1995 Nebraska
THE CASE FOR
The 95 Nebraska Cornhuskers were the greatest team in college football history. No team ever dominated their opponents on both sides of the ball to the degree the Huskers did. The general consensus of pundits and CFB writers is that the two greatest teams ever were the 95 Huskers and 2001 Miami. While the case strongly favors the Huskers, I will focus on the fact that this leaves no dispute regarding which team was the best of the 90s.
Nebraska was so good that none of their opponents was even close. No team of the 90s beat more TOP TEN teams or by as much. Nebraska thumped #2 Florida, #5 Kansas St, #7 Colorado, and #9 Kansas by an AVERAGE of 31 points. They blew out the same team that is considered so great that the very next year that team won the championship with what's considered an all-time great team.
Nebraska ran up 52 plus points a game and over 550 yards of offense, most of it rushing the ball - oh, and they did a major portion of this damage without one of the best backs of all-time, Lawrence Phillips, getting onto the field. In one season, Nebraska crushed Nick Saban, Howard Schnellenberger, and Steve Spurrier - three national championship winning coaches, and NONE of the games was even close. And Nebraska of the 90s literally OWNED the SEC, a conference that had three championship teams (92, 96, 98), blowing out Florida to win one title and the Peyton Manning-led Volunteers of Tennessee to win another. And even after Osborne was gone, the Big Red thrashed the Vols again in 1999.
Some pundits like to put forth 1991 Washington by saying that the Huskies were about as dominant as Nebraska was - a joke to be sure, but you also have to remember that they faced a lighter schedule (.553 vs .522) and had the convenience of not having to face the killer Miami squad of those years.
Consider what those knowledgeable of college ball will tell you. Paul Finebaum, who has seen plenty of football, rates them as the greatest ever and perhaps the greatest coach of all-time, Nick Saban, said it was the most complete team he'd ever seen. This is a guy who ought to know as he's won six championships during an SEC dominant era.
There is not a team in the decade that would stay on the field with Huskers of 1995.
THE CASE AGAINST
Let's get it out of the way quickly - they're a damn good football team. But this tendency to not look too closely permeates and contaminates CFB analysis more than any other sport.
Consider the "they beat four teams that finished in the top ten" argument. Yes, they did, and Colorado was a legit team. But how did the two Kansas teams finish in the top ten? They finished in the top ten because the once you get below the top spot, it doesn't make a substantial difference anyway. Kansas entered the bowl games ranked #11 with two blowout losses to Nebraska and K-State. They then drew an unranked four-loss UCLA team in the Aloha Bowl and scored 51 points on them. This wasn't a major accomplishment when you remember that UCLA's defense surrendered 37 points THREE OTHER TIMES that year. Texas loses to a better Va Tech team and DESPITE a 10-1-1 record that's a half-game better than Kansas, the Jayhawks jump Texas and finish in the top ten. This same Texas team beat the same UVA team that upset #1 Florida State.
Kansas St wound up 7th because they were tenth going into the bowl games, beat an overmatched WAC champion that didn't belong on the same field, and then Ohio State (despite a better record) lost to a better opponent than K State managed to beat (Tennessee) and dropped - and Cinderella Northwestern lost a great game to USC.....and K State again moved up.
The notion that K State was some sort of giant needs to be dispelled now: 9 of their 10 wins came against teams that lost 2/3 of their games (35-65) - and the other was against Kansas, whom they routed by about the same score as Nebraska did.
THESE are your "four top ten teams" Nebraska beat. Two were paper tigers, one was legit - and the other one was Florida. With the benefit of hindsight, the win over Florida is not nearly as impressive as it appeared then, either.
Steve Spurrier was a very good coach, but he was the Tom Osborne of his time. Just like Osborne, he would lose EVERY SINGLE important game during his entire coaching career. Spurrier, like Osborne, was a bully with a big, bad offense that got teams out of their game plan by punching in 3 or 4 quick TDs early on and setting it on cruise control. But Spurrier collapsed in the big games in ways even Osborne never managed.
In 1990, his Gators were on probation and ineligible for the SEC title. Biggest two games of the year were Tennessee - a 45-3 loss for Spurrier - and Florida State, who beat him, 45-30.
In 1991, Spurrier was sitting pretty with a #3 SEC champion....and promptly blew a 13-0 lead and surrendered 22 fourth qtr points to an above average at best Notre Dame.
In 1993, he had one big game, Auburn....naturally, he lost.
In 1994, he AGAIN lost to Auburn....and then watched his team blow a 31-3 fourth qtr lead and win up with a tie against FSU.
In 1995, his team actually led Nebraska early and got routed.
In 1996 - the year of his title - he backed into the title game after blowing the #1 ranking but watching Nebraska lose and getting a second chance.
In 1999, he had the #3 team in the country that had not lost a home game in five years.....that fumbled away a game to Alabama in the final minutes (and overtime). Offered a chance for redemption, Spurrier coached his charges to a 27-point massacre in the SEC title game.
In 2001, all he has to do is beat Tennessee (which he'd done quite well) and win the SEC title game to face Miami for another national title. He's not up to it, and Spurrier leaves shortly thereafter.
In short, Spurrier lost the biggest game he had almost every single year - and Nebraska fans want to make this some sort of litmus test of greatness.
Nebraska WAS good in 1995 because they had a good offensive line that could run the ball. They DID have a good defense. But so this hype machine doesn't go too far, the reality is that they couldn't throw the ball to save their lives. Despite the fact virtually every single Nebraska pass was a shock (since they didn't need to throw it), the Huskers completed less than 54% of their passes.....68th nationally. Husker fans wax eloquent about how tragic the passing of "future NFL draft pick" Brook Berringer in a plane crash "just days before the draft." If you're dumb enough to believe that Berringer was an NFL quality QB, you must be a Nebraska fan. What NFL team can't use a QB who goes 26 for 51 and 252 yards with 0 TDs? I mean, those are Peyton Manning numbers, right? Berringer wasn't going to get drafted, and he wasn't going to play in the NFL, either.
What separates 1991 Washington from 1995 Nebraska is that one team had both a rushing and passing offense, and the other had an incredible rushing offense. I won't say 1992 Alabama would be able to beat the Huskers because the offense was terrible. However, the one-dimensional running attack of Nebraska was susceptible to a defense with the athletes and scheme to accomplish it. They'd most certainly give them fits when they could focus eleven guys on tackling whoever was running and take their chances with the 50/50 passing of Frazier/Berringer.
Finally, 1995 was one of those years that happen every so often where the nationwide parity didn't exist. Nebraska that year was like LSU and Alabama in 2011, a clear cut case of the best team and nobody else even close. Yeah, Nebraska won their games by big margins - so did Florida and for mostly the same reason.
Nobody dared suggest prior to the game that this was a great Nebraska team - and then one hour of football later, and they become the greatest of all-time beating a guy who regularly choked in the big game.
I'm sorry, but I pass.
THE CASE FOR
The 95 Nebraska Cornhuskers were the greatest team in college football history. No team ever dominated their opponents on both sides of the ball to the degree the Huskers did. The general consensus of pundits and CFB writers is that the two greatest teams ever were the 95 Huskers and 2001 Miami. While the case strongly favors the Huskers, I will focus on the fact that this leaves no dispute regarding which team was the best of the 90s.
Nebraska was so good that none of their opponents was even close. No team of the 90s beat more TOP TEN teams or by as much. Nebraska thumped #2 Florida, #5 Kansas St, #7 Colorado, and #9 Kansas by an AVERAGE of 31 points. They blew out the same team that is considered so great that the very next year that team won the championship with what's considered an all-time great team.
Nebraska ran up 52 plus points a game and over 550 yards of offense, most of it rushing the ball - oh, and they did a major portion of this damage without one of the best backs of all-time, Lawrence Phillips, getting onto the field. In one season, Nebraska crushed Nick Saban, Howard Schnellenberger, and Steve Spurrier - three national championship winning coaches, and NONE of the games was even close. And Nebraska of the 90s literally OWNED the SEC, a conference that had three championship teams (92, 96, 98), blowing out Florida to win one title and the Peyton Manning-led Volunteers of Tennessee to win another. And even after Osborne was gone, the Big Red thrashed the Vols again in 1999.
Some pundits like to put forth 1991 Washington by saying that the Huskies were about as dominant as Nebraska was - a joke to be sure, but you also have to remember that they faced a lighter schedule (.553 vs .522) and had the convenience of not having to face the killer Miami squad of those years.
Consider what those knowledgeable of college ball will tell you. Paul Finebaum, who has seen plenty of football, rates them as the greatest ever and perhaps the greatest coach of all-time, Nick Saban, said it was the most complete team he'd ever seen. This is a guy who ought to know as he's won six championships during an SEC dominant era.
There is not a team in the decade that would stay on the field with Huskers of 1995.
THE CASE AGAINST
Let's get it out of the way quickly - they're a damn good football team. But this tendency to not look too closely permeates and contaminates CFB analysis more than any other sport.
Consider the "they beat four teams that finished in the top ten" argument. Yes, they did, and Colorado was a legit team. But how did the two Kansas teams finish in the top ten? They finished in the top ten because the once you get below the top spot, it doesn't make a substantial difference anyway. Kansas entered the bowl games ranked #11 with two blowout losses to Nebraska and K-State. They then drew an unranked four-loss UCLA team in the Aloha Bowl and scored 51 points on them. This wasn't a major accomplishment when you remember that UCLA's defense surrendered 37 points THREE OTHER TIMES that year. Texas loses to a better Va Tech team and DESPITE a 10-1-1 record that's a half-game better than Kansas, the Jayhawks jump Texas and finish in the top ten. This same Texas team beat the same UVA team that upset #1 Florida State.
Kansas St wound up 7th because they were tenth going into the bowl games, beat an overmatched WAC champion that didn't belong on the same field, and then Ohio State (despite a better record) lost to a better opponent than K State managed to beat (Tennessee) and dropped - and Cinderella Northwestern lost a great game to USC.....and K State again moved up.
The notion that K State was some sort of giant needs to be dispelled now: 9 of their 10 wins came against teams that lost 2/3 of their games (35-65) - and the other was against Kansas, whom they routed by about the same score as Nebraska did.
THESE are your "four top ten teams" Nebraska beat. Two were paper tigers, one was legit - and the other one was Florida. With the benefit of hindsight, the win over Florida is not nearly as impressive as it appeared then, either.
Steve Spurrier was a very good coach, but he was the Tom Osborne of his time. Just like Osborne, he would lose EVERY SINGLE important game during his entire coaching career. Spurrier, like Osborne, was a bully with a big, bad offense that got teams out of their game plan by punching in 3 or 4 quick TDs early on and setting it on cruise control. But Spurrier collapsed in the big games in ways even Osborne never managed.
In 1990, his Gators were on probation and ineligible for the SEC title. Biggest two games of the year were Tennessee - a 45-3 loss for Spurrier - and Florida State, who beat him, 45-30.
In 1991, Spurrier was sitting pretty with a #3 SEC champion....and promptly blew a 13-0 lead and surrendered 22 fourth qtr points to an above average at best Notre Dame.
In 1993, he had one big game, Auburn....naturally, he lost.
In 1994, he AGAIN lost to Auburn....and then watched his team blow a 31-3 fourth qtr lead and win up with a tie against FSU.
In 1995, his team actually led Nebraska early and got routed.
In 1996 - the year of his title - he backed into the title game after blowing the #1 ranking but watching Nebraska lose and getting a second chance.
In 1999, he had the #3 team in the country that had not lost a home game in five years.....that fumbled away a game to Alabama in the final minutes (and overtime). Offered a chance for redemption, Spurrier coached his charges to a 27-point massacre in the SEC title game.
In 2001, all he has to do is beat Tennessee (which he'd done quite well) and win the SEC title game to face Miami for another national title. He's not up to it, and Spurrier leaves shortly thereafter.
In short, Spurrier lost the biggest game he had almost every single year - and Nebraska fans want to make this some sort of litmus test of greatness.
Nebraska WAS good in 1995 because they had a good offensive line that could run the ball. They DID have a good defense. But so this hype machine doesn't go too far, the reality is that they couldn't throw the ball to save their lives. Despite the fact virtually every single Nebraska pass was a shock (since they didn't need to throw it), the Huskers completed less than 54% of their passes.....68th nationally. Husker fans wax eloquent about how tragic the passing of "future NFL draft pick" Brook Berringer in a plane crash "just days before the draft." If you're dumb enough to believe that Berringer was an NFL quality QB, you must be a Nebraska fan. What NFL team can't use a QB who goes 26 for 51 and 252 yards with 0 TDs? I mean, those are Peyton Manning numbers, right? Berringer wasn't going to get drafted, and he wasn't going to play in the NFL, either.
What separates 1991 Washington from 1995 Nebraska is that one team had both a rushing and passing offense, and the other had an incredible rushing offense. I won't say 1992 Alabama would be able to beat the Huskers because the offense was terrible. However, the one-dimensional running attack of Nebraska was susceptible to a defense with the athletes and scheme to accomplish it. They'd most certainly give them fits when they could focus eleven guys on tackling whoever was running and take their chances with the 50/50 passing of Frazier/Berringer.
Finally, 1995 was one of those years that happen every so often where the nationwide parity didn't exist. Nebraska that year was like LSU and Alabama in 2011, a clear cut case of the best team and nobody else even close. Yeah, Nebraska won their games by big margins - so did Florida and for mostly the same reason.
Nobody dared suggest prior to the game that this was a great Nebraska team - and then one hour of football later, and they become the greatest of all-time beating a guy who regularly choked in the big game.
I'm sorry, but I pass.