Historical "What Ifs" What if Tom didn't go for 2

[ColoradoHusk]

Alternative: if Miami beats Nebraska in that Orange Bowl do they get a share of the NC or does Penn State get it all?

If Miami beats Nebraska in that Orange Bowl does Nebraska beat everybody by 300 points in 1995?

Miami got beat pretty good at home against Washington earlier in the season. Penn State was going to win the NC outright if NU stumbled in the Orange Bowl.

Your 2nd question is a very interesting question. If NU loses to Miami, I wonder if there is a lot of doubt about TO, a big QB controversy, and I don't think the team could have survived the LP fiasco. That '95 team carried over a lot of swagger that was created with the '94 title.

 

[Mierin]

Alternative: if Miami beats Nebraska in that Orange Bowl do they get a share of the NC or does Penn State get it all?

No. If that'd happened Nebraska would've just been seen as the same team that always loses the bowl game. And IIRC our victories weren't all that dominant that year. So it wouldn't have been that impressive of a win.

 

[huskered17]

I was only 7 years old at the time of the 1984 Orange Bowl, and I didn't watch the 2nd half of the game. I remember asking my dad about the game afterwards, and he was convinced that even if NU had kicked the PAT or even made the 2-point conversion that Miami would have marched down the field and got at least a FG attempt. Jeff Smith scored with about 45 seconds left, and Kosar had been torching NU's defense for most of the game. It would have been a heck of a hurry-up offense and FG kickers weren't as good then, as they are now. It's just something my dad would always say about that game.

I always said and thought the same thing as your dad.

We couldn't stop their passing game, from going up and down the field.

Great game.

GBR!!!

 

[huKSer]

The TO not retiring is a very interesting what if. From what I am gathering there is three basic reasons why he did retire.

1. I think he felt he owed it to his wife. But, as you can see his type A personality has never allowed him to sit still.

2. He promised Solich he would retire and is a man of his word. Personally when it really came time to do it I think he regretted it.

3. I truly think he thought his health was going to be failing when he made his decision to retire. Then it didn't get worse so he felt some remorse.

If he doesn't retire they probably have a good chance at winning it all in 1999, but you have to take into account that McBride still retires and I think FS would have been looking for a HC job, so the band doesn't stay completely in tact.

If he stayed another 5 years till he was 65, I think Gill most likely becomes HC.

I always felt that he was worn down from the LP media feeding frenzy - "Nebraska chooses to win at all costs" and not "TO tried to help disadvantaged youth"​

 

[Joe_5700]

I wonder if Texas was not granted the extra 1 second back on the clock in the CCG if that would have helped us to turn the corner or calm Bo's demeanor some?

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

The :01 in the Texas game doesn't haunt me. It was the right call.

I do think about Suh's rush adding a couple degrees to the arc of that final pass, because that would have made the difference.

If we're playing the "what if" game, Texas could have kicked the same field goal a play earlier. The thought that Texas could have lost their NC dream because they wanted to squeeze a few extra yards out of the last :05 is what kills me. That would have been really fun.

The "what if" against Texas that haunts me is wondering what if our otherwise excellent kicker Adali Kunalic didn't choose that moment to make the worst kickoff of his career.

 

[hskrpwr13]

The :01 in the Texas game doesn't haunt me. It was the right call.

I do think about Suh's rush adding a couple degrees to the arc of that final pass, because that would have made the difference.

If we're playing the "what if" game, Texas could have kicked the same field goal a play earlier. The thought that Texas could have lost their NC dream because they wanted to squeeze a few extra yards out of the last :05 is what kills me. That would have been really fun.

The "what if" against Texas that haunts me is wondering what if our otherwise excellent kicker Adali Kunalic didn't choose that moment to make the worst kickoff of his career.

From what I remember, if Suh had waited that extra second to decide to finally pressure McCoy, time wouldve run out.

Don't exactly remember how much time was left when the ball was snapped, but ithere was time for at least two plays. McCoy kept waiting and waiting for someone to get open while NU didnt try to pressure him. He never admitted to forgetting about the clock, but I think he did. At the time, I felt that was one of the more bone-headed plays I had ever seen. Unfortunately, it worked out for him.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Pretty sure there were only :05 to make the two plays. It was a risky move for Texas, who was just trying to reduce the field goal distance by 5 - 10 yards.

I was one of the many who thought the clock stopped when it crossed the imaginary out of bounds plane, not when it touched the ground or in this case a handrail (iirc). That why an extra degree of arc to the ball would have taken up that last second.

 

[VA Husker Fan]

It was a boneheaded play. The commentators said that it was a good risk for Texas because McCoy was such an experienced QB. Funny how that experienced QB didn't know the clock rule either.

 

[BigRedBuster]

What if Wyoming would have paid BD more so he stayed there instead of coming here, building an NC team and hiring TO to help him do it?

What if Ray Nagel, John Ralston or Duffy Daugherty would have accepted the job long before Tippy Dye ever thought about Devaney?

Nagel went on to have not that great of career at Iowa.

Ralston ended up at Stanford and finally building them to a few 9-3 seasons before washing out at San Jose State.

Daugherty stayed at MSU and finally had two Big Ten titles one 1st place finish in the coaches pole in 1965 then went down hill from there.

 

[Mierin]

The "what if" against Texas that haunts me is wondering what if our otherwise excellent kicker Adali Kunalic didn't choose that moment to make the worst kickoff of his career.

Ya I think that bothers me more.

But not as much as Martinez getting injured in 2010.

 

[Landlord]

The "what if" against Texas that haunts me is wondering what if our otherwise excellent kicker Adali Kunalic didn't choose that moment to make the worst kickoff of his career.

Ya I think that bothers me more.

But not as much as Martinez getting injured in 2010.

2010 was the most exhausting season I can remember. Way more than 2012 with all the comebacks, because deep down we all knew that 2012 team wasn't a great team. The 2010 team was, at times, a great team, and the depths hurt so much more when you've seen the heights.

Losing to a 5-7 Texas team in our year for revenge wouldn't have been nearly as disappointing if we weren't ranked 5th in the country at the time, and coming off of three electric games with our new superstar quarterback (and one clunker against SDSU).

I'm not sure if I even watched that bowl game.

 

[Mierin]

The "what if" against Texas that haunts me is wondering what if our otherwise excellent kicker Adali Kunalic didn't choose that moment to make the worst kickoff of his career.

Ya I think that bothers me more.

But not as much as Martinez getting injured in 2010.

2010 was the most exhausting season I can remember. Way more than 2012 with all the comebacks, because deep down we all knew that 2012 team wasn't a great team. The 2010 team was, at times, a great team, and the depths hurt so much more when you've seen the heights.

Losing to a 5-7 Texas team in our year for revenge wouldn't have been nearly as disappointing if we weren't ranked 5th in the country at the time, and coming off of three electric games with our new superstar quarterback (and one clunker against SDSU).

I'm not sure if I even watched that bowl game.

The Texas game kind of epitomizes Pelini's teams here. They had psychological issues. Or Maybe Texas was just good at stopping zone read.

I watched the first half of the bowl game then turned it off. I didn't care about the game leading up to it and still didn't care during it.

 

[Redux]

I have a serious What If question for all of Huskerboard.

What if Bill Callahan is fired at the end of 2006 season and Bo Pelini coaches his first season in 2007? This would mean regardless of how his 2007 team performs, his 2nd year team in 2008 woulf have been led by Joe Ganz at QB and Ndamukong Suh on Defense with an extra year of the tutelage that made him great.

Does Nebraska win a conference title in 2008? How would they not in 2009 if not more? Thought that crossed my mind

 

[ColoradoHusk]

I have a serious What If question for all of Huskerboard.

What if Bill Callahan is fired at the end of 2006 season and Bo Pelini coaches his first season in 2007? This would mean regardless of how his 2007 team performs, his 2nd year team in 2008 woulf have been led by Joe Ganz at QB and Ndamukong Suh on Defense with an extra year of the tutelage that made him great.

Does Nebraska win a conference title in 2008? How would they not in 2009 if not more? Thought that crossed my mind

Not sure that's a realistic "what if". NU won the division in 2006 under Callahan, and many thought NU was trending in the right direction. Of course, the sh%t hit the fan in 2007, but we didn't have any indication that it would be like that after the '06 season.