Which Win was better?

[Count 'Bility]

And as we now also know, our proud HC also took that joyous occasion to vent all his frustrations at his fans, Tom Shatel, and anyone else who didn't support him. There are plenty of Husker fans who would just like to forget this ever happened, that he's a changed man, etc, etc. Sure. But for me, it's even more luster removed knowing our Head Coach was relishing in how we'd kiss his a** out the f'ing door as we see what we can do once he's gone. Great stuff, Coach.

--

A name familiar to us all, who was the athletic director at the time has addressed this.......and who knows, he may very well have felt similarly in 1979 and 1990. I am not one who would be concerned about forgetting it happened......I am one who likes Pelini's passion for what he does.

Add another instance of Osborne being public with some comments in regards to insatiable expectations at or after the Solich firing.

 

[kchusker_chris]

 

[knapplc]

We should never have been in a position to need to come back against Northwestern. We hadn't figured our own defense out until mid-way through that game, eight games into the season when Bo threw up his hands and said to the defense, "What do you guys want to do?" After the guys figured out what they wanted and started playing fun football (blanket coverage, kill the quarterback) Northwestern went something like ten straight possessions without scoring after that - until we threw our fourth pick of the game and gave up a field goal, leading to Kellogg's/Westerkamp's heroics (helped more than a little bit by Ameer's insane 4th & 15 catch and run for a first down).

The Ohio State game was played against a far better opponent, in a far more electric atmosphere, and for about 20 minutes of game time, Nebraska played national-championship quality football on both sides of the ball. The offense went from sputtering to unstoppable and the defense was ferocious. That was the greatest non-Suh defensive performance I think we've seen out of Bo's tenure. When LaVonte David stripped that ball from Miller everything changed. It wasn't Braxton Miller's ankle injury that started the momentum swing, it was David's play. Taylor sliced up the Buckeye defense two plays after David's strip to pull us to within two scores, and on the next series Miller went out. Then the onslaught ensued.

Better opponent, more electric atmosphere, greatest comeback in school history, total domination on both sides of the ball for the final 20 minutes of the game - that's easily better than a fluke hail mary catch.

 

[zoogs]

If the basis is which game was a better display by Nebraska, then it's Ohio State, no question. Also was a better Nebraska team that year. But as for which win was more fantastic, will live on in memory, and made greater contribution to respective 9-4 (but very differently 9-4) seasons, then Northwestern takes the cake.

And yeah, Lavonte's strip stopped Ohio State from running away with that game (which they had started to do, having only expanded the lead to 3 scores on the previous drive). But there was plenty of time for Ohio State to fight back and hang on. When Braxton went out, it was 27-13. Ultimately, Nebraska went 3-0 in touchdowns to win by 1 score during a lengthy stretch marked both by very impressive work from the Husker offense, and an extended collapse for the ages by an inept backup QB.

It doesn't make the win less legitimate. Injuries happen in college football, depth matters, and I'm sure Buckeyes fans can't believe they didn't put Kenny Guiton in. It just makes it a little less legendary of a game to me. But yes, it's not even close as to which game had the more impressive football. Although, if that's the criteria, the games to put it up against would be different. Maybe Oklahoma State 2010, Missouri 2010, Texas 2009, Arizona 2009, Wisconsin 2012 Part 1 (also a three score deficit where we rallied to score the final 20 points of the game, while holding Wisconsin to 84 yards on their final 5 drives, at 3.8 yards per play),...possibly others.

 

[Count 'Bility]

If an argument can be made that the hail mary against NW "saved the season", then an equally-if not more-significant argument can be made for David's strip-given the circumstances.

Both coming in the middle of 9-4 seasons.

 

[knapplc]

If the basis is which game was a better display by Nebraska, then it's Ohio State, no question. Also was a better Nebraska team that year. But as for which win was more fantastic, will live on in memory, and made greater contribution to respective 9-4 (but very differently 9-4) seasons, then Northwestern takes the cake.

And yeah, Lavonte's strip stopped Ohio State from running away with that game (which they had started to do, having only expanded the lead to 3 scores on the previous drive). But there was plenty of time for Ohio State to fight back and hang on. When Braxton went out, it was 27-13. Ultimately, Nebraska went 3-0 in touchdowns to win by 1 score during a lengthy stretch marked both by very impressive work from the Husker offense, and an extended collapse for the ages by an inept backup QB.

It doesn't make the win less legitimate. Injuries happen in college football, depth matters, and I'm sure Buckeyes fans can't believe they didn't put Kenny Guiton in. It just makes it a little less legendary of a game to me. But yes, it's not even close as to which game had the more impressive football. Although, if that's the criteria, the games to put it up against would be different. Maybe Oklahoma State 2010, Missouri 2010, Texas 2009, Arizona 2009, Wisconsin 2012 Part 1 (also a three score deficit where we rallied to score the final 20 points of the game, while holding Wisconsin to 84 yards on their final 5 drives, at 3.8 yards per play),...possibly others.

All very good points.

Full disclosure - I'm biased against Hail Mary plays. They're 90% luck, and the quarterback tends to get all the credit (Doug Flutie, Kordell Stewart) while the receiver, who does most of the work, gets very little.

It's a bit different at Nebraska, where Davison's catch against Missouri in 1997 (although not a "Hail Mary") basically made his name with the fans, and much the same could be said about Westerkamp. Here, with this fan base, I'm guessing Kellogg's name gets lost in time, while Westerkamp will continue to be remembered.

 

[TAKODA]

Yep, Ohio State game was the better of the two for all the reasons Knapp said above. There are others that come to mind that are better than the hail Mary game but for the purpose of this thread, this will suffice!

 

[Thanks_Tom RR]

If the basis is which game was a better display by Nebraska, then it's Ohio State, no question. Also was a better Nebraska team that year. But as for which win was more fantastic, will live on in memory, and made greater contribution to respective 9-4 (but very differently 9-4) seasons, then Northwestern takes the cake.

And yeah, Lavonte's strip stopped Ohio State from running away with that game (which they had started to do, having only expanded the lead to 3 scores on the previous drive). But there was plenty of time for Ohio State to fight back and hang on. When Braxton went out, it was 27-13. Ultimately, Nebraska went 3-0 in touchdowns to win by 1 score during a lengthy stretch marked both by very impressive work from the Husker offense, and an extended collapse for the ages by an inept backup QB.

It doesn't make the win less legitimate. Injuries happen in college football, depth matters, and I'm sure Buckeyes fans can't believe they didn't put Kenny Guiton in. It just makes it a little less legendary of a game to me. But yes, it's not even close as to which game had the more impressive football. Although, if that's the criteria, the games to put it up against would be different. Maybe Oklahoma State 2010, Missouri 2010, Texas 2009, Arizona 2009, Wisconsin 2012 Part 1 (also a three score deficit where we rallied to score the final 20 points of the game, while holding Wisconsin to 84 yards on their final 5 drives, at 3.8 yards per play),...possibly others.

All very good points.

Full disclosure - I'm biased against Hail Mary plays. They're 90% luck, and the quarterback tends to get all the credit (Doug Flutie, Kordell Stewart) while the receiver, who does most of the work, gets very little.

It's a bit different at Nebraska, where Davison's catch against Missouri in 1997 (although not a "Hail Mary") basically made his name with the fans, and much the same could be said about Westerkamp. Here, with this fan base, I'm guessing Kellogg's name gets lost in time, while Westerkamp will continue to be remembered.

Maybe we could refer to the Hail Mary against NW as the Kel-launch on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and the Wester-catch on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays. Then split every other Sunday.

 

[Abdullah the Butcher]

Ohio State over Northwestern just on name recognition alone, to go along with the rest of the reasons in here.

 

[True2tRA]

We should never have been in a position to need to come back against Northwestern. We hadn't figured our own defense out until mid-way through that game, eight games into the season when Bo threw up his hands and said to the defense, "What do you guys want to do?" After the guys figured out what they wanted and started playing fun football (blanket coverage, kill the quarterback) Northwestern went something like ten straight possessions without scoring after that - until we threw our fourth pick of the game and gave up a field goal, leading to Kellogg's/Westerkamp's heroics (helped more than a little bit by Ameer's insane 4th & 15 catch and run for a first down).

The Ohio State game was played against a far better opponent, in a far more electric atmosphere, and for about 20 minutes of game time, Nebraska played national-championship quality football on both sides of the ball. The offense went from sputtering to unstoppable and the defense was ferocious. That was the greatest non-Suh defensive performance I think we've seen out of Bo's tenure. When LaVonte David stripped that ball from Miller everything changed. It wasn't Braxton Miller's ankle injury that started the momentum swing, it was David's play. Taylor sliced up the Buckeye defense two plays after David's strip to pull us to within two scores, and on the next series Miller went out. Then the onslaught ensued.

Better opponent, more electric atmosphere, greatest comeback in school history, total domination on both sides of the ball for the final 20 minutes of the game - that's easily better than a fluke hail mary catch.

Completely agree. LaVonte's strip of Braxton Miller was the change in momentum. It was like he just said enough of this and ripped that ball. It was a heady play. We are lacking some of that right now. In that game, it was the spark we needed. That game told me a lot about our football program too. It to me, was a clear sign of what these kids can accomplish when they pick their heads up, find some motivation and dig in.

 

[The Dude]

Texas '09.

 

[TheSker]

We hadn't figured our own defense out until mid-way through that game, eight games into the season when Bo threw up his hands and said to the defense, "What do you guys want to do?" After the guys figured out what they wanted and started playing fun football (blanket coverage, kill the quarterback) Northwestern went something like ten straight possessions without scoring after that

Did Pelini actually throw his hands up and say this?.......or was there a specific defensive alignment he was asking the players if they were more comfortable with? It may have something to do with how we aligned our front seven..........

 

[knapplc]

We hadn't figured our own defense out until mid-way through that game, eight games into the season when Bo threw up his hands and said to the defense, "What do you guys want to do?" After the guys figured out what they wanted and started playing fun football (blanket coverage, kill the quarterback) Northwestern went something like ten straight possessions without scoring after that

Did Pelini actually throw his hands up and say this?.......or was there a specific defensive alignment he was asking the players if they were more comfortable with? It may have something to do with how we aligned our front seven..........

Some creative liberties may have been used in that description. I'd have to go look it up to see how that actually went down, but I vaguely remember some player quotes saying they were all on "different pages" or some such thing, Bo basically asked them what they wanted to do, the players told him, and from there things got better.

 

[Creighton Duke]

Between the 2 I would say the Ohio State game. It was against a traditionally good oponent, even if they did have their worse team in over a decade.

Northwestern, although I am happy we won, and although it was an incredible ending, was almost an embarrassment. I understand we are no longer in the 90s and Tom Osborne is no longer our coach, but being the equivalent to the likes of Northwestern and Iowa is hard to swallow. I would atleast like to be able to destroy the mediocre and lesser teams in the conference. Still I am looking forward to the season, hopefully a strong defense can take us to new heights under Pelini.

My vote for best win under pelini would probably be the Oklahoma win (although opposing team ranking wise there were better wins).

This. Defense, specifically LB/DB play in that game, was on point. Bend, don't break to the "t"

 

[kchusker_chris]

Some creative liberties may have been used in that description. I'd have to go look it up to see how that actually went down, but I vaguely remember some player quotes saying they were all on "different pages" or some such thing, Bo basically asked them what they wanted to do, the players told him, and from there things got better.

....and we say players shouldn't get paid...