Remembering the day college football’s Big Red Wall fell

[Dansker]

39 minutes ago, Crazyhole said:

I watched that game earlier this summer and was surprised that my memory of it was much worse than my impression the 2nd time around.  It was a terrible start and a terrible ending, but we actually made a game out of it going into the 4th quarter.  

 

We could never stop a misdirection/counter run play to save our lives. Everytime they went PA, we went after the fake like a dog that runs to whoever feeds it.

[Pedro G]

18 hours ago, Ulty said:

 

The 2001 was mentioned twice in the first six posts in the hate thread on Allbuffs that was linked in one of the other threads.

 

I guaran-damn-tee that after we beat CU on Saturday, there will be numerous Colorado fans who won't care because they can still revel in that one game. I used to go into sports bars in Boulder around 2003 or 2004ish and they would be replaying that particular game. That moment was the pinnacle of their entire putrid existence.

 

Even as lopsided as the all-time record is, they could be 1-100 lifetime against NU, and they would still say, "Yeah, well do you remember 2001?"

 

To end my rant, screw those asshats.

Whatever, we were a thorn on them almost every year. And we had the biggest victory against them in 1994, 24-7. The was perhaps the biggest game between the two teams. And this game represented the first of a number of wins N and Osborne won against top-10 teams. It was before this game that Osborne had that monkey on his back of not winning the big games, although they were so close to beating FSU in the ‘94 Orange Bowl. CU had many more disappointments and frustrations than N did in this series. 

[CheeseHusker]

I won't watch a second of that debacle again but my memory is still fresh enough.

 

For me I'll always wonder what happens if while driving 12 points down, Nebraska scores instead of fumbles. At 42-37 the momentum shift could have been seismic.

 

 

[shyndy]

Imho people are overdramatic about that game.  It wasn’t some end of an era type thing.  It was just a game at Boulder against a talented team that we lost.  Wasn’t even over until pretty late bc our offense was doing well still too.

[MichiganDad3]

21 hours ago, Saunders said:

I think ya'll should really read it. The last line alone...

 

 

We have to defeat the vermin. Starting the Frost era 0-1 with troy and Michigan up next could easily lead to a 1-2 start. Going into Michigan 2-0 with a lot of confidence may lead to an upset of Michigan. 

[lo country]

That was the day NU died.  Exposed on national tv..............The reality is, those losses became all too familiar the previous 15 years.....Time to get back to our winning ways and getting back to being Nebraska.

 

I like the story line. Last game we were truly Nebraska and the first game to take it back against the same team that took it away.

[Crazyhole]

To me, the day the wall fell didnt happen until the next season when ISU handed us our butts for a 2nd straight blowout loss.  Up until then we were losing to pretty good teams.  ISU just felt different to me.  

[BigRedBuster]

1 hour ago, MichiganDad3 said:

We have to defeat the vermin. Starting the Frost era 0-1 with troy and Michigan up next could easily lead to a 1-2 start. Going into Michigan 2-0 with a lot of confidence may lead to an upset of Michigan. 

That sums up why I'm so nervous about this game.  It either can set us up to have a pretty good season by building confidence..... or it could be the start to a tough stretch that could reach 2-3 after the Wisconsin game.

[Fru]

25 minutes ago, Crazyhole said:

To me, the day the wall fell didnt happen until the next season when ISU handed us our butts for a 2nd straight blowout loss.  Up until then we were losing to pretty good teams.  ISU just felt different to me.  

 

I have almost the same sentiment, but for Okie St in 2002. I remember seeing Jamal Lord on the sideline as time was winding down and he was smiling and seemed completely unaffected. To me that's when NU died. 

[Vizsla1]

Unfortunately, they are replaying the 2001 game on tv this AM...still makes me sick to my stomach 

[Hans Gruber]

This was the "the emperor has no clothes" game for Nebraska. At the end of every dynastic run in college football there's a game like this that signals the dynasty isn't just over, but dead and gone. A game where a team just gets embarrassed and never really reaches that same level again, or at least not for a while. This was Nebraska's.

 

Some others

 

Florida State - Finished in the top 4 of AP or Coach's poll every year from 1987-2000. In 2001, unranked UNC slaughters FSU 41-9. Other than one season, FSU doesn't finish in the top 10 again until 2012. Other than one season, finishes every season with at least four losses every year until 2012. Sometimes five or six.

 

USC - Finished in the top 5 every year from 2002-08 and won two national titles. (Or 1.5 depending on who you ask.) In 2009, USC goes 9-4 with a 47-20 loss to Oregon then a 55-21 loss to Stanford two weeks later. Pete Carroll goes to the NFL after the season. USC doesn't finish in the top 5 for another eight seasons. They also only have three seasons with fewer than four losses. Two were the past two seasons.

 

Miami - Went 46-4 from 2000-2003 with one national title and almost another against Ohio State. Miami was probably good enough to win the national title all four years. In 2005, Miami went 9-3 and lost the Peach Bowl to LSU 40-3. The Hurricanes finished every season after that with four or more losses until they went 10-3 last season.

 

Florida - The Gators went 48-7 from 2006-2009 and won two national titles. Florida got smoked at Alabama in 2010 (although I think this doesn't count because it's 'Bama). In November Florida lost at home to South Carolina 36-14 then at Florida State 31-7 two weeks later and finished 8-5. Since 2010, Florida has gone 7-6, 11-2, 4-8, 7-5, 10-4, 9-4 and 4-7.