[NU Sports] Epic Game

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Well, I think like Roy said, there were epic
performances -- any time you score six straight
touchdowns on six straight possessions, it's something
extraordinary - and Baz, Sutton and McGarrigle were on
fire.

But as I said Sunday, it didn't have that 54-51 feel
-- maybe because it wasn't Michigan or have the
comeback. It didn't even feel as "epic" as the 47-44
OT thriller in Madison in 2000. But it was still a
great win and a heart-stopping game.

Is NU football "great" football - no, but it is
exciting and fans love to see the offense. You can
blame a lot of things and people for the lack of folks
in the stands in Evanston on Saturday - but you
certainly can't blame what's on the field. NU has
consistently provided entertaining, heart-stopping
football games and more than their share of upsets
over ranked teams during the last decade at Dyche
Stadium. I don't think you can even come close to
finding another college venue (or pro) that has
witnessed as many upsets, last-minute finishes and
"wow" endings as Dyche/Ryan since 1995.

> For games against Barry Alvarez, the yardstick is
> always going to be October 21, 1995, When an
> excellent Badger team was shutout 35-0 at Dyche.
>  
Meh ... a shutout is nice and the homecoming shutout
of Wisconsin was wonderful. But I never felt that we
totally dominated that game like the '96 Iowa
thrashing. And in terms of memorable games, that one
isn't even in the top 5 for 1995 (ND, Michigan, PSU,
Illinois, Iowa would be mine). A satisfying shutout,
but it certainly didn't feel like an epic -- aside
from the goal line stand at the end by the second team
D, not much seems to stand out.

My benchmark Wisconsin game is the following year in
Madison. It was a well-played, back-and-forth game
with good performances on both sides, but when Gowins
missed the long FG and the Badger fans started
celebrating, it looked like a loss ... until that
beautiful Ron Dayne fumble. That got the cheeseheads
worried. And the absolutely perfect stop-and-go call
to D'Wayne after the Schnur scramble (going for the
win and not OT) made it even sweeter. It was the
miracle in Madison and that's my Barry benchmark.

But hey, all the wins over Barry have been sweet for
this Wisconsinite (NOT Cheesehead) ... the '92 one to
knock 'em out of a bowl after I knew I was going to
Evanston ... the '95 shutout ... the '96 miracle ...
the '00 thriller ... the '03 triumph of will and this
'05 shootout.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!


		
__________________________________ 
Yahoo! Music Unlimited 
Access over 1 million songs. Try it free.
http://music.yahoo.com/unlimited/