Miami beats Nebraska

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Is USC best ever? Video game says no

2001 Miami squad wins all-time tournament

By Michael Rothstein

The Journal Gazette

It’s been mentioned, that this year’s USC team might be the best of all time.

Comparing this year’s team with, say, the 1971 Nebraska squad or the 1945 Army outfit is near impossible.

“I don’t even know how to go about that,” former Texas coach Darrell Royal said. “Those best teams of all time will never play each other. That’s the way to decide who’s best. It’s about the only way I know.”

Well, thanks to innovations in technology with an assist from EA Sports’ “NCAA Football 2006,” The Journal Gazette took a shot.

We selected 15 legendary teams already in the game and mixed them into a randomly selected tournament draw with this year’s USC squad. Games were played at randomly selected home sites until the final, which was played at the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz.

The teams selected represent every decade from the 1940s until this season. The teams: Army 1945; Notre Dame 1947; Michigan 1947; Oklahoma 1956 and 1974; Syracuse 1959; Alabama 1961; Nebraska 1971 and 1995; USC 1972 and 2005; Miami 1986 and 2001; Penn State 1994 and Florida State 1999.

Below is how the tournament played out. There is legitimacy in this, too. The EA Sports “Madden Football” franchise plays the Super Bowl every season the week before the game. It has correctly predicted the winner the past eight years.

First round

Texas 1969 at Army 1945

The Black Knights represented the old-timers well, spending most of the game running down the clock to gain 257 yards of offense in the 17-7 win over the Longhorns.

Notre Dame 1947 at Penn State 1994

Penn State picked off a Johnny Lujack pass with 2:12 remaining to seal the 21-11 win. PSU running back Ki-Jana Carter rushed for 129 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown.

Alabama 1961 at Florida State 1999

Florida State quarterback Chris Weinke had better days. He threw four interceptions and was replaced in the third quarter during the Crimson Tide’s 28-14 win.

Nebraska 1995 at Nebraska 1971

Freshman running back Ahman Green exploded for 237 yards and four touchdowns in the Nebraska option offense, leading the 1995 Cornhuskers to a 49-10 win.

USC 2005 at Syracuse 1959

Junior tailback Reggie Bush accounted for 163 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns, leading the Trojans to a 38-3 win. Syracuse running back Ernie Davis had 133 yards on 24 carries.

Oklahoma 1956 at Miami 1986

Miami running back Alonzo Highsmith gained 96 yards on 14 carries and scored two touchdowns, leading the Hurricanes to a 31-7 win.

Oklahoma 1974 at Michigan 1947

Michigan left end Bob Mann had four tackles, including three for a loss and two sacks in the Wolverines’ 17-14 win.

USC 1972 at Miami 2001

Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey went 9 of 12 for 189 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Hurricanes to a 49-10 win.

Quarterfinals

Army 1945 at Penn State 1994

Quarterback Kerry Collins went 13 of 18 for 107 yards and two scores, leading the Nittany Lions to a 28-7 win.

Alabama 1961 at Nebraska 1995

Green continued his run through the tournament, gaining 133 yards and scoring three touchdowns in Nebraska’s 38-13 win. Quarterback Tommie Frazier added 146 yards on the ground and two scores.

USC 2005 at Miami 1986

USC’s sluggish first halves in real life carried over to the virtual world – and this time, the Trojans couldn’t rally. Miami, led by 276 yards and three touchdowns from quarterback Vinny Testaverde, jumped out a 24-0 lead on USC and held on for a 27-22 win, eliminating the Trojans from contention. USC quarterback Matt Leinart threw for 188 yards and two scores.

“Their defense isn’t as good as it used to be,” said former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer, who helmed the 1974 Sooners, of USC. “They probably aren’t as good on defense. They are a talented football team.”

Michigan 1947 at Miami 2001

Running back Clinton Portis gained 129 yards on eight carries with one score, leading the Hurricanes to a 35-0 win.

“Some of the old timers might be offended but they have to understand personnel now,” former Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian said. “You have 250-pound guys who can run the ball. The difference between skill positions is dramatic.”

Semifinals

Penn State 1994 at Nebraska 1995

Frazier helped Nebraska roll, gaining 176 yards on 13 carries and rushing for three touchdowns to lead the Cornhuskers to a 45-7 win and a berth in the all-time title game.

Miami 1986 at Miami 2001

Portis rushed nine times for 109 yards and three touchdowns, leading the 2001 Hurricanes to a 31-0 win over their 1986 brethren.

Final

Nebraska 1995 vs. Miami 2001 at the Fiesta Bowl

Fullback Najeh Davenport caught a 5-yard pass from Dorsey in the second overtime, lifting the Hurricanes to a 41-38 win. It was the last of four TD tosses by Dorsey.

Miami came back from a 28-7 deficit to start the fourth quarter and survived a fourth-straight eye-popping performance from Green – 26 carries for 214 yards and five touchdowns.

NOTE: Because of NCAA

regulations, “EA Sports NCAA

Football 2006” doesn’t use play

ers’ names. The Journal Gazette

researched the players on those

teams for this story.

 
I play the bull$#!t card on this one.

First, how the hell can the 94 PuSsU team be on there, they didnt win the freaking National Championship :dumdum

Second, to pit 71 NU vs 95 NU in the first round shows an obvious bias against NU. The other Univ's with 2 teams didnt have to play each other early, and those 2 NU teams have been considered the 2 best of all time.

Third, I dont give a crap how good Miami was, there is no way in hell they would have scored 41 points on that defense. NOBODY did that year, not even the "greatest offense in the history of college football" *cough* :dumdum Hell, Miami didnt even score that much against the 01 NU squad. I dont care if it was 2OT or not. <_<

What a crock :wacko:

 
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First of all, those 1940s teams are not going to beat those teams in the 1970s and so on. You can't compare apples to oranges. Apparently the drastic differences in conditioning, speed, strength and size wasn't factored in. Dumb!

Yes, you can compare the '95 Husker team to the Huricane team of '01. Whether you agree or not with the results of the make-believe game, it's still fun reading.

What about Lawrence Phillips? He was on the '95 team -- at least part of the year -- besides Green.

 
i dont understand why they put both nebraska teams against each other in the first round... but we all know who would have won that championship game... ken dorsey??? HA!

 
It's all well and good that they tried, but in the end it's just more of a discussion piece than meaning really anything. I agree with former, how in the heck did the 94 Penn State team even make it on the list?

I'm of the crowd that just doesn't think you can compare talent from years ago to now. How in the world would you ever compare a QB like Terry Bradshaw to Michael Vick or Donovan McNabb? How would you ever compare d!(k Butkis to Ray Lewis? Players are bigger, faster, and stronger than back in the 40's. I just don't see how you can ever compare them keeping an apples to apples relationship.

 
All I know is the 05 Huskers beat the 05 USC team during my season. So USC shouldn't even be in the conversation.

I heard from my XBox source that the reason Ahman is used instead of Larry is because Ahman is rated higher on the game. I can't tell you who my source is though. ;)

I'm gonna have to play this game tonight. Bring on the Canes. I really need to get out once in awhile. :bang :bang

 
i dont understand why they put both nebraska teams against each other in the first round... but we all know who would have won that championship game... ken dorsey??? HA!
Click to expand...
Touchdown... Tommie Fraziaaah! :smokin

95' NU- 54 01' Canes- 17 (and that's being nice) :cheers

 
Well, thanks to innovations in technology with an assist from EA Sports’ “NCAA Football 2006,”
Click to expand...
Don't get me wrong, I love NCAA 06. but the historical ratings on that game are laughable and embarrassing. I realize rating thousands of players from years past is a daunting task, but the EA guys could have at least tried to have it make sense.

Among some of the strangeness:

-3rd string QB in 1995? not the Turmanator- it was #16 (Eric Stokes?!). is looking up "1995 Nebraska roster" on a search engine really that hard?

-1995 LB #43 (Farley) gets a rating of 78.

-C.Peter is rated as an 87 in 1994 (a bit high), but dropped to a 65 in 1995 (a bit low).

-Ed Stewart, to name but one, didn't exist.

-A freshman Ahman Green has a 95 rating in 1995, but two years later in 97 he drops to 94.

-A freshman Kris Brown goes from 80 in '95 to a 74 in '97.

-The Pipeline players are all rated in the 70s or low 80s. Save for a freshman Aaron Taylor (who hardly played that year) who gets a rating of 86.

-and my favorite has to be the # of QBs rated higher than Frazier (i've never attempted to count them but it has to be well over 50). Including Michael Bishop, Danny Weurful, Corby Jones, Josh Heupel, Chris Weinke... i think you get the point. those are just the one's i recognized.

That's just the beginning, things i noticed just wandering through the Huskers "historic rosters" so there's bound to be several more.

nonetheless, we can probably expect hopeless Miami fans to use this as further "evidence" to their superiority. and they will. these are people that have actually reasoned the following (generally quoted): "2001 Miami soundly beat a 2001 Nebraska team that was just as good as 1995 Nebraska."

an extremely innacurate video game is the only place 2001 Miami would beat 1995 Nebraska.

 
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