The 8 losses (and 2 wins) that defined USM football

AndreWhere · #1

10. Alabama 24 - USM 20 (1995): I debated including this one. If anything, it made me more of a USM fan. That said, the DNA of this one is pure USM, and it belongs here.

9. USM 33 - Houston 0 (1997): Yeah, "we" "won." But the hype the administration tried to generate around / after this game showed exactly how small their ambition was. I didn't buy it even back then. Skipped this one even though I was a (non-student) season ticket holder.

8. Penn State 34 - USM 6 (1998): This was a talented team that wilted in the spotlight. The sycophantic way Bower acted toward Joe Paterno was pretty misplaced, too. "Act like you've been there" is good advice, maybe the best advice.

7. USM 30 - Troy 27 (2008): The ultimate in shit bowl "wins." Fedora's inaugural team had managed to generate a lot of excitement after a poor start. USM sold its ticket allotment to the New Orleans Bowl, and then some. Those fans were rewarded with a flaccid overtime victory against barely-I-A Troy and a sickening injury that would end Deandre Brown as a real factor.

6. Tennessee 19 - USM 16 (2000): This season wouldn't really fall apart for a few weeks. This was a strong showing, but it felt a lot like the 1995 Bama game, with more intervention by the officials. It was a game that kind of pointed out just how steep the climb had become compared to schools playing in better conferences.

5. Cincinnati 52 - USM 24 (2004): This one came after USM had beaten Nebraska and made its way back into the polls, and it came in front of a big home crowd. It was a loss that knocked Jeff Bower out of the Top 25, permanently.

4. Kentucky 24 - USM 17 (2017): It might not seem worthy of being #4 on this list, but those of us who still had any optimism left went into this game hoping for a win against an SEC team in front of a big home crowd. We were instead rewarded with a price gouging clinic courtesy of Jon Gilbert. The stadium looked awful, the offense looked awful, and the crowd looked awful.

3. UAB 34 - USM 31 (2011): A lot of people think this one cost USM a Sugar Bowl, and there was zero reason the team should have lost to UAB. People point to the Marshall loss as well, but Marshall was pretty good and that game came much earlier in the year.

2. Louisville 49 - USM 28 (2000): The last 30 years or so of USM football can pretty much be divided into before this game and after. This was the game where it became clear that CUSA had figured USM out for good.

1. Louisville 13 - USM 10 (1981): USM was ranked in the top 10, and had only Louisville and non-I-A Lamar standing in the way of an undefeated regular season and a berth in a top-tier bowl. Never again would USM reach such heights. Who knows how many people wrote USM off for good after this one?

Nugget's Ghostbuster · #2

The 2000 Louisville game was the “switch” that was flipped on our program.

Solid list. Would put 2007 Boise 38-16 loss as one last nail in our coffin.....

EagleFWB

AndreWhere · #3

Nugget's Ghostbuster wrote:

Would put 2007 Boise 38-16 loss as one last nail in our coffin.....

Definitely considered that one.

One could make a case for FSU and UH in 1996 as well. I knew a lot of students who traveled to Houston in 1996 and got a rude awakening.

Dark horse candidates: the early-season games @Nebraska and vs. ECU in 2012, when EJ hadn't lost the team / fans yet.

TheDudeAbides · #4

“The 2000 Louisville game was the “switch” that was flipped on our program. ‘

Dave “fucking” Ragone

Nugget's Ghostbuster, AndreWhere, EagleFWB

USMstang · #5

It still baffles me how EJ could be controlling Nebraska and then figure out how to lose the way he did. Win that game and the entire season is different. With some confidence, the Loserville/Bridgewater in the flood game could have gone our way too. However, it's pretty obvious that the sooner we got rid of that fool, the better.

AndreWhere · #6

USMstang wrote:

It still baffles me how EJ could be controlling Nebraska and then figure out how to lose the way he did. Win that game and the entire season is different. With some confidence, the Loserville/Bridgewater in the flood game could have gone our way too. However, it's pretty obvious that the sooner we got rid of that fool, the better.

When he pulled Steven Campbell I had a sinking feeling.

So much of the chaos and injury that happened that year can be explained by the sheer number of QBs the rest of the team had to deal with. Later in the year it was a result of injury, but @Nebraska it was not.

A lot of the damage in 2012 was avoidable and self-inflicted, but yeah... might as well just tank and get rid of Pappy Buttermilk.

USMstang · #7

After the Nebraska game, I knew we were super fucked. I actually prayed that we lose them all so they would have to option but to fire his ass. Everyone should have been fired. Prez, AD, Coach, ball boy, preachers, cops directing traffic, teachers, sports guy on radio/TV, game announcer, all the donors who cotrolled the bullshit coaching search, fuckin everyone! I had season tickets and fired myself from being a spectator. I gave Nuggie Boy my tickets to the very last home game of EJ and required that he go and be a complete ASS to EJ all game long. He reported back that the game was more terrible than expected and that he gave them tons of shit all game long. I think he even fired himself after that one.

This is starting to feel like that old Bocephus song about Hank, Sr firing everyone and I didn't mean for it.

AndreWhere · #8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FWJjf2bR3U

USMstang

skyvoyager · #9

Nugget's Ghostbuster wrote:

The 2000 Louisville game was the “switch” that was flipped on our program.
Solid list. Would put 2007 Boise 38-16 loss as one last nail in our coffin.....

2000 loserville game .... 2004 cinci game .... 1996 houston .... 1995 alabama.... loserville 1981

i will stop for now

CollegeSportsUnfiltered.com

#1 2018-09-18 19:17:28 - The 8 losses (and 2 wins) that defined USM football

The 8 losses (and 2 wins) that defined USM football

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#4 2018-09-18 21:05:22 - The 8 losses (and 2 wins) that defined USM football

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