[NU Sports] worst loss ever

[John Labbe]

I think it really depends on how you define "worst loss ever."  The  
consensus here seems to be to define it as most painful or  
disappointing loss.  If that's the definition, I have to put Hawaii  
2004 at the top of the list.  Had we simply never agreed to play  
Hawaii, we would have been 6-5 and headed to a bowl game.  It was weeks  
before I got over that loss.

If the definition is the most embarrassing loss ever, then there are  
probably way too many candidates from which to choose.  But I would  
nominate the 2000 Alamo Bowl for the top spot.  We suffered the worst  
loss ever in bowl history and were totally outmatched.  It put a sour  
ending on an otherwise great co-Big-Ten-championship season.


On Nov 5, 2006, at 10:04 PM, SjT (Stephen J. Truog) wrote:

>> ... a fascinating question.
>
> I agree - and thankfully, I don't have as much
> perspective on this as some of the other NU fans on
> this list who sat through some truly lean years.
>
> I do know that MSU wouldn't really be at the top of
> that list. Painful? Yes. But one reason it felt
> different from other losses was that I can't ever
> remember NU jumping out to such a huge lead and
> looking so dominant in a half ... usually we're the
> ones coming from behind so this one felt odd, hurt
> like heck and was a big disappointment, but not the
> worst.
>
> It's actually looking like the MSU loss will be much
> like the Miami of Ohio loss of 1995 - a painful shock
> that clipped our wings a bit but wound up being much
> more of a stimulus for improvement and a turnaround.
> If we escape Miami '95 28-27, I'm not sure we go 10-1
> and head to Pasadena. And if we held on against MSU,
> we may not have come together as much as we did to
> beat Iowa.
>
>> So I'd pick among losses when better things were
>> expected: 2000 Iowa certainly qualifies, as does
>
> That's probably the one that I'd rank #1. It was a
> game we should have won and the result later in the
> day from East Lansing made it even more painful. We
> win that game and we're playing the Illini at home the
> next week for a trip to Pasadena. The feel of
> clinching Roses on home turf against a hated rival was
> something we never got to experience in all the wonder
> of 1995 and all we had to do was beat stupid Iowa.
> That one was devastating.
>
>> But I would say the worst was 2001 Penn State -- a
>> game we had every chance to win at home, blew 38-35,
>
> Good point here too, as well as the 2001 Indiana and
> Iowa losses later in the year when it looked like the
> team had plain old quit. 2001 was supposed to be a
> good year but it just fell apart after PSU's rally
> that year.
>
> Some good ones there - I'd add to the mix ...
> * 1996 Wake Forest (what the ?!?!)
> * 1997 Wake Forest (again!?!?!?!)
> * 1998 Duke (I actually blocked that one out of my
> memory for awhile)
> * 2003 Air Force (we had those dirty cheats and let it
> slip away!)
> * Motor City Bowl/Sun Bowl - should have won those
> * Alamo Bowl - We weren't the better team, but we were
> flat and the Huskers rubbed salt in the wound as well
> * 2004 Hawaii (cost us a bowl)
> * 1994 Ohio State (we had 'em! we HAD 'EM! And was it
> because Lundy was on the take that we let that one
> slip away?)
>
> Not as much fun as the best win list ... but sometimes
> good can come from those heartbreaking defeats, and
> it's looking more and more like MSU '06 will be one of
> those cases. It's certainly shown us that Fitz may be
> green, but this is the man we want on our sidelines
> for years and years. He can get coordinators to help
> with the X's and O's, but he has the emotional and
> inspirational side down and few coaches ever have
> that.
>
> GO CATS!!!
> -SjT
>
> * * * * * * * * *
> STEPHEN J. TRUOG
> sjtruog at yahoo.com
> GO CATS!!!
>
>
>
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