VOTE - Who would win the 1995 CFP?

[FearlessF]

95 Husker roster shows one 300 lb OT

bunch of trench ponies on each side in the 285-295 range, but I'm certain the Clemson and Bama lines are well over 300lbs

[Cincydawg]

I think the Dawgs' OL averaged 325 or so this past year, but Pittman likes the heavies.

[FearlessF]

My GUESS is if you put that 1995 Nebraska team on the field with this year's Clemson team, Clemson would win handily.

I agree, but.....
95 Huskers would have stuck with the run and not thrown 2 picks like Tua.
18 Tigers defense may have had some trouble with the Husker offense - it was executed at a high level and since it's quite different than 2018 offenses

[Cincydawg]

My thinking is that athleticism overall at every position has improved over 25 years with better nutrition, strength development, and programs they experience before they get to college.

I can recall freshman teams because kids coming out of HS were not remotely ready to play CFB (this is of course 1970ish).  Usually, a player sat as a sophomore and then perhaps played some as a junior and so on, even the good ones.  A sophomore starting in 1970 was a definite rarity, at least as I recollect.

Now we see freshman arriving at major programs and starting at QB for four years (unless they leave early).

[FearlessF]

In February of 1991, Nebraska announced it would discontinue its freshman-junior varsity program, in anticipation of an NCAA reduction in the number of allowable football assistants, a cost-cutting measure that went into effect for the 1992 season. Soon after, the Big Eight Conference passed a rule prohibiting freshman-junior varsity teams, also to cut costs.

Nebraska would play one more junior varsity game in 1993, against the Air Force Academy. Tom Osborne scheduled the game as a favor to Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry.

It was played on a Friday afternoon in early October at Memorial Stadium, in front of an audience estimated at just over 500. Many Husker fans were on the road home from Stillwater, Okla., where, on Thursday night, Nebraska had defeated Oklahoma State 27-13, Osborne’s 200th victory.

Husker grad assistants Gerry Gdowski and Bill Busch coached the team, Gdowski the offense, Busch the defense. The players practiced only once together in preparation.

Redshirted freshman quarterback Matt Turman, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound walk-on from Wahoo, Neb., who had yet to earn the nickname “the Turmanator,” directed the 49-20 victory, completing 9-of-11 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 73 yards.

[Hoss]

My GUESS is the weights of the OL and DL for Clemson would be 30-40 pounds heavier than that of Nebraska in 1995.  And they might well be just as fast and stronger.  The Game has changed in 25 years, a lot.  I'd bet the LBs and safeties would be 10-20 pounds heavier also.

Not to mention the 1995 Huskers are in their mid 40s now. 

[FearlessF]

back in 95 the Huskers could have named their score, cause the Clemson kids weren't born yet

[Cincydawg]

Ha ha ha.  It reminds me of the reporter who asked Ty Cobb how his batting average would be against modern pitching.  Cobb responded "about .290".

The report commented that it seemed low and Cobb said "Well, of course I'm 75 now.".

Ba dum.

[OrangeAfroMan]

Okay, hold on, let's take a quick timeout on this Clemson stuff.
Wuerffel > Lawrence
Etienne > Jackson/Williams, but not by as much as you'd think
Hilliard/Anthony both 1st round picks > Clemson's WRs
Florida OL was actually VERY good, it was the scheme that was the problem
So Clemson's real advantage would have been modern pass-blocking schemes.
The Clemson defense was better than '95 Florida's, but barely.  The run D was better, but the pass D's were about even.
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'95 Florida gets dismissed because of that Fiesta Bowl, but going into the game, it was a toss-up.  Florida's regular season was better in '95 than the NC team's '96 was.

[MarqHusker]

Agree.   UF was worthy of its tout, and of course navigated way back to the title the next season.

[OrangeAfroMan]

Okay, I've got the best teams of each season back to '71 sorted out by run and pass D.  I'll take the strongest run defenses and see how their offenses were, preferably run-based, to find some worth adversaries for '95 Nebraska.
2016 Alabama - Hurts-led Tide team had an epic run defense.  Hurts wasn't a great passer, but the offense ran it a ton - all 3 main RBs averaging 6.5 ypc or better (Harris, Scarborough, Jacobs).  They had very balanced receiving threats, with 2 WRs getting equal yards and a real threat at TE.  This team lost to Clemson and Watson in the NCG on that rub play.
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2006 Michigan - an even better run D than '16 Bama's, but the offense concerns me.  Henne wasn't really a go-out-and-win-it type of QB, although he did have 3 legit threats catching the ball (Arrington, Breaston, Manningham).  I guess I just don't see Mike Hart gutting out those tough yards vs '95 Nebraska.
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2003 USC - an offense A LOT like Florida's, so it might not be the best choice.  Way better defense, though, especially vs the run.  Leinart throwing to two 1,000 yard WRs (Williams, Colbert) and a RB-by-committee.  This was before Bush getting a lot of carries.  But again, as long as they didn't have a stubborn, simple blocking scheme to take advantage of, they'd be a worthy opponent for the Huskers.
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2002 Kansas St - fits the statistical cutoffs, but probably lacked the overall team talent to realistically pull it off.  But you never know, a legit overall defense + Darren Sproles....stranger things may have happened.
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1996/1997 FSU - both of these squads were one win vs Florida away from a NC.  Neither gave up any rushing yards (~53 per game), but were limited by QB play.  The '96 version had a worse Busby at QB, but Warrick Dunn might've been able to give '95 Nebraska fits.  The '97 version didn't have Dunn, but a better Busby, and Peter Warrick, not Tommie Frazier, might've been the best player on the field.  Overall talent-wise, these FSU teams were stacked everywhere.  They might have passed the ball too much for their own good, though.
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1991 Washington - just an all-around great team that also stuffed the run.  Could pass and run on offense.  Had studs at all 3 levels on the defense.  Wouldn't have been intimidated or out-manned.  
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1989 Miami - super run-stuffing defense, but vs the pass as well.  Strength of the team was the DL, which would cause problems for Nebraska.  This team is A LOT like '97 FSU in that it's full of talent everywhere, but the QB play was very average.  RB by committee, plenty of great pass targets, but too many INTs thrown.  I'd give this team the best chance at stacking up the Frazier/Phillips/Green run game, though.  I could see these Canes kicking a lot of field goals and having a close, ugly game go to the wire.




That's all I got, from a statistical POV.  Personally, I wish I could see the '95 Huskers play the '93 Arizona Wildcats' desert storm defense.  UNL would win because U of A wouldn't cross the 50 on offense, but that quirky defense that shut the earth down running the ball would have been like football porn.

[OrangeAfroMan]

Agree.   UF was worthy of its tout, and of course navigated way back to the title the next season.

This is one reason I'm being a stickler on the "ignore the bowl outcomes" thing for these threads.  These 12-0 world-beater teams happened to lose in the last game of the season, and that's what sticks in our minds.  '95 Florida, '06 Ohio State, etc. were legit and should be in better standing than our memories give them credit for.  These are teams that got blown out, but in all honestly, if the game were played again in a parallel universe, they probably don't get blown out.  
1995 Florida
2006 Ohio State
2018 Alabama
2012 ND (not really...I put them in with '93 WV or '09 Cincinnati to be honest)
1999 Virginia Tech
2004 Oklahoma
2011 LSU
2009 Texas (just bad luck, really)
1988 WV (same bad luck)
1992 Miami

[bayareabadger]

Okay, hold on, let's take a quick timeout on this Clemson stuff.
Wuerffel > Lawrence
Etienne > Jackson/Williams, but not by as much as you'd think
Hilliard/Anthony both 1st round picks > Clemson's WRs
Florida OL was actually VERY good, it was the scheme that was the problem
So Clemson's real advantage would have been modern pass-blocking schemes.
The Clemson defense was better than '95 Florida's, but barely.  The run D was better, but the pass D's were about even.
-
'95 Florida gets dismissed because of that Fiesta Bowl, but going into the game, it was a toss-up.  Florida's regular season was better in '95 than the NC team's '96 was.

A few things. Anthony was the No 4 we that year. It was Doering, Hilliard, Green. I also think you’re understating the quality of Lawrence and his WRs. I might take the Clemson WRs, and Lawrence is clearly a better pure thrower, granted he’s less in tune with the offense/CFB. 
But the main difference is a more refined offense. It’s been a while since I watched the film, but the quick screen game wasn’t so advanced back then. Neb just blitzed and blitzed, and the deep drop offense gave up a lot.

[FearlessF]

Okay, I've got the best teams of each season back to '71 sorted out by run and pass D.  I'll take the strongest run defenses and see how their offenses were, preferably run-based, to find some worth adversaries for '95 Nebraska.
2016 Alabama
2006 Michigan 
2003 USC 
-
2002 Kansas St 
-
1996/1997 FSU -
1991 Washington - 
1989 Miami - 

That's all I got, from a statistical POV.  Personally, I wish I could see the '95 Huskers play the '93 Arizona Wildcats' desert storm defense.  UNL would win because U of A wouldn't cross the 50 on offense, but that quirky defense that shut the earth down running the ball would have been like football porn.

I'd like to see the 95 Skers go against all these teams.  The players and coaches would have also loved the challenge.
the list of teams undoubtedly had great run defenses, but they didn't play many teams that avg 400 yards on the ground
Spurrier's gators had a great team and a solid defense.  They were simply outcoached and could not stand up physically.