Who's #1?

No, the Miami-Texas Cotton Bowl was after the 1990 season. I know. I was there. That game was over before the coin flip. Miami took the field first then lined up on the hash mark on the far side of the field from their bench and taunted Texas as they took the field.

Earlier that year Miami got ripped nationally for the way it behaved in a game at Cal. After that they pretty much behaved he rest of the year and managed to lose two games. All week in Dallas they were pretty quiet and respectful of Texas for the most part. The UT kids shot their mouths off quite a bit. One of their O-linemen, Stan Thomas, even took a couple of shots at Russell Maryland. On game day Maryland put on his bus driver's cap and took Thomas to school.

Legend has it that on the night before the game Erickson told his guys to "do what they had to do" to win the game. What they had to do led to 202 yards in penalties, which is still a record for penalty yardage in a bowl game.

The one lasting memory of that game is Randall Hill catching a touchdown pass early in the third quarter and running all the way to the top of the tunnel to celebrate. One of the photogs in the end zone said he was yelling "it's too easy, it's too easy" as he ran by him.

 

Give me a break - now who is distorting facts.

First -- BC had only three losses, sure, but that included a loss to a 2-9 Northwestern team and BC also lost to West Virginia the next week after beating Notre Dame ON ITS HOME FIELD (regardless of circumstances). Outside of Notre Dame, their only other quality win was over a 9-3 Virginia Tech team.

Second -- It is nice to fantasize about how dominant Notre Dame was in the FSU game but your recollection is fuzzy -- it wasn't a meaningless touchdown at the end of the game. In fact, FSU had the ball in the redzone with a chance to TIE the game and ND held on for dear life by knocking down a Charlie Ward pass in the endzone in the waning moments.

And yes it was such a dominating performance by Notre Dame they were -- outgained by about 75 yards, had six less first downs and won the time of possession battle by a whopping 40 seconds. Wow, sounds like they dominated that game.

Third -- Notre Dame's bowl win was a dominating performance over a top 10 A&M team while FSU had a squeeker over Nebraska? Oh, ok, so a 3-point win -- over a team that lost to Oklahoma by 30 points earlier in the season -- is domination while a 2-point win over an undefeated team that was ranked No. 1 in the country at the time is a squeeker?

Yeah, that's not showing off your blue and gold-colored lensed glasses too much.

Fourth -- And again -- Notre Dame lost at home, FSU lost on the road.

Fifth -- You can't even compare their schedules that year. Florida State played five games against teams with nine or more wins, Notre Dame played only two. In fact Notre Dame only played five games against teams with winning records that year, FSU played eight.

Again, I have no problem with the whining done by Notre Dame fans about 1993 because it was a legitimate controversy, but don't resort to distorting the facts or trying to revise history to make your point because you lose credibility.

 

Actually Notre Dame had to come from behind in the fourth quarter to beat the Aggies that year. They did drill A&M in the Cotton Bowl the year before though.

 

The play in question, Ohio State vs. Miami, with analysis:

 

I said it that night, and I'll say it forever: Sharpe was holding/jamming/interfering with Gamble while the ball was in the air, long before the part of the replay most people focus on, long before the part that appears to be innocent coverage.

 

Agreed. Unfortunately, not enough people saw that and gripe that the Canes got hosed there.

 

I have to agree that 1993 may have been controversial (even though Florida State won the No. 1 vs. 2 meeting with Nebraska in the Orange Bowl), but I don't think it's even in the top 5 of title controversies involving Notre Dame.

To add on to what JG said, here's the NCAA's list of various services from that year and their national champions.

1993
Auburn: National Championship Foundation+
Florida State: Associated Press, Berryman, Billingsley, DeVold, Dunkel, Eck, FACT, Football News, Football Writers Association of America, National Championship Foundation+, New York Times, Sagarin, Sagarin (ELO-Chess), Sporting News, United Press International, USA Today /CNN, USA Today/ National Football Foundation
Nebraska: National Championship Foundation+
Notre Dame: Matthews, National Championship Foundation+

 

I stand corrected. Mea culpa.

 

Beano Cook said just yesterday that the SEC was the toughest conference in America.
He added that Southern Cal plays the toughest sked, year-in, year out.

As for my bogus national champions 2-cents:
The five-down controversy is hard to top with Colorado.
Bobby Ross' Georgia Tech group was never, in my mind, a title team.
The year SMU was edged by Paterno's Lions, in the late 80s I believe, was pretty bogus, too.
I think SMU had a tie on its ledger that season.

 

Well, if Beano Cook said it ...

 

Beano said that right after proclaiming Jimmy Claussen would win four Heisman trophies. Then he ate half a turkey sub in one bite, passed gas and said it was the best fart he'd smelled since lighting up the press box at the '79 Rose Bowl.

 

Actually I believe it was 1982. SMU tied Arkansas then squeaked by Dan Marino and Pitt in the Cotton Bowl. I think the score was 7-3.