Interesting discussion on the 1984 Orange Bowl

[mjw11]

This game made me cry for hours

http://www.shaggybevo.com/board/show...uot-Folly-quot

I find the story of this game interesting and I'd be interested in seeing anyone else's thoughts as well. I watched the game at the time, but I was 7 years old. The discussions I’ve seen on it since have always interested me, including the ones I’ve seen about the game in strategy and game theory books.

[alabamahusker]

I was in my 1st year in the military at Ft. Campbell and my roommate was from Miami (wow). I couldn't believe what I witnessed that night. Still can't. In fact, when the clips come on (latest reference was the B1G coaches icons series with TO) I can't watch it still. Frustrates me to no end. Sometimes I wonder if we would have won then, would we have been as dominant during that 90's stretch, and while we will never know, I have to believe that things happen for a reason. We play them 9 more times and honestly, I think we kick serious butt.

[BigRedOhio]

I was in my 1st year in the military at Ft. Campbell and my roommate was from Miami (wow). I couldn't believe what I witnessed that night. Still can't. In fact, when the clips come on (latest reference was the B1G coaches icons series with TO) I can't watch it still. Frustrates me to no end. Sometimes I wonder if we would have won then, would we have been as dominant during that 90's stretch, and while we will never know, I have to believe that things happen for a reason. We play them 9 more times and honestly, I think we kick serious butt.

There is absolutely no doubt NU wins that game if it is played anywhere but in Miami's home stadium.

Interesting point on the 90's domination if we would have won that game. Never thought of that before but it makes sense. That loss definitely gave Tom Osborne and the program an unrelenting resolve for the next decade and a half.

[bilsker]

I was at the game as a 13 year old. My mom had no idea I had such a colorful vocabulary! Fortunately I got a potty mouth pass for a couple hours apparently...but my post game reaction is still a topic of family conversation nearly 30 years later!

[mjw11]

the new Miami Marlins stadium sits on the ground where the Orange Bowl used to be.......its going to be a parking nightmare if anyone ever goes to a Marlins game

[Californication]

I remember Schellenberger saying he totally re-worked the offense between the final game and bowl. That is one of the problems with the long wait from season end to bowl game - especially the championship game.

Still, I think Nebraska would win 99/100 - but we lost the only one that mattered.

[Inflation]

NU's defense was the problem in the 1984 Orange Bowl. Very slow and very few NFL caliber players on defense. Miami was loaded with NFL players. This game and a few more against Miami in the later years is was finally convinced TO to put more speed on the defense and switch from the "Oklahoma" defense, 5-2 or the 3-4 in todays terminology. On a neutral field outside the state of Florida, NU probably wins 2/3 rds of the games against that Miami team.

Of course, if Fryar catches the TD pass with about 1:30 left in the game, who knows.

[YellowDent#2]

If Turner Gill throws to the outside shoulder and puts a little more air under that last pass we win it all.

[Greatest Fan of All]

If Turner Gill throws to the outside shoulder and puts a little more air under that last pass we win it all.

Don't blame Gill, losing the NC in 1983 rests squarely on TO's shoulders.

[ColoREDo]

If Turner Gill throws to the outside shoulder and puts a little more air under that last pass we win it all.

Without a doubt.

[berryhusker]

I was at the game as a 13 year old. My mom had no idea I had such a colorful vocabulary! Fortunately I got a potty mouth pass for a couple hours apparently...but my post game reaction is still a topic of family conversation nearly 30 years later!

I was there too as a 6 year old. I remember very little of the actual game experience besides the disappointment at the end. My next bowl game was the 95 Orange Bowl. Not a bad game for redemption

[LutheranHusker]

That was the very first Husker game I ever watched. I was in 4th grade, and my family had just moved to Nebraska about 2 weeks before. I remember when the game ended, I thought to myself, "well shoot...that's too bad," and I went up to my room and went to bed.

Now, having grown into a dyed-in-the-wool Husker fan, it KILLS me to watch replays of that game.

[Bucky]

That game forever changed my emotional involvement with any team. I had completely sold out all year with my intense attachment to that Husker team. At the end of the Miami game I was devastated and promised myself to never again become so emotionally attached.

[BubbaGene]

It still hurts. bad.

[YUENGLING]

It makes me feel sooooo old to hear about how young everyone was when they watched this game. In my humble opinion the 83 team was the most exciting Husker ever.

I'm ready to get killed for this but I REALLY wish Tom had kicked the extra point. There 's NO doubt that Nebraska would have be voted the National Champions.
Now go ahead and fry me.

[ShickleyHusker]

That game forever changed my emotional involvement with any team. I had completely sold out all year with my intense attachment to that Husker team. At the end of the Miami game I was devastated and promised myself to never again become so emotionally attached.

Bucky: Same here! I was absolutely devastated and couldn't get to sleep at all that night. I also promised myself to never again get so wrapped up emotionally in the Huskers. I'm a big supporter but must say I can't let myself get that emotional over a game again. Here's to 2012 and we get back to being talked about again nationally like we were back then!
GBR!

[HuskerWeatherman]

Born in '69... 14 at the time.... I've never cried for sports as I did following that game. All season long: best team in college football history (heard it over and over). You can't understand the pain unless you lived through it. The redemption from the lone loss ("L" shaped field at Penn State) in '82... didn't happen. I would take the Scoring Explosion against any offense that has ever played the game. There has never been (and never will be) a more painful loss than the '84 Orange Bowl to Miami. Never.

[Greatest Fan of All]

It makes me feel sooooo old to hear about how young everyone was when they watched this game. In my humble opinion the 83 team was the most exciting Husker ever.

I'm ready to get killed for this but I REALLY wish Tom had kicked the extra point. There 's NO doubt that Nebraska would have be voted the National Champions.
Now go ahead and fry me.

TO made a strategic blunder by not going for two on the next to last TD. Had he done so, if we make it, we get to kick the extra point on the next TD to win the NC. But, if we missed it, we would have simply gone for two again after the last TD and if we had made it, we would have tied Miami and still won the NC. TO made a poor decision to make everything ride on one play. (NOTE: on top of that, I'm not sure why you don't run the option on that play, we had been getting HUGE chunks of yardage with it the entire 4th quarter as we had worn down the Miami defense. Oh well, that's what legends are made of.)

[RedBlack&Blue]

Going for two at 31-23 makes some sense, but if you miss it, you damage your momentum late in the game. CFB's more emotion than anything else.

Some of the logic in the SB thread sounds very NFL-like to me--must come from the NFL influence down there. Nothing wrong with that, and it's not a slam on the NFL. Emotion plays a larger role in CFB is all.

Plus, there's another theory that says you always take the "guaranteed" points.

[Greatest Fan of All]

Going for two at 31-23 makes some sense, but if you miss it, you damage your momentum late in the game. CFB's more emotion than anything else.

You say that, as though it is a fact...it is not. I think that is a risk and one that would have been well worth taking given the far superior position we would have been in for the NC. I was screaming at the TV for TO to go for 2...but no luck.

PS--what do you think it does for your momentum if you make it?