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Post by thatoneguyD22 on Aug 12, 2015 15:03:53 GMT -5
That was before they renovated the south stands too. Still looked like bleachers
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2015 20:47:34 GMT -5
That was before they renovated the south stands too. Still looked like bleachers 2000 was actually the first renovated year. I'd been in South for the last game in the old stands in '99, too, so I got the real before-and-after.
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Post by badgersballers on Aug 12, 2015 21:58:00 GMT -5
18. 2008 Wisconsin Badgers-They started the season ranked 13th, and after starting the year 3-0 with a road win over 21st ranked Fresno State they climbed into the top 10. Then they had a game against the worst Michigan team of all time, and despite forcing 5 turnovers in the 1st half they found a way to blow a 19 point lead. Afterwards, they lost a back and forth game to OSU before getting blasted the next few weeks against PSU and Iowa. They'd go on and win 4 of their last 5 regular season games with the one loss being a game where Bielema was dumb enough to get a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to put MSU in field goal range with under a 1 minute left. Season ended in disappointing fashion in a blowout loss to some Florida school in some crappy bowl. The worst part of this team was that unlike the other teams, they really should've won 10+ games, but terrible QB play, stupid coaching, and just some bad luck cost them.
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Post by thatoneguyD22 on Aug 13, 2015 1:07:38 GMT -5
17. 2001 After John Cooper's firing, rumors swirled over who would become the next Buckeyes coach. Names like Ty Willingham, Glen Mason, Mike Belotti, Lou Holtz, Fred Pagac, Jon Gruden and even Bob Stoops are brought up. But after a month long search, Youngstown State head coach and 4 time Div 1-AA National Champion Jim Tressel is chosen, and the response from Buckeye nation was a resounding "who?" And while many fans questioned the choice of a relative nobody with no experience winning at this level, he filled the two criteria for being Buckeye head coach that John Cooper never did. He was a Buckeye, being from Ohio and coaching under Earle Bruce, and he understood the importance of the Michigan rivalry, demonstrating the latter during the halftime of a baskeball game against TTUN, promising a victory over Michigan in Ann Arbor the coming season. The Buckeyes hovered right at the periphery of the top 25 all season, winning a few games to climb into the rankings, then losing, never rising higher than #21. The team stayed close in all of them however losing only one game by double digits. Going into the final game of the season, the Buckeyes were 6-4 and playing behind backup QB Craig Krenzel, filling in for Senior Steve Bellisari who had just gotten arrested for DUI, while #11 Michigan needed only a win to clinch the Big Ten title and a spot in a BCS bowl. This time however, it would be the Buckeyes who would humble the superior Wolverine team behind the first time starter Krenzel. OSU took a 23-0 lead and then held on after a furious Michigan comeback to win 26-20, accomplishing a feat that John Cooper never did in 6 tries, beating Michigan on the road. The Buckeyes then manufactured a hell of a comeback in the Outback Bowl against South Carolina, tying the game after falling behind 28-0 only to lose on a late FG. Despite the mediocre record, the win over Michigan and the ability to stay in every game made fans optimistic for next season. Standout Memory: Going to the Purdue game on a cold November afternoon with my grandparents, painting my face and dyeing my hair red for the game, then subsequently making a huge mess in the hotel bathroom when trying to wash it out. 2001 Final Record: 7-5 (4-4) Beat Michigan Lost Outback Bowl No Championship Awards- LeCharles Bentley- Rimington Award, Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year All-Americans: LeCharles Bentley (C), Mike Doss (SS)
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2015 1:35:20 GMT -5
I was at the first game that season, a 28-14 win over the Charlie Frye-led Akron Zips. Ohio State dominated in every category but the score. I guess that should have been the warning that offense was going to be scarce in the following years under Jim Tressel.
The nursing home where my grandmother was staying at the time would organize a meet and greet with several players every year, with a couple starters and a few backups who weren't needed at practice for a day as an involved-with-the-community kind of thing. That season among the visitors were future pro-bowl DE Will Smith and then-backup QB Craig Krenzel. Generally, if you put a college student in a room with a bunch of octogenarians that aren't his grandmother, he's going to be a little awkward and uncomfortable, and that held true--for everybody but Krenzel. He was schmoozing up to all the old ladies, running around to get them another piece of cake or another glass of water, posing for pictures, and genuinely just having a blast. It made watching him lead that team to a national title the following year all the better, because it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
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Post by bigdawgs on Aug 13, 2015 8:51:24 GMT -5
17. Georgia. 8-4 This was Jim Donnan's next to last season in Athens. After starting the year 4-0, including one point wins over Central Florida and LSU, the Dawgs continued their decade long inability to beat most of their rivals. They lost to the Vols for the 9th straight time. They lost to Florida again as well as Auburn and Georgia Tech. That was the 2d consecutive loss to the Jackets, albeit on one of the most grotesque calls in Southern football history...the infamous Jasper Sanks non fumble. But it was probably the Auburn game that was most disheartening. The Tigers led 31-0 at half and Georgia simply quit. It was this game that marked the end for Donnan. Georgia would go to the Outback Bowl and fell behind Drew Brees and Purdue 25-0. They then mounted what up until then was the greatest bowl comeback in history to win 28-25.
Georgia fans were ready for a change. Vince Dooley and Michael Adams, possibly moved by the number of returnees and the great bowl comeback opted to go one more year. When Donnan was fired a year later, he had managed to finally end the drought against Tennessee, but still could not beat Florida, Auburn or Tech. But with 18 returning starters in 2000, the coach got a one year reprieve. They had 4 Freshmen All Americans on the team...Jon Stinchcomb, Charles Grant, Randy McMichael and Kevin Breedlove.
Richard Seymour was the star of the team and ALL SEC.
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Post by badgersballers on Aug 13, 2015 9:55:27 GMT -5
2002. Wisconsin-Coming off a 5 win season in 2001, the season got off to a terrible start before it began when All American WR Lee Evans tore his ACL in the Spring game. Still despite this, Wisconsin won their first 5 games of the season and moved up to 19th in the polls. What followed was 3 straight Big Ten losses to PSU, IU and OSU all by 5 points or less. The next week, they played MSU and won easily, before suffering another 3 game losing streak to Iowa, Illinois and Michigan before closing out the season with a win over Minnesota. Despite finishing the season only 7-6, Wisconsin played Big XII runner up, and 14th ranked Colorado in the Alamo Bowl. Despite being a heavy underdog, Wisconsin was able to pull out the win in overtime to end the season 8-6, gotta say that was the game that made the season even tolerable.
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Post by thatoneguyD22 on Aug 13, 2015 14:09:07 GMT -5
I remember that Wisky team being pretty Jekyll and Hyde. Looking really good and then really bad
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Post by thatoneguyD22 on Aug 14, 2015 2:38:47 GMT -5
Alright, time to finish off the first week. 16. 2004 Jim Tressel only ever had two seasons where he won less than 10 games. His first was 2001. This was the other, and going into it most expected a rebuilding year after losing so many starters from the last two seasons as well as DC Mark Dantonio. Despite all the losses, Ohio State was #9 in the preseason AP poll with promising Sophomore QB Justin Zwick at starter, and managed to start 3-0 against a decent OOC schedule, rising to #7. The start was short lived however, as the Big Ten season began with 3 losses in a row, starting with an OT loss to unranked Northwestern. Following the third loss to Iowa, former ATH and Kick Return specialist Troy Smith took over for the injured Zwick. Behind Smith and breakout WR and Returner Ted Ginn, the team immediately improved, winning 3 out of 4 going into the game against #7 Michigan where they were a massive underdog. The Buckeyes were able to pull off the upset, and in doing so Troy Smith had one of the greatest games in the rivalry's history, going 13-23 for 241 yards and 2TDs through the air and rushing for 145 yards and a score. He wouldn't get to repeat this performance against Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl however, as he was suspended for taking money from a booster. Zwick however would perform admirably, giving the Buckeyes the win and creating a bit of a QB controversy in the offseason. Standout Memory: Going to my first Michigan game. The tickets were a present for my 12th birthday. Sat in the student section next to my dad, who is absolutely no fun to watch a close game with. The man sees a 10 point deficit and is like "oh well, I guess it's over." I remember really well jumping onto the field after the game was over with a bunch of college students. Had a blast. 2004 Final Record: 8-4 (4-4) Beat Michigan Won Alamo Bowl No Championships Awards- Mike Nugent- Lou Groza Award All-Americans: Mike Nugent (K), A.J. Hawk (LB)
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Post by bigdawgs on Aug 14, 2015 11:05:06 GMT -5
16 Georgia 2009 8-5 (4-4) Following 3 successful seasons under Matt Stafford, Georgia began a two year run of mediocrity in 2009. The schedule was tough with games against Oklahoma State, Arizona State and Georgia Tech of which 2 were on the road. The one bright spot was that with their Independence Bowl win over Texas A&M, Georgia became the only school in the country with 8 or more wins for 13 years in a row (at that time). The season got off to a rough start in Stillwater with new quarterback Joe Cox suffering from the flu. They then rolled off three consecutive victories including a thumping of Bobby Petrino's Hogs in Fayetteville. But a controversial loss to LSU in Athens started a downward trend. Lane Kiffin's Vols and Urban Meyer's Gators took the Dawgs to the woodshed. Georgia could not stop anyone. They managed to beat Auburn and upset Georgia Tech's ACC Champions but it was not enough to save DC Willie Martinez's job. Grad assistants coached the defense in Shreveport as the Dawgs beat the Aggies from the Big 12. A few weeks later, Todd Grantham was hired to retool the Georgia defense.
The sad thing was that this team had some outstanding talent. A.J. Green was an all American. Drew Butler won the Ray Guy award as the nation's best punter. Gino Atkins and Justin Houston were all SEC players. Ben Jones at Center and Rene Curran at LB were both All SEC. Blair Walsh was the All SEC PK. Many of these players have gone on to be studs in the NFL. First of two years of poor coaching by the entire staff, but especially on defense. Mark Richt's seat really got hot starting with this team.
This still makes me madder than hell:
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Post by bigdawgs on Aug 15, 2015 7:39:11 GMT -5
15 Georgia 2000 8-4 (5-3) Jim Donnan's last team. Despite a lot of talent returning, Georgia still struggled against its biggest rivals. The Dawgs lost to Carolina in Columbia but were 7-1 going into Jacksonville. And the best news was that the 9 game losing streak to the Vols ended with a 21-10 win Between the Hedges. For the first and last time in memory, Georgia students stormed the field and the hedges took a beating. But as was the trend, Donnan's team managed to lose to Florida, Auburn and Tech. Against Georgia's 4 biggest rivals, Donnan managed a 6-14 record. They wound up whupping Virginia 37-14 in the Jeep Oahu Bowl.
Richard Seymour was All American. All SEC were Marcus Stroud, Kevin Breedlove, Jonas Jennings, Jon Stinchcomb and Randy McMichael.
Michael Adams wanted Donnan fired but Vince Dooley wanted to give him one more year. The pressure from the Georgia fan base forced Dooley's hand. The national press was quite critical for the firing of a coach who had won 68% of his games. But with a losing record against all of Georgia's traditional rivals, no one was ready to put up with another year of the same. Donnan coached the bowl game and has lived in Athens since his dismissal. Mark Richt, the offensive coordinator at Florida State was hired by Dooley before the end of the year.
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Post by thatoneguyD22 on Aug 15, 2015 13:05:56 GMT -5
I was thinking we'd keep this to weekdays. That was why I started when I did.
No big deal though haha
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Post by bigdawgs on Aug 15, 2015 13:31:10 GMT -5
Want me to delete?
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Post by thatoneguyD22 on Aug 15, 2015 14:14:48 GMT -5
Nah, you're fine.
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Post by bigdawgs on Aug 16, 2015 7:48:02 GMT -5
14 Georgia 2006 9-4/4-4 This was Matthew Stafford's Freshman year. He battled Joe Cox and Joe Tereshenski for the starting job through mid season, although he got most of the starts. He kept the job after coming on in relief for Cox in Oxford. The Dawgs opened the season 5-0, but in retrospect that was a bit misleading. They had to come from behind to beat a bad Colorado team with Cox coming in for relief and the next week did the same against Ole Miss. Even though they were undefeated at the time, they were the underdog to Tennessee. The Dawgs led early but then got walloped Between the Hedges. That started a 5 week period of utter dispair in the Dawg nation. Georgia lost to Vandy, Kentucky and Florida and barely escaped Miss State. They played the National Champs tough after falling behind 21-0, they had the Gators on the ropes before falling 21-14. Naturally they were a huge underdog rolling into Top 5 ranked Auburn, but Stafford came alive and the defense played take away as Georgia rolled to a huge 37-15 upset on the Plain. Two weeks later UGA upset ranked Georgia Tech on a late Stafford to Masaquoi Touchdown all the while shutting down Calvin Johnson and company. Then, in the Peach Bowl, Georgia upset the Virginia Tech Hokies 31-24 after trailing 3-21 at halftime. It was the first time in school history that an unranked Georgia team had beaten 3 ranked teams in consecutive games and it sparked positive hope for the next year.
Offensive Tackle Daniel Inman was the only All SEC first teamer.
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Post by badgersballers on Aug 16, 2015 22:08:11 GMT -5
16. 2003 Wisconsin-Started the season beating Co-Big East Champion West Virginia, and Akron before finding a way to lose UNLV 23-5 at home. That game was a football game, where I could legitimately say that one player won the game. Pretty sure the UNLV FS had a fumble return for a TD, 2 INT's, and 2 sacks or some ridiculous state line like that. Despite the loss, Wisconsin recovered and were able to win their next 4 games over UNC, Illinois, PSU, and ended OSU's 19 game win streak to move to 6-1, and control of their destiny in conference. The following week they faced Purdue and lost on a last second FG, and never recovered that season. They lost their next 2 road games vs NW, and Minnesota before Lee Evans murdered MSU at home. Then in the last game of the season they blew a 21-0 lead to Iowa before losing to Auburn in the Music City Bowl. Suffice to say, this season was brutal.
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Post by thatoneguyD22 on Aug 17, 2015 0:12:29 GMT -5
Alright, just 15 weekdays away from kickoff. Let's get week 2 started. Yet another "so close and yet so far" season for the Buckeyes. Despite the preaseason billing of a rebuilding year, the Buckeyes started 5-0 and rose to #7 in the country before a trip to Happy Valley in a game that was quickly becoming the second biggest one of the schedule every year. The Nittany Lions were #2 (they had started the season #1), and looked to be the team to beat in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions grabbed the lead first, then the Buckeyes scored 17 unanswered to make the score 27-17. In the 4th quarter, Penn State would take the lead 31-27 with less than 7 minutes to go and hold on to win. Ohio State ran through the next five games of their schedule with ease, winning every game by more than 3 scores before once again making the trip to Ann Arbor. This time against the #1 and undefeated Michigan Wolverines. The Buckeyes defense was stalwart, only allowing the Wolverines one TD on offense, while their own offense floundered. Future Heisman winner Charles Woodson would return a punt for a touchdown, and Michigan would return an INT for a TD. Two late TDs would get the Buckeyes back into the game, but it wouldn't be enough, and the Wolverines would go on to win the Rose Bowl and win a share of the National Championship. The Buckeyes however, would go on to play Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, where Ohio State's offense would be unable to score a touchdown until the 4th quarter after the game was already out of reach. Despite the high rankings all season and the overall success of the season, only one of Ohio State's ten wins came against a ranked opponent, and the final ranking of #12 seemed generous. Standout Memory: Pretty sure Ohio State looking so bad in the Michigan game and Sugar Bowl were the first two times I ever heard my Dad swore. He does it all the time now, but there was a time when he was as white bread and midwestern as you could get, and it was genuinely shocking to hear him talk like that. 1997 Final Record: 10-3 (6-2) Lost to Michigan Lost Sugar Bowl No Championships Awards- Andy Katzenmoyer- Dick Butkus Award All-Americans: Andy Katzenmoyer (LB), Rob Murphy (OG), Antoine Winfield (CB)
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Post by badgersballers on Aug 17, 2015 17:17:59 GMT -5
15. 1996 Wisconsin-Coming off a 4 win season, the Badgers got off to a great start winning their first 3 games of the season over EMU, UNLV and Stanford before conference play kicked off. The first 3 games of conference play all ended in close losses as the Badgers lost to #3 PSU, #2 OSU, and #14 Northwestern by a combined 10 points. The NW game was really disheartening because Wisconsin had the game won, and all they had to do was take a knee, but instead Ron Dayne fumbled in the last 2 minutes giving the Wildcats a chance to win. The fourth game unlike the first 3 was a blowout loss to MSU, but the Badgers were able to recover and win 4 of their last 5 games to end the season 8-5. In the end, the season will be remembered for the debut of Ron Dayne, who despite not starting in the first 2 games in the season was still able to rush for over 2000 yards on the season.
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Post by bigdawgs on Aug 17, 2015 22:47:01 GMT -5
13. Georgia 8-5 (5-3) This is perhaps the most difficult Georgia team to evaluate of the 20 we are looking at. This is a team that incredible highs, yet suffered from an unbelievable series of injuries that derailed the entire season. A year after barely losing to National Champ Alabama, the Dawgs began the season on a strong note. A close loss at Death Valley in the open was quickly overcome with huge wins over South Carolina and LSU. Georgia then went to Tennessee when disaster struck. Already missing Todd Gurley to injury, Keith Marshall was ripping the Vols when he too went down with a season ending injury. Within the next few minutes, Michael Bennett and Malcom Mitchell were lost. Tennessee took over the game and seemingly had beaten highly ranked Georgia when Aaron Murray engineered a long touchdown drive and scored the tying touchdown as time elapsed. The Dawgs won in overtime, but the injuries would prove to be devastating. Georgia lost the next two to Mizzou and Vandy before beating the Gators for the 3d consecutive year. A loss to eventual SEC Champion Auburn on the most improbable of improbables ended any hope of winning the East. After roaring from way behind in the 4th quarter to take the lead, a tipped miracle won it for Auburn. A week later Aaron Murray was on his way to obliterating Kentucky when he too went down to an ACL. Despite the loss of so many players, Georgia overcame a 20 point deficit to Georgia Tech in Atlanta and Todd Gurley beat the Jackets in OT. A loss in the rematch with Nebraska closed out a highly disappointing season that was a roller coaster if there ever was one. Hard to be too critical of a team that lost all of its weapons by mid season.
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Post by thatoneguyD22 on Aug 17, 2015 23:59:28 GMT -5
14. 2008 This is likely the most disappointing season in Jim Tressel's tenure as head coach. The previous year, the Buckeyes got into the NC game in what was expected to be a rebuilding year.This year however, they had All-American RB Chris "Beanie" Wells healthy and several key returning starters on both sides of the ball, and most Ohio State fans thought that this was the year they should have been in the Championship. Their #2 preseason was ranking was quickly lost however when Beanie broke his foot in the opener against Youngstown State and the team struggled against Ohio, dropping all the way to #5. With Wells still injured, Tressel decided to go with a two QB system with Senior Todd Boeckman and 5 star Freshman Terelle Pryor for their road game against #1 USC. After a strong first drive stalled ending in a field goal, the trojans would score 35 unanswered points, 14 of them on defense. The embarassing loss convinced the Buckeyes that a huge shakeup was necessary, putting Pryor as the full time starter. The offense picked up quite a bit and the Buckeyes were able to win two big road games against ranked opponents before dropping a close game to #3 Penn State after Pryor fumbled on a 4th down try. They would mop up the rest of their Big Ten opponents and finish with a 42-7 win over Michigan in Rich Rodriguez' first season as head coach of the Wolverines, securing a Fiesta Bowl matchup with Texas. The Longhorns would take a 17-6 lead into the 4th quarter, where Ohio State would score 15 unanswered points, taking a 21-17 lead with 2 minutes left to go. Colt McCoy would get the ball and proceed to exploit Ohio State's prevent defense, scoring a TD with just 16 seconds left to go, leaving Tressel and OSU with their 3rd straight BCS bowl loss. Standout memory: Standing outside of Eddie George's restaurant, watching the Youngstown St game on the big screen and seeing Beanie break his foot. The crowd gathered there went dead silent, and everyone looked at each other like "well...there's always next year." 2008 Final Record: 10-3 (7-1) Beat Michigan Lost Fiesta Bowl Big Ten Co-Champions Awards- Malcolm Jenkins- Jim Thorpe Award, James Laurinaitis- Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Terrelle Pryor- Big Ten Freshman of the Year All-Americans: Malcolm Jenkins (CB), James Laurinaitis (LB)
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Post by thatoneguyD22 on Aug 18, 2015 23:29:53 GMT -5
13. 2003 Coming off of the 2002 National Championship, the Buckeyes were in a solid position to perhaps win another one. Many of the playmakers on both sides of the ball were coming back, and the Buckeyes were preseason #2. One player who would not be coming back however, would be Maurice Clarett, who had just spent an entire summer in trouble, with no less than three incidents with either the law or the NCAA, leaving his spot to be filled by Lydell Ross, the man who started the season last year at RB before Clarett took over. The season began with an easy win over #17 Washington, but was immediately followed by a 16-13 close call to San Diego State and then a triple overtime victory over NC State. Despite the 3-0 start, the Buckeyes fell to #5 in the polls. After struggling a bit with Bowling Green, they easily defeated Northwestern heading into a bye week with QB Craig Krenzel out with an injury. First game back they made the trip to Camp Randall where the offense would sputter against #22 Wisconsin, losing 10-17. It was an ugly game marred by Robert Reynold's choking Wisky QB Jim Sorgi. The Buckeyes recovered however, winning five games in a row including 3 wins over top 15 teams, #9 Iowa, #14 Mich State, and #10 Purdue. Next was a trip to Ann Arbor for the #4 Buckeyes to face the #5 Wolverines in the 100th meeting of the rivalry. Michigan held the lead all day, the closest the Buckeyes were able to manage was a TD in the 4th to bring it to one score, which was immediately answered. This would be Jim Tressel's only loss to Michigan in his career. They would face Big 12 champions Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl, fresh off a win over the #1 Oklahoma Sooners. Ohio State would play 3 quarters of nearly flawless football to give themselves a 35-14 lead that a late comeback by KSU couldn't quite overcome. Standout Memory: Huddling with my entire family in the stands near the North endzone of the Horseshoe in sub-freezing temperatures with snow in the stands for the Purdue game, watching Mike Nugent kick the game winning field goal in overtime. You could actually see us in the highlight they showed on ESPN. 2003 Final Record: 11-2 (6-2) Lost to Michigan Won Fiesta Bowl No Championships Awards- Will Smith- Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year. B.J. Sander- Ray Guy Award. All-Americans: Will Allen (FS)
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Post by bigdawgs on Aug 19, 2015 8:13:36 GMT -5
12 2001 Georgia 8-4 (5-3) Mark Richt's first team at Georgia had some ups and down but basically demonstrated a positive trend. The Dawgs lost to South Carolina at home in the second game. But on the weekend after the tragic 9-11 attacks, they sprung one of the biggest upsets in recent memory after blowing the lead on a busted play with 44 seconds left. David Greene then marched the Dawgs downfield to take the lead on the pass to Veron Hayes with 2 seconds left in the "Hobnail Boot" game. This would be the second consecutive win over the Vols after 9 straight losses. Georgia lost to Steve Spurrier's last Gator team and fell a few inches short on the Auburn goal line. They did beat Tech to stop that 3 game losing streak in Atlanta. They lost to Boston College in the Music City Bowl.
All SEC TE Randy McMichael, OT Jon Stinchcomb, CB Tim Wansley, OLB Boss Bailey, DE Charles Grant and C Curt McGill
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Post by kaara on Aug 19, 2015 10:13:42 GMT -5
16. 2003 Wisconsin-Started the season beating Co-Big East Champion West Virginia, and Akron before finding a way to lose UNLV 23-5 at home. That game was a football game, where I could legitimately say that one player won the game. Pretty sure the UNLV FS had a fumble return for a TD, 2 INT's, and 2 sacks or some ridiculous state line like that. Despite the loss, Wisconsin recovered and were able to win their next 4 games over UNC, Illinois, PSU, and ended OSU's 19 game win streak to move to 6-1, and control of their destiny in conference. The following week they faced Purdue and lost on a last second FG, and never recovered that season. They lost their next 2 road games vs NW, and Minnesota before Lee Evans murdered MSU at home. Then in the last game of the season they blew a 21-0 lead to Iowa before losing to Auburn in the Music City Bowl. Suffice to say, this season was brutal. I remember being at that UNLV game. I took my young son and my god son to the game. It rained that game as well just brutal.... the only thing that made it both better and worse was it was the first game I had ever taken my son too....
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Post by kaara on Aug 19, 2015 10:17:48 GMT -5
15. 1996 Wisconsin-Coming off a 4 win season, the Badgers got off to a great start winning their first 3 games of the season over EMU, UNLV and Stanford before conference play kicked off. The first 3 games of conference play all ended in close losses as the Badgers lost to #3 PSU, #2 OSU, and #14 Northwestern by a combined 10 points. The NW game was really disheartening because Wisconsin had the game won, and all they had to do was take a knee, but instead Ron Dayne fumbled in the last 2 minutes giving the Wildcats a chance to win. The fourth game unlike the first 3 was a blowout loss to MSU, but the Badgers were able to recover and win 4 of their last 5 games to end the season 8-5. In the end, the season will be remembered for the debut of Ron Dayne, who despite not starting in the first 2 games in the season was still able to rush for over 2000 yards on the season. I was also at this UNLV game and this game was in Las Vegas. Was out there with a buddy of mine and also some family. The game was awesome as it was a sea of Badger fans. I remember watching as our incumbent starter was a kid named Carl McCullough who was coming off of a 1,000 yard rushing season and was a senior as a recal so everyone assumed he would carry the load. Then in the 4th quarter of the UNLV game in comes this kid named Ron Dayne. He had gotten some carries the week before and looked decent but he goes off for like 75 yards and a TD or two (I can't remember for sure) and only really played the 4th quarter. The next thing I know he is starting in like week 3 or 4 and never relinquished the reigns. Awesome memory right there
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Post by badgersballers on Aug 19, 2015 15:40:45 GMT -5
14. 1997 Wisconsin Badgers-The season got off to an awful start as the Badgers got shut out by Donovan McNabb and the Big East Champion Syracuse Orangemen. The Badgers were able to rebound though winning 8 of their next 9 games including a win over #13 Iowa which was the first time that Hayden Fry had ever lost to Wisconsin and the first time Wisconsin had beaten the Hawkeyes since 1977. Going into their last 2 games of the season, Wisconsin controlled their destiny in the Big 10, but unfortunately they would lose both games to #1 Michigan and #6 Penn State. The bowl game did not go any better as Wisconsin got blown out by some SEC team in the Outback Bowl.
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Post by badgersballers on Aug 19, 2015 16:11:34 GMT -5
13. 2012 Wisconsin Badgers-Coming off two straight Big Ten Championship seasons, the expectations were high this year, and because it worked so well the first year the Badgers decided to get another transfer QB. Unfortunately, Danny O'Brien was not a Big Ten caliber QB, and that become extremely evident in the first 3 games of the season where he started as the Badgers barely beat Northern Iowa at home before only scoring 7 points vs an unranked Oregon State team that they had beaten 34-0 the previous year. In their 3rd game O'Brien led Wisconsin to a 14-3 deficit vs future Wisconsin coach JUCO Jerry Andersen before Wisconsin replaced him with Joel Stave at halftime who was able to rally the team to a win, and then led them to a 2nd consecutive victory vs UNLV. They opened the conference season vs Nebraska on the road, and led 27-10 midway through the 3rd quarter before the Cornhuskers were able to rally for the largest comeback in NU history. Wisconsin recovered winning their next 3 games over Illinois, Minnesota and Purdue before losing the first of 3 OT losses of the season vs MSU at home 16-13. In that game, the Badgers lost Stave for the rest of the regular season and were forced to turn to their 3rd QB of the year Curt Phillips. The Badgers then enjoyed an easy win over IU before losing to Ohio State at home in OT. Afterwards, Wisconsin traveled to play Penn State in the worst broadcasted game in the history of Western Civilization as ESPN ad nauseam talked about how all of difficulties Penn State had to overcome, and how Mike Mauti was the greatest leader in the Big Ten. Pretty sure they showed Mauti at least 60 times during the entire broadcast even though he wasn't playing, and while this crap was going on Wisconsin found a way to lose to PSU. Despite, a 4-4 conference record, Wisconsin still qualified for the Big Ten Title game because OSU and PSU were both mathematically eliminated from contention for "off the field" issues. The Badgers played Nebraska in the Big Ten Title Game, and blasted them to the tune of 70 points showing that it's possible to win your conference in football even with a .500 conference record. After the game, Bielema left for Arkansas leading to Alvarez coaching the Badgers in the bowl game. Like the rest of the losses that season, it was a close one as Wisconsin lost 20-14. In the end, all 5 losses were by a combined 25 points.
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Post by badgersballers on Aug 19, 2015 16:13:08 GMT -5
16. 2003 Wisconsin-Started the season beating Co-Big East Champion West Virginia, and Akron before finding a way to lose UNLV 23-5 at home. That game was a football game, where I could legitimately say that one player won the game. Pretty sure the UNLV FS had a fumble return for a TD, 2 INT's, and 2 sacks or some ridiculous state line like that. Despite the loss, Wisconsin recovered and were able to win their next 4 games over UNC, Illinois, PSU, and ended OSU's 19 game win streak to move to 6-1, and control of their destiny in conference. The following week they faced Purdue and lost on a last second FG, and never recovered that season. They lost their next 2 road games vs NW, and Minnesota before Lee Evans murdered MSU at home. Then in the last game of the season they blew a 21-0 lead to Iowa before losing to Auburn in the Music City Bowl. Suffice to say, this season was brutal. I remember being at that UNLV game. I took my young son and my god son to the game. It rained that game as well just brutal.... the only thing that made it both better and worse was it was the first game I had ever taken my son too.... Seriously, I can't think of a worse Badger game to go the past 20 seasons, maybe the IU game in 2001 when they gave up 63 points, but that game went downhill once Anthony Davis was knocked out of the game.
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Post by kaara on Aug 19, 2015 17:27:37 GMT -5
I remember being at that UNLV game. I took my young son and my god son to the game. It rained that game as well just brutal.... the only thing that made it both better and worse was it was the first game I had ever taken my son too.... Seriously, I can't think of a worse Badger game to go the past 20 seasons, maybe the IU game in 2001 when they gave up 63 points, but that game went downhill once Anthony Davis was knocked out of the game. Funny, as I recall Anthony Davis left the 2003 UNLV game with injury as well in like the first quarter I think and that played a big part in their inability to score in that game etc.... That is what I remember most about Davis honestly was that he was this really talented back who felt like he was always injured, or atleast always injured when it mattered... :/
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Post by GoBigRed203 on Aug 19, 2015 18:41:33 GMT -5
They opened the conference season vs Nebraska on the road, and led 27-10 midway through the 3rd quarter before the Cornhuskers were able to rally for the largest comeback in NU history. 2nd largest...sorry continue on.
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Post by thatoneguyD22 on Aug 19, 2015 23:25:43 GMT -5
12. 1995 Through the first five seasons that John Cooper coached, he never won a bowl game, never won more than 8 games, and never beat Michigan, however, in 1993 he went 10-1-1 winning the Holiday Bowl, and 1994 he went 9-4, beating Michigan. 1995 seemed like the year. The Buckeyes seemed to have a star studded team ready to make a run for the title, and it began with a senior Running Back Eddie George and senior QB Bobby Hoying. The two of them, along with an offense filled with guys like Orlando Pace, Terry Glenn, and Rickey Dudley, headed the best Buckeye offense in history, as Ohio State beat 7 ranked teams in their first 9 games (#22 BC, #18 Washington, #15 Notre Dame, #12 Penn St, #21 Wisconsin, #25 Iowa), the only close call being against Penn State in Week 5, winning 28-25. The Buckeyes went into the final game of the season #2 to face the 8-3 and #18 Wolverines. There, relative unknown Tim Biakabatuka broke the rushing record for the game, 313 yards. Soon to be Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George's strong 105 yard, 1 TD performance was totally overshadowed, and the Buckeyes lost again to an inferior Michigan team. They didn't even win a share of the Big Ten title, as one the teams in the conference they didn't play, Northwestern, went undefeated in conference and won a trip to the Rose Bowl. So instead, they would play in the Citrus Bowl against a Peyton Manning led Tennessee team. The Buckeye offense couldn't get things going in a muddy, rainy game in Orlando, plus there was some controversy about the UT players not wearing the proper cleats...blahblahblah, either way, they lost, making Cooper's record in bowls 1-5 at the time. The whole "losing to Michigan and the bowl game" thing would get old pretty quick. Standout Memory: I uh...don't remember anything about this season. I was 3 years old for most of it. Yeah. I do remember eating at Eddie George's restaurant in Columbus though. It's pretty good. 1995 Final Record 11-2 (7-1) Lost to Michigan Lost Citrus Bowl No Championships Awards- Eddie George- Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, Doak Walker Award, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. Terry Glenn- Fred Biletnikoff Award. Orlando Pace- Lombardi Award, Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year. Mike Vrabel- Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year. All-Americans: Eddie George (RB), Terry Glenn (WR), Orlando Pace (OT), Mike Vrabel (DE)
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