at home. In the 1st half, Stanford's offense was dead and USC led 9-0 at halftime. In the 3rd Quarter, Booty threw a pick six and it was suddenly 9-7, USC. However, the Trojan offense continued to dominate and at the end of 3 it was 16-7, USC.
After 45 minutes and 6 seconds, Stanford finally scored an offensive touchdown and it was 16-14 with 14:54 remaining. It appeared, however, as though USC would pull away as Booty connected with Ronald Johnson to make it 23-14 with 11:04 left. It would be the last time that USC saw the end zone. A Belch field goal made it 23-17 with 5 minutes left. USC took over at their own 35 but after a first down, the Trojans went backwards and Booty was picked for the THIRD time. With 2:50 remaining, Stanford took over.
Pritchard's 1st pass fell incomplete but a 15 yard penalty placed the ball at the USC 30. 2 running plays by Pritchard and Jeremy Stewart pulled it to the 19 for the Cardinal. However, holding set Stanford back to the 29. Pritchard's passes couldn't connect and suddenly it was 4th and 20. On 4th and 20, Pritchard connected with Richard Sherman and it was 1st and Goal at the 9 with 1:35 left. A Pritchard run brought the ball to the 5, however, they failed to complete passes and a penalty set the ball at the 10 with 53 ticks remaining.
On 4th and Goal, Pritchard dropped back and connected with Receiver Mark Bradford to make it 24-23 with 47 seconds left. The Trojans, however, were not done and they returned the ball to the 40. However, Booty was sacked, incomplete twice, and finally on 4th down, intercepted to seal the upset for the Stanford Cardinal. Jim Harbaugh, 5 games into his career, has pulled off his biggest victory over Number 1, USC. The nation was stunned, 10 minutes away in Pasadena, the score was announced and close to 80,000 Notre Dame and UCLA fans jumped with joy over the SC defeat. The same occurred in Baton Rouge during the LSU/Florida game.
Statistically wise, USC destroyed Stanford. USC had 19 first downs while Stanford only had 16. USC had 459 total yards on offense while Stanford had close to half at 235. Passing wise wasn't much better for Stanford as the back-up Pritchard only threw for 140 yards. However, 5 USC turnovers cost the Trojans the game.
Both teams took a somewhat different direction following the game. USC would beat Arizona the next week and blew out Notre Dame. However, SC was officially knocked out of National Title contention with a 24-17 loss to Oregon. USC stands at 8-2 hoping for a bid to the Rose Bowl while Stanford is 3-7, hoping to finish at a respectable 5-7.
The OB:Greatest Moments in Orange Bowl History-"This is for the National Championship for Nebraska..."
Tomorrow will be the last time the Orange Bowl Stadium hosts any event as Miami takes on Virginia(7:15 on ESPN2). For this I present to you the Greatest Moment in Orange Bowl history...the 1984 Orange Bowl between 1 Nebraska and 5 Miami.
In the early-1900's, the state of Florida began a population burst that led to the establishment of many universities. One of the first schools established in the South Florida area was the University of Miami. Miami began as a university in 1925. It was on October 29, 1927 that Miami football was born. That day the Canes defeated Rollins College 39-3. It was a great start for the Canes, however, they finished the rest of the year at 3-6-1. In the next several years, things didn't quite improve for the young football team.
It was in 1934 that Miami qualified for their first bowl game facing Bucknell in the 1935 Orange Bowl(a 26-0 loss). For the next several years, Miami would enjoy several successful seasons but could never "break through". They would score their first Bowl victory in 1945 defeating Holy Cross 13-6 in the Orange Bowl. As time went on most alumni and fans wondered when would Miami reach that next step. On October 22, 1954, Miami was given a chance as they faced defending National Champion, Maryland. In a defensive struggle, Miami defeated Maryland 9-7.
It seemed like a spark that would bring the program to life but the Canes struggled to reach National supremacy. In 1966, Miami had hit the top going 8-2-1 concluding with a 14-7 win over Virginia Tech in the Liberty Bowl. However, it was the beginning of a downward spiral. The rest of the decade and the 1970's was a disaster for Miami as they only had 1 winning season. Talks about ending the program occurred following a 2-8 1975 season. However, the administration did not give up and they fired Coach Carl Belmer after a 3-8 campaign in 1976.
Miami then hired Lou Saban(Nick's Cousin) to coach the hapless Canes team. At Miami, Saban would recruit and set the groundwork for future events mainly recruiting, Jim Kelly. In his first season, Miami went 3-8 but they bounced back the next year to finish 6-5. However, Saban's tenure wouldn't last long as controversy over three Miami players attacking a Jewish man and throwing him into the river followed by a comment Saban made(he did not realize the man was Jewish)would end the Saban era.
With Saban gone, many wondered where could Miami go from here. The administration decided to head to the pros to find a coach. In the pros they found Howard Schnellenberger, the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins and what happened that day was the beginning of something...big. Schnellenberger's first training camp was described as "the most brutal" during any of his coaching years(hot summer Miami sun + full pad tackling = hell). In Schnellenberger's first game, Miami defeated Louisville 24-12, but the rest of the season would be a mix bag as Miami lost to rival Florida State along with Florida A&M and San Diego State(none of these will never happen again) but they also beat rival Florida and 8 Penn State in Happy Valley. Despite some criticism, 1980 looked bright for the Canes.
1980 began with the Canes starting at 4-0 and reaching 13 in the polls before getting blown out by Notre Dame in South Bend, 32-14. Miami would conclude the 1980 season with a 20-10 win over Virginia Tech in the Peach Bowl. Going into 1981, some expected the Canes to take the National Championship. However, the dream was dead following a 14-7 loss to Texas in Austin and a 14-10 loss to Mississippi State. However, Miami would lose not the rest of the year and finished 9-2 concluding with a 37-15 win over Notre Dame at home.
1982, however, would be different as Miami floundered and finished 7-4 in a very difficult schedule. Going into the 1983 season, the Canes were a dark horse candidate for the National Championship. However, again, dreams seemed to be over with a 28-3 loss to Florida in Gainesville. Unlike other seasons, however, Miami wasn't done yet. The Canes would bounce back to upset Houston the following week(yes at one time a day Houston was greater than Miami), shut out Purdue and Notre Dame at home, blew out Duke and Louisville, breezed across Cincinatti and Ole Miss, shut down West Virginia, and escaped East Carolina and Florida State finishing at 5 and qualifying for the Orange Bowl for the first time in over 30 years to face 1 Nebraska.
Nebraska was a story of it's own. For it's first 70 years of it's existence, Nebraska was just some midwest program. In 1962, Nebraska under Coach Bob Devaney went 9-2, earning a bid to the Gotham Bowl where they would defeat the Canes 36-34 at Yankee Stadium. From there, Nebraska never turned back. In 1970, Nebraska won it's first National Championship defeating LSU in the Orange Bowl 17-12. They did it again a year later, knocking off Alabama in the Orange Bowl 38-6 and Nebraska was set.
Following the 1973 Orange Bowl, Devaney would leave Nebraska and Tom Osborne took over. For 10 years, Osborne struggled to win the National Championship coming close on 4 occasions. However, in 1983, people felt Nebraska had it as they scored well over 550 points combined(peaking at 84 and slumping at 14)while only allowing between 150-200. Going into the 1984 Orange Bowl, many felt Miami had no chance in hell of beating Nebraska. However, Miami proved the doubters wrong early as they jumped out to a 17-0 lead after 1.
Nebraska fans were shocked as their team had not been shut out after 1 all season long. In the 2nd half, however, it was all Huskers as they scored off of two run plays to make it 17-14 at halftime. In the 3rd, Nebraska finally caught Miami tying it at 17. However, Miami would pull the lead back to 14 making it 31-17 going into the 4th. The final 15 minutes would be considered by some to be the greatest in Football history.
Miami was desperately trying to hold Nebraska down but the Huskers kept fighting and they managed to pull to 31-24 with 6 minutes remaining. With 3 minutes to go, Nebraska began to drive downfield even converting on 4th down. However, the Huskers faced the dread 4th down again and had to gain 8 yards or else Miami would be champions. On the previous play, a wide-opened Irving Fryer dropped the pass in the end zone and the balloon of confidence busted for the Huskers.
This is where I will stop, rather than giving away the exciting conclusion I will instead give you the bonus video of the 1984 Orange Bowl. It is the exciting conclusion
In the early-1900's, the state of Florida began a population burst that led to the establishment of many universities. One of the first schools established in the South Florida area was the University of Miami. Miami began as a university in 1925. It was on October 29, 1927 that Miami football was born. That day the Canes defeated Rollins College 39-3. It was a great start for the Canes, however, they finished the rest of the year at 3-6-1. In the next several years, things didn't quite improve for the young football team.
It was in 1934 that Miami qualified for their first bowl game facing Bucknell in the 1935 Orange Bowl(a 26-0 loss). For the next several years, Miami would enjoy several successful seasons but could never "break through". They would score their first Bowl victory in 1945 defeating Holy Cross 13-6 in the Orange Bowl. As time went on most alumni and fans wondered when would Miami reach that next step. On October 22, 1954, Miami was given a chance as they faced defending National Champion, Maryland. In a defensive struggle, Miami defeated Maryland 9-7.
It seemed like a spark that would bring the program to life but the Canes struggled to reach National supremacy. In 1966, Miami had hit the top going 8-2-1 concluding with a 14-7 win over Virginia Tech in the Liberty Bowl. However, it was the beginning of a downward spiral. The rest of the decade and the 1970's was a disaster for Miami as they only had 1 winning season. Talks about ending the program occurred following a 2-8 1975 season. However, the administration did not give up and they fired Coach Carl Belmer after a 3-8 campaign in 1976.
Miami then hired Lou Saban(Nick's Cousin) to coach the hapless Canes team. At Miami, Saban would recruit and set the groundwork for future events mainly recruiting, Jim Kelly. In his first season, Miami went 3-8 but they bounced back the next year to finish 6-5. However, Saban's tenure wouldn't last long as controversy over three Miami players attacking a Jewish man and throwing him into the river followed by a comment Saban made(he did not realize the man was Jewish)would end the Saban era.
With Saban gone, many wondered where could Miami go from here. The administration decided to head to the pros to find a coach. In the pros they found Howard Schnellenberger, the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins and what happened that day was the beginning of something...big. Schnellenberger's first training camp was described as "the most brutal" during any of his coaching years(hot summer Miami sun + full pad tackling = hell). In Schnellenberger's first game, Miami defeated Louisville 24-12, but the rest of the season would be a mix bag as Miami lost to rival Florida State along with Florida A&M and San Diego State(none of these will never happen again) but they also beat rival Florida and 8 Penn State in Happy Valley. Despite some criticism, 1980 looked bright for the Canes.
1980 began with the Canes starting at 4-0 and reaching 13 in the polls before getting blown out by Notre Dame in South Bend, 32-14. Miami would conclude the 1980 season with a 20-10 win over Virginia Tech in the Peach Bowl. Going into 1981, some expected the Canes to take the National Championship. However, the dream was dead following a 14-7 loss to Texas in Austin and a 14-10 loss to Mississippi State. However, Miami would lose not the rest of the year and finished 9-2 concluding with a 37-15 win over Notre Dame at home.
1982, however, would be different as Miami floundered and finished 7-4 in a very difficult schedule. Going into the 1983 season, the Canes were a dark horse candidate for the National Championship. However, again, dreams seemed to be over with a 28-3 loss to Florida in Gainesville. Unlike other seasons, however, Miami wasn't done yet. The Canes would bounce back to upset Houston the following week(yes at one time a day Houston was greater than Miami), shut out Purdue and Notre Dame at home, blew out Duke and Louisville, breezed across Cincinatti and Ole Miss, shut down West Virginia, and escaped East Carolina and Florida State finishing at 5 and qualifying for the Orange Bowl for the first time in over 30 years to face 1 Nebraska.
Nebraska was a story of it's own. For it's first 70 years of it's existence, Nebraska was just some midwest program. In 1962, Nebraska under Coach Bob Devaney went 9-2, earning a bid to the Gotham Bowl where they would defeat the Canes 36-34 at Yankee Stadium. From there, Nebraska never turned back. In 1970, Nebraska won it's first National Championship defeating LSU in the Orange Bowl 17-12. They did it again a year later, knocking off Alabama in the Orange Bowl 38-6 and Nebraska was set.
Following the 1973 Orange Bowl, Devaney would leave Nebraska and Tom Osborne took over. For 10 years, Osborne struggled to win the National Championship coming close on 4 occasions. However, in 1983, people felt Nebraska had it as they scored well over 550 points combined(peaking at 84 and slumping at 14)while only allowing between 150-200. Going into the 1984 Orange Bowl, many felt Miami had no chance in hell of beating Nebraska. However, Miami proved the doubters wrong early as they jumped out to a 17-0 lead after 1.
Nebraska fans were shocked as their team had not been shut out after 1 all season long. In the 2nd half, however, it was all Huskers as they scored off of two run plays to make it 17-14 at halftime. In the 3rd, Nebraska finally caught Miami tying it at 17. However, Miami would pull the lead back to 14 making it 31-17 going into the 4th. The final 15 minutes would be considered by some to be the greatest in Football history.
Miami was desperately trying to hold Nebraska down but the Huskers kept fighting and they managed to pull to 31-24 with 6 minutes remaining. With 3 minutes to go, Nebraska began to drive downfield even converting on 4th down. However, the Huskers faced the dread 4th down again and had to gain 8 yards or else Miami would be champions. On the previous play, a wide-opened Irving Fryer dropped the pass in the end zone and the balloon of confidence busted for the Huskers.
This is where I will stop, rather than giving away the exciting conclusion I will instead give you the bonus video of the 1984 Orange Bowl. It is the exciting conclusion
The OB:Greatest Moments in Orange Bowl History-"The Epic in Miami"
In 5 days, the Miami Orange Bowl will hold its final event as the Miami Hurricanes host the Virginia Cavaliers. To honor the legacy of this amazing stadium, I am doing a countdown of the greatest moments in Orange Bowl History. Here is a complete recap.
5.The 1995 Orange Bowl
4.Miami/Boston College 1984
3.Miami/Maryland 1984
Our next moment comes from the NFL. It is the Epic in Miami between the San Diego Chargers and the Miami Dolphins. This game will is remembered for it's hard play and battle between two great teams. Our story begins in 1972.
It was the 1972 season that the Miami Dolphins finished 17-0, the only team in the modern era(1970-Today) to have accomplished such a feet. The 1973 team went 12-2 in the regular season and 3-0 in the playoffs en route to a 24-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl VIII. However, a last second lost to the Oakland Raiders in the Divisional Playoffs would be the beginning of the end of the Dolphins' dynasty. In the 1975 offseason stars Larry Csonka, Paul Warfield, and Jim Kiick would leave the Dolphins to joined the short-lived World Football League.
In 1980, Miami drafted a Quarterback, David Woodley out of LSU to take over for an aging Bob Griese. In 1981, the Dolphins went 11-4-1 alternating between Woodley and Don Strock. Meanwhile in San Diego, the Chargers led the NFL in points scored en route to a 10-6 record with Quarterback Dan Fouts and Coach Don Croyell. The stage was set for a January 2nd meeting in the Orange Bowl.
The Chargers scored quick to take a 3-0 lead. The Chargers defense stopped Miami and Receiver Wes Chandler ran it back 56 yards to make it 10-0. San Diego then kicked an onside kick to get the ball back en route to making it 17-0. On the following drive, Woodley threw a pick and 1 play later, Fouts connected with James Brooks for a touchdown and after 1 it was Chargers 24 Dolphins 0.
At the beginning of the 2nd Quarter, Coach Don Shula replaced Woodley with Strock. Strock managed to drive the Dolphins down field but had to settle with a Field Goal to cut it to 24-3. The Dolphins bounced back on defense forcing a fumble that lead to a Strock touchdown to make it 24-10. With 6 seconds left til halftime, Strock connected to Duriel Harris, who caught the ball and lateraled it to Tony Nathan, who would score a touchdown to make it 24-17. The play was the first ever "Hook and Ladder". At halftime it was Chargers 24 Dolphins 17.
In the 3rd Quarter, Miami rode the momentum and Strock drove them 74 yards to make it 24-24. Suddenly San Diego's big lead was gone. With more urgency, San Diego responded with a touchdown of their own when Fouts connected with Kellen Winslow(yes the guy on the Browns' father played football too(and did a better job too))to take a 31-24 lead. Strock drove them back down again completing 6 straight passes to tie it at 31. At the end of the 3rd Quarter it was Chargers 31 Dolphins 31.
The 4th Quarter began with Miami's first lead of the game off a 12 yard run by Tony Nathan to make it 38-31. Miami tried to run the clock out, but Andra Franklin fumbled the ball to give it back to the Chargers at the Chargers 18 with 4 and half minutes remaining. Fouts lead the team to the Miami 9 and connected with Brooks to tie the game and send it to overtime. At the end of regulation it was Chargers 38 Dolphins 38.
By this point, nearly all players on both sides were exhausted from the play. The Chargers won the toss and drove to the Miami 9 before a bad snap killed their Field Goal opportunity. Miami managed to drive down field too but the kick was low and blocked. The Chargers took over at their own 16 and drove to the Miami 10 and it was over as Rolf Benirschke's 29 yard field goal was good to give the Chargers a 41-38 victory.
It was over, Miami had came from behind only to fall short. In the locker room San Diego's players celebrated quietly due to the exhaustion the game caused for the players. The Miami Herald dubbed it "The Miracle that Died" while Sports Illustrated called it "The Game No One Should Have Lost". The next week, San Diego went from an 80 degree Miami to a -59 degree(wind chill) Cincinnati and a 27-7 loss to the Bengals. Following the loss to Cincinnati, San Diego would not have another winning season until 1992.
Meanwhile the game meant as a resurgance for the Dolphins. They would bounce back the next year only to lose to the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVII and the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XIX. In this time, Miami would lose Strock and Woodley and gain Dan Marino who would lead the team to multiple winning seasons over the next 15 years.
As for many of the players and coaches, Dan Fouts would play 4 more seasons before retiring in 1987. Charlie Joiner would play 3 more seasons in San Diego, retiring in 1986. Star Tight End Kellen Winslow would have his first child Kellen Winslow Jr. in 1983 and retired in 1987.
As for the Dolphins, Coach Don Shula was in Miami for 13 more years before retiring in 1995 as the All-Time Winningest Coach in NFL history. David Woodley would play mediocre in Super Bowl XVII and was sent to Pittsburgh in 1983 and was retired by 1985. On May 4, 2003, David Woodley died of kidney and liver failure at age 44. Don Strock would leave Miami in 1988 and was sent to Cleveland, where he played 1 season. Strock would finish his career in Indianapolis in 1989. In 2002, Strock was hired as Coach of Florida International, but was fired in 2006 going 15-41.
The Epic in Miami is considered by some to be the Greatest Football Game of All-Time. But if there is one picture that defines it, it is the picture of an exhausted Kellen Winslow being carried off the field by his teammates(pictured below).
5.The 1995 Orange Bowl
4.Miami/Boston College 1984
3.Miami/Maryland 1984
Our next moment comes from the NFL. It is the Epic in Miami between the San Diego Chargers and the Miami Dolphins. This game will is remembered for it's hard play and battle between two great teams. Our story begins in 1972.
It was the 1972 season that the Miami Dolphins finished 17-0, the only team in the modern era(1970-Today) to have accomplished such a feet. The 1973 team went 12-2 in the regular season and 3-0 in the playoffs en route to a 24-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl VIII. However, a last second lost to the Oakland Raiders in the Divisional Playoffs would be the beginning of the end of the Dolphins' dynasty. In the 1975 offseason stars Larry Csonka, Paul Warfield, and Jim Kiick would leave the Dolphins to joined the short-lived World Football League.
In 1980, Miami drafted a Quarterback, David Woodley out of LSU to take over for an aging Bob Griese. In 1981, the Dolphins went 11-4-1 alternating between Woodley and Don Strock. Meanwhile in San Diego, the Chargers led the NFL in points scored en route to a 10-6 record with Quarterback Dan Fouts and Coach Don Croyell. The stage was set for a January 2nd meeting in the Orange Bowl.
The Chargers scored quick to take a 3-0 lead. The Chargers defense stopped Miami and Receiver Wes Chandler ran it back 56 yards to make it 10-0. San Diego then kicked an onside kick to get the ball back en route to making it 17-0. On the following drive, Woodley threw a pick and 1 play later, Fouts connected with James Brooks for a touchdown and after 1 it was Chargers 24 Dolphins 0.
At the beginning of the 2nd Quarter, Coach Don Shula replaced Woodley with Strock. Strock managed to drive the Dolphins down field but had to settle with a Field Goal to cut it to 24-3. The Dolphins bounced back on defense forcing a fumble that lead to a Strock touchdown to make it 24-10. With 6 seconds left til halftime, Strock connected to Duriel Harris, who caught the ball and lateraled it to Tony Nathan, who would score a touchdown to make it 24-17. The play was the first ever "Hook and Ladder". At halftime it was Chargers 24 Dolphins 17.
In the 3rd Quarter, Miami rode the momentum and Strock drove them 74 yards to make it 24-24. Suddenly San Diego's big lead was gone. With more urgency, San Diego responded with a touchdown of their own when Fouts connected with Kellen Winslow(yes the guy on the Browns' father played football too(and did a better job too))to take a 31-24 lead. Strock drove them back down again completing 6 straight passes to tie it at 31. At the end of the 3rd Quarter it was Chargers 31 Dolphins 31.
The 4th Quarter began with Miami's first lead of the game off a 12 yard run by Tony Nathan to make it 38-31. Miami tried to run the clock out, but Andra Franklin fumbled the ball to give it back to the Chargers at the Chargers 18 with 4 and half minutes remaining. Fouts lead the team to the Miami 9 and connected with Brooks to tie the game and send it to overtime. At the end of regulation it was Chargers 38 Dolphins 38.
By this point, nearly all players on both sides were exhausted from the play. The Chargers won the toss and drove to the Miami 9 before a bad snap killed their Field Goal opportunity. Miami managed to drive down field too but the kick was low and blocked. The Chargers took over at their own 16 and drove to the Miami 10 and it was over as Rolf Benirschke's 29 yard field goal was good to give the Chargers a 41-38 victory.
It was over, Miami had came from behind only to fall short. In the locker room San Diego's players celebrated quietly due to the exhaustion the game caused for the players. The Miami Herald dubbed it "The Miracle that Died" while Sports Illustrated called it "The Game No One Should Have Lost". The next week, San Diego went from an 80 degree Miami to a -59 degree(wind chill) Cincinnati and a 27-7 loss to the Bengals. Following the loss to Cincinnati, San Diego would not have another winning season until 1992.
Meanwhile the game meant as a resurgance for the Dolphins. They would bounce back the next year only to lose to the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVII and the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XIX. In this time, Miami would lose Strock and Woodley and gain Dan Marino who would lead the team to multiple winning seasons over the next 15 years.
As for many of the players and coaches, Dan Fouts would play 4 more seasons before retiring in 1987. Charlie Joiner would play 3 more seasons in San Diego, retiring in 1986. Star Tight End Kellen Winslow would have his first child Kellen Winslow Jr. in 1983 and retired in 1987.
As for the Dolphins, Coach Don Shula was in Miami for 13 more years before retiring in 1995 as the All-Time Winningest Coach in NFL history. David Woodley would play mediocre in Super Bowl XVII and was sent to Pittsburgh in 1983 and was retired by 1985. On May 4, 2003, David Woodley died of kidney and liver failure at age 44. Don Strock would leave Miami in 1988 and was sent to Cleveland, where he played 1 season. Strock would finish his career in Indianapolis in 1989. In 2002, Strock was hired as Coach of Florida International, but was fired in 2006 going 15-41.
The Epic in Miami is considered by some to be the Greatest Football Game of All-Time. But if there is one picture that defines it, it is the picture of an exhausted Kellen Winslow being carried off the field by his teammates(pictured below).
Top 10 of the Last 10:Break on Through to the Other Side
1999 was the year I discovered College Football. As a matter of fact, the first game I saw was Notre Dame/Georgia Tech in the '99 Gator Bowl(a 35-28 Tech win). My dad is a Notre Dame fan and like the Rams, Orioles, and Lakers I followed suit and adopted the Irish as my team with Maryland as a secondary team. This, however, did not last long as I dropped Notre Dame after the 2000 season and was exclusive Terrapin.(Note:Before you call me a bandwagon fan, note that Maryland was possibly the worst team in College Football from 1990-2001).
Going into the 2001 season, the Maryland Terrapins was dead in the water. I mean literally they were dead. They had just gone through Coach number 3 since 1990(Ron Vanderlinden) and brought in alumnus Ralph Friedgan. Previously Friedgan was a Guard at Maryland from 1966-1968 and Offensive Coordinator at Georgia Tech. The Friedgan era began on September 1, 2001 with a 23-7 win vs North Carolina and through September the Terrapins were 4-0 scoring an average of 34 points a game and was ranked for the first time in close to 15 years.
On October 7th, Friedgen faced his old team, Georgia Tech. In what was a back and forth chess match, Maryland won 20-17. On a week later, Maryland was in the Top 10. However, the Terps experienced a setback losing to Florida State 52-31 in Tallahassee. Hopes of an ACC Championship seemed lost for the Terps but on November 10th, FSU was upset by NC State in a 34-28 victory for the Wolfpack putting Maryland in the drivers seat. A week later, Maryland beat NC State in Raleigh 23-19 to win their first ACC Championship in 16 years and it was the first time Florida State had not won the ACC Championship in their 11 years in the ACC.
With the championship victory, Maryland would earn a birth to the Orange Bowl(where they got trounced badly). Maryland has since enjoyed success in Football with records of 11-3 in 2002, 10-3 in 2003, 5-6 in 2004 and 2005, and 9-4 in 2006. Under Friedgen, Maryland has once again become a contender in the ACC(Yes I know about 04 and 05 and that we're 4-5 right now but give it time)and the future looks bright(like I said, look at the recruiting class we're bringing in this year).
Going into the 2001 season, the Maryland Terrapins was dead in the water. I mean literally they were dead. They had just gone through Coach number 3 since 1990(Ron Vanderlinden) and brought in alumnus Ralph Friedgan. Previously Friedgan was a Guard at Maryland from 1966-1968 and Offensive Coordinator at Georgia Tech. The Friedgan era began on September 1, 2001 with a 23-7 win vs North Carolina and through September the Terrapins were 4-0 scoring an average of 34 points a game and was ranked for the first time in close to 15 years.
On October 7th, Friedgen faced his old team, Georgia Tech. In what was a back and forth chess match, Maryland won 20-17. On a week later, Maryland was in the Top 10. However, the Terps experienced a setback losing to Florida State 52-31 in Tallahassee. Hopes of an ACC Championship seemed lost for the Terps but on November 10th, FSU was upset by NC State in a 34-28 victory for the Wolfpack putting Maryland in the drivers seat. A week later, Maryland beat NC State in Raleigh 23-19 to win their first ACC Championship in 16 years and it was the first time Florida State had not won the ACC Championship in their 11 years in the ACC.
With the championship victory, Maryland would earn a birth to the Orange Bowl(where they got trounced badly). Maryland has since enjoyed success in Football with records of 11-3 in 2002, 10-3 in 2003, 5-6 in 2004 and 2005, and 9-4 in 2006. Under Friedgen, Maryland has once again become a contender in the ACC(Yes I know about 04 and 05 and that we're 4-5 right now but give it time)and the future looks bright(like I said, look at the recruiting class we're bringing in this year).
The OB:Greatest Moments in Orange Bowl History-"The Comeback"
Recap:
5.The 1995 Orange Bowl
4.Hail Flutie
1984 was a changing year in College Football. Starting from the 1984 Orange Bowl and concluding with the 1985 Orange Bowl, things were changing in College Football and one of those changes was teams. In the early 80's Miami's football program was brought from the dead and became a dominant power through the 80's and into the Mid-90's. As Miami was rising, another school, Maryland, was falling. In the 1950's Maryland was a dominant power in College Football winning the 1st ACC Championship and named 1953 National Champions.
However, following the 1955 Orange Bowl, Maryland collapsed and didn't reach another bowl until the 1973 Peach Bowl. It was at that time Maryland experienced a resurgance under Coach Jerry Claiborne. In 1976, Claiborne and the Terps reached their peak going 11-0 entering the 1977 Cotton Bowl. Unfortunately for Claiborne and the Terps, a National Championship would not come true as they fell to Houston, 30-21. Maryland continued to play consistently but Terrapin fans knew time was running out. As always, Maryland fans hoped for a National Championship. But Maryland started out 0-2 and all seemed loss.
However, in Week 3, Maryland turned things around with a thrilling victory over West Virginia and the ship seemed sailed for the right course. After losing close to Penn State, Maryland bounced back and won 3 in a row entering their November 10th showdown with the defending National Champions. For Miami, 1984 was a bleak contrast to 1983. Once they were champions; now they were hoping to even get in a bowl. Everything was on the line for both squads and hopes of being somewhere warm for the Holidays.
Things did not look good, however for the Terps as Miami led 31-0 at halftime. However, Maryland and Quarterback Frank Reich did not surrender as 31-0 became 31-7 which became 31-14 towards 31-21 and finally 31-28 entering the 4th Quarter. In the final 15, Miami scored early to make it 34-28, but there was no stopping Maryland and Reich as the Terrapins took their first lead at 35-34 and Kosar's pick six led to a 42-34 Terps lead. Miami would score once more but the 2-point conversion would not happen as Maryland won 42-40. It was, at the time, the biggest comeback in College Football history. For the rest of the season, Maryland went unbeaten concluding the '84 season with a 28-27 win over Tennessee in the Sun Bowl.
As for Miami, the Canes would lose 2 weeks later in another epic game at home against Boston College. However, despite the 8-4 record, Miami qualified for a Bowl Game only to lose to UCLA 39-37 in the Fiesta Bowl. However, the years afterwards would be quite different for both squads. Miami lost their home opener to Florida in 1985, but would not lose again at home until 1994(an NCAA record)and became a major dynasty in the 80's and 90's winning the National Title in 1987(20-14 vs Oklahoma),1989(33-25 vs Alabama), and 1991(22-0 vs Nebraska). The Canes would not have a losing season until 1997(5-6) and won another National Title in 2001(37-14 vs Nebraska). Meanwhile, Maryland would begin a downward spiral.
Maryland was successful in 1985 going 9-3. Following the Cherry Bowl win over Syracuse, however, the team went downhill not having another winning season until 1990(which ended in a 34-34 tie in the Independence Bowl) and got in worse shape as the 90's went on. The "Decade of Disaster" featured only 2 seasons of being over .500(6-5-1 in 1990 and 6-5 in 1995), a combine d record of 43-71-1, No ACC titles, and humiliating losses to Louisville in 1995, Ohio in 1997, and close losses to James Madison and Temple before bouncing back in 2001 under current coach Ralph Friedgan. Both squads have faced off 3 times since the game(1985, 1987, and 2006) with Miami beating Maryland in '85 and '87(29-22 and 46-16) while Maryland won last year 14-13 in Byrd Stadium.
As for Frank Reich he would go on to lead another comeback 9 years later as his Buffalo Bills trailed the Houston Oilers(Tennessee Titans) 35-3 at halftime to comeback and win 41-38 in the AFC Divisional Playoffs. As a bonus I present to you the final 6 minutes of this classic in 2 videos.
5.The 1995 Orange Bowl
4.Hail Flutie
1984 was a changing year in College Football. Starting from the 1984 Orange Bowl and concluding with the 1985 Orange Bowl, things were changing in College Football and one of those changes was teams. In the early 80's Miami's football program was brought from the dead and became a dominant power through the 80's and into the Mid-90's. As Miami was rising, another school, Maryland, was falling. In the 1950's Maryland was a dominant power in College Football winning the 1st ACC Championship and named 1953 National Champions.
However, following the 1955 Orange Bowl, Maryland collapsed and didn't reach another bowl until the 1973 Peach Bowl. It was at that time Maryland experienced a resurgance under Coach Jerry Claiborne. In 1976, Claiborne and the Terps reached their peak going 11-0 entering the 1977 Cotton Bowl. Unfortunately for Claiborne and the Terps, a National Championship would not come true as they fell to Houston, 30-21. Maryland continued to play consistently but Terrapin fans knew time was running out. As always, Maryland fans hoped for a National Championship. But Maryland started out 0-2 and all seemed loss.
However, in Week 3, Maryland turned things around with a thrilling victory over West Virginia and the ship seemed sailed for the right course. After losing close to Penn State, Maryland bounced back and won 3 in a row entering their November 10th showdown with the defending National Champions. For Miami, 1984 was a bleak contrast to 1983. Once they were champions; now they were hoping to even get in a bowl. Everything was on the line for both squads and hopes of being somewhere warm for the Holidays.
Things did not look good, however for the Terps as Miami led 31-0 at halftime. However, Maryland and Quarterback Frank Reich did not surrender as 31-0 became 31-7 which became 31-14 towards 31-21 and finally 31-28 entering the 4th Quarter. In the final 15, Miami scored early to make it 34-28, but there was no stopping Maryland and Reich as the Terrapins took their first lead at 35-34 and Kosar's pick six led to a 42-34 Terps lead. Miami would score once more but the 2-point conversion would not happen as Maryland won 42-40. It was, at the time, the biggest comeback in College Football history. For the rest of the season, Maryland went unbeaten concluding the '84 season with a 28-27 win over Tennessee in the Sun Bowl.
As for Miami, the Canes would lose 2 weeks later in another epic game at home against Boston College. However, despite the 8-4 record, Miami qualified for a Bowl Game only to lose to UCLA 39-37 in the Fiesta Bowl. However, the years afterwards would be quite different for both squads. Miami lost their home opener to Florida in 1985, but would not lose again at home until 1994(an NCAA record)and became a major dynasty in the 80's and 90's winning the National Title in 1987(20-14 vs Oklahoma),1989(33-25 vs Alabama), and 1991(22-0 vs Nebraska). The Canes would not have a losing season until 1997(5-6) and won another National Title in 2001(37-14 vs Nebraska). Meanwhile, Maryland would begin a downward spiral.
Maryland was successful in 1985 going 9-3. Following the Cherry Bowl win over Syracuse, however, the team went downhill not having another winning season until 1990(which ended in a 34-34 tie in the Independence Bowl) and got in worse shape as the 90's went on. The "Decade of Disaster" featured only 2 seasons of being over .500(6-5-1 in 1990 and 6-5 in 1995), a combine d record of 43-71-1, No ACC titles, and humiliating losses to Louisville in 1995, Ohio in 1997, and close losses to James Madison and Temple before bouncing back in 2001 under current coach Ralph Friedgan. Both squads have faced off 3 times since the game(1985, 1987, and 2006) with Miami beating Maryland in '85 and '87(29-22 and 46-16) while Maryland won last year 14-13 in Byrd Stadium.
As for Frank Reich he would go on to lead another comeback 9 years later as his Buffalo Bills trailed the Houston Oilers(Tennessee Titans) 35-3 at halftime to comeback and win 41-38 in the AFC Divisional Playoffs. As a bonus I present to you the final 6 minutes of this classic in 2 videos.
Top 10 of the Last 10:Age IS Just a Number
Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno...1 and 2, the 2 winningest coaches of all-time in College Football. A combined 111 years of coaching between the two and 4 National Championships. From 1966-1994, Joe Paterno led Penn State to 5 unbeaten seasons and 27/28 of those seasons, Bowden came to Florida State in 1975 after being dismissed from West Virginia, in six years FSU was contending for the National Championship after almost being dropped. The result was the 1981 Orange Bowl between Florida State and Oklahoma. FSU lead early and following a blocked punt led 17-10 in the 4th Quarter, before OU began driving. A touchdown and a 2 point conversion gave the Sooners a 18-17 victory and the Georgia Bulldogs the National Championship(another story).
The loss to OU was a setback for Bowden who, at that point, had changed the attitude at FSU. However, it was only minor. In the next 10 years, Florida State continued to build and in 1991, achieved a No.1 ranking in the AP Poll(their highest was 2 in 81). However, a cruel twist of fate struck the Noles as they fell to 2 Miami at home when a last second field goal went Wide Right. In 1993, FSU got another chance as they hit No.1 in October and sailed into a November showdown with Notre Dame in South Bend. Dubbed the Game of the Century, Notre Dame beat Charlie Ward and the Seminoles 31-24 seemingly knocking FSU out of the National Championship.
Another upset would occur, however, a week later, as now #1 Notre Dame fell to Boston College and the Noles knocked off Florida. The result would be Bobby Bowden's first shot in 13 years for the National Championship. In a back and forth low scoring battle in the Orange Bowl(mainly a field goal duel), the Noles knocked off 1 Nebraska 18-16 after the Huskers kick sailed Wide Right(which was ironic because Field Goals always prevented Bowden from reaching the pinnacle of College Football). After 19 years of waiting, Bowden was a National Champion at Florida State and for the rest of the decade the Noles were a force.
It wouldn't be until 1996 that the Noles had another shot at winning the Championship as they knocked off No.1 Florida 24-21 in Tallahassee. But their dream would turn into a nightmare as Florida was granted a rematch in New Orleans against the Noles and this time, it wasn't close as Florida blew out FSU, 52-20. 2 years later Florida State was back in contention facing Tee Martin and the Tennessee Vols in the Fiesta Bowl. Throughout the game Tennessee's defense shut down the high powered Florida State offense. FSU pulled within 7 with a minute to go but it was too late as Tennessee won their first National Championship in 60 years with a 23-16 victory.
Some figured the lost would set back Florida State but once again they were back as they went 11-0 entering the 2000 Sugar Bowl against Michael Vick and Virginia Tech. Frank Beamer, like Bowden had built Va.Tech from the ground. The game, however, seemed to be a blowout early as FSU led Va. Tech 28-7 in the 2nd Quarter. It seemed to be over but Vick and the Hokies rallied to take a 29-28 lead going into the 4th. But there was no stopping FSU and Bowden as the Noles scored 18 unanswered to win 46-29.
FSU came into the 2000 season as heavy favorites to do it again but it appeared to be over quickly as the Noles lost to Miami. However, the Canes struggled themselves, losing to Washington on the road. At the end of the year the BCS selected FSU over 1-loss Miami and Washington. However, the 01 Orange Bowl was a trip for FSU as OU's defense harassed Chris Weinke all night en route to a 13-2 victory. The loss, itself proved to be the end of FSU's dominance of College Football.
Going into 2001, FSU were favorites again but losses to NC State and Clemson proved costly as FSU, for the first time ever, was not rewarded with the ACC Championship as Maryland(7-1) took it. Things got worse for the Noles. In 2002 they won it back, but suffered 4 losses en route to a 26-13 Sugar Bowl loss to Georgia. In 2003, Florida State seemed to be the same FSU juggernaut of the 90's only to lose to Miami in the Orange Bowl and a 3 loss season. In 2004, in a brand new ACC, FSU loss twice and as a result, Virginia Tech was rewarded with the ACC Championship. Going into the 2005 Season many wondered if the Noles could contend in the ACC.
Meanwhile at Penn State, Joe Paterno was suffering similar criticisms. Following a 6-4 loss to Iowa at home, many were calling for Joe Pa's dismissal citing that the game had past him. With high hopes but low expectations it seemed as if PSU would dwindle again in the Big Ten. However, PSU jumped out to a surprise 5-0 start before losing to Michigan off a last second Touchdown, but through the autumn they lost not finishing 10-1 heading to the Orange Bowl as the No.3 team in the country(their highest ranking in over a decade).
At Florida State things started off hot as the Noles beat Miami for the first time in 6 years with a 10-7 win at home. Going into November, FSU was 7-1 and looking to contend for the National Championship. However, 3 consecutive losses(NC State, Clemson, and Florida) knocked the Noles out of contention. However, Florida State was given a birth to the ACC Championship game against a 1-loss Va.Tech team. Most people had Va. Tech as a heavy favorite citing that the Noles didn't even belong on the same field. But FSU surprised its critics by taking a 27-3 lead but Va. Tech and Marcus Vick rallied only to fall short to the Noles 27-22 and just like that FSU was back in the Orange Bowl.
So the stage was set for Penn State/Florida State, the battle between 2 of the best teams of the last 40 years and the battle between 79 year old Joe Paterno, the 2nd Winningest Coach of All-Time and 76 year old Bobby Bowden, the Winningest Coach of All-Time. Going into the game, Paterno had been 7-1 vs Bowden(All 7 wins against Bowden's WVU squads and a 1990 loss in the Carquest Bowl). Despite being 10-1, Penn State were underdogs as many said that FSU had the better squad and literal Home Field advantage. Penn State jumped up early and led 14-13 at halftime.
Despite some first half fireworks, the 2nd was a defensive struggle as PSU scored their only points off a Drew Weatherford safety and a FSU Field Goal tied the game at 16 sending it into overtime. Both kickers missed in the 1st Overtime, but the offense responded in the 2nd with each team scoring 7 to make it 23 all. FSU had a 3 and out to start the 3rd overtime and attempted another field goal...only to have it be wide to the left, the 4th missed kick of the night(2 by each). Michael Robinson and PSU drove to the 10 and decided to kick the ball. Third time proved to be a charm for kicker Kevin Kelly as his kick sailed through the uprights to give Penn State a 26-23 victory.
After the game, Paterno and Bowden shook hands and did the post game interview together. Currently Bowden leads Paterno by 2 but the gap is closing as Paterno is now 81 and Bowden, 78. Despite their old ages, both coaches continue to win games and don't tell these two about time, because they would probably say "age doesn't matter" and on this night they proved it. As a bonus I present highlights of this classic encounter between No.1 and No.2.
The loss to OU was a setback for Bowden who, at that point, had changed the attitude at FSU. However, it was only minor. In the next 10 years, Florida State continued to build and in 1991, achieved a No.1 ranking in the AP Poll(their highest was 2 in 81). However, a cruel twist of fate struck the Noles as they fell to 2 Miami at home when a last second field goal went Wide Right. In 1993, FSU got another chance as they hit No.1 in October and sailed into a November showdown with Notre Dame in South Bend. Dubbed the Game of the Century, Notre Dame beat Charlie Ward and the Seminoles 31-24 seemingly knocking FSU out of the National Championship.
Another upset would occur, however, a week later, as now #1 Notre Dame fell to Boston College and the Noles knocked off Florida. The result would be Bobby Bowden's first shot in 13 years for the National Championship. In a back and forth low scoring battle in the Orange Bowl(mainly a field goal duel), the Noles knocked off 1 Nebraska 18-16 after the Huskers kick sailed Wide Right(which was ironic because Field Goals always prevented Bowden from reaching the pinnacle of College Football). After 19 years of waiting, Bowden was a National Champion at Florida State and for the rest of the decade the Noles were a force.
It wouldn't be until 1996 that the Noles had another shot at winning the Championship as they knocked off No.1 Florida 24-21 in Tallahassee. But their dream would turn into a nightmare as Florida was granted a rematch in New Orleans against the Noles and this time, it wasn't close as Florida blew out FSU, 52-20. 2 years later Florida State was back in contention facing Tee Martin and the Tennessee Vols in the Fiesta Bowl. Throughout the game Tennessee's defense shut down the high powered Florida State offense. FSU pulled within 7 with a minute to go but it was too late as Tennessee won their first National Championship in 60 years with a 23-16 victory.
Some figured the lost would set back Florida State but once again they were back as they went 11-0 entering the 2000 Sugar Bowl against Michael Vick and Virginia Tech. Frank Beamer, like Bowden had built Va.Tech from the ground. The game, however, seemed to be a blowout early as FSU led Va. Tech 28-7 in the 2nd Quarter. It seemed to be over but Vick and the Hokies rallied to take a 29-28 lead going into the 4th. But there was no stopping FSU and Bowden as the Noles scored 18 unanswered to win 46-29.
FSU came into the 2000 season as heavy favorites to do it again but it appeared to be over quickly as the Noles lost to Miami. However, the Canes struggled themselves, losing to Washington on the road. At the end of the year the BCS selected FSU over 1-loss Miami and Washington. However, the 01 Orange Bowl was a trip for FSU as OU's defense harassed Chris Weinke all night en route to a 13-2 victory. The loss, itself proved to be the end of FSU's dominance of College Football.
Going into 2001, FSU were favorites again but losses to NC State and Clemson proved costly as FSU, for the first time ever, was not rewarded with the ACC Championship as Maryland(7-1) took it. Things got worse for the Noles. In 2002 they won it back, but suffered 4 losses en route to a 26-13 Sugar Bowl loss to Georgia. In 2003, Florida State seemed to be the same FSU juggernaut of the 90's only to lose to Miami in the Orange Bowl and a 3 loss season. In 2004, in a brand new ACC, FSU loss twice and as a result, Virginia Tech was rewarded with the ACC Championship. Going into the 2005 Season many wondered if the Noles could contend in the ACC.
Meanwhile at Penn State, Joe Paterno was suffering similar criticisms. Following a 6-4 loss to Iowa at home, many were calling for Joe Pa's dismissal citing that the game had past him. With high hopes but low expectations it seemed as if PSU would dwindle again in the Big Ten. However, PSU jumped out to a surprise 5-0 start before losing to Michigan off a last second Touchdown, but through the autumn they lost not finishing 10-1 heading to the Orange Bowl as the No.3 team in the country(their highest ranking in over a decade).
At Florida State things started off hot as the Noles beat Miami for the first time in 6 years with a 10-7 win at home. Going into November, FSU was 7-1 and looking to contend for the National Championship. However, 3 consecutive losses(NC State, Clemson, and Florida) knocked the Noles out of contention. However, Florida State was given a birth to the ACC Championship game against a 1-loss Va.Tech team. Most people had Va. Tech as a heavy favorite citing that the Noles didn't even belong on the same field. But FSU surprised its critics by taking a 27-3 lead but Va. Tech and Marcus Vick rallied only to fall short to the Noles 27-22 and just like that FSU was back in the Orange Bowl.
So the stage was set for Penn State/Florida State, the battle between 2 of the best teams of the last 40 years and the battle between 79 year old Joe Paterno, the 2nd Winningest Coach of All-Time and 76 year old Bobby Bowden, the Winningest Coach of All-Time. Going into the game, Paterno had been 7-1 vs Bowden(All 7 wins against Bowden's WVU squads and a 1990 loss in the Carquest Bowl). Despite being 10-1, Penn State were underdogs as many said that FSU had the better squad and literal Home Field advantage. Penn State jumped up early and led 14-13 at halftime.
Despite some first half fireworks, the 2nd was a defensive struggle as PSU scored their only points off a Drew Weatherford safety and a FSU Field Goal tied the game at 16 sending it into overtime. Both kickers missed in the 1st Overtime, but the offense responded in the 2nd with each team scoring 7 to make it 23 all. FSU had a 3 and out to start the 3rd overtime and attempted another field goal...only to have it be wide to the left, the 4th missed kick of the night(2 by each). Michael Robinson and PSU drove to the 10 and decided to kick the ball. Third time proved to be a charm for kicker Kevin Kelly as his kick sailed through the uprights to give Penn State a 26-23 victory.
After the game, Paterno and Bowden shook hands and did the post game interview together. Currently Bowden leads Paterno by 2 but the gap is closing as Paterno is now 81 and Bowden, 78. Despite their old ages, both coaches continue to win games and don't tell these two about time, because they would probably say "age doesn't matter" and on this night they proved it. As a bonus I present highlights of this classic encounter between No.1 and No.2.
The OB:Greatest Moments in Orange Bowl History-"Hail Flutie"
Recap:
5.1995 Orange Bowl
Before they were the Number 2 team in the country, Boston College was just the other Catholic school behind Notre Dame. For the longest time BC was at the bottom just floundering around. But in 1980, they signed Doug Flutie, a small but agile Quarterback that many schools wanted as a Defensive back. Flutie would arrive on campus in 1981 and instantly he made an impact. In 1983, BC went 8-2-1, earning a trip to the Liberty Bowl against Notre Dame only to fall 3 Extra Points short.
Riding on the coat tails of 1983, Boston College entered 1984 a potential favorite for the National Championship. However, losses to West Virginia and Penn State on the road by a combine total of 8 points knocked BC out of contention. But, it didn't stop Flutie from playing his best. After the PSU loss, BC bounced back winning 2 in a row heading into a Thanksgiving showdown with the defending National Champion Miami Hurricanes in the Orange Bowl. Unfortunately for Miami, the magic of the 1983 season would not repeat after a loss to Michigan and a blowout loss to Florida State. Things were made worse 2 weeks beforehand(in something saved for another blog)so going in, Miami knew they had to win.
The game aired on Thanksgiving Friday and was Nationally Televised on CBS. Boston College immediately struck at Miami jumping out to a 14-0 lead. However, Senior Quarterback Bernie Kosar and the Canes would not surrender and took a 21-14 lead, but it wasn't enough to stop BC as they took the lead back at halftime at 28-21. The 3rd Quarter would not be as explosive as the defenses showed up but BC still led 34-31 going into the final quarter. The final 15 minutes would be memorable as Miami took the lead to make it 38-34. With 4 minutes left, BC rallied to make it 41-38.
Miami, however, was not done and with under 2 to go they led 45-41 and all seemed lost for BC. With 28 seconds away, BC drove to the Miami 46 and it was down to one final play. Flood Right 55 was the call as Flutie dropped back and scrambled all the way to BC's own 37 dodging sacks along the way before finally throwing the ball up. In the end zone was Gerard Phelan coming down with the catch to give Boston College a thrilling victory. It was that game that established Boston College with the big dogs of College Football and defined the school forever.
The next day it was announced that Doug Flutie had won the Heisman Trophy. Flutie capped off his career at BC with a 45-28 win over Houston in the Cotton Bowl. Both teams would take a somewhat different path as Miami would win the National Championship in 1987, 1989, and 1991 while BC would struggle only have 1 winning season in 9 years before pulling off THE upset against No.1 Notre Dame in South Bend. Nowadays both Miami and BC are ACC rivals and BC looks to become National Champions for the first time in 68 years.
5.1995 Orange Bowl
Before they were the Number 2 team in the country, Boston College was just the other Catholic school behind Notre Dame. For the longest time BC was at the bottom just floundering around. But in 1980, they signed Doug Flutie, a small but agile Quarterback that many schools wanted as a Defensive back. Flutie would arrive on campus in 1981 and instantly he made an impact. In 1983, BC went 8-2-1, earning a trip to the Liberty Bowl against Notre Dame only to fall 3 Extra Points short.
Riding on the coat tails of 1983, Boston College entered 1984 a potential favorite for the National Championship. However, losses to West Virginia and Penn State on the road by a combine total of 8 points knocked BC out of contention. But, it didn't stop Flutie from playing his best. After the PSU loss, BC bounced back winning 2 in a row heading into a Thanksgiving showdown with the defending National Champion Miami Hurricanes in the Orange Bowl. Unfortunately for Miami, the magic of the 1983 season would not repeat after a loss to Michigan and a blowout loss to Florida State. Things were made worse 2 weeks beforehand(in something saved for another blog)so going in, Miami knew they had to win.
The game aired on Thanksgiving Friday and was Nationally Televised on CBS. Boston College immediately struck at Miami jumping out to a 14-0 lead. However, Senior Quarterback Bernie Kosar and the Canes would not surrender and took a 21-14 lead, but it wasn't enough to stop BC as they took the lead back at halftime at 28-21. The 3rd Quarter would not be as explosive as the defenses showed up but BC still led 34-31 going into the final quarter. The final 15 minutes would be memorable as Miami took the lead to make it 38-34. With 4 minutes left, BC rallied to make it 41-38.
Miami, however, was not done and with under 2 to go they led 45-41 and all seemed lost for BC. With 28 seconds away, BC drove to the Miami 46 and it was down to one final play. Flood Right 55 was the call as Flutie dropped back and scrambled all the way to BC's own 37 dodging sacks along the way before finally throwing the ball up. In the end zone was Gerard Phelan coming down with the catch to give Boston College a thrilling victory. It was that game that established Boston College with the big dogs of College Football and defined the school forever.
The next day it was announced that Doug Flutie had won the Heisman Trophy. Flutie capped off his career at BC with a 45-28 win over Houston in the Cotton Bowl. Both teams would take a somewhat different path as Miami would win the National Championship in 1987, 1989, and 1991 while BC would struggle only have 1 winning season in 9 years before pulling off THE upset against No.1 Notre Dame in South Bend. Nowadays both Miami and BC are ACC rivals and BC looks to become National Champions for the first time in 68 years.
The OB:Greatest Moments in Orange Bowl History-"The Moment is His"
As some of you may or may not know, on November 10th, the Orange Bowl Stadium will hold its final Sporting event as Miami takes on Virginia. After the game, the stadium is set to be demolished. To celebrate the Orange Bowl's legacy, I present to you the Top 5 moments All-Time in the Orange Bowl stadium. At Number 5, it is the 1995 Orange Bowl Game between Nebraska and Miami.
In 1973, following his win in the Orange Bowl, Nebraska head coach, Bob Devaney announced his retirement. A few days later, Tom Osborne was announced as head coach of Nebraska. He was immediately met with early success with two 9-win seasons. In his third Nebraska started 10-0 and seemed poised for a National Championship. However a 35-10 loss at Oklahoma and a 3 point loss to Arizona State in the Fiesta Bowl eliminated the Huskers.
He had another 10 win start in 1979 but again fell to the Sooners and to Houston in the 1980 Cotton Bowl. In the 1982 season, Nebraska won the Big Eight and had 1 loss heading into the 1983 Orange Bowl. Despite knocking off LSU, the Huskers weren't voted National Champion finishing 3rd behind Penn State(who beat NU) and SMU. Finally, in 1983, they had another chance. Going unbeaten with points scored in the 50's all year, Nebraska went to the 1984 Orange Bowl only to be met(and beaten by underdog Miami, 31-30(more on that later).
10 frustrating years later, the Huskers had another shot. In 1993, they went 11-0 advancing to the Orange Bowl against Florida State. In a back and forth battle of field goals, the Noles knocked off the Huskers following a missed field goal, 18-16. The Huskers were heartbroken, yet determined to return to the title game. Thats just what they did as the Huskers went 12-0 en route to another Orange Bowl birth to face a familiar foe, Miami. Going into the game many questioned who would get the National Championship. Miami had lost at the beginning of the year to Washington at home and was ranked 3 while 2 Penn State played in the Rose Bowl and some wondered if Miami was deserving of the championship if they beat the Huskers(especially since Penn State, themselves were unbeaten).
Another question going in was who would start at QB for Nebraska. The starter at the beginning of the year, Tommie Frazier had not played since the opener due to a blood clot in his leg. Back-up Brooks Berringer would lead the team and went 10-0 as starter. It wasn't until moments prior to the game that Coach Osborne went with Frazier as the starter. Within minutes ghost of the past haunted Osborne and the Huskers as the Canes jumped out to a 10-0 lead. With the offense struggling, Osborne elected to put Berringer in and on his 2nd drive Berringer connected with Tight End Mark Gilman to make it 10-7.
However, Frank Costa and the Canes continued striking as they took a 17-7 halftime lead and all hope seemed lost for the Huskers. As the 3rd Quarter began, things were in favor of Miami until Costa was sacked in his own end zone for a safety that proved to be the turning point of the game. The defensive play sparked the Huskers offense as Tommie Frazier came back in and connected with Cory Scheleslinger to make a 17-15. Suddenly the drama of the '84 Orange Bowl was repeating itself. However, unlike the 84 game, the two-point conversion was good and it was deadlocked at 17.
Miami continued to struggle moving the ball and continued punting the ball. Finally, Nebraska took the lead with a little under 5 minutes to go to make it 24-17. The score would prove to be last as Nebraska shut down Costa and the Canes again to give Nebraska a 24-17 win in front of a majority Cane crowd. It finally happened, after 22 years Osborne had finally won the National Championship. This championship would be the first of 3 for Osborne and his only victory over Miami(1-3 all-time vs Canes). A year later Nebraska repeated dominating all opponents including a 62-24 blowout of Florida in the Fiesta Bowl. Nebraska would win again in 1997 beating Peyton Manning and the Tennessee Volunteers 42-3 in the Orange Bowl in what was Osborne's last game.
Miami's loss would be the end of the Canes 1st Dynasty(1983-1995) as NCAA sanctions left the program broken and Coach Dennis Erickson, winner of 2 National Championships with Miami left for the Seahawks. Player wise Costa would fade into obscurity while 2 of Miami's defensive players(Warren Sapp and Ray Lewis) would go on to have amazing careers in the NFL. Neither Frazier or Berringer made it to the NFL. Blood clots in the leg would continue to haunt Frazier and on April 18, 1996, Brook Berringer tragically died in a plane crash.
I would like to dedicate this blog to the memory of Brook Berringer.
In 1973, following his win in the Orange Bowl, Nebraska head coach, Bob Devaney announced his retirement. A few days later, Tom Osborne was announced as head coach of Nebraska. He was immediately met with early success with two 9-win seasons. In his third Nebraska started 10-0 and seemed poised for a National Championship. However a 35-10 loss at Oklahoma and a 3 point loss to Arizona State in the Fiesta Bowl eliminated the Huskers.
He had another 10 win start in 1979 but again fell to the Sooners and to Houston in the 1980 Cotton Bowl. In the 1982 season, Nebraska won the Big Eight and had 1 loss heading into the 1983 Orange Bowl. Despite knocking off LSU, the Huskers weren't voted National Champion finishing 3rd behind Penn State(who beat NU) and SMU. Finally, in 1983, they had another chance. Going unbeaten with points scored in the 50's all year, Nebraska went to the 1984 Orange Bowl only to be met(and beaten by underdog Miami, 31-30(more on that later).
10 frustrating years later, the Huskers had another shot. In 1993, they went 11-0 advancing to the Orange Bowl against Florida State. In a back and forth battle of field goals, the Noles knocked off the Huskers following a missed field goal, 18-16. The Huskers were heartbroken, yet determined to return to the title game. Thats just what they did as the Huskers went 12-0 en route to another Orange Bowl birth to face a familiar foe, Miami. Going into the game many questioned who would get the National Championship. Miami had lost at the beginning of the year to Washington at home and was ranked 3 while 2 Penn State played in the Rose Bowl and some wondered if Miami was deserving of the championship if they beat the Huskers(especially since Penn State, themselves were unbeaten).
Another question going in was who would start at QB for Nebraska. The starter at the beginning of the year, Tommie Frazier had not played since the opener due to a blood clot in his leg. Back-up Brooks Berringer would lead the team and went 10-0 as starter. It wasn't until moments prior to the game that Coach Osborne went with Frazier as the starter. Within minutes ghost of the past haunted Osborne and the Huskers as the Canes jumped out to a 10-0 lead. With the offense struggling, Osborne elected to put Berringer in and on his 2nd drive Berringer connected with Tight End Mark Gilman to make it 10-7.
However, Frank Costa and the Canes continued striking as they took a 17-7 halftime lead and all hope seemed lost for the Huskers. As the 3rd Quarter began, things were in favor of Miami until Costa was sacked in his own end zone for a safety that proved to be the turning point of the game. The defensive play sparked the Huskers offense as Tommie Frazier came back in and connected with Cory Scheleslinger to make a 17-15. Suddenly the drama of the '84 Orange Bowl was repeating itself. However, unlike the 84 game, the two-point conversion was good and it was deadlocked at 17.
Miami continued to struggle moving the ball and continued punting the ball. Finally, Nebraska took the lead with a little under 5 minutes to go to make it 24-17. The score would prove to be last as Nebraska shut down Costa and the Canes again to give Nebraska a 24-17 win in front of a majority Cane crowd. It finally happened, after 22 years Osborne had finally won the National Championship. This championship would be the first of 3 for Osborne and his only victory over Miami(1-3 all-time vs Canes). A year later Nebraska repeated dominating all opponents including a 62-24 blowout of Florida in the Fiesta Bowl. Nebraska would win again in 1997 beating Peyton Manning and the Tennessee Volunteers 42-3 in the Orange Bowl in what was Osborne's last game.
Miami's loss would be the end of the Canes 1st Dynasty(1983-1995) as NCAA sanctions left the program broken and Coach Dennis Erickson, winner of 2 National Championships with Miami left for the Seahawks. Player wise Costa would fade into obscurity while 2 of Miami's defensive players(Warren Sapp and Ray Lewis) would go on to have amazing careers in the NFL. Neither Frazier or Berringer made it to the NFL. Blood clots in the leg would continue to haunt Frazier and on April 18, 1996, Brook Berringer tragically died in a plane crash.
I would like to dedicate this blog to the memory of Brook Berringer.
Top 10 of the Last 10:One Night in Piscataway
Recap:
10.Redskins/Rams 2006
9.The 2005 Fiesta Bowl
November 6, 1869, a day where something special was born. It was on that day in New Brunswick, New Jersey that Rutgers College faced off against the College of New Jersey(Princeton). In a game played under rugby rules, Rutgers beat Princeton 6-4(which would be the equivalence to 36-24 under modern rules). The significance of the game? College Football was born.
Despite the loss, Princeton would never lose to Rutgers again until 1938. Losing, itself, would become a tradition at Rutgers. For the next 137 years, Rutgers would struggle to win a championship or any big games. However, some years Rutgers would surprise people by having winning teams. In 1961, under John Bateman, the Scarlet Knights would go 9-0, however University President, Mason Welch Gross would decline any invite to any bowl games(including the Rose Bowl).
Bateman would be successful as coach, finishing with a 73-51 record. In 1978, the Knights qualified for their first ever Bowl Game, a 34-18 loss in the Garden State Bowl. After that, Rutgers would fall straight down hill. In 1991, Rutgers would join the Big East. Despite being in a elite conference, the Knights would continue to struggle against over Big East powers:Miami, Syracuse, and West Virginia going 7-37 against all 3. In 1997, the team hit rock bottom with a 0-11 season.
In 2001, Rutgers fired coach Terry Shea, their 3rd coach in 17 seasons. Replacing Shea would be Greg Schiano, the former Bucknell linebacker. In his first season, Schiano led the Knights to a 2-9 record, worst than the previous year's 3-8. A low light for Schiano's first year would be an 80-3 loss to West Virginia.
Things would get worst the next year when the Knights finished 1-11, the worst in College Football. However, 2003 would be a lot better as the Knights went 5-7, falling short of a Bowl bid. It would be in 2005, the spark began. The Knights would go 7-5 and qualified for the Insight Bowl, falling short to Arizona State, again, 45-40. Going into the 2006 season, many predicted a sub-par season for the Scarlet Knights. However, what happened was something...different.
Rutgers kicked off the 2006 Season with a 21-16 victory over North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Then Scarlet Knights would continue running beating Illinois, Ohio, and Howard by a combined 116-14. In Week 5, the Knights struggled for the first time in 3 weeks as Rutgers jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but within minutes, South Florida would make it a 14-10 game. Rutgers rallied behind Jeremy Ito's 2 field goals and a Ray Rice touchdown to make it 22-14 with 7:02 remaining. However, it wasn't over as Matt Grothe would lead a 8 play, 66 yard drive to make it 22-20 with 15 seconds left.
However, Grothe's pass would fall incomplete on the 2-point conversion and Rutgers escaped Tampa with a 22-20 victory. The Knights would blow out Navy two weeks later and escaped Pitt and UCONN for the next two weeks, leading up to a November 9th showdown with Louisville. Now before we get to that game, let me tell you about the other half of the story, the Louisville Cardinals.
Louisville football began in 1912 and the team went 3-1. The early years for the Cardinals was a struggle as they had 5 straight seasons that featured an average of 2 wins including no team during World War I. In 1925, Louisville had its first unbeaten team at 8-0. However, they went downhill 3 years later finishing 1-7.
Louisville would continue struggle including 1 win in 3 seasons compared to 24 losses. In 1947, Louisville would smell success again going 7-0-1 but it was there last unbeaten season. In 1957, Louisville went 9-1 and earned a birth to their first bowl game, the Sun Bowl. It was at the Sun Bowl the Cards knocked off Drake 34-20. Things seemed to be getting brighter for the Cards.
Over the next 30 years, Louisville saw showers and rain along with sunny days they thought would never end. They would only make 2 Bowl appearences and hit rock bottom in 1975 with a 1-10 record. In the early 80's there was talk about the program dropping to I-AA or FCS status or dropping the program all together after a string of terrible seasons. In 1985, Louisville hired Howard Schnellenberger, the man who just 6 years earlier revived Miami from the grave and brought them a National Championship. In his first four seasons, the Cards went a combined 10-33 and fans were calling for his firing. However, in 1988, all talk was killed following an 8-3 season with hope and promise for next year.
However, 1989 finished with a dissapointing 6-5 record for the Cards. Little did fans know but 1990 would be there year. The season would start out badly with a 10-10 tie vs San Jose State but the Cards would blow out Murray State the next week, and upset Kansas and West Virginia at Morgantown. However, it was Southern Miss that would spoil any chance of going unbeaten as the Cards fell 25-13 in Hattiesburg. The rest of the way the Cards would never lose earning a bid to the 1991 Fiesta Bowl against Alabama. Despite Bama's 7-5 record many said that the Crimson Tide were favored due to their tradition. By the end of the day Louisville had knocked off the Tide 34-7 completing Schnellenberger's mission.
Three years later Schnellenberger left the team finishing with a record of 54-56-2 but it was the start of something big. In 1996, Louisville joined the Conference USA starting off by beating state rival, Kentucky 38-14 in Lexington. However, Louisville had sunk again finishing 1-10 in 1997 with the sole win against a winless Illinois team. The following year, however, they bounced back finishing 7-5 but losing to 12-win Marshall 48-29 in the Motor City Bowl. Louisville would continue to flounder around as a mid-major waiting for the game that puts them on the map. That chance would come on September 26, 2002.
It was that day Louisville faced off against the No.4 team in the country, Florida State. The Noles had been a dominant force in the ACC throughout the 90's but was coming off its first ever season in the ACC where they didn't win the conference title. In an epic battle the Cards upset the Noles 26-20 but would not have the same success afterward. In 2004, it was announced that Louisville would join the Big East and before they could, they wanted to make a huge splash by beating Miami, the team that dominated the conference for the longest time but was leaving for the ACC. At the Orange Bowl, Louisville jumped out to a 31-14 lead at halftime and seemed poised to pull off the upset. However, they struggled in the 2nd half losing 41-38.
The rest of the year Louisville would not lose and they finished their tenure in the Conference USA beating unbeaten Boise State 44-40 in the Liberty Bowl. In 2005, Louisville began their tenure in the Big East knocking off Kentucky 31-24. However, in Week 3, the 9 Cardinals would fall to former C-USA rival South Florida losing 45-14 in Raymond James Stadium. The next two weeks, Louisville would knock off Florida Atlantic and North Carolina by a combined 130-24 and finished the season 9-3. Despite losing the Gator Bowl, hopes were high and many believed that the Cards would win the National Championship in 2006.
The Cards got off to a good(and bad start) beating Kentucky 59-28 but losing runningback Michael Bush to a broken leg. The Cards wouldn't lose the first two months and entered a November 2nd showdown with West Virginia(who was also unbeaten) at Papa John's Stadium. In a battle between two bitter conference rivals, Louisville knocked off the Mountaineers 44-34 leading to the following Thursday's game against Rutgers.
The game was covered by ESPN and to show how big it was for the New York/New Jersey area, the Empire State Building was colored red for the night in honor of the Scarlet Knights. Immediately, Louisville struck and they took a 7-0 lead. However, it wouldn't last as the Knights would tie it at 7. Immediately following that, Jajuan Spillman returned the kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. To make matters worse, Rutgers blocked the kick but Louisville got two anyways to make it 15-7. With 6:34 left in the 2nd, it was 25-7 Louisville.
Rutgers would score before halftime to make it 25-14 going into the break. With 10:13 to go in the 4th Quarter, Rutgers tied it at 25. At 5:03 in the 4th, Rutgers got the ball back and would set up a memorable drive. Within 3 minutes, Rutgers drove from their own 9 to the Louisville 39. From there they would continue pounding the ball in with Brian Leonard and Ray Rice. On 3rd and 4, Ray Rice was sacked and Rutgers would call timeout with 21 ticks remaining. On 4th and 7, Jeremy Ito's 33 yard field goal went wide left and it appeared as if overtime was on the horizon.
However, Louisville was called for off sides and Ito would nail on a 26 yarder to make it 28-25 with 13 seconds left. However, due to the NCAA's stupid clock rules in 2006(I apologize for the pointless short rant), it wouldn't be until there was 1 second left that Louisville had a chance to get the ball back. At his 41, Louisville QB Brian Brohm dropped back, looked down field...and got sacked. It was just like that Rutgers had defeated Louisville for its biggest win of all time and was poised for a National Championship as close to 50,000 people stormed the field within what seemed like 3 seconds.
Ito got redemption
And 50,000 ran onto the field in what seemed like 5 seconds.
The celebration would be short lived for the Scarlet Knights as they would lose 30-11 to Cincinnati and lose to West Virginia in another classic a month later. However, Louisville would not lose the rest of the way and knocked off Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl. What makes this No.8 for me? Well I've always been a fan of non-traditional teams and I'm a supporter of the Big East despite being a Maryland fan. Rutgers and Louisville like most of the Big East have never been seen as a great team despite their recent records. This season these two teams will meet again November 29th in Louisville and if it's like last year you're guaranteed for another classic.
10.Redskins/Rams 2006
9.The 2005 Fiesta Bowl
November 6, 1869, a day where something special was born. It was on that day in New Brunswick, New Jersey that Rutgers College faced off against the College of New Jersey(Princeton). In a game played under rugby rules, Rutgers beat Princeton 6-4(which would be the equivalence to 36-24 under modern rules). The significance of the game? College Football was born.
Despite the loss, Princeton would never lose to Rutgers again until 1938. Losing, itself, would become a tradition at Rutgers. For the next 137 years, Rutgers would struggle to win a championship or any big games. However, some years Rutgers would surprise people by having winning teams. In 1961, under John Bateman, the Scarlet Knights would go 9-0, however University President, Mason Welch Gross would decline any invite to any bowl games(including the Rose Bowl).
Bateman would be successful as coach, finishing with a 73-51 record. In 1978, the Knights qualified for their first ever Bowl Game, a 34-18 loss in the Garden State Bowl. After that, Rutgers would fall straight down hill. In 1991, Rutgers would join the Big East. Despite being in a elite conference, the Knights would continue to struggle against over Big East powers:Miami, Syracuse, and West Virginia going 7-37 against all 3. In 1997, the team hit rock bottom with a 0-11 season.
In 2001, Rutgers fired coach Terry Shea, their 3rd coach in 17 seasons. Replacing Shea would be Greg Schiano, the former Bucknell linebacker. In his first season, Schiano led the Knights to a 2-9 record, worst than the previous year's 3-8. A low light for Schiano's first year would be an 80-3 loss to West Virginia.
Things would get worst the next year when the Knights finished 1-11, the worst in College Football. However, 2003 would be a lot better as the Knights went 5-7, falling short of a Bowl bid. It would be in 2005, the spark began. The Knights would go 7-5 and qualified for the Insight Bowl, falling short to Arizona State, again, 45-40. Going into the 2006 season, many predicted a sub-par season for the Scarlet Knights. However, what happened was something...different.
Rutgers kicked off the 2006 Season with a 21-16 victory over North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Then Scarlet Knights would continue running beating Illinois, Ohio, and Howard by a combined 116-14. In Week 5, the Knights struggled for the first time in 3 weeks as Rutgers jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but within minutes, South Florida would make it a 14-10 game. Rutgers rallied behind Jeremy Ito's 2 field goals and a Ray Rice touchdown to make it 22-14 with 7:02 remaining. However, it wasn't over as Matt Grothe would lead a 8 play, 66 yard drive to make it 22-20 with 15 seconds left.
However, Grothe's pass would fall incomplete on the 2-point conversion and Rutgers escaped Tampa with a 22-20 victory. The Knights would blow out Navy two weeks later and escaped Pitt and UCONN for the next two weeks, leading up to a November 9th showdown with Louisville. Now before we get to that game, let me tell you about the other half of the story, the Louisville Cardinals.
Louisville football began in 1912 and the team went 3-1. The early years for the Cardinals was a struggle as they had 5 straight seasons that featured an average of 2 wins including no team during World War I. In 1925, Louisville had its first unbeaten team at 8-0. However, they went downhill 3 years later finishing 1-7.
Louisville would continue struggle including 1 win in 3 seasons compared to 24 losses. In 1947, Louisville would smell success again going 7-0-1 but it was there last unbeaten season. In 1957, Louisville went 9-1 and earned a birth to their first bowl game, the Sun Bowl. It was at the Sun Bowl the Cards knocked off Drake 34-20. Things seemed to be getting brighter for the Cards.
Over the next 30 years, Louisville saw showers and rain along with sunny days they thought would never end. They would only make 2 Bowl appearences and hit rock bottom in 1975 with a 1-10 record. In the early 80's there was talk about the program dropping to I-AA or FCS status or dropping the program all together after a string of terrible seasons. In 1985, Louisville hired Howard Schnellenberger, the man who just 6 years earlier revived Miami from the grave and brought them a National Championship. In his first four seasons, the Cards went a combined 10-33 and fans were calling for his firing. However, in 1988, all talk was killed following an 8-3 season with hope and promise for next year.
However, 1989 finished with a dissapointing 6-5 record for the Cards. Little did fans know but 1990 would be there year. The season would start out badly with a 10-10 tie vs San Jose State but the Cards would blow out Murray State the next week, and upset Kansas and West Virginia at Morgantown. However, it was Southern Miss that would spoil any chance of going unbeaten as the Cards fell 25-13 in Hattiesburg. The rest of the way the Cards would never lose earning a bid to the 1991 Fiesta Bowl against Alabama. Despite Bama's 7-5 record many said that the Crimson Tide were favored due to their tradition. By the end of the day Louisville had knocked off the Tide 34-7 completing Schnellenberger's mission.
Three years later Schnellenberger left the team finishing with a record of 54-56-2 but it was the start of something big. In 1996, Louisville joined the Conference USA starting off by beating state rival, Kentucky 38-14 in Lexington. However, Louisville had sunk again finishing 1-10 in 1997 with the sole win against a winless Illinois team. The following year, however, they bounced back finishing 7-5 but losing to 12-win Marshall 48-29 in the Motor City Bowl. Louisville would continue to flounder around as a mid-major waiting for the game that puts them on the map. That chance would come on September 26, 2002.
It was that day Louisville faced off against the No.4 team in the country, Florida State. The Noles had been a dominant force in the ACC throughout the 90's but was coming off its first ever season in the ACC where they didn't win the conference title. In an epic battle the Cards upset the Noles 26-20 but would not have the same success afterward. In 2004, it was announced that Louisville would join the Big East and before they could, they wanted to make a huge splash by beating Miami, the team that dominated the conference for the longest time but was leaving for the ACC. At the Orange Bowl, Louisville jumped out to a 31-14 lead at halftime and seemed poised to pull off the upset. However, they struggled in the 2nd half losing 41-38.
The rest of the year Louisville would not lose and they finished their tenure in the Conference USA beating unbeaten Boise State 44-40 in the Liberty Bowl. In 2005, Louisville began their tenure in the Big East knocking off Kentucky 31-24. However, in Week 3, the 9 Cardinals would fall to former C-USA rival South Florida losing 45-14 in Raymond James Stadium. The next two weeks, Louisville would knock off Florida Atlantic and North Carolina by a combined 130-24 and finished the season 9-3. Despite losing the Gator Bowl, hopes were high and many believed that the Cards would win the National Championship in 2006.
The Cards got off to a good(and bad start) beating Kentucky 59-28 but losing runningback Michael Bush to a broken leg. The Cards wouldn't lose the first two months and entered a November 2nd showdown with West Virginia(who was also unbeaten) at Papa John's Stadium. In a battle between two bitter conference rivals, Louisville knocked off the Mountaineers 44-34 leading to the following Thursday's game against Rutgers.
The game was covered by ESPN and to show how big it was for the New York/New Jersey area, the Empire State Building was colored red for the night in honor of the Scarlet Knights. Immediately, Louisville struck and they took a 7-0 lead. However, it wouldn't last as the Knights would tie it at 7. Immediately following that, Jajuan Spillman returned the kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. To make matters worse, Rutgers blocked the kick but Louisville got two anyways to make it 15-7. With 6:34 left in the 2nd, it was 25-7 Louisville.
Rutgers would score before halftime to make it 25-14 going into the break. With 10:13 to go in the 4th Quarter, Rutgers tied it at 25. At 5:03 in the 4th, Rutgers got the ball back and would set up a memorable drive. Within 3 minutes, Rutgers drove from their own 9 to the Louisville 39. From there they would continue pounding the ball in with Brian Leonard and Ray Rice. On 3rd and 4, Ray Rice was sacked and Rutgers would call timeout with 21 ticks remaining. On 4th and 7, Jeremy Ito's 33 yard field goal went wide left and it appeared as if overtime was on the horizon.
However, Louisville was called for off sides and Ito would nail on a 26 yarder to make it 28-25 with 13 seconds left. However, due to the NCAA's stupid clock rules in 2006(I apologize for the pointless short rant), it wouldn't be until there was 1 second left that Louisville had a chance to get the ball back. At his 41, Louisville QB Brian Brohm dropped back, looked down field...and got sacked. It was just like that Rutgers had defeated Louisville for its biggest win of all time and was poised for a National Championship as close to 50,000 people stormed the field within what seemed like 3 seconds.
Ito got redemption
And 50,000 ran onto the field in what seemed like 5 seconds.
The celebration would be short lived for the Scarlet Knights as they would lose 30-11 to Cincinnati and lose to West Virginia in another classic a month later. However, Louisville would not lose the rest of the way and knocked off Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl. What makes this No.8 for me? Well I've always been a fan of non-traditional teams and I'm a supporter of the Big East despite being a Maryland fan. Rutgers and Louisville like most of the Big East have never been seen as a great team despite their recent records. This season these two teams will meet again November 29th in Louisville and if it's like last year you're guaranteed for another classic.
September 11, 2001
Every generation has a moment of tragedy that has everyone come together.
In the Silent Generation, it was Pearl Harbor
In the Baby Boomer Generation, it was the day of JFK's assassination
In Generation X, it was the Iran hostage crisis
In this Generation(Y), it was September 11, 2001
Everyone knows where they were at the time it occurred.
For me, I was in Elementary School. It was my final year, and I was sitting in the library eating lunch(I was part of a club where rather than sitting at the regular lunch table and talking, we'd listen to book reading from the librarian). I recall a teacher walking into the room and telling Ms.Frailin(name most likely not spelled correct)about some kind of explosion or a bomb threat(which was what I heard). I, at first, thought there was a bomb threat in the school(no one outside of the teachers knew what was going on until then). We were immediately dismissed(however, we had to await buses or relatives to pick us up. 30 minutes later my aunt showed up and took me and my sister home.
I came home, horrified to what had happen. It began at 7:59am with Flight 11, bound for Los Angeles taking off at Logan International airport. Less than an hour later, at 8:46, it crashed into the North tower. 17 minutes later, Flight 175(heading for L.A. from Boston)crashed into the South Tower. It was there most Americans had figured out what was going on.
Within the same hour, Flight 93 would be hijacked, however, the plane was taken back by the passengers before crashing into a field in Pennsylvania. Alongside with Flight 77's crashing into the Pentagon. By the end of the 9th hour, the South Tower collapsed. Half an hour later, the North tower would be gone also. In the debris and rubble of the the World Trade Center towers, firemen and police officers alike attempted to save the lives of the victims. Some would escape, but by the end of it, 2,603 people were dead with 24 missing. In total 2,974 people were dead.
Now 6 years later, I look back at that day that, just like Pearl Harbor, is a day that will live in infamy. The attacks on our country was tragic and while the terrorists thought we would crumble, we stand strong and I hope we can find Bin Laden and end this war. Please feel free to send your comments and thoughts on this blog.
In the Silent Generation, it was Pearl Harbor
In the Baby Boomer Generation, it was the day of JFK's assassination
In Generation X, it was the Iran hostage crisis
In this Generation(Y), it was September 11, 2001
Everyone knows where they were at the time it occurred.
For me, I was in Elementary School. It was my final year, and I was sitting in the library eating lunch(I was part of a club where rather than sitting at the regular lunch table and talking, we'd listen to book reading from the librarian). I recall a teacher walking into the room and telling Ms.Frailin(name most likely not spelled correct)about some kind of explosion or a bomb threat(which was what I heard). I, at first, thought there was a bomb threat in the school(no one outside of the teachers knew what was going on until then). We were immediately dismissed(however, we had to await buses or relatives to pick us up. 30 minutes later my aunt showed up and took me and my sister home.
I came home, horrified to what had happen. It began at 7:59am with Flight 11, bound for Los Angeles taking off at Logan International airport. Less than an hour later, at 8:46, it crashed into the North tower. 17 minutes later, Flight 175(heading for L.A. from Boston)crashed into the South Tower. It was there most Americans had figured out what was going on.
Within the same hour, Flight 93 would be hijacked, however, the plane was taken back by the passengers before crashing into a field in Pennsylvania. Alongside with Flight 77's crashing into the Pentagon. By the end of the 9th hour, the South Tower collapsed. Half an hour later, the North tower would be gone also. In the debris and rubble of the the World Trade Center towers, firemen and police officers alike attempted to save the lives of the victims. Some would escape, but by the end of it, 2,603 people were dead with 24 missing. In total 2,974 people were dead.
Now 6 years later, I look back at that day that, just like Pearl Harbor, is a day that will live in infamy. The attacks on our country was tragic and while the terrorists thought we would crumble, we stand strong and I hope we can find Bin Laden and end this war. Please feel free to send your comments and thoughts on this blog.
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