CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: OrangeAfroMan on July 02, 2018, 09:48:38 PM
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Whooooooaaaa Nellie!
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This might be the best one yet. Sorry, Herschel is the ultimate trump card though.
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I take Bo over Herschel
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Herschel, not even close, and I love Bo.
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You know it’s a hell of a group when a guy like Ricky Williams isn’t even really considered.
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You know it’s a hell of a group when a guy like Ricky Williams isn’t even really considered.
BS he's not considered. He gets my vote. :)
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BS he's not considered. He gets my vote. :)
You know what? You’re right. He should. He just isn’t as iconic as Bo and Herschel were in CFB but his production takes a backseat to no one.
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Bubba Smith is the all time greatest Spartan, but Lorenzo White is certainly in the small group vying for #2, and I didn't even give voting for him a thought here. Loaded
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You know what? You’re right. He should. He just isn’t as iconic as Bo and Herschel were in CFB but his production takes a backseat to no one.
Bo and Herschel were at the end of what I consider to be the Golden Era of college football, which is basically the 60s through the mid-80s. The sport was a lot more "rah-rah" and less cynical in those times. Players tended to be built up by the media, rather than torn down.
The increased exposure of college football due to the end of the NCAA TV monopoly, combined with the advent of sports news television and eventually the 24-hour news cycle applied to sports, resulted in more widespread information about more players, and also decreased the media's tendency to hype one player in favor of a multitude of others. It certainly didn't END that practice, look no further than guys like Tim Tebow or Reggie Bush, but there became less of a common narrative in sports media, and a bigger free-for-all.
I think if Ricky Williams had done his thing in the 70s or 80s, he would have been considered more iconic. Earl Campbell's stats aren't as impressive as Ricky Williams', but I'd say he's considered much more iconic in the manner you're attributing to Bo and Herschel.
Just a few thoughts, all those guys were fun as heck to watch play the game.
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homer
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Wouldn't be a real college football fan if I weren't. :)
But I saw them all play. I'm comfortable with my choice. Ricky Williams wasn't even the feature back his first two years, he played fullback and blocked for Priest Holmes. If he'd been the feature back all 4 years, his stats would have been pretty insane.
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Wasn't Priest Holmes Smokey's favorite back?
What number did he wear? #33?
must have been a stud, starting in front of Ricky
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This is an outstanding list of players... While Trev redefined the RE position for UNL for the better part of a decade, he's last for me on this list. It came down to Hershel and Bo for me.
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Didn't Ricky wear different # Jersey earlier in his career?
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This is an outstanding list of players... While Trev redefined the RE position for UNL for the better part of a decade, he's last for me on this list. It came down to Hershel and Bo for me.
since Trev was from Iowa, he was one of my favorite Huskers
I might put Trev ahead of Craig Heyward
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Didn't Ricky wear different # Jersey earlier in his career?
#11?
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Wasn't Priest Holmes Smokey's favorite back?
What number did he wear? #33?
must have been a stud, starting in front of Ricky
Yup, Priest was #33 and was a stud. Surely you remember his performance in the 1996 B12 CCG? :)
And also yes to Ricky, he wore #11 for his first two years at Texas. He switched to 34 which was his high school number due to his favorite running back ever who also wore that number-- Bo Jackson.
And a little-known freshman QB took over that #11 after he switched. That young man? Major Applewhite. And now you know... the rest of the story.
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And a little-known freshman QB took over that #11 after he switched. That young man? Major Applewhite. And now you know... the rest of the story.
That led me to look up Applewhite vs. Simms. It's actually pretty amazing how similar their final college stats were:
Applewhite: 57.4%, 7.8 ypa, 60-28 TD:INT, 136.6 Rating
Simms: 58.7%, 7.8 ypa, 58-31 TD;INT, 138.4 Rating
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And now you know... the rest of the story.
thank you, Paul Harvey
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That led me to look up Applewhite vs. Simms. It's actually pretty amazing how similar their final college stats were:
Applewhite: 57.4%, 7.8 ypa, 60-28 TD:INT, 136.6 Rating
Simms: 58.7%, 7.8 ypa, 58-31 TD;INT, 138.4 Rating
Yup, they were both good, but not great, players.
It always seemed like Applewhite was a little more clutch, which is why he had such a devoted following within the fanbase, but a lot of that probably comes from one single game-- the 2001 B12 CCG against Colorado. Simms was struggling badly in that game, throwing some costly INTs including a pick-6, and he got benched in favor of Applewhite. Major brought the team back from several scores down to within 2 pts, but couldn't quite get it done.
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Yup, they were both good, but not great, players.
It always seemed like Applewhite was a little more clutch, which is why he had such a devoted following within the fanbase, but a lot of that probably comes from one single game-- the 2001 B12 CCG against Colorado. Simms was struggling badly in that game, throwing some costly INTs including a pick-6, and he got benched in favor of Applewhite. Major brought the team back from several scores down to within 2 pts, but couldn't quite get it done.
Yeah my initial point was that he was a hell of a clipboard holder to the greatest QB recruit in American history. But then I wasn't sure how much of my memory was accurate, and was surprised to see how much they rotated back and forth, and how much Simms was actually basically just as good, but given his pedigree seemed so much worse.
Similar thing to what I thought I was going through as a Michigan fan with Brady-Henson at the time.
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and Applewhite played the part of the underdog to the big bruising blonde 5-star NFL QB's son
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and Applewhite played the part of the underdog to the big bruising blonde 5-star NFL QB's son
Ed Zachery.
It's funny how expectations shape perceptions
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Sure, expectations are what put Simms ahead of Applewhite to begin with. He certainly hadn't done anything to earn it, outside of being a more highly prized recruit.
I do think Texas beats Colorado in the 2001 B12 CCG if Applewhite starts and Simms never plays, but then that would have meant Texas would have played Miami for the MNC instead of Nebraska going to that game, and I don't think Texas would have much fared better than the Huskers did...
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The best Ricky-related jersey number item is after befriending Doak Walker, Williams wore #37 in his honor after his death. Ran all over somebody that day. It was beautiful.
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The best Ricky-related jersey number item is after befriending Doak Walker, Williams wore #37 in his honor after his death. Ran all over somebody that day. It was beautiful.
It was against hated rival OU, the game that is annually played in the Cotton Bowl, a stadium that is also known as "The House That Doak Built" since SMU used to play there back in the day.
(And now you know, even more, of the rest of the story ;) )
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Herschel in his second year averaged 35 carries a game. Averaged.
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Ricky was how Herschel or Bo would've looked playing in the late 90s. Bo was the fastest, Ricky probably had the most wiggle, and Herschel was just a workhorse with top-end speed. All 3 were sculpted out of marble. Tackling any of them seems like a punitive task.