forums

The defining "We Back" game

B Run

B Run

Sophomore
Premium
Joined
Dec 31, 2018
Messages
833
Although there have been claims of "we're back" over the last 15 years or so, it has clearly panned out that we haven't returned to elite status in that time. There was one game in that time span that made me think for just a moment that we just might be....2017 ND. That game had a feeling I felt in past "We Back" games. What game was that game for you following the 90's probation years? Mine was the Kickoff Classic against Ohio St. Even though the games proceeding that game were killers, that game against Ohio St was impressive to open the season and started to give me hope again. The Penn St game a few weeks later was an absolute heartbreaker and I'll never forget the E Carolina disaster but it was that KC opener that made me think we may have something again. I'm hoping Texas A&M gives me that feeling again. Time will tell.
 
Advertisement
December 5th, 1998 UCLA is the only right answer, if we're talking late 90s.

Edit:
The 99 game at FSU where we hung with them for 3 quarters was a strong signal. Just two years earlier we were getting drubbed 47-0. I'll never forget how quiet their fans were after that win. They all saw the writing on the wall. All game long they were asking me, "What year is that guy?" They were pretty shocked when I kept saying "sophomore, freshman, junior..." They knew they were in deep trouble the next year.
 
B Run said:
Although there have been claims of "we're back" over the last 15 years or so, it has clearly panned out that we haven't returned to elite status in that time. There was one game in that time span that made me think for just a moment that we just might be....2017 ND. That game had a feeling I felt in past "We Back" games. What game was that game for you following the 90's probation years? Mine was the Kickoff Classic against Ohio St. Even though the games proceeding that game were killers, that game against Ohio St was impressive to open the season and started to give me hope again. The Penn St game a few weeks later was an absolute heartbreaker and I'll never forget the E Carolina disaster but it was that KC opener that made me think we may have something again. I'm hoping Texas A&M gives me that feeling again. Time will tell.
Click to expand...
I think you answered your own question. It's never a singular game, as the 99' kickoff classic and 2017 ND game show. It has to persist. To that end I do think the 2000 FSU game got the program over a psychological hump and paved the runway for the next few years of dominance.
 
Last edited:
B Run said:
Although there have been claims of "we're back" over the last 15 years or so, it has clearly panned out that we haven't returned to elite status in that time. There was one game in that time span that made me think for just a moment that we just might be....2017 ND. That game had a feeling I felt in past "We Back" games. What game was that game for you following the 90's probation years? Mine was the Kickoff Classic against Ohio St. Even though the games proceeding that game were killers, that game against Ohio St was impressive to open the season and started to give me hope again. The Penn St game a few weeks later was an absolute heartbreaker and I'll never forget the E Carolina disaster but it was that KC opener that made me think we may have something again. I'm hoping Texas A&M gives me that feeling again. Time will tell.
Click to expand...

Just watched that Penn State game again for the first time the other day.

Man, Kelly sucked. If they had the Dorsey from the end of the season all year that may have been a 1-2 loss season. If they beat Penn State I think they take care of East Carolina and set ups an enormous FSU game.
 
Mario will build the front lines SECesque imo. Give him time but they will be tougher than the last 15 years. With TVD getting more time in the pocket we’ll put some points up. I also expect to see a tougher defense.
 
ThomasM said:
December 5th, 1998 UCLA is the only right answer, if we're talking late 90s.

Edit:
The 99 game at FSU where we hung with them for 3 quarters was a strong signal. Just two years earlier we were getting drubbed 47-0. I'll never forget how quiet their fans were after that win. They all saw the writing on the wall. All game long they were asking me, "What year is that guy?" They were pretty shocked when I kept saying "sophomore, freshman, junior..." They knew they were in deep trouble the next year.
Click to expand...
Was it? We got demolished by Syracuse the very week before so honestly it seemed more like a fluke. And then in '99 we blew very winnable games vs ECU and PSU and got blown out by VT so we weren't "back" at all. Again it's almost never one game.
 
ThomasM said:
December 5th, 1998 UCLA is the only right answer, if we're talking late 90s.

Edit:
The 99 game at FSU where we hung with them for 3 quarters was a strong signal. Just two years earlier we were getting drubbed 47-0. I'll never forget how quiet their fans were after that win. They all saw the writing on the wall. All game long they were asking me, "What year is that guy?" They were pretty shocked when I kept saying "sophomore, freshman, junior..." They knew they were in deep trouble the next year.
Click to expand...
I guess there are different ways to answer....the 2000 FSU game as some have answered I think put the official stamp on the "We're back" claim. 1998 UCLA was awesome for sure
 
Advertisement
88 said:
Just watched that Penn State game again for the first time the other day.

Man, Kelly sucked. If they had the Dorsey from the end of the season all year that may have been a 1-2 loss season. If they beat Penn State I think they take care of East Carolina and set ups an enormous FSU game.
Click to expand...
Kelly was the reason we lost to PSU and ECU, and nearly lost several other games. He was terrible. Then Dorsey comes in and starts three games at the end of the year, breaking team scoring records, and people say, "Yeah, but he did it against scubs!" True, but had Kelly played those games we don't do anywhere near the damage we did with Dorsey.

Kelly played well against FSU, and Dorsey wouldn't have beaten them or VT in 99. Every other game, Dorsey would have been the better QB. Remember the BC game where Kelly couldn't hit the broad side of a barn for nearly 3 whole quarters? He got semi hot at the end of the game, but man was that ever a brutal performance until he did.

The QB position is far and away the most important on the team. If your QB sucks, your team is going to struggle. If your team is loaded, all you need is a QB that doesn't suck. That was us in 99. We were loaded, but our QB was terrible, and it cost us.
 
Trav said:
Was it? We got demolished by Syracuse the very week before so honestly it seemed more like a fluke. And then in '99 we blew very winnable games vs ECU and PSU and got blown out by VT so we weren't "back" at all. Again it's almost never one game.
Click to expand...
It wasn't a fluke. Had we had a real QB in 99, the run starts in 99 and not 2000. The TEAM was getting back to where it needed to be talent wise, but Kenny Kelly put the brakes on the 99 season. Dorsey wasn't ready in early 99, so he wasn't the answer, yet. We were literally one player away from being a title contender in 99.
 
Trav said:
Was it? We got demolished by Syracuse the very week before so honestly it seemed more like a fluke. And then in '99 we blew very winnable games vs ECU and PSU and got blown out by VT so we weren't "back" at all. Again it's almost never one game.
Click to expand...
It was a nice one-off game.
 
For me it was the 2022 Texas A&M game

Aidy Bryant Snl GIF by Saturday Night Live
 
JeddTheFisch said:
It was a nice one-off game.
Click to expand...
I think it's fair to say it was a glimpse into some better days ahead but it was hardly a statement that we were suddenly elite.. Also UCLA was a very good team but a bit of a paper tiger that year. Their defense was awful.
 
ThomasM said:
December 5th, 1998 UCLA is the only right answer, if we're talking late 90s.

Edit:
The 99 game at FSU where we hung with them for 3 quarters was a strong signal. Just two years earlier we were getting drubbed 47-0. I'll never forget how quiet their fans were after that win. They all saw the writing on the wall. All game long they were asking me, "What year is that guy?" They were pretty shocked when I kept saying "sophomore, freshman, junior..." They knew they were in deep trouble the next year.
Click to expand...

Very true. I was there, and they were shook.
 
Advertisement
Trav said:
I think it's fair to say it was a glimpse into some better days ahead but it was hardly a statement that we were suddenly elite.. Also UCLA was a very good team but a bit of a paper tiger that year. Their defense was awful.
Click to expand...
People forget that, aside from FSU (who played for the title, and Covington got hurt), and the absurd Syracuse game, the 1998 offense was high-powered.

Defense was very inconsistent, but had some very young studs (Reed, Morgan, Blades) mixed with some older, but far lass talented players.
 
ThomasM said:
It wasn't a fluke. Had we had a real QB in 99, the run starts in 99 and not 2000. The TEAM was getting back to where it needed to be talent wise, but Kenny Kelly put the brakes on the 99 season. Dorsey wasn't ready in early 99, so he wasn't the answer, yet. We were literally one player away from being a title contender in 99.
Click to expand...
No we weren't. We were still young on defense and OL. We had elite playmakers on offense but we were still finding our way. Reed and Buchanan and Rumph were still just proto versions of what they'd become. There's no way you can tell me Dorsey leads that team to a championship. They were on their way, but not there yet, Kelly's erratic play notwithstanding.
 
Trav said:
I think you answered your own question. It's never a singular game, as the 99' kickoff classic and 2017 ND game show. It has to persist. To that end I do think the 2000 FSU game got the program over a psychological hump and paved the runway for the next few years of dominance.
Click to expand...

Well put.

I'm shocked how many cite that Notre Dame game in 2017 as anything more than what it really was. The Irish are always overrated, play nobody and they were the perfect mark for that night game at that point of the year.

That entire 2017 season was a fugazi, for any who had the wherewithal to break down each game instead of focusing on that 10-0 overall record—which wound up 10-3, just as easily as 10-0 could've been 6-4.

Needed a last-gasp miracle to survive an eventual 7-6 Florida State team.

Needed a 4th-and-10 grab to set up a game-winning kick again an eventual 5-6 Georgia Tech squad.

Needed late score to put away eventual 4-8 Syracuse.

Needed late fumble recovery to escape a 1-7 North Carolina squad that finished 3-9.

Canes caught two well-timed home night games back-to-back—pulling away from Hokies late and then riding GameDay high into crushing Irish. Following week, two separate 14-point holes dug against Virginia squad that finished 6-7.

Choked away first undefeated regular season since 2002 when losing to a then 4-7 Pittsburgh team that was playing for pride, as bowl eligibility wasn't even an option—en route to a 10-1 season.

The Canes were nowhere near *back* in 2017—proven by Clemson kicking ****s in 38-3 and Wisconsin with a double-digit win after Miami blew an early 14-3 lead (outscored 31-10 from that point.)



As for the BACK question; when Miami's two-deep is loaded and this team passes the eye and roster test, the Canes will be back—as the ACC is ripe for the taking and it'll soon be UM's when there is talent spread across the roster and not just at certain positions—not to mention quality coaches who ensure the Canes don't roll into Tallahassee, with eight first quarter penalties or a 4th-and-14 brain fart that costs Miami a game against a bunch of losers that had won six games in two years, so jazzed by this sad win their quarterback made t-shirts and sold them on his website #4thAnd14.
 
Back
Top