Tom Osborne
- Thread starter Charlie Marlow
- Start date
As great as TO was, I think there were only two other teams that could have pulled it off:
The 1982 team that got screwed blind in Happy Valley by an officiating crew made up of booster club members, and the team that lost to Miami in the Orange Bowl the following year.
The 1993 team was on the cusp of greatness, but not sure they could have run the table in this kind of tournament.
The 1982 team that got screwed blind in Happy Valley by an officiating crew made up of booster club members, and the team that lost to Miami in the Orange Bowl the following year.
The 1993 team was on the cusp of greatness, but not sure they could have run the table in this kind of tournament.
I went with 7 to 10 but this is what I was originally thinking. Those Osborne teams would’ve excelled in a tournament format.
1983…I know the defense wasn’t ideal but can’t count out a team with that offense.
1987…This team had the ability to make a run regardless of the OU and bowl game.
1996…This team was one fumble away from possibly playing for it all.
I like the topic but it would be great to hear your answers but that is not how you roll.
Those teams from warm climates have a huge edge playing in warm climates, fast paced , fast track, good throwing condtions, spread the field, if the Florida teams like 83,93, 94 played Nebraska in bad conditions (cold weather ball harder to throw, windy) they would have all lost to NU by minimum 4 TDs
I think the '78 team beat the best team ever to leave Memorial Stadium with a loss, and then had a golden opportunity to win the title. But I don't think a tournament format would have favored them.
Shane Swanson once told me that of all the fields he played on in college or high school that the 1984 Orange bowl was the worse field he had ever played on, and that was for the National Championship, they put sand down on the field and spray painted the field so it would look better for television.. I believe the Dolphins had a playoff game days ahead of the Orange bowl game and the field was turn up.
He was from Hershey Nebraska.
He was from Hershey Nebraska.
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1999 team was pretty dang good. Could have made a good run.
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Wasn't that the '99 team? That team would have made my list, but it was post-TO.
Good call.
That team would maybe have been 2nd or 3rd favorite with Florida State and Virginia Tech that year, but I would have taken our chances against either. That was an amazing year of college football.
We were 17 point favorites.
We were totally unprepared defensively.
We should have run roughshod on their small and weak DL. But we kept stepping on our own toes. One of the few times Osborne got flat outcoached.
Yeah specifically 1982, 1993 and 1996 maybe because we were better than Texas and shouldn't have lost in ccg
I don't disagree with you on those two, but you forgot '99. There is no doubt in my mind that the '99 team was EASILY the best team in the Country.
That 99 team gets overlooked historically. Fumbled their NC hopes away in Austin, TX. Would have loved to see that team go up against Florida State.
I didn’t forget the ‘99 team. But those were TO’s players coached by Solich and Company.
1980 would have had a shot. We gave away two home games that year to FSU and Oklahoma.
We completely outplayed FSU, but gave them four turnovers in an 18-14 loss.
We similarly outplayed OU, but Buster Rhymes broke a couple of long runs in the last minute in a 21-17 loss. More Sooner magic.
Had that team made the playoffs (we were eighth in the final AP poll), we would have made a run. Georgia won it all, but we'd have had a shot.
Otherwise, '82, '83, '87 and '96 would have had a chance to go all the way.
We completely outplayed FSU, but gave them four turnovers in an 18-14 loss.
We similarly outplayed OU, but Buster Rhymes broke a couple of long runs in the last minute in a 21-17 loss. More Sooner magic.
Had that team made the playoffs (we were eighth in the final AP poll), we would have made a run. Georgia won it all, but we'd have had a shot.
Otherwise, '82, '83, '87 and '96 would have had a chance to go all the way.
0. We played many championship games and always lost to the fast Miami, FSU teams. Only after we changed our philosophy in 1993 to go to a 4-3 defense with more speed is when we started to actually compete. Osborne lost a lot of big bowl games with title implications because of our lack of speed. 1983 team was our only chance at another championship but Osborne and co. lost to an undermanned Miami team, which actually started the U tradition. People actually wanted to fire Osborne in the 80s because of our annual beating by Switzer and OU.
Oklahoma 78 was a loaded team... the game that we won was the most incredible performance by any Nebraska team that was an underdog at home... my favorite game that I witnessed in person...
One problem with a playoff is the extra games and likelihood of losing a key player. I hate the playoff. Loved the old bowl system. The debate was fun and put more emphasis on the regular season.
I think he would have won a few more.
The timing of his offense sometimes got thrown off with the long layoff between the last regular season game and the bowl game. It’s a problem he fixed in later years by modifying the bowl practices. But a shorter layoff definitely would be a plus for TO. As well as the other teams would have less time to prepare for his unique offense.
Also, we would have had some advantage playing in cold weather games if we hosted first round games.
But perhaps the biggest advantage would have been our fitness and physical style of play. Other teams would be getting worn down week by week, while our teams would have been only getting stronger.
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