Your Top 10 Games of the Past 11 Seasons

[JTrain]

Okay, I know these threads pop-up like cockroaches throughout the boring offseason, but let's really put some thought into this one. Osborne left after the 97 season and we've spent the past eleven years trying to rediscover our identity or, to put it more bluntly, get our s*** together. We appear to be on the right track at this point, and it's been an interesting (at times painful) road. So, look through every game from the past eleven seasons (98 through 08) and rank your top 10 favorite games. They don't necessarily have to be wins, although surely most of them will be. You can just list them from 1-10 if you want, but a sentence or two explaining why each game made your list would make things more interesting. After a couple weeks (if there are a significant number of responses) I'll tally the lists (using the top 25 polls scoring system) and we'll have a sort of "unofficial HuskerBoard top ten favorite games on the road to recovery".

 

Here are the links for the games to refresh your memory:

 

http://www.huskerpedia.com/1990s.html#1998

http://www.huskerpedia.com/2000s.html

 

I'll start...

 

1. 2001 vs. Oklahoma - I know it's the boring, typical choice for #1, but this game was epic, even though the season didn't turn out how we would've liked. This was the most recent classic in the storied NU-OU rivalry. And of course, Stuntz to Crouch was unforgettable.

 

2. 2008 vs. Colorado - Time will tell if I'm ranking this one a little too high, but the combination of Henery's unbelievable kick and then Suh's interception (including the Hawkins trample) was just sublime.

 

3. 2002 @ Texas A&M - I don't imagine many people will include this game. To me it was an extremely memorable night in a mostly forgettable season. Nebraska was down at the half, and being down at half on the road is usually a sure loss. But Solich showed some fire and got his players to play for him in the second half and not phone it in. What an amazing fourth quarter.

 

4. 2001 @ Notre Dame - Lived up to the unreal hype. The Sea of Red taking over nearly a fourth of the stadium and the Huskers winning in overtime. A great game in Husker history.

 

5. 1999 @ Colorado - I wasn't sure whether to put this above the 2000 version, but I ended up deciding too, maybe partially because I was in attendance for this one. My only trip to Boulder was unforgettable. The famous FG choke by the CU kicker, we were literally turning to leave as the ball was in the air.

 

6. 2000 vs. Colorado - Carlos Polk with the hilarious pick six spike... we thought we had them early but they wouldn't go down without a fight. I could probably count on one hand the amount of games Nebraska has won on last second FG in my lifetime. This was one of them. Josh Brown was pretty shaky that year but he came through with a chipshot after a Newcombe catch set us up for the win.

 

7. 2008-09 vs. Clemson (Gator Bowl) - I couldn't have asked for a better game to justify 40+ hours of driving. Even though I feel like we outplayed Clemson for 2/3 of the game, two huge mistakes by Ganz put them in position to steal the game. To see us come back from two scores at half for the first time in many years was awesome. The perfect bowl win for Bo's first season as head coach.

 

8. 1999 vs. Kansas State - I didn't get to be there in person, but you could tell the atmosphere was amazing at Memorial for this revenge game. The infamous no-call facemask the previous year had everyone fired up and we came out and just flat-out rocked them. They were ranked #5 in the country at the time too. Pretty incredible performance by the whole Husker team.

 

9. 1999 vs. Texas (Big 12 Championship) - Another classic revenge game that same season. Texas had shocked us in 96, 98 and earlier in 99... all three times we were ranked in the top 10 and they weren't. We finally destroyed the curse (or did we? see 02 & 06...) and we did it with authority (and mainly an amazing defense).

 

10. 2006 @ Texas A&M - Blocked field goal and an amazing game winning drive.

 

Now let's see your list.

[huskerjack23]

how can you not include 2006 @aTm...that last minute drive with Purify climbing the ladder to come up with that TD?

 

to quote vern lundquist, "MY GOD!!!!!"

[killer cacti]

Okay, I know these threads pop-up like cockroaches throughout the boring offseason, but let's really put some thought into this one. Osborne left after the 97 season and we've spent the past eleven years trying to rediscover our identity or, to put it more bluntly, get our s*** together. We appear to be on the right track at this point, and it's been an interesting (at times painful) road. So, look through every game from the past eleven seasons (98 through 08) and rank your top 10 favorite games. They don't necessarily have to be wins, although surely most of them will be. You can just list them from 1-10 if you want, but a sentence or two explaining why each game made your list would make things more interesting. After a couple weeks (if there are a significant number of responses) I'll tally the lists (using the top 25 polls scoring system) and we'll have a sort of "unofficial HuskerBoard top ten favorite games on the road to recovery".

 

Here are the links for the games to refresh your memory:

 

http://www.huskerpedia.com/1990s.html#1998

http://www.huskerpedia.com/2000s.html

 

I'll start...

 

1. 2001 vs. Oklahoma - I know it's the boring, typical choice for #1, but this game was epic, even though the season didn't turn out how we would've liked. This was the most recent classic in the storied NU-OU rivalry. And of course, Stuntz to Crouch was unforgettable.

 

2. 2008 vs. Colorado - Time will tell if I'm ranking this one a little too high, but the combination of Henery's unbelievable kick and then Suh's interception (including the Hawkins trample) was just sublime.

 

3. 2002 @ Texas A&M - I don't imagine many people will include this game. To me it was an extremely memorable night in a mostly forgettable season. Nebraska was down at the half, and being down at half on the road is usually a sure loss. But Solich showed some fire and got his players to play for him in the second half and not phone it in. What an amazing fourth quarter.

 

4. 2001 @ Notre Dame - Lived up to the unreal hype. The Sea of Red taking over nearly a fourth of the stadium and the Huskers winning in overtime. A great game in Husker history.

 

5. 1999 @ Colorado - I wasn't sure whether to put this above the 2000 version, but I ended up deciding too, maybe partially because I was in attendance for this one. My only trip to Boulder was unforgettable. The famous FG choke by the CU kicker, we were literally turning to leave as the ball was in the air.

 

6. 2000 vs. Colorado - Carlos Polk with the hilarious pick six spike... we thought we had them early but they wouldn't go down without a fight. I could probably count on one hand the amount of games Nebraska has won on last second FG in my lifetime. This was one of them. Josh Brown was pretty shaky that year but he came through with a chipshot after a Newcombe catch set us up for the win.

 

7. 2008-09 vs. Clemson (Gator Bowl) - I couldn't have asked for a better game to justify 40+ hours of driving. Even though I feel like we outplayed Clemson for 2/3 of the game, two huge mistakes by Ganz put them in position to steal the game. To see us come back from two scores at half for the first time in many years was awesome. The perfect bowl win for Bo's first season as head coach.

 

8. 1999 vs. Kansas State - I didn't get to be there in person, but you could tell the atmosphere was amazing at Memorial for this revenge game. The infamous no-call facemask the previous year had everyone fired up and we came out and just flat-out rocked them. They were ranked #5 in the country at the time too. Pretty incredible performance by the whole Husker team.

 

9. 1999 vs. Texas (Big 12 Championship) - Another classic revenge game that same season. Texas had shocked us in 96, 98 and earlier in 99... all three times we were ranked in the top 10 and they weren't. We finally destroyed the curse (or did we? see 02 & 06...) and we did it with authority (and mainly an amazing defense).

 

10. 2005 vs. Michigan (Alamo Bowl) - A great game that most people expected us to lose. A surreal final play. And we remain undefeated in the Alamodome.

 

Now let's see your list.

 

Seriously, can't we forget that game? It happened like, 8 months ago...get over it!!!

[Red Storm Brewing]

1. The Beatdown in Boulder. Showed many that times were changing and the glory days were long gone. An omen of things to come.

2. 2001 Boomer Sooner. Is this our last win vs Top 20 that puts us in the same category as Duke. Straight up electric day in Lincoln.

3. Massacre in Lubbick. Made every Husker fan go, "Oh $hit this is what a beat down feels like, why did teams come back to LIncoln for more?"

4. Red Sea Invasion of the Golden Dome. Got History? Got Tradition? Got Loyalty? Obvious not. This was an awesome sight.

5. Texas pay back in Big XII Title Game. Best team before USC to not get in the title game. This was Frank's best team.

6. Ball State two years ago. Showed major kinks in the armor, and walking away from the stadium actually felt like a loss that day.

7. Colorado last year. I still owe people in Section 17 a walk from the stadium to my house buck ass naked because of the kick. But still thank you Alex.

8. USC two years ago. The writing began to show. Still an electric day up until midway through the second quarter, and again reminded us what the other side felt like.

9. Michigan St. Alamo Bowl. Gave us a taste of the future, five years in advance.

10. Iowa St. 2002. Ultimate WTF moment Iowa State utterly destroys us. Frank's worst year.

[CENTEXHUSKER]

how can you not include 2006 @aTm...that last minute drive with Purify climbing the ladder to come up with that TD?

 

to quote vern lundquist, "MY GOD!!!!!"

 

Seriously this game and the Alamo bowl were the best 2 games that I have witnessed since moving to Texas. Both times my father in law said something to the effect like, "there's still time" or "it isn't over" and I'm thinking 'its over' and we comeback to win. Purifiy's catch was beyond awesome and both games, Zac Taylor was as cool as a cat (although not quite as fast )

[JTrain]

how can you not include 2006 @aTm...that last minute drive with Purify climbing the ladder to come up with that TD?

 

to quote vern lundquist, "MY GOD!!!!!"

 

Yeah, you're right. I had forgotten about that game. Probably better than the Alamo Bowl so I updated my list. Now where's yours?

[JTrain]

Anybody else wanna share? I know this got sidetracked with the whole Castille story.

[jjamuss]

KU in 2006 at Nebraska... right down the wire.

CU in 2008 at Nebraska, Henrey sets the field goal record.