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(09-02-2018 09:02 AM)Ring of Black Wrote:  

(09-02-2018 08:12 AM)Banter Wrote:  Beating unranked and likely a 2-3 win UCLA team would go at the bottom of the list of "marquee" wins.

There are quite a fer wins over ranked Pitt, USF, Ville, Rutgers, WVU and even a ranked win over ECU that I would put over the UCLA win. Lets not forget a nice win over a ranked Miami at Nippert.

This game likely ranks slightly higher than the win over Illinois, Purdue, and Fresno St.

I agree. This isn't exactly one of Terry Donohue's outifts from back in the day, that we just knocked off.

But, I think the big thing about the win is, not about the name on their jersey, as much as where UC football has been over the last few years. On that merit, I'm certainly enjoying this :)

I think this is bigger than Tubby's win over Miami.

For one, both Miami and UCLA were coming off 6-7 seasons. So no difference there.

For two, UCLA just hired one of the best coaches in college football.

For three, the expectations were higher against Miami. We were coming off two straight 9-4 seasons.

For four, Miami was at home. Nippert is one of the best home field advantages in CFB. It's much tougher to win on the road, particularly 3 time zones away.

To sum it all up, UCLA was favored by 16.5 points. Miami was only favored by 6.

On the road, in the Rose Bowl, prime time ESPN, opening day, Chip kelly comeback and building on recruiting momentum. The game is more about perception these days. If we beat UCF or USF (which would be higher quality wins) which game do you think is going to be more important to recruits and fans? I understand and agree with the argument that UCLA is bad, but this was big regardless.

I am going to show my age here. Few wins were as sweet as the 1968 win over Miami at Nippert. Big 4th quarter comeback behind Greg Cook's passing, and then Jimmy O'Brian's 47 yard FG as time expired.

Now my view is prejudiced as I was in the band, right behind the goal posts when that winning FG went through.

This was in the era when the winning team's band took the field after the game. The UC band was behind the south end zone. The Miami band was lined up up behind the north end zone. We took the field. Miami's band went home. There may be bigger win's in UC's history, but none will ever be quite as sweet in my eyes.

Honestly, it's too soon to tell much about what kind of a win it is. UCLA's a name brand school, but I wouldn't call them a blueblood by any stretch. At worst, it's a nice P5 win on the road against a high profile school. Should Kelly turn UCLA around this year and they make a run at a division title, then it becomes something much more substantial. Assuming that Fickell also turns things around here and makes this a great or even very good season, it becomes something much more memorable: the game everyone remembers as the beginning of a new era of UC football.

(09-02-2018 08:12 AM)Banter Wrote:  Beating unranked and likely a 2-3 win UCLA team would go at the bottom of the list of "marquee" wins.

There are quite a fer wins over ranked Pitt, USF, Ville, Rutgers, WVU and even a ranked win over ECU that I would put over the UCLA win. Lets not forget a nice win over a ranked Miami at Nippert.

This game likely ranks slightly higher than the win over Illinois, Purdue, and Fresno St.

i think the most important game was against usf when collaros spelled pike and kept the momentum going. was that at usf too?

(09-03-2018 12:52 PM)Lush Wrote:  

(09-02-2018 08:12 AM)Banter Wrote:  Beating unranked and likely a 2-3 win UCLA team would go at the bottom of the list of "marquee" wins.

There are quite a fer wins over ranked Pitt, USF, Ville, Rutgers, WVU and even a ranked win over ECU that I would put over the UCLA win. Lets not forget a nice win over a ranked Miami at Nippert.

This game likely ranks slightly higher than the win over Illinois, Purdue, and Fresno St.

i think the most important game was against usf when collaros spelled pike and kept the momentum going. was that at usf too?

I remember it well. I was on a Cruise ship docked in The Med. Zack went straight up the middle and at about the 30 broke to the left a got in near the corner with 2 on his heals. Suddenly up 2 TV's

It was a road game. Made the drive to Tampa on a whim overnight to go to the game then drove back after.

Just going with games I remember...Been going to games since the early 90s. Biggest UC games are.

1. 2009 at Pitt. Given the stakes, the game itself and the results there is just no way to top it short of UC winning a National Championship.
2. 2008 v. Pitt. First Big East Conference Championship and an Orange Bowl births. Two things that did not seem possible.
3. 2008 at WVU Almost flipped this and the 2008 Pitt game. WVU had been the class of the conference. UC wasn't winning the conference without winning at WVU. Mardy Gilyard takes back the opening kickoff. UC leads all game. Everything collapses at the end and WVU forces OT after recovering an onside kick and kicking a massive FG. UC stops WVU (Byrd made an amazing play to get Pat White on that drive) and finishes it off with an Ali TD.

4. 2006 v. Rutgers They were top 10 at the time and it was really the beginning of the great run to follow.

5. 1999 v. Wisconsin Coming off a loss to 1AA Troy State... Ron Dayne set the big ten rushing record during the game. He ran all over us but we forced redzone turnovers and held on. What a win.

Thankfully I was at all 5 of these games.

(09-03-2018 03:13 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Just going with games I remember...Been going to games since the early 90s. Biggest UC games are.

1. 2009 at Pitt. Given the stakes, the game itself and the results there is just no way to top it short of UC winning a National Championship.
2. 2008 v. Pitt. First Big East Conference Championship and an Orange Bowl births. Two things that did not seem possible.
3. 2008 at WVU Almost flipped this and the 2008 Pitt game. WVU had been the class of the conference. UC wasn't winning the conference without winning at WVU. Mardy Gilyard takes back the opening kickoff. UC leads all game. Everything collapses at the end and WVU forces OT after recovering an onside kick and kicking a massive FG. UC stops WVU (Byrd made an amazing play to get Pat White on that drive) and finishes it off with an Ali TD.

4. 2006 v. Rutgers They were top 10 at the time and it was really the beginning of the great run to follow.

5. 1999 v. Wisconsin Coming off a loss to 1AA Troy State... Ron Dayne set the big ten rushing record during the game. He ran all over us but we forced redzone turnovers and held on. What a win.

Thankfully I was at all 5 of these games.

Great summary of noteworthy wins; we have enjoyed the golden age of UC football and I'd like to believe Saturday night was the beginning of returning to relevance nationally. Should UC lose to either MAC school this month, some will question whether this was a "Minter-like" performance--an aberration in a mediocre season.

I don't see it that way. UC's defense, rushing attack and special teams were pretty solid all night. And our baseline assumption going in was probably correct: even a depleted UCLA had bigger, stronger, faster guys up and down their P5 roster.

So was this a signature win? Maybe not for the ages, but at this point for the Bearcat program it certainly was. UCLA is an elite public research university and a blue blood in athletics. They own 116 National Championships across all sports--2nd most in the nation. UC would have marked progress if they'd beaten Long Beach State on the road in the Rose Bowl. Instead, UC took down one of the big boys. And if it's the beginning of a winning season and a bowl trip we can point back to Pasadena to mark the start of the new era regardless of what Chip Kelly's bunch does the rest of this year.

(09-03-2018 06:59 AM)ucbandguy Wrote:  I am going to show my age here. Few wins were as sweet as the 1968 win over Miami at Nippert. Big 4th quarter comeback behind Greg Cook's passing, and then Jimmy O'Brian's 47 yard FG as time expired.

Now my view is prejudiced as I was in the band, right behind the goal posts when that winning FG went through.

This was in the era when the winning team's band took the field after the game. The UC band was behind the south end zone. The Miami band was lined up up behind the north end zone. We took the field. Miami's band went home. There may be bigger win's in UC's history, but none will ever be quite as sweet in my eyes.

Bo Schembechler's 6th and final season at Miami. Last game he coached for them. 34 days later, he was announced as Michigan's new head coach. He was interviewed at Michigan after 3rd year Penn State head coach Joe Paterno turned down the job. Supposedly, the interview lasted 15 minutes before he was offered the job.

(09-03-2018 06:59 AM)ucbandguy Wrote:  I am going to show my age here. Few wins were as sweet as the 1968 win over Miami at Nippert. Big 4th quarter comeback behind Greg Cook's passing, and then Jimmy O'Brian's 47 yard FG as time expired.

Now my view is prejudiced as I was in the band, right behind the goal posts when that winning FG went through.

This was in the era when the winning team's band took the field after the game. The UC band was behind the south end zone. The Miami band was lined up up behind the north end zone. We took the field. Miami's band went home. There may be bigger win's in UC's history, but none will ever be quite as sweet in my eyes.

I was at that UC vs. Miami game as well. UC trailed 21-7 well into the 4th quarter, and Miami had stymied our offense all day. In that era, Miami was a top 25-30 team virtually every year. They often played Florida, Georgia, LSU, etc. either early in the year or in bowl games and as often as not would come out victorious. Greg Cook, my grade school friend Jimmy O'Brien and wide receiver Tom Rossley were the weapons of that UC team. The O'Brien field goal as time expired certainly gave UC one of its most satisfying and improbable victories, even though a large number of Bearcat fans had gone home by the middle of the 4th quarter thinking that UC had no chance to pull it out.

I also recall a UC road victory over Texas A&M back in the 70's. I believe UC won 17-0 behind our All-American defensive back Tom Marvaso. I also recall a UC road victory against Virginia Tech that I believe was early in the Frank Beamer era.

The 1968 win over Miami was the thrill of my college years on campus.

The 2009 win at Pitt was the greatest sporting event I have ever attended. I vote that Pitt win.

That said we desperately needed the win at UCLA.

(09-04-2018 05:33 PM)Bcatbog Wrote:  The 1968 win over Miami was the thrill of my college years on campus.

The 2009 win at Pitt was the greatest sporting event I have ever attended. I vote that Pitt win.

That said we desperately needed the win at UCLA.

Was the best. Friggin cold! EPIC finish pass to Binns. The drive back was great with the car flags flying.