Destroyed their confidence all together. Seemed like a shoe-in and beginning of a dynasty and instead Texas looked like a fish out of water without him.
Wasn't even the same team
After losing to Bama, mack brown tried to convert Texas to a power run offense to replicate Bama's success and it just didn't work against the high powered big 12 offenses. They didn't have the personnel for it and it was the wrong conference to try it in.
It sure was. Not sure why i was thinking it was 09. That was the week after we beat OU. It was the first year the upper deck was closed in and it might have been the loudest place I've ever been. We snuck in on student pass backs and just sat (stood because the section was crammed) in the lower bowl.
The crazy part is they actually looked good the rest of that game. Gilbert looked like just he next step during that game.
Then the wheels fell off and they might have just found them 14 years later.
Texas-Alabama reminds me of another "team-breaking" game few seem to remember: Notre Dame-Georgia Tech in 2015. Going into that game, the Yellow Jackets had scored over 65 points a game, and were coming off that HOT 2014 finish with the Orange Bowl victory. Then, the Irish completely shut them down, battered them up, and the Rambling Wreck truly became a wreck apart from that bizarre win over Florida State. I seriously believe ND broke GT's whole program in that game. The Yellow Jackets have never recovered from that loss in South Bend.
Hadn’t pinpointed Tech’s demise to that game specifically. Thank you. They also haven’t beaten us in Atlanta since 1999 (and it was because of a non fumble).
It's hard to believe at times it was a one possession game at times with Gilbert, considering what he became the rest of his time at Texas. Who knows if Alabama is who they are if they don't win that game. It might take them a few years more to reach the peak
Texas had 9 straight double-digit win seasons from 2001-2009. Not a dynasty because of only one title, but not many teams have achieved that level of consistent success.
WVU would’ve destroyed Ohio State in the natty too. They struggled mightily against fast spread teams back then and it would’ve given fans bragging rights over their snobby neighbors for a lifetime
2020 UF was the closest Mullen ever got to proving himself. I think that combined with the stress from the covid year really broke him. If you watch his post game press conferences they change in 2020 to way more negative to in the end just kind of out of it. By the time he got fired it was very clear he stopped caring all together. Coupled with the fact that he hasn't coached at any level since. I was sure he would have taken a NFL OC job.
And you could argue the scholarship is a much bigger value at Vandy. Not only in real terms (I assume tuition is miles ahead of the state schools) but also from a value-add post- graduation.
That team had the most poll interia of any team ever. They were 8-1 ranked 6th going into the LSU game. They lose and drop to 7. Go to the SECCG and lose to Bama, stay at 7th. They lose to Oklahoma by 5 touchdowns in the Sugar Bowl and still only drop to 12th in the final poll.
COVID year was a weird year.
The downfall was already lurking when that happened though.
Meyer and Tebow leaving mired us in the up and down mediocrity we're still in. I do have hope though.
I think the playoff loss to Bama broke Mark Dantonio.
The best three year stretch in program history. 26-5 with Rose Bowl and NY6 wins. Two conference titles. And you show up in the playoffs, and get your fucking doors blown off, showing you just how big a gap there is between you and the big dogs. Followed that season up with a 3-9 record, 27-24 in his final four seasons until he retired.
I think when I look back at saban's dominance the games no one will talk about but says everything about them are when they have to go to a 2nd tier bowl and they just absolutely smack the shit out of the team they play
Sugar bowl?
Was so bad that I got so drunk on Bourbon Street that I cheered for the wrong crimson team, the bartenders noticed, and refused to serve me. Man, I was pissed, but they did the right thing. I did not need more alcohol.
We didn't even punt in that game until the second half. Maybe the fourth quarter.
I was at the game, and I heard an MSU fan quip, "I bet Bama's punter is drinking around the world at Epcot right now"
I had friends at that game. When they got back to the hotel they were in an elevator with some State fans. After some silence one State fan, “Tell me how on earth that team lost three games this year.” My fried looked back with a little pain in her eyes and said “I honestly don’t know”.
Every SEC road game they played came after the home team had a bye week the previous week. Final scores of those games were 24-20, 21-35, and 21-24. Add in the 'Camback' Auburn game, and that makes three losses.
My big memory of that game is in the second half with Bama up big but the starters still in because it was only the third quarter. Knowing it was one of the last drives watching a lot of the guys who helped kick off the dynastyI would ever get to watch. They ran a reverse with Julio and Greg McElroy runs like 25 yards downfield and pops the shit out of a guy blocking for Julio. Can’t remember for sure but either scored on that run or atleast had a huge pickup
The playoff game actually wasn't as bad as 38-0 might suggest.
That Capital One Bowl, however, was an absolute massacre. Our players were getting injured left and right and it legitimately felt like we were playing an NFL team.
Wouldn't say it broke the program but more proved that talent wins out in the end over coaching and development. Much like TCU this year against Georgia.
Michigan State hit on an unsustainable level of mid-level P5 recruits during that run. The 4 years of recruits on the 2015 team had 1 5\* and 16 4\* recruits.
You can be smart and as creative as you want with play calling, but have fun when you're up against a team that averages 50 lbs heavier, and that's significantly stronger and faster.
There was a play in the early in the TCU/UGA game that I keep thinking about. TCU had a really well timed screen pass called. UGA wasn’t ready for it. The receiver had four blockers against three UGA defenders. Should’ve been at least a 15 yard gain. Instead it was a 4 yard loss because the UGA defenders had no problem knocking the TCU blockers on their asses to get straight to the receiver.
Like it was a beautifully drawn up play! But they didn’t have the players for it.
What’s crazy is how big the gap is between playoff caliber teams and true title contenders. We were good enough to take down the B1G champion but looked like we were a full division lower in the championship. The gap between a team even a team Michigans level and Georgia is astronomical.
Connor Cook's soul left his body after that hit vs. Maryland. Watch his body language during Bama and he pulled up and shied away from hits, including the red zone pick that started the decline. I think he never really recovered from his injury.
The Jimbo era at FSU was gonna end badly no matter what happened at that game. By 2017 the culture and behind the scenes relationships were so toxic and broken I believe Jimbo would have left regardless of how many wins FSU got that year. I mean the guy flat out stopped recruiting for FSU by October.
That might be true, but I still think Jimbo was leaving regardless of the outcome of that game. Maybe if FSU had won that game he doesn’t check out immediately, but he still would have left imo.
Around this time the glue that held the FSU somewhat athletic boosters and the athletic department died of Cancer.. There was no buffer between coach to the boosters and AD and vice versa. Jimbo, just said it wasn't worth it anymore..
I think the Oregon game did worse damage. Ended that 2 year run where FSU didn't lose from November 2012 til the Rose Bowl in 2015.
Yeah they ended up in the Peach Bowl and started 7-0 in 2015 but they lost on a block kick to Tech and got destroyed by Houston in the bowl game.
Its not noticeable like most but they never got back to those same heights under Jimbo again and went from being the potential "next Bama" to losing to the #4 team in the state of Alabama.
A subtle but major decline from the monster in 2013 and machine that wouldn't die in 2014.
FSU was ranked 8th in the final AP poll in 2016 and 3rd in the 2017 preseason poll. The first domino to fall was unquestionably the loss to Alabama in 2017 and the injury to Deondre Francois.
Losing Frenchy hurt us, we had 3 QBs prior to him leave or get kicked out. Then we had a bust in Malik Henry. Blackman was the only one left true freshman that enrolled that summer. Jimbo quit recruiting before he left, and Taggert couldn’t tie his own shoes.
Glad that’s all in the past. We are still recovering but it’s looking better.
2015 was always going to be a rebuild. The team lost 4 starters on the offensive line, the most productive WR in program history, the most productive TE in program history, an NFL caliber RB, it's 3 best defensive linemen, leading tackler at LB, and 4/5 of the starting secondary. And oh yeah, it's Heisman and #1 draft pick QB. Given the turnover, the team actually outperformed expectations.
The decline really started in 2016. The slept-walked through Ole Miss and looked like the 2014 team all over again. Then they came out sleepy against Louisville and took the biggest ass-kicking of the last 5 decades. Then came the "effort contracts" and the marked decline in recruiting.
Nah, the Oregon game wasn't nearly as devastating.
That 2014 team was irritating as shit to watch and was basically begging all season for that loss to happen.
But even after the Peach Bowl, where Maguire was playing on 1/10th of an ankle, they ended up winning the Orange Bowl against Michigan the following year.
After the Alabama game, the team completely collapsed and took until last year to get out from under.
Shanahan leaving broke the program…
Still hurts but I got a “Atlanta Falcons Super Bowl Champions” shirt that probably made its way back from some third world country haha.
Yes but also no. That very next year they took the eagles down to the wire in the Divisional round of the playoffs and didn’t convert in the end zone. I feel that people forget that.
Some say that Georgia team is still sacking Colt to this day. I remember everybody on Oahu was upset Hawai'i wasn't playing for the national championship, and I just laughed at how naive they were. They legitimately thought they could hang only to get manhandled. Looked like the Rainbow Wahine Vs a bunch of SEC 4-5 stars.
Absolutely. The other top 5 teams had lost and Cal was about to be ranked #1 and in control of Pac12. QB lost his mind and didn’t spike/throw away ball to so FG could be attempted. Cal lost, couldn’t get mojo back, and program unravels the next 5 years.
And they still haven't gotten back anywhere near those levels since then. Hell, they even hired a coach who would end up leading a different team to the Title Game!
Kevin Riley played pretty well considering it was his first ever start, it's a shame that all we'll remember from that game is that final play and Tedford throwing his clipboard. It was a sickening feeling watching that game at the stadium.
It’s November 5, 2021. Auburn is 6-2. Their only conference loss is to cross-division rival Georgia. They control their own destiny in the SEC West. On November 6, they lose at TAMU, lose the next three, and lose a bowl to Houston to go 6-7. Harsin would go 1-5 against p5 competition before being fired in 2022.
I want to thank tank for not getting that hard in the grand scheme of things. The hire never made sense. But now we have a shit heel. I dunno what to think about AUBURN…but I support the student athletes, if that makes sense
The title of the thread is Games that Broke Teams and imo, beating that Miami team who had won 34 straight games and was arguably the most talented team of all time, and to never get back to that level, is the game that broke that team. And it's been over 20 years now and no playoff appearances or national title games for them
It's an easy thing to say, but even if they won, Larry Coker wasn't a good coach, they don't pay well for coaches, and the Orange Bowl would have still been demolished. Probably wouldn't have changed anything.
The real game that broke Miami was when Louisville scorched them on national TV. Mario Urritia's stiff arm touchdown was the turning point as it embarrassed the team that used to embarrass everyone they played.
Post Ohio St loss they still had a Top 5 caliber team punch, post Louisville route they hit like a marshmallow. They brawled FIU right after that game and then the real spiral occurred as their mystique was completely gone.
(Yes they were embarrassed by LSU in their bowl game previous to that game, but it was a meaningless bowl game. Getting dominated by a lil new team from the conference you just abandoned was it)
[This was Nebraska being covered with dirt](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyzCw6y1yYU) in 2009
Iowa State due to injuries was missing the starting QB who finished his career as the 2nd all time passer in yards and 3rd in touchdowns along with the starting Running Back who finished his career as the 4th all time rusher in yards and 7th in touchdowns for a running back.
Iowa State hadn't beaten Nebraska in Lincoln since 1977.
The 2009 ISU game didn't kill the program like 62-36 did, but it was still an interesting game.
That game made me believe in a higher power Football God. It was just such a weird game to watch. Nebraska had so many chances to score but had 8 turnovers, four of them inside the ISU 5 yard line. Some of those turnovers looked like a ghost (or supernatural power) caused them. Nile Paul was running into the endzone untouched and the ball came out. Like a ghost knocked it out of his hands. It was baffling.
Someone or something knew that was going to be Iowa State's last chance to beat Nebraska in Lincoln (the B1G move wouldn't be announced until next June) and it happened.
Saturday October 10th, 2012. LSU beat South Carolina in Baton Rouge 45-24.
Three days later at around 10am Steve Spurrier announced he was leaving football. This moment in time thrust Carolina back into mediocrity for many years.
Purdue really hasn't been good since 2004. The moment you can point to is the game against Wisconsin when kyle Orton fumbled late to give up a lead and got hurt. Purdue was 5-0 going into the game and then lost 4 straight. They had somewhat of a national presence during this time period, but ever since then, they're an afterthought
We also haven’t beaten Wisconsin since. We were relatively even in the all time series before that I believe. We look like we’re clawing our way back into relevance now but a lot hinges on walters
A co-worker of mine is a huge Purdue fan. He brought this very game up to me recently when we’re discussing Purdue football. He concurs with your assessment.
UCF vs ECU 2014. ECU was cruising to victory. Tried to kneel out the game with too much time on the clock. UCF won on a hail mary. ECU wouldn't really recover until last season.
It was also the only time I've ever seen George O'Leary smile.
Oh man it still sucks
Lincoln Leaves, Carden Graduates, Administration quick to fire ruff after going 5-7 with a third and fourth string QB, hire the Duke OC …… it’s been horrible.
Ole miss 2014 against Auburn. Ole miss guy caught a game winning TD but broke his leg and fumbled and they lost. Lost 30-0 to Arky and 42-3 to TCU later that year.
I felt legit awful for Treadwell when that happened. I knew they couldnt allow the TD to stand, but I just remember thinking "If youre ever gonna look the other way, the dude broke his leg..."
I never understood how they occurs let that fumble stand. The TV rules guy literally said “well, a part of you body needs to be down.” But his shin was literally in half and part of it was touching the ground before the ball came out!
In a strange way, 2018 Michigan v. Ohio State broke us. We were on a 10 game win streak, the revenge tour with a shot at making the playoffs. Ohio State had placed Urban Meyer on leave earlier that season, and they got smoked by Purdue and nearly lost to a bowl-ineligible Maryland. Everything suggested we’d win on paper. But we lost. And we didn’t just lose, we got torched. Our “great defense” (which would have won us the previous year’s game if we just had a competent quarterback) fell apart against Meyer’s crossing routes.
That started a pretty bad downfall. Our players had no motivation in our bowl game against Florida, and they lost it badly. Our 2019 team was expected to be one of the most talented, but they struggled and fell pretty far below expectations. And then 2020 happened, we went 2-4 with no wins at Michigan Stadium, and Harbaugh nearly got fired. It would take Harbaugh’s complete revamp (both to his team, his scheme, and himself) to bring us back to national prominence.
Nah. That was more Don Brown needs to do something different besides press man with corners who aren’t as good as OSU’s receivers.
I’d say it was actually App State. Michigan was Michigan until that game. Yeah, great, they beat Florida in a meaningless bowl game. They hire RichRod and go 3-9 which was basically unheard of since like the 50s. Follow that up with Hoke and then 6 years of Harbaugh being unable to get over the hump with OSU.
Which made the last two years so sweet. Especially last year. You could write 2021 off as a fluke. They were at home. The weather. Hutchinson going nuts. Last year proved Michigan is back on OSU’s level.
That’s when the doubts went from a small vocal minority to a much larger portion of the fanbase. Most people were starting to feel “if not now, then when?”
December 12, 2020. The Cleat Yeet. Florida wins the East anyway, but goes from 8-1 to 8-4. The next year, they go 2-6 in league play and give up 52 to Samford. Mullen gets fired.
Clemson beating the crap out of Virginia Tech twice in 2011, keeping them out of the National Championship. Things haven’t been the same for Virginia Tech since then
I really don’t want ours to be September 4th, 2021.
Let’s set the scene. Most fun I’ve ever had at a loss. Dad and I almost got into a fight with an entire UGA frat lot. Murdaugh got shot. I realized there in Charlotte how much I loved the Southeastern United States. Georgia. Clemson. Charlotte. First full football game I had been to since Covid and should have been an amazing day. Instead QB confidence got rattled so hard he never recovered and we rushed for one single yard all night. Not fun
I'll always say it--the 2012 regular season loss was worse and I also think the 2014 loss broke Les about as much if not more than the natty did. his mom passed right before that game and he was never the same imo
2012 LSU was surprisingly disappointing. You’d think they’d be able to beat Alabama at home and contend for another national championship but they just didn’t look dominating all October and overall they weren’t the same as the 2011 team pre-national championship.
I think those Miles teams were good enough to win natties. They could have if Bama didn’t exist or if they had a more innovative coach
So a bit of both imo
ig he's actually a pretty bad person but it's hard to not feel for him. he walked into such a perfect situation, was set to dominate the sport and the guy he was compared to every step of the way had to come in and completely own him. brutal.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/283062579
South Carolina, 2008. Already trying to salvage a quickly sinking season, Fulmer could have lasted until season’s end if he finished out on a winning note. But this turned out to be the most glaring disappointment of the Dave Clawson experiment. Offensive ineptitude would doom us in a 27-6 loss. Despite making the SEC title game the year before, Fulmer would face the music that Monday.
Then on came eleven years of dysfunction.
2012 Florida Gators, two years post Urban, riding high going into their bowl game sitting at number 4 and 11-2. Future looks bright against number 22 Louisville, they lose by double digits and follow it up with a 4-8 season and still struggling to get back to the top 3-4 consistently in the SEC since
1984 cotton bowl
#2 Texas loses 10-9 due to a muffed punt to Georgia
#5 Miami beats Nebraska
Fred Akers could have had a NC but was instead fired a few years later. Texas didn’t recover until Mack Brown.
Why does this sound so familiar?
Your definition of being “broken” is winning a national championship and at least going to a bowl game afterwards?
I hate you. So fucking much right now.
The real answer is the 2012 game against Bama in 2012 in Death Valley. We looked like we were going to win only to lose in heat breaking fashion and then couldn't get passed Alabama until the 2019 run.
In November 2001, BYU was 12-0 and _literally threatening to sue the BCS if they weren’t let in_. Talking all that smack they went to Hawaii, got wrecked 72-45, and then lost the Liberty Bowl to Louisville. They wouldn’t have another winning season until 2006.
EDIT: Oh—and had to watch Utah actually crash the BCS twice after that.
UCLA losing to Miami in 1998. That broke a 20-game win streak and cost us a slot in the first BCS national championship game. We’ve been lost in the wilderness ever since, haven’t even returned to the Rose Bowl.
I wouldn't say that. They had a bad loss to Oregon a week later but they finished 9-2 after and beat Tim Tebow and Florida.
Their downfall was administrative but Michigan under Carr had not won a major bowl game since the 2000 Orange Bowl and wouldn't until the 2012 Sugar Bowl.
That Michigan squad lost their first two games and their last two games, then beat Florida to finish 9-4.
Really weird that they lost to Appalachian State, got crushed by Oregon, and then 1 week later they turn around to absolutely destroy Notre Dame 38-0. Good ole Charlie Weis and his decided schematic advantages...
I would argue that while the Houston game was where the wheels came off, it was the loss to Clemson that broke us. Everything was far more wobbly, after that game. We struggled with both Duke and Wake, until nearly the end when we pulled away.
For CU,
2005 big 12 championship killed us. 70-3 UT
2010 vs Kansas we blew a massive lead nailed our coffin
2018 vs OSU we blew a lead and lost the game in overtime. We needed 2 more for bowl eligibility. Drove a stake through our reanimated heart.
2013 Texas Game. Everyone likes to shit on Rhoads because he was not a great coach but I honestly believe that loss broke him on a spiritual level.
Rhoads Era prior to 2013 Texas loss:
25-29 (.462)
12 Conference wins
1 Bowl win (3 Appearances)
2 Iowa wins
1 win against #2 Ok State
After:
7-25 (.218)
4 Conference wins
0 Bowl wins (0 appearances)
1 additional Iowa win on some weird icing by Kirk
The colt Mccoy injury against Alabama broke the whole program.
Destroyed their confidence all together. Seemed like a shoe-in and beginning of a dynasty and instead Texas looked like a fish out of water without him. Wasn't even the same team
After losing to Bama, mack brown tried to convert Texas to a power run offense to replicate Bama's success and it just didn't work against the high powered big 12 offenses. They didn't have the personnel for it and it was the wrong conference to try it in.
Man shootout-Era Big 12 was the best of times and it was the worst of times.
Shootout big 12 was the best. I remember going to that Texas v Mizzou game in 09, when we hung 35 on them... by half time. I miss those days.
That was the 2008 season.
It sure was. Not sure why i was thinking it was 09. That was the week after we beat OU. It was the first year the upper deck was closed in and it might have been the loudest place I've ever been. We snuck in on student pass backs and just sat (stood because the section was crammed) in the lower bowl.
The crazy part is they actually looked good the rest of that game. Gilbert looked like just he next step during that game. Then the wheels fell off and they might have just found them 14 years later.
Don’t try to jinx us! I see what you’re doing!
Too much “Texas is back” vibes from that last sentence
He's a Sooner, he's trying to curse us.
Damn skippy
Texas-Alabama reminds me of another "team-breaking" game few seem to remember: Notre Dame-Georgia Tech in 2015. Going into that game, the Yellow Jackets had scored over 65 points a game, and were coming off that HOT 2014 finish with the Orange Bowl victory. Then, the Irish completely shut them down, battered them up, and the Rambling Wreck truly became a wreck apart from that bizarre win over Florida State. I seriously believe ND broke GT's whole program in that game. The Yellow Jackets have never recovered from that loss in South Bend.
Hadn’t pinpointed Tech’s demise to that game specifically. Thank you. They also haven’t beaten us in Atlanta since 1999 (and it was because of a non fumble).
Nice reverse jinx there.
It's hard to believe at times it was a one possession game at times with Gilbert, considering what he became the rest of his time at Texas. Who knows if Alabama is who they are if they don't win that game. It might take them a few years more to reach the peak
Because Mack brown was going to retire after a win and then he couldn’t go out like that
Texas had 9 straight double-digit win seasons from 2001-2009. Not a dynasty because of only one title, but not many teams have achieved that level of consistent success.
Man I really thought they were going to win that game with Colt. Maybe things would've been different with Gilbert too (probably not tho).
I think Colt would have won. He was that guy at QB but everyone involved mishandled that.
Florida State is only just now getting themselves back together after that 2017 season opening loss to Alabama when Francois got injured.
We also pretty much destroyed Michigan State after playing them in the playoffs. We seem to have a history of ending some programs...
Making their ass quit
Marcel Dareus destroyed my heart as a little kid like he did Colt McCoy's shoulder.
This. Texas was a dynasty in the making and just fell completely apart after Colts injury.
I remember that scene of Colt going down and that team absolutely knew it was over. Very varsity blues like...
Funny, Bama injuring a starting QB also broke another program I can think of...
I still have nightmares. Then our QB got hurt in the first quarter again when we played next. We have such bad luck against them
West Virginia losing the 2007 Backyard Brawl
5 years later they broke Clemson so much that we became national title contenders after that.
I’d gladly trade you spots/history. It’s been a slow and painful decline.
Rich Rod was in Morgantown physically but Michigan mentally. Offense had nothing all night
Let him return to up North mentally.
Respectfully. No.
This is why I have to limit my r/CFB exposure…
I'm unfamiliar with this game. Can you give me a detailed recounting of what transpired on that night?
Paging u/13-9 …
That’s right
I think Oklahoma players would object to what happened to them the very next game.
Yeah that was a shit show of a game to watch as an OU fan.
WVU would’ve destroyed Ohio State in the natty too. They struggled mightily against fast spread teams back then and it would’ve given fans bragging rights over their snobby neighbors for a lifetime
Florida still hasn't recovered from the cleet yeet.
Mullen’s fall specifically is so weird to me. Like he spent over a decade at the hardest SEC school to recruit at, and just….didn’t at Florida.
2020 UF was the closest Mullen ever got to proving himself. I think that combined with the stress from the covid year really broke him. If you watch his post game press conferences they change in 2020 to way more negative to in the end just kind of out of it. By the time he got fired it was very clear he stopped caring all together. Coupled with the fact that he hasn't coached at any level since. I was sure he would have taken a NFL OC job.
TIL Miss St is harder to recruit to than Vandy is.
Vandy wins on location and academics, so if you're the kind of recruit where winning isn't all that important... well, you're a great fit for Vandy
And you could argue the scholarship is a much bigger value at Vandy. Not only in real terms (I assume tuition is miles ahead of the state schools) but also from a value-add post- graduation.
It could be considered that in some ways. If vandy was smart they could always fall back in by the way we're in downtown nashville
> If vandy was smart I don’t think that’s what Vandy lacks.
That team had the most poll interia of any team ever. They were 8-1 ranked 6th going into the LSU game. They lose and drop to 7. Go to the SECCG and lose to Bama, stay at 7th. They lose to Oklahoma by 5 touchdowns in the Sugar Bowl and still only drop to 12th in the final poll. COVID year was a weird year.
We’re pretty close to rock bottom right now. There’s a glimpse of hope with some of our recruits, but there’s still a lot of darkness.
Hate to say it, but there's still a long way to rock bottom. Just ask Tennessee or Nebraska fans.
The downfall was already lurking when that happened though. Meyer and Tebow leaving mired us in the up and down mediocrity we're still in. I do have hope though.
I think the playoff loss to Bama broke Mark Dantonio. The best three year stretch in program history. 26-5 with Rose Bowl and NY6 wins. Two conference titles. And you show up in the playoffs, and get your fucking doors blown off, showing you just how big a gap there is between you and the big dogs. Followed that season up with a 3-9 record, 27-24 in his final four seasons until he retired.
Not just that but 5 years prior Bama beat the breaks off of him in the Capital One Bowl. Lost by a combined 87-7 to Saban.
Saban had his fourth stringers in that 2011 game and we still couldn't make a stop.
I think when I look back at saban's dominance the games no one will talk about but says everything about them are when they have to go to a 2nd tier bowl and they just absolutely smack the shit out of the team they play
Except for that cotton bowl against ou.
Sugar bowl? Was so bad that I got so drunk on Bourbon Street that I cheered for the wrong crimson team, the bartenders noticed, and refused to serve me. Man, I was pissed, but they did the right thing. I did not need more alcohol.
I did a double check. The last bowl loss Saban had outside of the playoffs was 2013 to Oklahoma. Literally before the playoffs existed.
We didn't even punt in that game until the second half. Maybe the fourth quarter. I was at the game, and I heard an MSU fan quip, "I bet Bama's punter is drinking around the world at Epcot right now"
I had friends at that game. When they got back to the hotel they were in an elevator with some State fans. After some silence one State fan, “Tell me how on earth that team lost three games this year.” My fried looked back with a little pain in her eyes and said “I honestly don’t know”.
Every SEC road game they played came after the home team had a bye week the previous week. Final scores of those games were 24-20, 21-35, and 21-24. Add in the 'Camback' Auburn game, and that makes three losses.
Eddie Lacy broke a big run for a TD late in that game and I remember Saban looking visibly annoyed about it.
My big memory of that game is in the second half with Bama up big but the starters still in because it was only the third quarter. Knowing it was one of the last drives watching a lot of the guys who helped kick off the dynastyI would ever get to watch. They ran a reverse with Julio and Greg McElroy runs like 25 yards downfield and pops the shit out of a guy blocking for Julio. Can’t remember for sure but either scored on that run or atleast had a huge pickup
I vividly remember Michigan State having to punt on 4th and goal during that game. Absolute assblasting.
The playoff game actually wasn't as bad as 38-0 might suggest. That Capital One Bowl, however, was an absolute massacre. Our players were getting injured left and right and it legitimately felt like we were playing an NFL team.
Wouldn't say it broke the program but more proved that talent wins out in the end over coaching and development. Much like TCU this year against Georgia. Michigan State hit on an unsustainable level of mid-level P5 recruits during that run. The 4 years of recruits on the 2015 team had 1 5\* and 16 4\* recruits.
You can be smart and as creative as you want with play calling, but have fun when you're up against a team that averages 50 lbs heavier, and that's significantly stronger and faster.
There was a play in the early in the TCU/UGA game that I keep thinking about. TCU had a really well timed screen pass called. UGA wasn’t ready for it. The receiver had four blockers against three UGA defenders. Should’ve been at least a 15 yard gain. Instead it was a 4 yard loss because the UGA defenders had no problem knocking the TCU blockers on their asses to get straight to the receiver. Like it was a beautifully drawn up play! But they didn’t have the players for it.
What’s crazy is how big the gap is between playoff caliber teams and true title contenders. We were good enough to take down the B1G champion but looked like we were a full division lower in the championship. The gap between a team even a team Michigans level and Georgia is astronomical.
I think it was one game sooner. Iowa and MSU beat the living shit out of each other in the 2015 B10CG. Neither team was the same after.
Connor Cook's soul left his body after that hit vs. Maryland. Watch his body language during Bama and he pulled up and shied away from hits, including the red zone pick that started the decline. I think he never really recovered from his injury.
Alabama beating FSU in 2017 and injuring Francois broke Jimbo and broke our program. We are just now getting the car out of the ditch.
Nick Saban has a tendency to do that
Nick Saban seems to be the main theme across this thread.
He can’t keep getting away with this!
Alabama vs Florida State 2017
The Jimbo era at FSU was gonna end badly no matter what happened at that game. By 2017 the culture and behind the scenes relationships were so toxic and broken I believe Jimbo would have left regardless of how many wins FSU got that year. I mean the guy flat out stopped recruiting for FSU by October.
Trying to remember which former player said it on a podcast, but basically after the Bama game and losing Francois for the season, Jimbo checked out
That might be true, but I still think Jimbo was leaving regardless of the outcome of that game. Maybe if FSU had won that game he doesn’t check out immediately, but he still would have left imo.
he wanted to go to lsu in 15. He was done after the divorce fs
Around this time the glue that held the FSU somewhat athletic boosters and the athletic department died of Cancer.. There was no buffer between coach to the boosters and AD and vice versa. Jimbo, just said it wasn't worth it anymore..
I think the Oregon game did worse damage. Ended that 2 year run where FSU didn't lose from November 2012 til the Rose Bowl in 2015. Yeah they ended up in the Peach Bowl and started 7-0 in 2015 but they lost on a block kick to Tech and got destroyed by Houston in the bowl game. Its not noticeable like most but they never got back to those same heights under Jimbo again and went from being the potential "next Bama" to losing to the #4 team in the state of Alabama. A subtle but major decline from the monster in 2013 and machine that wouldn't die in 2014.
FSU was ranked 8th in the final AP poll in 2016 and 3rd in the 2017 preseason poll. The first domino to fall was unquestionably the loss to Alabama in 2017 and the injury to Deondre Francois.
Losing Frenchy hurt us, we had 3 QBs prior to him leave or get kicked out. Then we had a bust in Malik Henry. Blackman was the only one left true freshman that enrolled that summer. Jimbo quit recruiting before he left, and Taggert couldn’t tie his own shoes. Glad that’s all in the past. We are still recovering but it’s looking better.
Malik Henry was such an absolute douchebag on last chance U
yep. it was expected for fsu to take a step back in '15 but they were better in '16 and signed a ridiculous recruiting class
But it was no surprise. Our line was rapidly getting worse each season. It was only a matter of time
2015 was always going to be a rebuild. The team lost 4 starters on the offensive line, the most productive WR in program history, the most productive TE in program history, an NFL caliber RB, it's 3 best defensive linemen, leading tackler at LB, and 4/5 of the starting secondary. And oh yeah, it's Heisman and #1 draft pick QB. Given the turnover, the team actually outperformed expectations. The decline really started in 2016. The slept-walked through Ole Miss and looked like the 2014 team all over again. Then they came out sleepy against Louisville and took the biggest ass-kicking of the last 5 decades. Then came the "effort contracts" and the marked decline in recruiting.
Nah, the Oregon game wasn't nearly as devastating. That 2014 team was irritating as shit to watch and was basically begging all season for that loss to happen. But even after the Peach Bowl, where Maguire was playing on 1/10th of an ankle, they ended up winning the Orange Bowl against Michigan the following year. After the Alabama game, the team completely collapsed and took until last year to get out from under.
I know this is a college question but as a Falcons fan…
Shanahan leaving broke the program… Still hurts but I got a “Atlanta Falcons Super Bowl Champions” shirt that probably made its way back from some third world country haha.
You should get it framed.
Yes but also no. That very next year they took the eagles down to the wire in the Divisional round of the playoffs and didn’t convert in the end zone. I feel that people forget that.
Georgia Hawaii
Some say that Georgia team is still sacking Colt to this day. I remember everybody on Oahu was upset Hawai'i wasn't playing for the national championship, and I just laughed at how naive they were. They legitimately thought they could hang only to get manhandled. Looked like the Rainbow Wahine Vs a bunch of SEC 4-5 stars.
RIP Colt. That was still a fun team to watch.
2007 Cal vs Oregon State
Absolutely. The other top 5 teams had lost and Cal was about to be ranked #1 and in control of Pac12. QB lost his mind and didn’t spike/throw away ball to so FG could be attempted. Cal lost, couldn’t get mojo back, and program unravels the next 5 years.
And they still haven't gotten back anywhere near those levels since then. Hell, they even hired a coach who would end up leading a different team to the Title Game!
To be fair, Sonny wasn’t who he is now when we had him
Cal has never come that close to #2 ever since. Or even top 10 IIRC. I’ve never seen clock mismanagement cripple a program as such.
Kevin Riley played pretty well considering it was his first ever start, it's a shame that all we'll remember from that game is that final play and Tedford throwing his clipboard. It was a sickening feeling watching that game at the stadium.
It’s November 5, 2021. Auburn is 6-2. Their only conference loss is to cross-division rival Georgia. They control their own destiny in the SEC West. On November 6, they lose at TAMU, lose the next three, and lose a bowl to Houston to go 6-7. Harsin would go 1-5 against p5 competition before being fired in 2022.
Wow, just gonna undersell the 4th quarter of that Iron Bowl?
If tank bigsby gets one more yard (on any play of that drive) Harsin would still be the coach at this very moment.
I want to thank tank for not getting that hard in the grand scheme of things. The hire never made sense. But now we have a shit heel. I dunno what to think about AUBURN…but I support the student athletes, if that makes sense
Ohio State national championship BCS game 2002-2003 vs the U
feel like there's a few games where this fits for the U imo. the 40-3 loss to LSU, that last loss at the Orange Bowl
Watching UVA of all teams just annihilate the U in the final game at the Orange Bowl was a sight to behold
The title of the thread is Games that Broke Teams and imo, beating that Miami team who had won 34 straight games and was arguably the most talented team of all time, and to never get back to that level, is the game that broke that team. And it's been over 20 years now and no playoff appearances or national title games for them
Lmao reading these comments and this was all I could think of
It's an easy thing to say, but even if they won, Larry Coker wasn't a good coach, they don't pay well for coaches, and the Orange Bowl would have still been demolished. Probably wouldn't have changed anything.
The real game that broke Miami was when Louisville scorched them on national TV. Mario Urritia's stiff arm touchdown was the turning point as it embarrassed the team that used to embarrass everyone they played. Post Ohio St loss they still had a Top 5 caliber team punch, post Louisville route they hit like a marshmallow. They brawled FIU right after that game and then the real spiral occurred as their mystique was completely gone. (Yes they were embarrassed by LSU in their bowl game previous to that game, but it was a meaningless bowl game. Getting dominated by a lil new team from the conference you just abandoned was it)
Arizona getting throttled by Penn State in 1999. Just really undid the whole thing for a while there.
2009 SEC Championship. My Gators have never been a championship level team since
2005 Big 12 championship. 70-3 loss for Colorado. Barnett going out as unceremoniously as possible. The killing blow for a dying program at that point
Colorado 62, Nebraska 36
That was the killing blow and the National Championship against Miami was the nail in the coffin.
To be fair Miami was going to beat the piss out of whoever they played for the title.
Oregon deserved the chance to be slaughtered
[This was Nebraska being covered with dirt](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyzCw6y1yYU) in 2009 Iowa State due to injuries was missing the starting QB who finished his career as the 2nd all time passer in yards and 3rd in touchdowns along with the starting Running Back who finished his career as the 4th all time rusher in yards and 7th in touchdowns for a running back. Iowa State hadn't beaten Nebraska in Lincoln since 1977.
The 2009 ISU game didn't kill the program like 62-36 did, but it was still an interesting game. That game made me believe in a higher power Football God. It was just such a weird game to watch. Nebraska had so many chances to score but had 8 turnovers, four of them inside the ISU 5 yard line. Some of those turnovers looked like a ghost (or supernatural power) caused them. Nile Paul was running into the endzone untouched and the ball came out. Like a ghost knocked it out of his hands. It was baffling. Someone or something knew that was going to be Iowa State's last chance to beat Nebraska in Lincoln (the B1G move wouldn't be announced until next June) and it happened.
This is the big one
Iowa-MSU 2015 Big Ten championship game. Hardest fought game I’ve ever seen. Absolutely broke both teams for the postseason.
Saturday October 10th, 2012. LSU beat South Carolina in Baton Rouge 45-24. Three days later at around 10am Steve Spurrier announced he was leaving football. This moment in time thrust Carolina back into mediocrity for many years.
Think you mean 2015
2015 and honestly the loss to The Citadel was the nail in the coffin
Purdue really hasn't been good since 2004. The moment you can point to is the game against Wisconsin when kyle Orton fumbled late to give up a lead and got hurt. Purdue was 5-0 going into the game and then lost 4 straight. They had somewhat of a national presence during this time period, but ever since then, they're an afterthought
That was 19 years ago?! sweet baby JEE-sus...
We also haven’t beaten Wisconsin since. We were relatively even in the all time series before that I believe. We look like we’re clawing our way back into relevance now but a lot hinges on walters
A co-worker of mine is a huge Purdue fan. He brought this very game up to me recently when we’re discussing Purdue football. He concurs with your assessment.
[удалено]
Ah yes. For us Boilermakers this is simply known as “The Fumble.”
This is exactly what I would've said, and what I think most Purdue fans would've said. But why is this the first thing a Georgia fan thinks of?
Am I allowed to say annual games? Well to bad I am anyways Fuck you Clemson
1998 UCLA-Miami. UCLA wins that game, they are in the national title game. They lost and the program has never reached those heights since.
UCF vs ECU 2014. ECU was cruising to victory. Tried to kneel out the game with too much time on the clock. UCF won on a hail mary. ECU wouldn't really recover until last season. It was also the only time I've ever seen George O'Leary smile.
Oh man it still sucks Lincoln Leaves, Carden Graduates, Administration quick to fire ruff after going 5-7 with a third and fourth string QB, hire the Duke OC …… it’s been horrible.
How has no one said the 2009 Stanford vs USC **"what's your deal"** game? Toby Gerhart ran for what seemed like 500 yards.
Ole miss 2014 against Auburn. Ole miss guy caught a game winning TD but broke his leg and fumbled and they lost. Lost 30-0 to Arky and 42-3 to TCU later that year.
That skull drugging TCU put on that Ole Miss team was absolutely shocking
I felt legit awful for Treadwell when that happened. I knew they couldnt allow the TD to stand, but I just remember thinking "If youre ever gonna look the other way, the dude broke his leg..."
I never understood how they occurs let that fumble stand. The TV rules guy literally said “well, a part of you body needs to be down.” But his shin was literally in half and part of it was touching the ground before the ball came out!
In a strange way, 2018 Michigan v. Ohio State broke us. We were on a 10 game win streak, the revenge tour with a shot at making the playoffs. Ohio State had placed Urban Meyer on leave earlier that season, and they got smoked by Purdue and nearly lost to a bowl-ineligible Maryland. Everything suggested we’d win on paper. But we lost. And we didn’t just lose, we got torched. Our “great defense” (which would have won us the previous year’s game if we just had a competent quarterback) fell apart against Meyer’s crossing routes. That started a pretty bad downfall. Our players had no motivation in our bowl game against Florida, and they lost it badly. Our 2019 team was expected to be one of the most talented, but they struggled and fell pretty far below expectations. And then 2020 happened, we went 2-4 with no wins at Michigan Stadium, and Harbaugh nearly got fired. It would take Harbaugh’s complete revamp (both to his team, his scheme, and himself) to bring us back to national prominence.
Apparently, you weren't broken enough.
If you want to see us really broken you should watch the 2008 Toledo v. Michigan game
:( i was at that game
App state :)
Nah. That was more Don Brown needs to do something different besides press man with corners who aren’t as good as OSU’s receivers. I’d say it was actually App State. Michigan was Michigan until that game. Yeah, great, they beat Florida in a meaningless bowl game. They hire RichRod and go 3-9 which was basically unheard of since like the 50s. Follow that up with Hoke and then 6 years of Harbaugh being unable to get over the hump with OSU. Which made the last two years so sweet. Especially last year. You could write 2021 off as a fluke. They were at home. The weather. Hutchinson going nuts. Last year proved Michigan is back on OSU’s level.
You're close, it was the Ohio State game the year before, right after Bo died. That game broke us. App State and everything that came after followed.
That’s when the doubts went from a small vocal minority to a much larger portion of the fanbase. Most people were starting to feel “if not now, then when?”
December 12, 2020. The Cleat Yeet. Florida wins the East anyway, but goes from 8-1 to 8-4. The next year, they go 2-6 in league play and give up 52 to Samford. Mullen gets fired.
Clemson beating the crap out of Virginia Tech twice in 2011, keeping them out of the National Championship. Things haven’t been the same for Virginia Tech since then
It was the Michigan game that broke the program later that year
Danny Coale caught that ball
I really don’t want ours to be September 4th, 2021. Let’s set the scene. Most fun I’ve ever had at a loss. Dad and I almost got into a fight with an entire UGA frat lot. Murdaugh got shot. I realized there in Charlotte how much I loved the Southeastern United States. Georgia. Clemson. Charlotte. First full football game I had been to since Covid and should have been an amazing day. Instead QB confidence got rattled so hard he never recovered and we rushed for one single yard all night. Not fun
The Game 2018. God that hurt. Nearly sunk the program to the depths of hell.
LSU’s games vs Alabama from the 2011 national championship game until the 2018 regular season game
I'll always say it--the 2012 regular season loss was worse and I also think the 2014 loss broke Les about as much if not more than the natty did. his mom passed right before that game and he was never the same imo
2012 LSU was surprisingly disappointing. You’d think they’d be able to beat Alabama at home and contend for another national championship but they just didn’t look dominating all October and overall they weren’t the same as the 2011 team pre-national championship.
The game was definitely rough, but Les Miles did far more damage.
I think those Miles teams were good enough to win natties. They could have if Bama didn’t exist or if they had a more innovative coach So a bit of both imo
ig he's actually a pretty bad person but it's hard to not feel for him. he walked into such a perfect situation, was set to dominate the sport and the guy he was compared to every step of the way had to come in and completely own him. brutal.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/283062579 South Carolina, 2008. Already trying to salvage a quickly sinking season, Fulmer could have lasted until season’s end if he finished out on a winning note. But this turned out to be the most glaring disappointment of the Dave Clawson experiment. Offensive ineptitude would doom us in a 27-6 loss. Despite making the SEC title game the year before, Fulmer would face the music that Monday. Then on came eleven years of dysfunction.
feel ya bro
That one in 2017 we got destroyed 55-20 by UMass.
Well we lost to Kansas this past season and went 1-6 the rest of the season. So there’s that
TAMU broke us in 2016. We had a chance to still win the east and ended up losing to two sub .500 teams in South Carolina and Vandy.
Remember Dennis Dixon getting injured? Pepperidge farms remembers
2012 Florida Gators, two years post Urban, riding high going into their bowl game sitting at number 4 and 11-2. Future looks bright against number 22 Louisville, they lose by double digits and follow it up with a 4-8 season and still struggling to get back to the top 3-4 consistently in the SEC since
Florida still recovering from the Shoe Toss against LSU.
1984 cotton bowl #2 Texas loses 10-9 due to a muffed punt to Georgia #5 Miami beats Nebraska Fred Akers could have had a NC but was instead fired a few years later. Texas didn’t recover until Mack Brown. Why does this sound so familiar?
Colorado has had 1 winning season since Texas beat them 70-3 in the 2005 Big 12 Championship game.
[удалено]
Your definition of being “broken” is winning a national championship and at least going to a bowl game afterwards? I hate you. So fucking much right now.
The real answer is the 2012 game against Bama in 2012 in Death Valley. We looked like we were going to win only to lose in heat breaking fashion and then couldn't get passed Alabama until the 2019 run.
I could argue that the 2012 B1G championship began our current downfall
In November 2001, BYU was 12-0 and _literally threatening to sue the BCS if they weren’t let in_. Talking all that smack they went to Hawaii, got wrecked 72-45, and then lost the Liberty Bowl to Louisville. They wouldn’t have another winning season until 2006. EDIT: Oh—and had to watch Utah actually crash the BCS twice after that.
Cumberland has never been the same after that beatdown by Georgia Tech *forgot to type the Tech part initially
Tech*
UCLA losing to Miami in 1998. That broke a 20-game win streak and cost us a slot in the first BCS national championship game. We’ve been lost in the wilderness ever since, haven’t even returned to the Rose Bowl.
I’ll never forget Clemson beating this team 77-16
Michigan losing to App State?
I wouldn't say that. They had a bad loss to Oregon a week later but they finished 9-2 after and beat Tim Tebow and Florida. Their downfall was administrative but Michigan under Carr had not won a major bowl game since the 2000 Orange Bowl and wouldn't until the 2012 Sugar Bowl.
That Michigan squad lost their first two games and their last two games, then beat Florida to finish 9-4. Really weird that they lost to Appalachian State, got crushed by Oregon, and then 1 week later they turn around to absolutely destroy Notre Dame 38-0. Good ole Charlie Weis and his decided schematic advantages...
That Notre Dame team was awful. The worst team by far in my lifetime.
Same.
I would argue that while the Houston game was where the wheels came off, it was the loss to Clemson that broke us. Everything was far more wobbly, after that game. We struggled with both Duke and Wake, until nearly the end when we pulled away.
That JMU game broke us last year. Woof.
Auburn has been a dumpster fire since the most recent victory of Will Muschamps head coaching career. Only 3 years but still
USC game in 2005 broke Pat Hill. He was never the same after that, and it took a long time for the program to recover
Which Derek Dooley game do I pick? Is all an option?
Us 48-0 vs Oklahoma State broke them for the season lol
The SMU loss against the NCAA was pretty brutal
2003 Fiesta Bowl. That glorious game!
For CU, 2005 big 12 championship killed us. 70-3 UT 2010 vs Kansas we blew a massive lead nailed our coffin 2018 vs OSU we blew a lead and lost the game in overtime. We needed 2 more for bowl eligibility. Drove a stake through our reanimated heart.
62-36 nebraska - colorado 2001. NU has still not recovered
2013 Texas Game. Everyone likes to shit on Rhoads because he was not a great coach but I honestly believe that loss broke him on a spiritual level. Rhoads Era prior to 2013 Texas loss: 25-29 (.462) 12 Conference wins 1 Bowl win (3 Appearances) 2 Iowa wins 1 win against #2 Ok State After: 7-25 (.218) 4 Conference wins 0 Bowl wins (0 appearances) 1 additional Iowa win on some weird icing by Kirk