.........Top 10 Games, BCS era

[NDKane21]

UGa v. Bama in last year's SECCG. That is the best SECCG ever. Fuck you, Bama!

Great game, really wish GA would have won...not saying we would have beat them but think we would have not shit our pants...might have beat GA.

Now we're on last season...worse loss of the year was the smack down KSU took to Baylor. Irish would have beat Kolin Klein.

 

[NDKane21]

This was definitely the best regular season game of the BCS era. I can't think of anything that was even close. So many momentum changes and great plays. I still wonder late at night how we didn't recover the fumble on that last drive, and how the refs missed the obvious false start on the 3rd down conversion right before the Hail Mary. Such is the life of the tortured sports fan.

Man, I hear you...great game. But then I think about who gives two shits about those teams outside of Wisconsin and less than half of Michigan.

 

[NDKane21]

Bush Push >

Yeah, pretty good. Wasn't going to say but I was asked to leave the bar after that game, was still early too...was ready to go anyway.

 

[NDKane21]

Seriously, this game was so damn good. One of the only regular season games that was so overhyped and actually delivered 10 fold. Probably one of the only times Notre Dame haters actually rooted for their side.

The surprise green and gold jerseys. Was ND "back" or were they pretenders like they showed against MSU? Was Charlie Weiss a for real offensive genius? 4th and 9. Notre Dame won, then they didn't win. Questions of if anyone would ever beat a Pete Carroll USC team again.

I like you man...growing on me. But, did you see the UCLA vs ND game in '06? Could be in the top 10. Maybe, maybe not...thoughts please? Quinn to the Shark...everybody is now happy, dog and old lady included.

 

[NDKane21]

I like this game a lot. Tommy Z went to my high school, and this was his finest hour. It still wasn't as good as the MSU-Wisconsin game. Both games were instant classics before their endings, but the Russell Wilson heroics + strip fumble to MSU + Hail Mary was greater than the Bush Push ending.

Both are definite top ten games. The only other regular season games that belong are 1998 MSU-Ohio State and 2008 Texas Tech-Texas. Maybe Michigan-Appalachian State as well, but like most people, I only saw the ending.

I agree it was a great game, and both belong in the top ten. But the winner of the Bush Push game would have eventually played in the NC game. And it captivated the college football scene...untouchable USC getting touched up by ND, in the green unis...was madness. I barely remember your game. What would have happened if one or the other won? Was there big implications on the line? It was only important in one and a half states.

 

[NDKane21]

Bush Push is what the game's known as, but that play lost us the game.

Remember it like it was yesterday...sideline, over the shoulder...then came the "FUCK!!!!". Then came the sir, "we're going to have to ask you to leave." "I'm sorry, can I please just see the end of this?". "Fair enough"



"ok, I'm ready to leave now..."

 

[NDKane21]

I personally enjoyed this one. Hell of a gutsy call.

So much ND love around here. I personally liked seeing FSU beat Auburn.

We get you guys next year...

You got the heisman. The best team in the country. At your place. 10/18 I beleive.

EG is on the roster now. 2014 will be fun. 10/18 I'm looking forward to. On a sidenote, my very first ND game was '93 Noles vs the Irish, diehard since.

 

[NDKane21]

Not many people watched it, but 42 point underdog Stanford took down the mighty USC Trojans 24-23 back in 2007 in the biggest upset (according to the point spread) in college football history.

This game gave Stanford, and its young head coach in Jim Harbaugh, some real steam to move forward in their recruiting efforts of rebuilding and creating the solid program that we know them to be in 2014. By 2010, Harbaugh had the Cardinal BCS bowling while USC was languishing in NCAA sanctions with 1st year head coach Lane Kiffin.

You know what, you are correct. I agree. Nominate it for the top ten.

 

[NDKane21]

2012 Orange Bowl...

LOL...Clemson. SMH.

 

[NDKane21]

I think we should compile a best 20 or 15 off a lot of good suggestions then maybe a little reseach then make a poll. Let people vote on it. Can you make polls on this board?

 

[Smart]

I agree it was a great game, and both belong in the top ten. But the winner of the Bush Push game would have eventually played in the NC game.

Had Wisconsin beaten Michigan State, they would have played in the NCG. The only other regular season loss was a questionably officiated OSU game. And even ignoring the fact that we would have had more to play for, whenever a major conference has a chance to play for the title, the refs pull some strings to help them out. Let's not kid ourselves here.

 

[Smart]

Here's my thoughts written in a Columbus hotel room after that 2011 OSU loss. I think it gives you an idea of how catastrophically awful we played and how we still, after all of that, should have won:

Losses are always tough, but this was on another level. There are so many places you can look at and say “that cost us the game”, and I’ll probably get to a lot of them. Still, even after all of the catastrophes, we had this game. It was ours and we gave it right back to them, and I’ll doubt I will ever get over that.

I’m sure that a lot of the post game talk is going to be on how Russell blew it again. That is total and absolute bull shit. He played well when he had no receivers open. When he had to step it up, he led his team down the field twice to take the lead. He played another great game. I’m sure after his performance tonight, they’ll give the Heisman to Luck. I saw Lou Holtz say he never had more respect for Andrew Luck than when he rallied his team at the end. Well, Russell did the same thing twice and has better overall statistics. Russell should win the Heisman, but nobody’s going to consider him. That’s truly unfortunate.

The offense’s major problem was a fundamental planning problem. You can’t have 6’8 330 pound lineman covering a 210 pound linebacker. OSU stacked the box with linebackers all game, and our linemen couldn’t tolerate that. It pretty much eliminated the running game, which is a major credit to Ohio State.

That said, the passing game has to be your option when they try to stop the running game. Our receivers were not getting open all night. Yes, they had less time than normal, but you have to get open. Part of this is that lingering Nick Toon injury that no one is talking about. He’s been nowhere near 100% the last games, and it has had a huge impact. Abbredaris is a solid #2, but he has not been able to be a full game #1. That said, he made some great plays to keep us in the game. It’s just too bad nobody else stepped up before that.

The defensive line was god awful today. Seriously, they were getting pushed around all day. The linebackers were everywhere just like every other week. You can look at some missed tackles by them and get a little angry, but if we had 11 players as good as Borland, Taylor, and Claxton, we wouldn’t have a problem. It’s easy to get pissed at the secondary after that last play, but they played well the whole game (especially Aaron Henry). Cromartie getting beat at the end left a sour taste in the mouth, especially because he got beat by a guy named Devin Smith. I’d be fine if we went with Peniel Jean at that #2 spot. All that said, the defense was pretty good for most of the most of the night. They weren’t the biggest problem tonight.

That title goes to Special Teams. Yes, they recovered the fumble. Outside of that, there was nothing to be excited about. We weren’t getting beyond the 20 on kickoffs at all. We had a blocked punt that was in essence recovered for a touchdown. The last play never would have happened if we hadn’t let them return it to the 50. You’d have thought after costing us the win last week, the special teams would want to prove themselves. Instead, they lost the game for us again.

Finally, I can’t talk about the game without talking about the officiating. I hate to be the guy who talks about the refs costing us the game. That said, the refs were incredibly one sided in this game. They missed at least four really obvious holds or blocks in the back. By really obvious, I mean a hold where pulled jersey is clearly visible near the ball, and the blocks in the back where blocks directly in the back right next to the ball. The worst missed hold was on the deep run by Herron at the start of the second. The OSU player held us for at least fifteen yards right next to the ball. There was also a terrible no call on a really obvious OSU interference against Toon that ended a drive. I’ve seen a lot of games where a bad call here or there made a difference. This was one-sided officiating all day, and it was beyond frustrating.

The last question becomes “What Now”? I still think that we are a really good team. I’ll be pretty stunned if we don’t win out. Penn State’s a good team, but I don’t see us losing at Camp Randall. I guess Illinois could be a loss if the conditions were right, but it seems like a long shot. If we beat Purdue and Minnesota as well, we go 6-2 in the conference. We’d thus need OSU to have one loss in their final four (this seems likely), and we’d need Penn State to lose another game (to either OSU or Nebraska). This seems likely as well. Even after these two tough losses, we can still win the Big Ten. Hopefully, we can fix our issues and put ourselves in a position to win the conference.

 

[NDKane21]

Here's my thoughts written in a Columbus hotel room after that 2011 OSU loss. I think it gives you an idea of how catastrophically awful we played and how we still, after all of that, should have won:

There is no fucking way I'm reading all of this. I'll take your word for it.

 

[NDKane21]

Like I said...put it in a poll and lets all have a vote on it. Maybe rank them 1 - 10 then an final consensus will determine the outcome?

 

[FSUmanager]

So much ND love around here. I personally liked seeing FSU beat Auburn.

We get you guys next year...

You got the heisman. The best team in the country. At your place. 10/18 I beleive.

EG is on the roster now. 2014 will be fun. 10/18 I'm looking forward to. On a sidenote, my very first ND game was '93 Noles vs the Irish, diehard since.

I know we are playing you all. I am taking some HUGE ND fans to the game in Tallahassee. Making the nice long drive to show them what a football atmosphere is like.

Golson is back on the team for now. Not so sure if he will be there come August.

My first game at ND was 2003 when FSU came to town and gave ND their worst home loss 37-0. Sat right beside the ND student section. Never saw a stadium empty so fast. Halfway through the 3rd quarter most ND fans were gone. Got to go to 5 games while I lived in South Bend. The wife worked for 1st Source Bank then and they did raffles for the season tickets that the bank purchased every year.

 

[HuskerOC]

Had Wisconsin beaten Michigan State, they would have played in the NCG. The only other regular season loss was a questionably officiated OSU game. And even ignoring the fact that we would have had more to play for, whenever a major conference has a chance to play for the title, the refs pull some strings to help them out. Let's not kid ourselves here.

Time to let it go.

You lost to Oregon in the Rose Bowl. An Oregon team that got beat 40-27 by Runner-Up LSU. A loss that made your Badgers a 3 loss team.

Wisconsin would have got their stuff pushed in as much as you pushed Nebraska's stuff in earlier that season in a 48-17 beat down by either Alabama or LSU.

 

[FSUmanager]

2012 Orange Bowl...

I believe right after that game is when Dabo had this poster made.

 

[NDKane21]

I know we are playing you all. I am taking some HUGE ND fans to the game in Tallahassee. Making the nice long drive to show them what a football atmosphere is like.

Golson is back on the team for now. Not so sure if he will be there come August.

My first game at ND was 2003 when FSU came to town and gave ND their worst home loss 37-0. Sat right beside the ND student section. Never saw a stadium empty so fast. Halfway through the 3rd quarter most ND fans were gone. Got to go to 5 games while I lived in South Bend. The wife worked for 1st Source Bank then and they did raffles for the season tickets that the bank purchased every year.

Am pretty sure he'll be playing QB in this game barring injury.

That's pretty cool. I've been to the stadium about 15 times and never gets old. Got something back for you...I have family in Thomasville, GA...bout a half hour from FSU. I may be making my first appearance in whatever FSU calls their stadium...the swamp right? No that is that other FL team. I have no idea, let me guess...Bobby Bowden Stadium?

 

[Smart]

Time to let it go.

You lost to Oregon in the Rose Bowl. An Oregon team that got beat 40-27 by Runner-Up LSU. A loss that made your Badgers a 3 loss team.

Wisconsin would have got their stuff pushed in as much as you pushed Nebraska's stuff in earlier that season in a 48-17 beat down by either Alabama or LSU.

Not really. Oregon was the single worst possible matchup for us defensively. Our team was fundamentally solid everywhere, but was slow at the safety and linebacker positions. Oregon was able to exploit that and tear them apart. Would LSU have been able to? Doubtful.

And if anything, time has just shown us how great that Badger offense was. 10 of the 11 will be taken by the end of the 5th round (the 11th had major injury issues, or else he might have been the highest pick of the bunch; He was the highest ranked recruit and a 1st team All-Conference). Hell, six of the eleven players on that team started as NFL rookies. And that doesn't count Montee Ball (500+ RY, in the Super Bowl) or Jared Abbredaris (nobody should be shocked if he starts next year). And in case you didn't hear, our quarterback might have been a little better than Jordan Jefferson.

It's funny how often people talk about how Wisconsin "is going to get blown out" or "would have gotten blown out." And yet, a dozen teams that wound up in the top 10 have tried to blow us out since 2009, and none of them have.

 

[NDKane21]

Not really. Oregon was the single worst possible matchup for us defensively. Our team was fundamentally solid everywhere, but was slow at the safety and linebacker positions. Oregon was able to exploit that and tear them apart. Would LSU have been able to? Doubtful.

And if anything, time has just shown us how great that Badger offense was. 10 of the 11 will be taken by the end of the 5th round (the 11th had major injury issues, or else he might have been the highest pick of the bunch; He was the highest ranked recruit and a 1st team All-Conference). Hell, six of the eleven players on that team started as NFL rookies. And that doesn't count Montee Ball (500+ RY, in the Super Bowl) or Jared Abbredaris (nobody should be shocked if he starts next year). And in case you didn't hear, our quarterback might have been a little better than Jordan Jefferson.

It's funny how often people talk about how Wisconsin "is going to get blown out" or "would have gotten blown out." And yet, a dozen teams that wound up in the top 10 have tried to blow us out since 2009, and none of them have.

Man, you write books. Give me a minute to order the cliff notes. This is a message board, not your journal...or "O" magazine.