The Best College Football Team of ALL TIME

Can you tell it’s almost August…

The Best College Football Team of All Time… I’ll give ya one guess.

I can still see the look on Coach Spurrier’s face… Priceless!

That team was the best team I’ve seen. But that team was so good offensively and I’m more of a “defense wins championships” type, so I would vote the ’61 Tide as the best team ever. They only allowed 25 points the whole season. It’s hard to beat a team if you can’t score on them.

When I think of the ’92 team, I think of the great defense, but they had a couple of playmakers on the offense, notably David Palmer. I don’t think they would have beat the ’95 Husker team. The Husker team was so good on both sides of the ball. The night they killed the gators was unbelievable.

I don’t know if you recall, but the ’91 Huskies played the Huskers in Lincoln and beat them. I was at the game. They were a very good team, no doubt. But I wouldn’t rank them that high.

Oh, and that Bama D was simply amazing!

Whoa!
Looks like everybody forgot the ’83 Hawkeyes, I should have expected this from ESPN, but Wade, how could you?! For shame sir, for shame.

Sean, You’ve been slipping that irish whiskey into your Frosted Flakes again haven’t you buddy.

No Jameson’s in the frosted flakes Wade, but I definitely accompanied the lunchtime baked potato with some Cutty……….. That Hawks post was just a guy from Iowa trying to feel a little bit better about himself, but seriously, if Ronnie Harmon hadn’t been shaving points, who knows???????

I hear ya brother! And we love ya!

What the heck is going on here?????? This is the HUSKER forum not the Hawkeye or Husky forum. Geeze, I go away for a few days and this is what happens to our forum????
The days of the ‘Skers’ are back and this is going to ge a great year for the good guys

I agree Zach. I really think the D is going to be something this year. If the O-line can get anywhere near respectable, we’re going to have fun this year.

JD

How cool would it be for the boys to come back from LA with a win over the Trojans in Septemeber?!! Call me a homer, but I think they’re going to get it done!

Doah! Get back to work Mack! You’ve got 2 hours left!

So Alvin are you saying that Bill is the Huskers?? I am not a Bill fan either but Pederson is the REAL enemy!!!!! It would be fun to watch the ’95’ Huskers each take there best shot at him while he returns a kickoff

Alvin, for a MN guy you sure do know your ‘skers’. Well said and I hope those days come back again!!!!

Mack buddy, I couldn’t disagree with you more. Frank was a great guy but made so many terrible mistakes coaching games I couldn’t stand it any more myself. I would have fired him the year prior to his exit. His game-time decisions were HORRIBLE!

I aslo support Wild Bill 100 percent. Not because I think he was the best hire, but that’s who they hired and he deserves a fair shot at it. He needs time to get this team moving in the right direction. They have shown that they are making progress and that’s all we can ask when a coach is installing a new system (especially when he had to start with players who were recruited for a completely different system). He’s done a great job so far, under difficult circumstances.

As for the good ‘ol option, I loved it as much as anyone. But, the reality of the situation is that team defenses have gotten so much faster that the option became less and less effective. I would have preferred they would have gone to a more balanced attack over the west coast offense, but after watching this offense for a while now I can see that they are very effective utilizing the run game and appear to do whatever is necessary to win the game, run or pass.

As for AD peterson, I don’t like him. But, we’re stuck with him for a while so I guess we should just accept it and enjoy watching our team put on a great show this year.

I honestly think the ‘Skers have a very good chance going into that game. If it were in Lincoln I’d say it’s a done deal. That’s how confident I am that this team is ready to make it’s stand. So, I’ll take that bet Mack. I’ll bet you 10 white-haired trebs versus the terminal tackle of your choice that the boys get it done in LA. Deal?

One more thing, you won’t see USC going 400 yards on dive right, counter left up the flippin’ middle all day long like the lowly Buffs did against them during the Solich era. My goodness! My head still hurts from that game!

Here’s to the future of Husker Nation baby!

Wade

Post a reminder to yourself – we can never, never, never talk Nebraska football.

Todd

What fun would it be if we all didn’t have these friendly… discussions?

I’ll stand alone if I must, but I really do believe everything that comes out of my mouth… and off the tips of my fingers. You boys will see the light some day, and I’ll be waiting, patiently, to hear those sweet words… Wade, you were RIGHT!

Wade,

If you didn’t notice, my license plates are GO HSKRS. I should give them up, I don’t deserve them other than I am an Alum.

It doesn’t matter if you’re right or I’m right. Camelot is lost my friend, replaced by “Husker Nation”, whatever the he!! that is.

There are a ton of people like me who’ve simply given up their tickets and don’t go, don’t give donations, and won’t support the program – pretty much any program – while Pederson is there. I was glad to see the new north end zone fill up, but I also know you could buy $5 tickets to about any game the last few years, sometimes $5 for four. NU athletics, to me, wasn’t about just winning, it was about how things were done, how traditions were honored, how people are treated. I liked smashmouth football, but I could care less about the system over a long-term view. Osborne evolved, Solich was starting too (and no, I don’t put Solich on a Pedestal but Stoops only won 8 last year and they didn’t drag him down). I DID and DO care about people, the process, and pride. I don’t think it’s any accident that Pelini, Sanders, Cotton, etc. have went on to great success.

Whether it was his handling of Solich and his assistants, the total botch job with Collier coming and going (he probably got bailed on that one now, the inept coaching search, the lying about public information, his goofy smile, his uncomfortable egotistical press conferences, the hanging of the assistants out to dry during the Alamo Bowl, or his utter lack of respect other than lip service, I don’t like the man or what’s he’s turned things into. Ask former players what they think, he’s not a liked guy. It’s been widely reported his former coaches at PITT (Harris & Howland) don’t think much of him though they were great hires. As to other AD’s, I think the guy in Houston, the folks at ESPN, and so on have a pretty strong opinion too. I will give him credit for FINALLY getting some good games scheduled. Let’s see what he does for small fish.

There simply WAS Nebraska, and there IS Nebraska. I didn’t move forward with the changes. I will always always wish the players the best, but as to the rest, some Nebraskans wanted and “NFL” type organization, now they have it. Of course, Pederson WANTED Callahan all along, or was it Nutt, or was it Tedford, or Meyer – oops, both of those guys said publicly they’d NEVER work for a AD like that who fired the 4th winningest coach in college football.

If you think I’m in a huge minority, tell me why we can’t raise even 20 million for the new stadium, most are still pegging it at 16 million in actual receipts and of that, most was in large chunks. My wife and I had a check written on the table to mail the week Solich was fired, it was torn up a month later after Pederson continually showed publicly the kind of guy he his. Would you even hire him as an office manager? If he wasn’t in an organization that people tear off their arms to work for, he’d be alone.

A lot of people didn’t like Bill Byrne either, that’s ok. He made a lot of good changes and took the heat, but he was ALWAYS behind the coaches. So was Devaney. In my office, I look up at a pic of Bill and I holding walleye – Bill’s first ever that’s he holding like a trout.

If you want to puke, read this and tell me Pedey isn’t egomaniacal. I couldn’t imagine a bio like that, he sure gives credit to others….

http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=187&SPID=41&DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=5144

Whew…

More fun reading. I DO hope the Huskers regain their glory, do things right, and prosper. But admit it, some of this was unbelievable.

It’s NEBRASKA
http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/02/06/4023f50bb3e7f?in_archive=1

Nebraska has 5 coaches turn down the best job in Football
(What Pedey always says anyway)
http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/01/08/3ffe6a913e405?in_archive=1

“Wouldn’t buy a used car from Pedey”
http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/01/04/3ff79d925b4e1?in_archive=1
Callahan’s throat slash
http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/11/04/436b909cad8b2?in_archive=1

Houston AD calls Pederson “Spineless… Gutless”
http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/12/20/41c6da2257920?in_archive=1

Recruiting solves all
http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/12/02/41af24930421a?in_archive=1

Chancellor time, excuses
http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/11/30/41ac9ec99458a?in_archive=1

Osborne’s Stands – Pederson played him
http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/02/18/4033bed6c403c?in_archive=1

http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/02/06/4023f50bb3e7f?in_archive=1

Todd, I hear ya. I stick to what I said about Solich though. Great guy. Great runing back coach. Terrible head coach. He just made one bad move after another during the actual games and he was a poor recruiter, IMO. He probably should have never had the job in the first place but he was hand-picked by T.O. While I have a great respect for tradition, watching the boys get embarrassed by teams like Colorado became too hard to swallow. It had to be done. Now, it was done very poorly and I was pizzed at the way it went down. But it had to be done. I never said I liked Steve Pederson. He’s a jerk. But, I’m not going to spend any time stomping my feet and whining about SP. I’m not going to let him effect the way I feel about Husker Football. He’s not Husker football. He’s not even a Husker. So really, I think you and I agree on this one. Pedey is a creep! But I’m over it. I’ve been focussed on the team. I enjoyed the game I went to last year and I hope to get to a couple more this season. The new offense is fun to watch and it looks like we’re on our way back to being a dominating defense again. If our linebackers stay healthy I expect to see more than one opposing QB urinate in his jockstrap this season. Bring on the Trojans!

I’ll put it like this, had Solich AND HIS STAFF been in place the last two years. Huskers win the Big 12 North. It was that simple. With Sanders, Pelini, Cotton, Joe Dailey, Carriker, we’d have been right back in the big 12 overall hunt this year. We still may be, but I wasn’t convinced after KSU, CU, and Mich. Herian and Taylor throwing quicker will make the diff on O.

And as to game calling, my lord, what is it that Callahan does that is so bright? Missouri, KU, ISU pass happy, we’ve almost lost to Maine, Pitt was a joke. Even the games we’ve won he’s been inept and afraid to run. Thank god the Solich crew recuirted Carriker, McKeown, Green, Bullocks 2, grixby, Bradley, Adams, LeKevin, etc.

People forget Solich recruited Carl Crawford, who ultimately is now one of the best MLB players. That realllly hurt post-Crouch.

NO one follows a legend. Ask Gene Stalling at Alabama and he won a National Championship. My lord, people are calling for Bowden and Paterno.

Let me put it this way, was Solich worse or better than Osborne’s first years? Solich

Was Solich as smart as Osborne? No way, I admit

Would Pedey have fired Osborne in about 75? Yes

Did Nebraskans want Osborne gone? Yes

Were they right? No

I went to school in 87-92 – we NEVER won a bowl and were humiliated by Georgia Tech, UCLA, losing to South Carolina at home in the 4th, you name it. Guess we should have went west coast, it really worked out for Bill Walsh at Stanford.

Did the Big 12 permanently kill NU with the new academic rules, partial qualifiers? Yes

Did Osborne leave the cupboard somewhat bare? yes

1998 – 9-4, 19th
1999 – 12-1, 2nd
2000 – 10-2, 7th
2001 – 11-2, 7th
2002 – 7-7, unranked (lost by 3 to Tex, 4 to Ole Miss) ugly season I’ll admit.
2003 – 10-3, 18th

Solich reallllllly sucked

2004 – 5-6, NO BOWL lost by 60 to TT, infamous ISU and OU games

2005 – 8-4, pulled away from Maine late, Pitt debacle, ISU OT win, loss to TT at home, Baylor by 8, smacked by Mizzou, couldn’t beat a down OU, smacked by Jayhawks, last second win at home vs. KSU, burned Beck’s redshirt after media pressure to fire Callahan, CU stomping, loved that. Heckuva comeback against worst Mich team in my lifetime.

Pretty hard to predict 2006 7-9 wins seems likely unless injuries hit Taylor, etc.

One other point to ponder, the older assistants under Osborne were supposed to phase out over time then wouldn’t. That sure didn’t help Solich. Milt wouldn’t even recruit, Darlington always was a Osborne project, Uncle Charlie was the great one. But they were tired and didn’t recruit, it was true. I feel, felt bad for all of them.

You keep mentioning the CU game. The test of that team was then playing its GUTS out against Miami in the Rose Bowl. They had a slip and some tough defensive moments, but they weren’t embarrassed. That Miami teams has something like 50 players drafted. We’ll NEVER recruit like the Fl, Tex, Ca schools, it’s impossible to do that consistently. And NO ONE is always right on what 18 year olds are like at 22 anyway.

By the way, who lost worse? OU to USC in the Rose Bowl, or NU to CU in 01?

Memo to self, quit talking football.

Todd

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2537332

We have two VERY different ways of looking at this whole thing. To me, it’s not his record (W-L), it’s the games we lost and how we lost them. CU is only one example. That staff just couldn’t make adjustments that needed to be made in-game. I believe Solich errors actually cost the boys game that they were in position to win. Texas is a good example. Calling a pass play for the duck-throwing J. Lord when we had a great chance to upset the horns had me spitting chili half way across the living room. The bottom line is that he won games against the teams we should have beat and got whipped by every decent team the Huskers faced. He never impressed me a bit and things were looking bleak. I would have liked to have seen Bo get a shot after he coached the boys to a bowl victory. He actually formulated a quality a game plan and ran a very balanced and effective attack in his ONE head coaching opportunity. He was wronged in my opinion. But again, that has nothing to do withthe staff that is in place now. It’s not their fault that Pedey did what he did. They are doing their job. And here’s the thing, you can’t compare what happened in the Solich years with what Calli and his staff have been doing the past couple of years. There starting over. I tried to explain this to all my Husker buddies and none of them seemed to get it. I told them to expect the Huskers to suck pretty bad for at least two to three years and only hope that we begin to see some progress. To me it’s obvious but not to my buddies and not to many of the jokers in the stands. What did people think was going to happen? Billy is a decen coach but he can’t walk on water. The expectations were rediculous. It doesn’t matter that they barely beat Pitt or Maine. They won. And, what really matters is they beat teams in the games that did matter at the end of the year; See the whooping they put on the Buffs, the huge win against Michigan in the Bowl, and they would have upset T Tech but for that silly little fumble by Smith after the recovery! (More chili spit across the room on that one). They are making progress and they’re once again learning how to win against the big boys in the NCAA. We can talk facts, stats, and numbers all day long but in the end I only know what I feel. During the Solich era, I expected to lose going into any big game. Now, I’m starting to feel like we can handle any team in the country once again and it’s a damn good feeling! Come on over to the dark side Todd. We’d love to have you buddy!

And for a more important question, when are we going fishing for smallies on the river? I spent about a gazillion dollars at Bass Pro Shop in CB this year and I need to do some more chuck-n-wind. My boat or yours buddy!

Uhhh, you really really lost me. It not the W-L, it how it was played?

That will work fine in 1-AA. What I’m saying is NU would have won 9-11 games the last two years, but if you like 5-6 and 8-4, more power to ya. The list of botched games under Callahan is about all but the last two last year.

Progress? So you are saying that Solich was awful. By WHAT STANDARD – ONE year out of the top 20? As you say, stats don’t matter…

Nebraska being #1 is not a birth right. Nebraska being competitive is because of the resources and tradition.

And as to progress. Tell me, you think they were getting worse in Solich’s last year?

I admit, I don’t get any of this. I want a program I’m proud of and believe in, not just W’s. But how people are treated, walk-ons, in-state guys getting their chance, an Offense that works in bad weather, a physical team that is consistent and every so often has a magical year.

That must not of been me sitting in the NC Game at the Rose Bowl that year.

That, to me, defines the differences in the pro and con’s of the Solich era.

One group goes, we were in the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP game, numerous top 5 and 10 finishes, BIG 12 Champs, beat OU, etc. Also lost some tough games and had a tough year but they corrected it quickly.

The other goes, BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT Solich isn’t our guy, we don’t like to go 7-7 once every 40 years and the other stuff doesn’t matter cuz he didn’t call a timeout or get a play in that one time I thought he should.

The other got Solich fired. And now for Callahan it’s BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT

Go figure.

As to smallies, I haven’t kept up on the river this year. I hear it’s low but haven’t went. Probably going to Case next wknd and the following for eyes.

Come on Wade, I know you are reading these

If you can convince me why we passed against ISU in 05 and ran against OU you have my support.

Summitt is going good for fish I hear, especially if you like weeds.

Todd

Quote:

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Uhhh, you really really lost me. It not the W-L, it how it was played?

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What I am saying is that I don’t care that he was getting wins against lesser opponents. He was getting beat by Colorado, Texas, K State, and even Missouri. He made too many obvious mistakes. We were no longer getting quality recruiting classes (Look at the mess the former staff left at offensive line! Husker tradition? I don’t recall us getting killed in the trenches in the past.). It seemed clear to me that he was not a guy who I’d want to have making the decisions in any big game. Is Calli going to be the guy? I don’t know. We won’t know until the end of this season. He’s a had a couple of years to recruit guys for this system now. It’ll be interesting to watch. I wish him and the team the best. I haven’t been able to understand why some Nebraska fans hold a grudge against Billy when he’s not the one who fired Frank. He was hired to do a job and seems to be doing all he can to develop a program that can compete with the elite teams in the NCAA. I choose to support him and the team right now. It doesn’t mean I support Pedey. I just refuse to stay stuck in the past. I’d rather enjoy the team we have now. Give ’em a shot. I think they could be a special team this year.

Quote – He (Solich) was getting beat by Colorado, Texas, K State, and even Missouri.

I can’t figure out how you do the cool quote thing.

Osborne got beat by Texas, Colorado, KSU, and even Missouri a few times. Those teams are/were pretty salty at times. Missouri should have beat us in one of the Nat Champ years! (The Catch) I do know that at the time Solich was fired he had the FOURTH HIGHEST WINNING PERCENTAGE OUT OF ALL 100+ 1-AA Football coaches. So… perhaps he didn’t get beat too much?

I’m not stuck in the past, I just refuse to go forward. Nothing heinous about that. Fans come and go all the time.

I don’t walk around yapping about this, but I don’t think it’s fair to say Solich was a poor coach unless stats are used, particularly after two pretty rough seasons without him.

I do hope Callahan turns it around, I just can’t grasp how someone says Solich couldn’t coach and thinks Callahan has done a good job the past two years. Personally, I think the game is played to win, not “put in a system over 2, 3, 4 years”.

Call me crazy

You are very right about one thing, it just doesn’t matter what I think cuz the past is the past. And, if winning comes back, they’ll get people in the seats, no doubt about it. I just fear we’re the next Alabama, UCLA, Texas, USC, Notre Dame, OU, Georgia, Florida, Auburn, down cycle.

Solich’s Win/Losses – ranked teams

1998 Win – Washington 9, Missouri 19,
Loss – AM 18, KSU 2, Arizona 5

1999 Win – AM 21, KSU 5, Texas 12, Tenn 6
Loss – Texas 18

2000 Win – Notre Dame 23, Northwestern 18
Loss OU 3, KSU 16

2001 Win – Notre Dame 17, OU 2,
Loss CU 14, Miami 1

2002 Win – none
Loss ISU 19, Texas 7 (We had that won), KSU 11, CU 13

2003 Win OSU 24
Loss Texas 14

2004
Loss – OU 2

2005 Win ISU 15, Mich 20
Loss TT 15,

Points in 2005 – 296, Opponents 252
Points in 2004 – 275, Opponents 298
Points in 2003 – 322, Opponents 188
Points in 2002 – 383, Opponents 335
Points in 2001 – 489, Opponents 189

So… Callahan is not an offensive or defensive genius so far. 2002 obviously was hard on the D side of the ball, and as you’ve pointed out, much due to the O line also. They had TREMENDOUS O-line losses to the recruiting classes in that era. Remember Gary Pike, etc. Highly touted guys that got hurt.
Points in 2000 – 456, Opponents 213

Solich allowed teams 30 or over 14 times in 6 seasons, 4 in 02 – too many. Callahan 6 in two years

I’ve too lazy to figure out the avg scoring, but it ain’t even close.

Let’s go fishing

Todd