CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Four => Big Ten => Topic started by: OrangeAfroMan on December 24, 2025, 08:37:39 PM
-
Was perusing through youtube and came across USC's demolition of OU in the 2005 Orange Bowl.
That OU team was really good. Jason White had a great season, Adrian Peterson was a beast. Shutout #5 Texas in the RRR. Beat CU 42-3 in the XII CG.
And then they got utterly manhandled.
Some other teams that come to mind are:
1995 Florida (UNL)
2006 OSU (UF)
2001 Nebraska (Miami)
2012 Notre Dame (Bama)...not really great, but 12-0 and all that
Who else do you remember was elite....until they reeeeeally weren't?
-
2014 FSU
Everyone knew they weren't GREAT, dropping a ranking spot here and there during the season, but hell, they'd won 29 straight games, so that warrants some respect.
But they didn't just lose to Oregon in the CFP. They got destroyed. Winston was on skates. The Ducks passed AND ran for 300+ yards EACH on the Noles.
It was awesome. And striking.
-
2014 Wisconsin.
-
2018 Alabama. They destroyed everyone in the regular season. But got hognozzled by Clemson in the championship game.
-
2018 Alabama. They destroyed everyone in the regular season. But got hognozzled by Clemson in the championship game.
I throughly enjoyed that one.
-
1991 Miami (Alabama)
-
2014 Wisconsin.
I hate you.
-
Does TCU count
?
-
I'd say yes.
-
I know this does not match exactly but I keep thinking about how Ohio St gor blown away in 2 straight years in 2017 and 2018 by average Big Ten teams from the Big Ten West
2017
Iowa 55, Ohio St 24
2018
Purdue 49, Ohio St 20
Ohio St won the Big Ten both years and won the Cotton and Rose Bowls, finishing #5 and #3 in the polls. Ohio St both years missed the playoffs basically because of these bizarre losses. Iowa was 7-5 in 2017 and Purdue was 6-6 in 2018.
-
2014 Wisconsin.
Does TCU count
?
Eh... I don't think either one counts.
I don't believe 100% in recruiting rankings, but IMHO we all knew that those teams didn't quite have the same horses as others. Talent matters.
While the magnitude of the Wisconsin beatdown by OSU was much larger than we thought, I don't think anyone truly believed that Wisconsin was MNC worthy. And the only reason that anyone gave TCU any kudos that year was beating Michigan, which in hindsight only happened because Michigan forgot to send advance scouts to TCU games.
It's the same reason that I think Indiana is going to lose badly before they get to the MNC game. I'll admit that the IU win over OSU was a little shocking to me in the same vein as the TCU upset of Michigan... But I still don't think IU has the horses to win 3 more.
But hey, if we're talking "best teams to get completely obliterated", this one was fun...
(https://i.imgur.com/zgIdZVM.png)
-
2001 Nebraska (Miami)
(https://i.imgur.com/rsBGOAj.png)
-
That opening sentence was quaint.
-
much bigger deal than the Rose Bowl
(https://i.imgur.com/Mya2qnI.png)
-
UNL had no business being in that game after the Colorado beating.
Should have been Oregon.
-
The other one I can recall is Hawaii which was undefeated (playing pastries) getting blown out in the Sugar Bowl.
I don't recall a shocker where A clobbered B and B was considered to be quite elite.
-
I would have been fine with that. Perhaps UNL then gets a team they can handle in a bowl (Florida or Tennessee) and finishes with one loss & #2.
(https://i.imgur.com/33LgrP4.png)
but, at the end of the season Oregon had wins over 2 teams ranked in the final poll - just as impressive as Nebraska,, but not real impressive
Miami would have destroyed the Ducks in similar fashion
(https://i.imgur.com/rT4oFQC.png)
-
The other one I can recall is Hawaii which was undefeated (playing pastries) getting blown out in the Sugar Bowl.
I don't recall a shocker where A clobbered B and B was considered to be quite elite.
Florida's beatdown of OSU was shocking to me.
-
(https://i.imgur.com/zgIdZVM.png)
Oof, tOSU not only heard but felt reindeer on the roof
-
Florida's beatdown of OSU was shocking to me.
Well they evidently were partying like that one was in the bag - like the one they were left holding
-
That would qualify I think. 41-14. 370 yards to 82.
-
I know this does not match exactly but I keep thinking about how Ohio St gor blown away in 2 straight years in 2017 and 2018 by average Big Ten teams from the Big Ten West
2017
Iowa 55, Ohio St 24
2018
Purdue 49, Ohio St 20
Ohio St won the Big Ten both years and won the Cotton and Rose Bowls, finishing #5 and #3 in the polls. Ohio St both years missed the playoffs basically because of these bizarre losses. Iowa was 7-5 in 2017 and Purdue was 6-6 in 2018.
Once Urbz got a head line and a paycheck he got sloppy
-
And the only reason that anyone gave TCU any kudos that year was beating Michigan, which in hindsight only happened because Michigan forgot to send advance scouts to TCU games.
What are you talking about? Everyone knows that the only reason TCU won, according to MDot, is because TCU played “like their hair was on fire “.
-
Need to look deeper, but that 2019 Clemson team that beat a really good OSU team got really politely dismissed.
Like, LSU didn’t run away from them, but you at no point thought “Clemson has any chance.” Not obliterated, but outclassed.
-
One year, Miami vs FSU was the first game of the year. FSU was preseason #1 and got their heads stomped in 31-0. 1988.
-
Unrelated, but still interesting---in seeing how Washington ended Miami's 58-game home winning streak (which is pretty well-known), it made me wonder what the streak was before it.
It actually lasted 19 years (instead of almost 10) and yet, was 1 game less than Miami's.
Sort of a tricky one.
Alabama, under Bear Bryant, won 57 straight games in Tuscaloosa over 19 years. Remember, they played some home games in Birmingham, at Legion Field. I believe they always played Auburn there.
But in all his years at Alabama, Bryant only lost twice in Tuscaloosa: in the 60s, upset by Florida and then in his last game there, an upset loss to Southern Miss.
-
Brett Favre's Southern Miss?
-
This really belongs in the Random Games You Remember thread, but around 1999 Arizona and PSU played. Arizona was highly ranked, like Top 10 or maybe 5, and PSU stomped them hard. I can’t remember the Arizona coach, but he was well known at the time and had been around. Anyways, they fired him at the end of the season and I don’t think Arizona has ever really been very good ever sense.
For a long time I remember when a highly ranked team got trampled early in the Season we called it getting ‘Zona’d.
-
Brett Favre's Southern Miss?
No, it was earlier than that.
Southern Miss was the best mid-major in the south for about 10 years (early 80s-early 90s). They also upset FSU one year, which was Favre, I believe.
-
In looking up some stuff for 2019 LSU, I got into looking at best offenses. And there's one way off the radar, but was even better than that LSU one.
2018 Oklahoma
Okay, so yeah, Heisman winner at QB Murray. 69% comp, 4300 yds, 42 TD, 7 INT, 199 rating
Great. So?
Umm, they came thisclose to having three 1,000 rushers!!!
Sermon 947
Murray 1001
Brooks 1056 @ 8.9 per carry!
Wow, but?
THEY ALSO HAD TWO DIFFERENT 1,000 RECEIVERS!!!
Marquise Brown and CeeDee Lamb
But why doesn't that particular team come to mind when we think of all-time best offenses?!?
They lost twice. But how?!?!
Scoring defense ranked 101st in the country.
Yeeeesh.
They went 4-2 in games where they allowed 40+ points, lol. FFS
-
(https://i.imgur.com/cdMu56B.png)
-
2018 Oklahoma
Okay, so yeah, Heisman winner at QB Murray. 69% comp, 4300 yds, 42 TD, 7 INT, 199 rating
Great. So?
Umm, they came thisclose to having three 1,000 rushers!!!
Sermon 947
Murray 1001
Brooks 1056 @ 8.9 per carry!
Wow, but?
THEY ALSO HAD TWO DIFFERENT 1,000 RECEIVERS!!!
Marquise Brown and CeeDee Lamb
But why doesn't that particular team come to mind when we think of all-time best offenses?!?
They lost twice. But how?!?!
Scoring defense ranked 101st in the country.
Yeeeesh.
They went 4-2 in games where they allowed 40+ points, lol. FFS
Did they lead the 12 in twelving?
-
2017 UGA was very good, not unreal, and they caught quite the spanking from Auburn during the regular season.
2014 Oregon I wasn’t exactly obliterated, but they also caught a pretty one-sides loss in the title game.
-
2013 Oregon also had a pretty good power rating by the end of the year, and they got slapped by Arizona to take their second loss.
Oh, 2011 LSU. All of 2.1 yards per play in the title game.
-
(https://i.imgur.com/JheeWhS.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/DlWFZKp.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/0WDlebm.png)
-
I rest my case!
-
(https://i.imgur.com/krVRr9k.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/x6zw7Ic.png)
-
(https://i.imgur.com/rVhLz4S.png)
Ralphie finished #3 in the final AP poll
-
2001 BYU won their first 12 games, and then Hawaii beat them 72-45 in the season finale.
-
Got another game that fits popping up on youtube:
1985 season - 1986 Sugar Bowl.
Miami entered the game with 1 loss, ranked 2nd. They could have had a piece of the NC with a win.
Tennessee had a loss and 2 ties, I think. They had switched QBs, and the replacement had like an 11-1 TD-INT ratio or something like that.
The Vols won 35-7 in the upset. And it's funny, in the pregame coverage, the announcers said the Vols fans outnumbered Miami fans like 10:1.
Some things never change.
-
https://youtu.be/jRrOc2sxgjw
-
But why doesn't that particular team come to mind when we think of all-time best offenses?!?
They lost twice. But how?!?!
I think this comes down to a bit more than losing twice.
That Oklahoma offense wasn't novel for Oklahoma or for that season. The previous Sooners team had been almost as good, with a Heisman winner. They also weren't the big story among offenses, as Alabama and Ohio State both ascended to "big boys running hyper-modern offense" status. Shoot, Will Grier WVU was even sucking up oxygen.
OU was never a team who was in the top 4 until the end, they were just a solid top-10 team so they weren't a story of the season. They also didn't have any memorable games. They lost a shootout to Texas, won one against WVU and those were their only ranked games (Iowa State was ranked at the end of the regular season, but they played when ISU was 0-1 in Week 3, and Army was 10-2 at the end of the regular season). The Sooners wandered into the playoff because the vibes around OSU were so rancid, creating the biggest missed controversy in CFP history, and fell behind 28-0 to Alabama in 17 minutes.
They scored a million points and had a million yards and we were basically just bored of it until they did something else, which they didn't. With LSU, it was just wild to watch them lay waste to really good teams. Made it look easy against squads we thought had top talent (Underrated offense was that Bama squad that had Tua and then Mac Jones. Harris was really the only notable back, with an NFL backup who had a fine year, but receiver room was DaVonta Smith, Jerry Judy, Henry Ruggs, Jaylen Waddle)
-
This really belongs in the Random Games You Remember thread, but around 1999 Arizona and PSU played. Arizona was highly ranked, like Top 10 or maybe 5, and PSU stomped them hard. I can’t remember the Arizona coach, but he was well known at the time and had been around. Anyways, they fired him at the end of the season and I don’t think Arizona has ever really been very good ever sense.
For a long time I remember when a highly ranked team got trampled early in the Season we called it getting ‘Zona’d.
that would also include highly touted Top 5 Univ of Houston with John Jenkins and his bullhorn, getting run admist the smoke at the OB by the Canes. I think it was 51-10.
-
I'd say that 2006 Ohio State team that got bulldozed by Florida 41-14. that was shocking as hell.
-
I think this comes down to a bit more than losing twice.
That Oklahoma offense wasn't novel for Oklahoma or for that season. The previous Sooners team had been almost as good, with a Heisman winner. They also weren't the big story among offenses, as Alabama and Ohio State both ascended to "big boys running hyper-modern offense" status. Shoot, Will Grier WVU was even sucking up oxygen.
OU was never a team who was in the top 4 until the end, they were just a solid top-10 team so they weren't a story of the season. They also didn't have any memorable games. They lost a shootout to Texas, won one against WVU and those were their only ranked games (Iowa State was ranked at the end of the regular season, but they played when ISU was 0-1 in Week 3, and Army was 10-2 at the end of the regular season). The Sooners wandered into the playoff because the vibes around OSU were so rancid, creating the biggest missed controversy in CFP history, and fell behind 28-0 to Alabama in 17 minutes.
They scored a million points and had a million yards and we were basically just bored of it until they did something else, which they didn't. With LSU, it was just wild to watch them lay waste to really good teams. Made it look easy against squads we thought had top talent (Underrated offense was that Bama squad that had Tua and then Mac Jones. Harris was really the only notable back, with an NFL backup who had a fine year, but receiver room was DaVonta Smith, Jerry Judy, Henry Ruggs, Jaylen Waddle)
But not even in the moment, even looking back, no one mentions that 18 OU offense. And sorry, no, nothing was like it before or since.
53 yards shy of FIVE different 1,000-yard skill players AND the Heisman-winner/!?!? Are you joking?!? Hell, I bet you can count the other teams with 4 one-thousand yard guys in history on one hand. And this team almost had five.
To poo-poo it now is bizarre. In the moment, sure, they're muddled with a ton of other teams and whatever. But now, with it laid out in front of you, how are you not amazed?!?
-
But not even in the moment, even looking back, no one mentions that 18 OU offense.
well, if you lost twice, no one cares
the 83 Husker offense set plenty of NCAA records - but, they lost the Champ game to a home team on a missed 2-point conversion, so no one cares
-
People care about 83 Nebraska about 9,000% more than they care about 18 Oklahoma, lol.
I think you're arguing just to argue.
-
I'm going to look up that Clemson team that gave up 70 in the Orange Bowl to WV. Is that right? It could be the opposite way, I honestly don't recall.
*looking it up*
Ehh, neither was great. Clemson lost to 2 unranked teams, but had VT's number. VA Tech was #5 when they lost to Clemson a 2nd time in the ACCCG. WV also has 3 losses, but couldn't stop scoring vs the Tigers in Miami.
A 28-20 game became a 63-20 game pretty quickly, thanks to Tavon Austin.
-
People care about 83 Nebraska about 9,000% more than they care about 18 Oklahoma, lol.
I think you're arguing just to argue.
because Doc Tom had the balls to go for 2
not because it was arguably the greatest offense in history
-
But not even in the moment, even looking back, no one mentions that 18 OU offense. And sorry, no, nothing was like it before or since.
53 yards shy of FIVE different 1,000-yard skill players AND the Heisman-winner/!?!? Are you joking?!? Hell, I bet you can count the other teams with 4 one-thousand yard guys in history on one hand. And this team almost had five.
To poo-poo it now is bizarre. In the moment, sure, they're muddled with a ton of other teams and whatever. But now, with it laid out in front of you, how are you not amazed?!?
I mean, looking back on that, it was pretty cool. It makes for a very pretty stat sheet. Lots of four-digit yardage numbers.
But it was like something before and after. Look at the offense the year before. That offense had a bit more concentration of touches for a very nice looking stat sheet. But it wasn't "nothing like" the 2017 or 2019 Sooners.
-
The novelty of it making it stand out is the whole point. Nevermind. Why do people tend to 'nuh uh' about the most obscure, barely-disagreeing-est things??
Moving on.
-
The novelty of it making it stand out is the whole point. Nevermind. Why do people tend to 'nuh uh' about the most obscure, barely-disagreeing-est things??
Moving on.
You asked the question. You got it answered. You seemed confused by the answer, and got it clarified.
Four 1,000-yard guys is super novel. But given the context, it’s pretty understandable why that offense wasn’t considered a be-all, end-all or unreal big deal.