Nebraska's 30 Minutes of Fame on College Football Live
13 comments so far
July 16, 2009 by
In case you missed it yesterday, ESPN's College Football Live gave Nebraska center stage for a full half hour. Items on the agenda:
1. Determine who the best offensive player in NU history is via a poll.
2. Talk to Tom Osborne.
3. Countdown the five best games in school history.
4. Anoint the Huskers the 2009 Big 12 North favorite.
Here are the minutes plus some commentary:
1. According to the "SportsNation"--presumably people who watch ESPN and/or visit their website which probably does encompass just about every sports fan out there--Tommie Frazier is the best offensive player in Cornhusker history beating out Johnny Rodgers, Dave Rimington, Mike Rozier and Irving Fryar. No surprise in the victory for Frazier--if we're to gird ourselves for the Tebow v. Frazier debate all fall long he pretty much has to win this poll--but Fryar? Great player but he seemed like the biggest stretch to me over the easy choice in the Heisman winner Eric Crouch and the hard choice in Lawrence Phillips. Of course it's easier for everyone to just leave L.P. off the list--no conflicted emotions, no need to disclaim--but I know there are a lot of people ranging from armchair quarterbacks to former quarterbacks who consider him the best running back Nebraska's ever had and that's a fairly exclusive list.
Also, why limit the list to offense only? Sure its the touchdown scorers who get all the highlights but what about that storied Blackshirt tradition? Larry Jacobson and Rich Glover (who made SI's all-century team in '99) won the Outland Trophy as defensive players and Grant Wistrom won the Lombardi Award in 1997, not to mention big names like Neil Smith, Broderick Thomas or Trev Alberts among others. Any of those guys good enough to crack the top five overall? Tough call with an offensive list that could've run at least seven deep but for my money Glover surely bumps Fryar.
2. Tom Osborne, in his usual bombastic, off the cuff, shoot from the hip style, had a good answer to Wendy Nix's question of what it would take for Nebraska return to their dominance of yore. His answer? Essentially, keep up with OU and Texas. Easier said than done but I like the regional focus. College football has always been about winning locally and then arguing and hoping you get a shot nationally. The lingering question left behind by Osborne's answer is how did Nebraska get away from that? Did the neighbors get better or did Nebraska lose their way a bit, let some weeds overtake the lawn and the nice, white picket fence fall apart. More specifically, does NU simply need to "fix" things or do they need to totally remodel?
The tone of Pelini's first season was certainly one of redemption--it gave off the impression of going back to go forward--but beyond that admittedly vague feeling, I think we're still charting the course. So...yeah, like Tom said, go beat Texas. Watch the clip here.
3. The best games ever. Pretty cut and dried list: Game of the Century, '95 Orange Bowl, '96 Fiesta Bowl, '97 flea-kicker game, '01 Crouch catch against Oklahoma. Can't really argue with any of those picks, but my list would include the '94 Orange Bowl. Yep, a loss and a heartbreaking one at that, but I can't remember another game in my early fandom days where I was as proud to be a Nebraskan as this one. In retrospect it was a harbinger of the greatness to come but at the time it was, on paper, just another NU loss to Florida State in a bowl game. On the field, and therefore on my TV and therefore in my head, however, it was proof that Nebraska was good enough to be the best. Finally.
4. Both Eric Casilias and Andre Ware predicted Nebraska would win the Big 12 North with a 9-3 record. To his credit, Casilias did point out Nebraska's brutal North road schedule but Ware told us Nebraska was going to be fine against Missouri and Colorado. Wish I felt as confident.
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bnahusker Jul 16 09
Wow!
I cought the 11:30 CDT showing last night and all I could think about was an outsiders view and I wondered.... "How much did this cost NU or how much could it cost in the future?" It looked more like an infomercial than a report.
I hope they show positive stories on our opponents when they go to the other Big XII states or this may come back to haunt us.
As a fan............It was the best 1/2 hour of football since I left the Gator Bowl!
Again......WOW!
P.S. The correct answer to the poll question is Johhny "The Jet" Rogers.
The Power of Red!
GBR
Bob
VA Husker Jul 16 09
bnahusker - Not sure if you watch much College Football Live on ESPN, but I don't miss an episode. The format that was followed for yesterday's Nebraska day, is the same format they have done for every state. So every state gets the same "positive" treatment.
The one question the didn't do as with other states, was the question as to who the best coach was. It was obvious the answer, but I thought it would have been a good segway into the TO piece.
TO also mention the 300th sellout. I would have liked to see something mentioned about this from the analysts. I was pleased with the show though. I even watched it a second time.
Sammy Vegas Jul 16 09
30 minutes of fame is right.
I agree with both of them on ESPN....I'm thinking this season is going to go great until we go to Colorado....
TundraHusker Jul 16 09
Best offensive player: Johnny Rodgers. The man was a threat to score anytime he touched the ball.
Greatest Game? Seriously? 1971 Oklahoma game. Look at the players involved. Greg Pruitt, Jack Mildren, Jeff Kinney, Jerry Tagge, Rich Glover, Johnny Rodgers. Not making this the best game ever is silly, not putting it in the Top 5 is insane, in my humble red opinion.
Brandon Jul 16 09
TundraHusker,
The '71 game made it. I wrote it as "Game of the Century" above.
Greg Morrow Jul 16 09
Osborne's looking for steady improvement and acknowledges that it may not show up in the W/L column. It's all I'm lookin' for, as well.
Still a privilege, to see images of him and read of him, from time to time.
He'll keep an eye on how players develop and how good's the new stock, being hauled in.
He's got his check off list, sure, but could there be a more understanding and supportive AD?
bnahusker Jul 16 09
VA Husker.......
I don't catch the show daily, if ever. The early version interferes with employment and the replay is up against other competition. Most of the time ESPN shows like this are regurgitated during SportsCenter or have material that I have already read.
Thanks for passing the info to me. I feel better already.
GBR!
Bob
nu-isu-fan Jul 17 09
Anyone know if they're replaying again?
52 points a game - in '83 Jul 17 09
How does Turner Gill not make the top 5? One of the best at Nebraska, an All-American and Heisman finalist who was the leader of the highest scoring Nebraska teams.
Doc Jul 17 09
52 points - I believe Turner was left out becuase Nebraska just has an embarassment of riches in the best offensive player category. They could only pick 5 players and 3 of our heisman winners come from that side of the ball so someone will probably get left out. Heck, the guy that won the poll didn't even take home "the stiff arm statue" so you know the competition was fierce.
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CA Husker Jul 18 09
Nebraska started to decline when coach Frank stopped aggressively recruiting and went in the toilet when coach "hair cut" had years to run the program like Animal House. Restore the order is the best slogan since bring back TO.
The best game was Tommy F running down Florida players in the Orange Bowl for the National Championship like they were paperdolls. No Nebraska team dominated more than that team!
CA Husker Jul 18 09
Nebraska started to decline when coach Frank stopped aggressively recruiting and went in the toilet when coach "hair cut" had years to run the program like Animal House. Restore the order is the best slogan since bring back TO.
The best game was Tommy F running down Florida players in the Orange Bowl for the National Championship like they were paperdolls. No Nebraska team dominated more than that team!