The crazy thing is had Alabama blown Florida out there probably wouldn't have been much interest in continuing either. The best outcome possible for interest to pick up steam happened.
Change One Play In CFB History For Maximum Impact
- Thread starter selmaborntidefan
- Start date
Conference championship games were always going to happen. The only way they’ll go away is if they can be replaced by another game that will make even more money…
I guess I have to go with the 1999 MSU vs Michigan game on two different outcomes. What if Carr chooses to go with only one quarterback that day. Think about it....
I don't think so.
There was a lot of discussion about how "the best SEC team might fluff it up on the big day, and we're adding a conference game for that team to clear, which might REDUCE our chances at a national championship."
To me, what hurt the SECCG was the next year when both teams playing in it had lost to Auburn, who was ineligible for the conference title. But since the whole purpose of the SECCG was "more money," the only way I think they rethink it is if they're suddenly not making what they thought they might make.
What made the SECCG a perfect storm was that it coincided with the Bowl Coalition agreeing to match up 1 vs 2 in a title game unless those teams belonged to the Rose Bowl conferences. We might well have gotten shut out of the picture since the consensus was, "Miami and Florida St are the two best teams."
But there's no doubt the Langham pick was a huge play historically, too.
Before coming to Bama and before his national title at LSU. Saban seemed to have a knack for winning the right game at the right time that seemed to keep the pressure off of him. From 1995-2002 his record was nothing to write home about. (I know he dealt with fallout from sanctions at MSU and LSU being a dumpster fire for over a decade). But he seemed to win the right games at the right time
1995 Michigan
1998 Ohio state
1999, Michigan and Ohio state
2000: Miss state, Tennessee, Alabama (their first win in BR since 1969).
2001: auburn and then Tennessee in the sec title game.
What I am getting at is that Carr had a quarterback controversy of his own doing going into that game. He had a freshman that the fans forced him to start named Drew Henson, and he had a veteran starter named Tom Brady. Brady started the game and was keeping themI in it. He drives them down and scores and Carr decides to change quarterbacks the next drive on the road. Henson pretty much puts Michigan in a hole with bad play, and Brady comes back in and nearly saves the game.
Saban has over the years hinted that he never understood why Carr wanted to play the quarterback game on the road vs him when he had Brady. He also has indicated that had Brady stayed the quarterback then Michigan would have most likely won.
The reason I picked that is that had Carr stuck with either quarterback then the futures of both Brady and Saban could have a different narrative. Because if im not mistaken, that was Saban's only top 10 victory in his career at MSU. I think Saban probably still ends up at LSU, but Brady probably doesnt get a chance in the NFL without Carr being forced to ride him as a starter. Basically what Im saying... Tom Brady owes Nick Saban some money for exposing Drew Henson and Carr on national tv.
Good point
Slight nit pick: Saban beat #1 Ohio state in 1998. the game he always said was the birth of his “process” style of doing things.
The kick goes through the uprights in 2013, Bama wins. Plays FSU for a 3 peat.
Jimbo doesn't get a title, Aggies never offer him the moon since he isn't a national title winning coach. With FSU already spiraling downward, Jimbo leaves or gets fired, takes a group of 5 job.....or gets hired by Saban as the OC after Daboll. We never get Sark back. Texas never goes after Sark.
Jimbo wins a national title as OC at Bama....gets hired by Texas.
Jimbo doesn't get a title, Aggies never offer him the moon since he isn't a national title winning coach. With FSU already spiraling downward, Jimbo leaves or gets fired, takes a group of 5 job.....or gets hired by Saban as the OC after Daboll. We never get Sark back. Texas never goes after Sark.
Jimbo wins a national title as OC at Bama....gets hired by Texas.
Dear Josh,
You know, I would be one FANTASTIC addition to your show - and since we know you read TF, please get in contact with me. I'm surely not some fly-by-night CFB fan.
That being said...since Texas doesn't beat Florida by any stretch, I don't know what this one even means. Yeah, I "get" it, but since Florida's defense held Oklahoma's BETTER offense to 14 points, why would anyone think it makes Texas a national champion?
And the Heisman voting...you MIGHT be right, but I'm not sure how the stats change. Bradford threw for 850 more yards with four fewer completions. And 16 TDs takes an awful lot of "small things" by the other guy to make up, too.
Texas beats Tech, they stay #1.....they play Florida and lose.....I just don't see how this changes nearly as much as Iowa State shocking Okie State or even UGA failing to beat Alabama in 2012.
He already did videos on the Iowa State-Okie State 2011 game and the UGA-Alabama 2012 game.....he's running out of good ones to talk about now.
I'd assume, at this point, whatever selma brings up will be the topic for Josh's video.
Nah. Once they counted the money from that game, it was a done deal.
One thing I remember very well about that 2012 SECCG is that it had one of the biggest 2 point conversions in Alabama history in the latter part of the 3rd quarter. If Alabama fails on that 2 point conversion then possibly all UGA needs on their last drive is a FG to win. That play may have been equally as big as the one he mentions.
That play was huge - and I thought Saban was off his rocker at the time. Turned out he really WAS playing 5-dimensional chess.
The play I would like to change would have very little national impact, but it was Joe Namath's quarterback sneak on 4th down against Texas in the 1965 Orange Bowl. They ruled him short, but I will go to my grave saying he made it. Remember an overhead camera shot showing him waist deep in the end zone. We had already been named national champs, but I think they started awarding the trophy after the bowl games from then on, IIRC.
Not a play, but I still think Tebow's decision to attend UF rather than UA has had an impact on CFB greater than most any other. When you start thinking about the effect on Bama (almost certainly don't get Saban, Kirby almost certainly doesn't end up at UGA, Meyer almost certainly struggles to win as much at UF, etc) the long-term effects of that singular decision are pretty wide-spread...
I doubt Tebow would have improved Shula's results very much, if at all. Not with some of the assistant coaches Shula got stuck with, and wouldn't consider letting go.
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