538 says 2016 'Bama is better than '95 Nebraska
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Guy Chamberlin
Heisman Trophy Winner
Funny. One single play goes a different way and the 1983 Huskers would be part of the discussion.
Average score that season: 52 - 15. Punted less than 3 times a game. Attempted 4 field goals all season.
That team was clearly better than Miami, but they hadn't really been tested most of the season and it took them three quarters to remember who they were.
Average score that season: 52 - 15. Punted less than 3 times a game. Attempted 4 field goals all season.
That team was clearly better than Miami, but they hadn't really been tested most of the season and it took them three quarters to remember who they were.
Count 'Bility
Banned
Fryars dropped pass was on the final drive prior to Smith's td run. Still woulda needed the two.
RunMickeyRun02
Starter
I've still seen them on a lot of "Best of" lists.
I'd like to get your take on this Guy. From what I understand the triplets were amazing but the 83 defense was the weakness. After the Okie State game teams (if they were smart) used it as a blue print and ate up clock trying to keep our O off the field. Is that at all accurate?
Also at what point in the game did Rozier go down?
Big red surfers
Starter
Excatly. I don't remember huskers playing st Mary's Catholic Church during week 10.
Count 'Bility
Banned
Guy Chamberlin
Heisman Trophy Winner
Uh-oh. You're asking me to go by memory?
Relative to the offense, the defense was a weakness. Although it's weird to think of a defense that gives up only 15 points a game as a weakness. The '82 and '84 defenses were statistically better with much of the same personnel, so I'm thinking some of the skew comes from 4th quarter garbage time against the Nebraska bench players.
Oklahoma State was the closest game of the regular season, but I honestly don't remember why. So I just looked it up. Pretty solid offensive output but 5 turnovers. Oklahoma State actually went pass happy and only got 10 points, so you can't hang it on the defense. Just one of those days. Huskers went on to several more blowout wins after OSU, so that doesn't look like much of a blueprint.
And I honestly forgot that Rozier got injured in the game. In my mind Jeff Smith was being used as a decoy, and Osborne was reasonably certain he'd be open for the 2 pt. conversion. But fact checking confirms Rozier went out in the third quarter with an ankle sprain, and Jeff Smith actually did better....9 carries for 99 yards.
Schellenberger coached smart and Miami had its ears pinned back with nothing to loose. Osborne's teams sometimes played tight in big games, and the expectations on them were huge. Pretty much everyone was ready to crown them the best college football team of all time.
If at least part of my memory is correct, Nebraska finally found itself in the fourth quarter and was dominating a spent Miami team on both sides of the ball.
TGHusker
Heisman Trophy Winner
In my book, the 83 team was the best team never to win the NC. Perhaps the same could be said of the 82 team which actually had a better D - but that PSU sideline had a 1 yard outer boundary on it. Both teams could have been ranked in the top 6-7all time if they had one - one play made the difference in both games/seasons.
Regarding OP, of course we all know that the current Bama team couldn't hold the 95 teams jock straps. Let them play 4 teams that finished in the top 10 and defeat them like NU defeated all of them in 95 then we'd start the conversation.
Some writers were saying the OU sooners of 2002 (I believe) were going to be ranked as the best all time - however they forgot that they still had to play out the season and KSU upset them in the conf championship game. I'm hoping the same happens to Bama - I hope it is Washington but if not, I think it will be Clemson who turns the 'TIDE' against bama.
Regarding OP, of course we all know that the current Bama team couldn't hold the 95 teams jock straps. Let them play 4 teams that finished in the top 10 and defeat them like NU defeated all of them in 95 then we'd start the conversation.
Some writers were saying the OU sooners of 2002 (I believe) were going to be ranked as the best all time - however they forgot that they still had to play out the season and KSU upset them in the conf championship game. I'm hoping the same happens to Bama - I hope it is Washington but if not, I think it will be Clemson who turns the 'TIDE' against bama.
TGHusker
Heisman Trophy Winner
A friend had eml this story to me wtout the link. So not sure of its origin - good summary of the 95 team
[SIZE=12pt]Overall Record (Big 8/12):[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] 12-0 (7-0)
Titles won:[/SIZE] Big Eight Championship and National Championship
All-Americans: Quarterback Tommie Frazier, center Aaron Graham and defensive end Jared Tomich, 1st-team All-Americans. Frazier also won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
Summary: The greatest of them all. Since 1980, since forever, since college football began. Nebraska's players broke their share laws and broke their share of teams. The Huskers could never field a team like that today, and probably wouldn't want to. Would you take this team home to meet your mom? Nope. Would you want them for one game to save your life? Yep.
No team seriously challenged the Huskers in 1995 - no, not even Washington State - because no team could. The Huskers were, on offense and defense, a wrecking machine, lubed with superior athletes that confidence and momentum on their side. NU outscored its opponents 52-13 per game and gained 556 yards per game. Averaged 7 yards per carry, 11 yards per punt return and 14 yards per reception. Scored six defensive touchdowns. The punt coverage team was so good that Jesse Kosch's net average was greater than the his gross. That's because opponents attempted five punt returns all season, and gained 12 yards.
Nebraska destroyed its first four opponents. 64-21 over Oklahoma State. 50-10 over Michigan State. 77-28 over Arizona State. 49-0 over Pacific. WSU opened the game with a long 87-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead on NU, but the Huskers scored the next 28 en route to a 35-21 win. After Nebraska beat Missouri 57-0 and Kansas State 49-25 (running up a 42-6 lead after three quarters) the Huskers faced, at least nominally, its toughest game of the year at Colorado. The Buffaloes kept it close - 21-14 - through most of the first half, but NU scored 10 late points to take a 31-14 halftime lead en route to a 44-21 win. Then 41-3 over Kansas, 73-14 over Iowa State and 37-0 over Oklahoma. Leading to the Fiesta Bowl with No. 2 Florida. You recall how that turned out.
What made this team so dominant? Speed, recruiting and coaching merging into a vortex of greatness. They had an air of arrogance and badness to them, led by Frazier, the cocky, dynamic senior who won the job over Brook Berringer and cemented his place as the greatest quarterback in Nebraska history. He only rushed for 604 yards and passed for 1.362 (which doesn't count the bowl game), but Frazier operated the offense seamlessly, like a maestro, distributing pitches and passes on target. On defense, Tomich, the Peter Brothers, Grant Wistrom and Terrell Farley wreaked havoc while a terrific NFL-caliber secondary of Michael Booker, Tyrone Williams and Mike Minter locked down receivers.
Yes, all that attitude had a price, and it was paid on the police blotter and in newspaper headlines. Lawrence Phillips stole most of them after being suspended for beating up his girlfriend, and got even more publicity when Tom Osborne made a mistake - yes, we'll hold fast to that - by reinstating him. Again: Would that happen today? No. Probably not. But Phillips was hardly the only player in legal hot water. NU got the reputation as a rogue program, and - let's face it - earned it to some extent. Osborne's recruiting in those years hit Florida and California hard, took some chances on partial-qualifier types that other programs stayed away from, and it paid off in a collection of hulks on the field. It should not have been a terrible surprise that some of them were hulks off of it, too.
What makes this team fascinating, though, is its complexity. Great, but flawed. As it must be with any great army, probably. Not only would this collection of Huskers have beaten any other NU team in history, it likely would have beaten every other college football team in history, too, for the game hasn't changed so significantly since 1995, and the option as Frazier ran it was nearly impossible to stop.
All in all, to step back from this team and survey its greatness is always an interesting endeavor. No Husker team engenders more emotions - positive and negative - as this one. Yeah, NU probably flew a little too close to the sun with this roster. But before they burned up headlines - man, were they hot on the field.
Highlight: The Fiesta Bowl. A thorough butt-kicking of the Gators.
Lowlight: The off-the-field troubles.
[SIZE=12pt]Overall Record (Big 8/12):[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] 12-0 (7-0)
Titles won:[/SIZE] Big Eight Championship and National Championship
All-Americans: Quarterback Tommie Frazier, center Aaron Graham and defensive end Jared Tomich, 1st-team All-Americans. Frazier also won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
Summary: The greatest of them all. Since 1980, since forever, since college football began. Nebraska's players broke their share laws and broke their share of teams. The Huskers could never field a team like that today, and probably wouldn't want to. Would you take this team home to meet your mom? Nope. Would you want them for one game to save your life? Yep.
No team seriously challenged the Huskers in 1995 - no, not even Washington State - because no team could. The Huskers were, on offense and defense, a wrecking machine, lubed with superior athletes that confidence and momentum on their side. NU outscored its opponents 52-13 per game and gained 556 yards per game. Averaged 7 yards per carry, 11 yards per punt return and 14 yards per reception. Scored six defensive touchdowns. The punt coverage team was so good that Jesse Kosch's net average was greater than the his gross. That's because opponents attempted five punt returns all season, and gained 12 yards.
Nebraska destroyed its first four opponents. 64-21 over Oklahoma State. 50-10 over Michigan State. 77-28 over Arizona State. 49-0 over Pacific. WSU opened the game with a long 87-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead on NU, but the Huskers scored the next 28 en route to a 35-21 win. After Nebraska beat Missouri 57-0 and Kansas State 49-25 (running up a 42-6 lead after three quarters) the Huskers faced, at least nominally, its toughest game of the year at Colorado. The Buffaloes kept it close - 21-14 - through most of the first half, but NU scored 10 late points to take a 31-14 halftime lead en route to a 44-21 win. Then 41-3 over Kansas, 73-14 over Iowa State and 37-0 over Oklahoma. Leading to the Fiesta Bowl with No. 2 Florida. You recall how that turned out.
What made this team so dominant? Speed, recruiting and coaching merging into a vortex of greatness. They had an air of arrogance and badness to them, led by Frazier, the cocky, dynamic senior who won the job over Brook Berringer and cemented his place as the greatest quarterback in Nebraska history. He only rushed for 604 yards and passed for 1.362 (which doesn't count the bowl game), but Frazier operated the offense seamlessly, like a maestro, distributing pitches and passes on target. On defense, Tomich, the Peter Brothers, Grant Wistrom and Terrell Farley wreaked havoc while a terrific NFL-caliber secondary of Michael Booker, Tyrone Williams and Mike Minter locked down receivers.
Yes, all that attitude had a price, and it was paid on the police blotter and in newspaper headlines. Lawrence Phillips stole most of them after being suspended for beating up his girlfriend, and got even more publicity when Tom Osborne made a mistake - yes, we'll hold fast to that - by reinstating him. Again: Would that happen today? No. Probably not. But Phillips was hardly the only player in legal hot water. NU got the reputation as a rogue program, and - let's face it - earned it to some extent. Osborne's recruiting in those years hit Florida and California hard, took some chances on partial-qualifier types that other programs stayed away from, and it paid off in a collection of hulks on the field. It should not have been a terrible surprise that some of them were hulks off of it, too.
What makes this team fascinating, though, is its complexity. Great, but flawed. As it must be with any great army, probably. Not only would this collection of Huskers have beaten any other NU team in history, it likely would have beaten every other college football team in history, too, for the game hasn't changed so significantly since 1995, and the option as Frazier ran it was nearly impossible to stop.
All in all, to step back from this team and survey its greatness is always an interesting endeavor. No Husker team engenders more emotions - positive and negative - as this one. Yeah, NU probably flew a little too close to the sun with this roster. But before they burned up headlines - man, were they hot on the field.
Highlight: The Fiesta Bowl. A thorough butt-kicking of the Gators.
Lowlight: The off-the-field troubles.
TGHusker
Heisman Trophy Winner
[SIZE=medium]Here is an old article from the Omaha World herald. Bama can't come close to this: [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Published September 3, 2005[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Husker aura of invincibility[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]BY LEE BARFKNECHT[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Coming from Tom Osborne, the statement was a mouthful.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Nebraska's football coach, known for hedging this and qualifying that when he spoke, broke new ground with the postseason assessment of his[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]1995 undefeated national championship team.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"This is definitely the best team I've ever coached," Osborne said.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"They went through 12 games and didn't ever have a close call."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]The facts left Osborne no need for wiggle room. In going 12-0, the 1995[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Huskers:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] Trailed only twice all season, both times in the first half (7-0 for 8 minutes, 51 seconds vs. Washington State; 3-0 and 10-6 for 3:43 vs. Florida).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] Scored at least 35 points in every game, reached 50 or more six times and racked up 63 in the first half against Arizona State.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] Never allowed a sack.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] Ranked No. 2 nationally in rushing defense and No. 4 in scoring defense.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] Produced three first-team All-Americans, 11 first-team All-Big Eight picks, the league's player of the year (quarterback Tommie Frazier), the offensive freshman of the year (I-back Ahman Green) and the defensive newcomer of the year (linebacker Terrell Farley).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]One of those All-Americans, center Aaron Graham, arrived in 1991 - a time when college football watchers wondered if Nebraska's days as a power were over.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]NU was coming off the worst end-of-season ranking in 23 years (17th and 24th in 1990). That season also was part of a stretch in which Nebraska finished outside the Top 10 for four straight years. That hadn't happened in 30 years. (My comment: Amazing how we were a fixture in the Top 10 for years)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"You got the feeling," Graham said recently, "that there was a monkey on the players' back and the coaches' back.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"People were saying coach Osborne can't win the big one. But we realized we had good talent. Once our class started to develop, and when Tommie Frazier came in the next year, we could see what was coming."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]In 1993, Nebraska came within a missed field goal on the final play of winning the national title against Florida State. In 1994, the Huskers won the title by beating Miami in Miami.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]The reward for those efforts was to start the 1995 season No. 2 in both polls, behind Florida State.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"That wasn't as big a deal to us as you might think," Graham said.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"Coach Osborne did such a good job of telling us not to pay attention to what others said or wrote about us."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]The internal confidence about repeating as national champions also helped.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"I don't think there was any doubt in our minds," Graham said. "The experience of playing in a national championship game and losing with one second left, and then by winning it the next year, we hit a sense of invincibility."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Not even I-back Lawrence Phillips' attack of his ex-girlfriend after the second game, and the resulting suspension, caused any doubt, Graham said.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]A series of players-only meetings in the locker room took care of that.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Said Graham: "Ask anybody about Phil Ellis and Christian Peter and myself and Tony Veland and Mark Gilman standing up there saying, 'If anybody, and we mean anybody, gets in trouble, you're not going to have to face the media or the team. You'll face us.' (my comment: Love this attitude)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"Right then, everybody understood that enough was enough. Sure enough, we didn't have any other problems."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]It was all football from there.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Midway through the season, Nebraska thrashed Top 10 foes Kansas State and Colorado back to back.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]The win at Colorado, in which NU scored on the game's first play and committed no penalties, impressed the voters enough for the Huskers to leap past Florida State to No. 1.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]They stayed there, right through a 62-24 Fiesta Bowl rout of No. 2 Florida.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Graham chuckled when asked if Nebraska's 1995 dominance was so great that the season got boring.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"I think in eight games that year I didn't play in the second half," he said. "At some point, it was like, 'Man, I'm ready to play some more.'[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"But you can't complain when your team is winning."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Graham went on to play seven seasons in the NFL. Now he lives in Omaha and is a real estate associate with Farmers National Company.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Though he's out of football, Graham said, the memories from 1995 will never fade.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"From comments I heard from guys I played with in the pros," he said, "that very well could have been the best team that ever played.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"All things considered - from talent to the things we had to overcome to the dominance - I've never been associated with anything like that." [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Published September 3, 2005[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Husker aura of invincibility[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]BY LEE BARFKNECHT[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Coming from Tom Osborne, the statement was a mouthful.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Nebraska's football coach, known for hedging this and qualifying that when he spoke, broke new ground with the postseason assessment of his[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]1995 undefeated national championship team.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"This is definitely the best team I've ever coached," Osborne said.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"They went through 12 games and didn't ever have a close call."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]The facts left Osborne no need for wiggle room. In going 12-0, the 1995[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Huskers:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] Trailed only twice all season, both times in the first half (7-0 for 8 minutes, 51 seconds vs. Washington State; 3-0 and 10-6 for 3:43 vs. Florida).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] Scored at least 35 points in every game, reached 50 or more six times and racked up 63 in the first half against Arizona State.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] Never allowed a sack.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] Ranked No. 2 nationally in rushing defense and No. 4 in scoring defense.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] Produced three first-team All-Americans, 11 first-team All-Big Eight picks, the league's player of the year (quarterback Tommie Frazier), the offensive freshman of the year (I-back Ahman Green) and the defensive newcomer of the year (linebacker Terrell Farley).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]One of those All-Americans, center Aaron Graham, arrived in 1991 - a time when college football watchers wondered if Nebraska's days as a power were over.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]NU was coming off the worst end-of-season ranking in 23 years (17th and 24th in 1990). That season also was part of a stretch in which Nebraska finished outside the Top 10 for four straight years. That hadn't happened in 30 years. (My comment: Amazing how we were a fixture in the Top 10 for years)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"You got the feeling," Graham said recently, "that there was a monkey on the players' back and the coaches' back.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"People were saying coach Osborne can't win the big one. But we realized we had good talent. Once our class started to develop, and when Tommie Frazier came in the next year, we could see what was coming."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]In 1993, Nebraska came within a missed field goal on the final play of winning the national title against Florida State. In 1994, the Huskers won the title by beating Miami in Miami.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]The reward for those efforts was to start the 1995 season No. 2 in both polls, behind Florida State.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"That wasn't as big a deal to us as you might think," Graham said.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"Coach Osborne did such a good job of telling us not to pay attention to what others said or wrote about us."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]The internal confidence about repeating as national champions also helped.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"I don't think there was any doubt in our minds," Graham said. "The experience of playing in a national championship game and losing with one second left, and then by winning it the next year, we hit a sense of invincibility."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Not even I-back Lawrence Phillips' attack of his ex-girlfriend after the second game, and the resulting suspension, caused any doubt, Graham said.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]A series of players-only meetings in the locker room took care of that.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Said Graham: "Ask anybody about Phil Ellis and Christian Peter and myself and Tony Veland and Mark Gilman standing up there saying, 'If anybody, and we mean anybody, gets in trouble, you're not going to have to face the media or the team. You'll face us.' (my comment: Love this attitude)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"Right then, everybody understood that enough was enough. Sure enough, we didn't have any other problems."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]It was all football from there.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Midway through the season, Nebraska thrashed Top 10 foes Kansas State and Colorado back to back.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]The win at Colorado, in which NU scored on the game's first play and committed no penalties, impressed the voters enough for the Huskers to leap past Florida State to No. 1.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]They stayed there, right through a 62-24 Fiesta Bowl rout of No. 2 Florida.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Graham chuckled when asked if Nebraska's 1995 dominance was so great that the season got boring.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"I think in eight games that year I didn't play in the second half," he said. "At some point, it was like, 'Man, I'm ready to play some more.'[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"But you can't complain when your team is winning."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Graham went on to play seven seasons in the NFL. Now he lives in Omaha and is a real estate associate with Farmers National Company.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Though he's out of football, Graham said, the memories from 1995 will never fade.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"From comments I heard from guys I played with in the pros," he said, "that very well could have been the best team that ever played.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"All things considered - from talent to the things we had to overcome to the dominance - I've never been associated with anything like that." [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] [/SIZE]
B.B. Hemingway
All-American
Edit: GSG already beat me to the Matich/Finebaum videos..... Matich is still a big dope though
Last edited by a moderator:
Count 'Bility
Banned
60-3, and 4 national title game appearances, winning 3 is a tough stretch to overcome. Cmon. Bama lost as many games in one off year (2010) as Nebraska did in an entire 5 year stretch. Nebraska never backdoored their way back into national title games after overcoming HOME losses in November as Bama has done, TWICE. Winning 5 of 8 is very impressive. An overall stretch that, based on championships alone, is yeah, unprecedented. But an overall stretch as a whole? Nothing will ever come close to matching that 5 year run. Like a lot of sports, championships-while being an ultimate goal obviously-often overshadow true narratives. Bama winning title after title often covers up some of the blips of the era when comparing to other eras/dynasties. Like Oklahoma in the 50's. Winning 47 straight. i dont care what kind of different era of football it was. Why isnt that ever mentioned? That's never gonna be touched.
Guy Chamberlin
Heisman Trophy Winner
Are there more good teams but fewer great teams in college football right now?
Discuss.
Discuss.
