Offseason: 10 favorite games of your team that you attended

1. October 15, 2005: USC 34 Notre Dame 31
Still the coolest single sporting event I’ve ever seen live.

2. September 23, 2006: Notre Dame 40 Michigan State 37
CHOKING ON APPLESAUCE! Also, I got puked on by a Michigan State fan right after kickoff. Totally worth it.

3. October 21, 2006: UCLA 17 Notre Dame 20
Pump fake FTW.

4. September 13, 2008: Michigan 17 Notre Dame 35
God decided to down South Bend for its sins, my cell phone died, and Michigan turned the ball over approximately threeve times.

5. October 9, 2010: Pittsburgh 17 Notre Dame 23
My first in-person Notre Dame victory in just over two years.

1. Nov. 20, 2010, Texas A&M 9, Nebraska 6
Everything on the field was vomitdeath, but being at Kyle Field for what was apparently the most amped A&M crowd in years was incredible.

2. Sept. 27, 2008, Virginia Tech 35, Nebraska 30
Most berserk I’ve ever seen Memorial Stadium, plus added bonus of watching Macho Harris start getting into it with Husker fans. Oh yeah, and we played crappy and lost, too.

3. Sept. 29, 2007, Nebraska 35, Iowa State 17
We won, I guess?

4. Nov. 29, 2002, Colorado 28, Nebraska 13
I didn’t even care about the Huskers at this point, so there was less pain involved. Also, I wore a three-foot-tall afro to the game. That went over well with the folks behind us.

5. Nov. 26, 2004, Colorado 26, Nebraska 20
Terrible, terrible game.

6. Oct. 29, 2005, Oklahoma 31, Nebraska 24
Terribler, terribler game.

And … that’s all the Husker games I’ve ever been to. Career record: 1-5.

Howeva, keeping with the theme here:

1) 1997: ASU dominates #10 undefeated WSU and Ryan Leaf for their only regular season loss. Pat Tillman and Fright Night Freedman were both man-beasts that night.

2) 1999: Down 27-7 at the start of the fourth quarter, a rocket screen to Delvon Flowers goes for sixty-something yards with less than a minute remaining and ASU beats UCLA 28-27.

3) 2007: ASU beats a slightly favored UofA at home for our 10th win of the season and a share of the Pac-10 championship.

4) 2005: Furious 2nd half comeback, a cuncussed Willie Tuitama, and a game winning field goal against UofA secures a bowl bid for ASU.

5) 2002: Fearful of a strengthy aerial attack, UofA employed a 3-3-5 defense so RB Mike WIlliams ran for 152 and 4 TDs for my first in-person win in Tucson.

Honorable mention goes to our game at UGA in 2009 in a monsoon. The tailgate was epic enough to outwei-AJ GREEN OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE

1. Nov 13, 1993 — FSU 24 ND 31
  Simply the best game I ever attended. The first “Game of the Century™” of the 90s. The game represented irresistible force vs. immovable objects. FSU’s speed, finesse, offensive elegance, my introduction to down-home St. Bobby, and Derrick Brooks’s faked injuries vs. ND’s smashmouth run game and solid defense.

2. Nov 14, 1992 — PSU 16 ND 17
  SNOW BOWL. Lou’s balls going for the win with the 2-pointer conversion and only seconds left. Blind Reggie Brooks catching said pass right after the Irish (as Lou admitted later) used their planned 2-pt play to score the TD.

3. Nov 20, 1993 — BC 41 ND 39
  The game ended wrong, but it was still the most thrilling comeback I ever watched.

4. Nov 7, 1992 – BC 7 ND 54
  The de-pantsing that led directly to #3. My first participation in a “Scoreboard” chant after BC’s crowd cheered a garbage time TD.

5 & 6. 1992-1993 Last on ND’s “Decade of Dominance” over USC. Only non-Midwest away game as a student. Worked many dining hall hours to cover that trip. Special for that and because, FUCK USC.

7. Jan 1, 1993 – TAMU 3 ND 28
  My one and only Cotton Bowl. Featuring the degloving of future ND HC Bawb Davie’s TAMU defense.

8. Sept 23, 1995 Texas 27 ND 55
  As part of the ROTC Color Guard, I was on the field 2-hours before the game and through the whole romp. Snuck future wife onto field at game time. Most enjoyable.

9. Picture = 1000 words

I realize I’m breaking one of the Sports Fan Commandments. Deal with it.

Top Ten-ish, in approximate order
1. Auburn vs. Oregon, National Championship Game
It don’t get no betta than that.
2. 2010 Auburn vs. LSU
First time I saw Cam in person. AWESOME.
3. 2004 Auburn vs. LSU
Right after having 3 days off for Hurricane Katrina, still pretty much drunk from 3 straight days of moonshine.
4. 2003 Cotton Bowl, Ole Miss over Oklahoma State
Eli Manning’s last game.
5. 2006 Auburn over #2-ranked Florida
My two teams have been inexplicably good against Florida of late.
6. 2010 Cotton Bowl (2009 season), Ole Miss over Oklahoma State
Dexter McCluster’s last game.
7. 2008-2009 Ole Miss over LSU
Nothing feels better than beating LSU. Plus, clock derpitude and all that.
8. 2004 Sugar Bowl, Auburn over Va Tech
Would be higher if it wasn’t such a disappointment to be left out of the title game, all arguments aside.
9. 2011 Iron Bowl, Auburn over Alabama
28-27 (Note that I’ve seen 3 Iron Bowl wins live, and the highest ranked one is #9. Meanwhile, 4 wins over LSU are ranked higher.)
10. 2008 Egg Bowl – Ole Miss over State, 45-0
Jack Cristal announced the Sonic Drive of the Game as his drive back to Tupelo. Nothing like giving little brother an ass-whooping.

1. 1998 Rose Bowl(1997 season) – Ohio State 20, Arizona State 17. Went with my family, had an awesome trip, got to meet and have a long conversation with Paul Warfield. Then, OSU had the great comeback at the end, except the extra point on the last touchdown was blocked/missed, leaving ASU a chance at a last second Hail Mary → FG to tie.

2. 1997 Ohio State-Michigan Game – OSU 31, UM 18. I got to go to that one with my dad, and as a kid who grew up with the heartbreak of losing to UM every year, that was a sweet, sweet win. Of course, MSU had ruined the perfect season earlier in the year, but that game I got to walk out down on the old track, before they took it out. I was 12, and I looked a cop in the eye and asked if I could just walk out and touch the grass in the endzone, and he let me, before we continued out of the stadium.

3. 1993 Ohio State-Penn State – Ohio State 24, Penn State 6. It was a cold, snowy/sleety/rainy late October day, PSU was new to the conference, and OSU just ground out a classic Big Ten-style win over PSU. I was in the stands with my dad, and every time I got too cold, I just slid back a bit in my seat, and the big guy on one side and my dad on the other completely blocked the wind.

4. 2002 Ohio State-San Jose St. – Ohio State 50, San Jose St. 7. I was working parking at OSU for this game, so I didn’t get into the stadium until 2 minutes after kickoff, but I got to go with my great friends from HS, I saw OSU hold SJSU to 0 total rushing yards and recover fumbles on 4 straight possessions in the second/third quarters, and we got to see a walk-on kid who I had played with two years before in HS get to play in Ohio Stadium. Also, it was my only time seeing the National Champs in person that season.

So I’m going to have to branch out into other sports. I’ll bold the football games so it’s easier to pick those out if that’s all you want.

1. Hockey championship against Boston College, 2007. Down 1-0 going into the third, an impossible glove save to stop a 2-on-1 break, breakaway goal to tie at the midway point of the period, 3-on-1 break with 30 seconds left results in a shot off the post by Abdelkader, Kennedy chases down the puck and flips it right back out in front, and Abdelkader doesn’t miss again. (Added an empty net goal with 1 second left.)

2. Basketball against Wisconsin, 2007. With the tournament streak in jeopardy, a nail-biter game against #1 all the way until Neitzel’s three-pointer with about two minutes left hits the rim four times before dropping, giving us a two-possession lead for the first time since three minutes into the game. The crowd had been going crazy all game; after that I could hardly hear and didn’t care.

3. Football against Wisconsin, 2004. Needing to win out to reach a bowl game, we faced the third-ranked, 9-0 Badgers, who were allowing 9 points per game. A blocked punt for a TD in the first quarter, a 99-yard drive after a punt pinned us on the 1 (they even had to rekick due to a penalty and dropped it on the 1 again), a goal line stand immediately before half, a surprise onside kick to start the second half, another goal line stand followed by another 99-yard drive, and a final score of 49-14.

4. Football against Notre Dame, 2005. Blew a 21-point lead in the second half, but won in OT.

5. Basketball against Connecticut, 2009 Final Four. Laying a beating on the Huskies after everyone counted us out (this would qualify for the Louisville game to get to the Final Four as well, but I wasn’t there) was a thing of beauty. I’m glad we gave Digger the opportunity to pick against us six times and make him look like a dumbass five of them. (The sixth shall not be discussed.)

6. Hockey against Michigan, 2006 CCHA semifinal. Any win over them is good. Doing it with a shot at the CCHA title (which we later won) on the line and blowing them out in the process? Bonus.

7. Football against Michigan, 2004. Triple-OT loss, yes, but it was a hell of a game.

8. Basketball against Illinois, 2005. Also a loss, but an incredible atmosphere (even more so than usual for Breslin games). Two top 10 teams playing at the top of their games; the difference was that Illinois couldn’t miss even if they tried.

9. Basketball against Syracuse, 2003. Chris Hill putting up 35 (including a then-Big Ten record – and it may still be – 10 threes) and nearly out-dueling Carmelo.

10. Hockey against Bowling Green, 2005. Bryan Lerg’s hat trick included a penalty shot and he came damn close to two or three more.

Says something about the state of the program that it’s hard too think of five. And trust me, there weren’t many highlights in the 90s.

1. Memphis 2007 (Parts 1 and 2) First attempt gets delayed due to massive storm that kicked up literally at the coin toss, end up playing on a Thursday night. Down 31-7 at half, come back and win 35-31 to beat Tiger High.

2. Army 2006 Don’t want to sound unpatriotic, but after beating the Black Knights in the season opener, we tore down the goalposts. As it turned out, the school was replacing them after the game anyway so that’s why they were ok with us doing it. And anytime you could tear down a goalpost it’s fun.

3. MTSU 2010 Routing a team you despise on national TV is always a blast.

4. UCA 1996 Yes, beating a then Div-II team on the final play isn’t something to be really proud of, but it was a nearly packed house and a great atmosphere.

5. New Mexico St. 1998 Were down big and almost left at halftime, came back to tie the game and go into OT. Got the ball first and kicked a FG. Aggies drove to about the 2 yard line before fumbling the game away.

1. Alabama 1998: beating them 26-14, and calling my dad from the stadium on a buddies cell phone (back when this was still possible).
2. Auburn 1999: improbable comeback. still have the front page of the Reflector from the following week. Crazy, crazy game. “We Want Wyatt! <clap. clap, clapclapclap>”
3. Ole Miss 1999: undescribable, except for kick, pick, kick, win. this was the best game i have EVER been to. weather was f-ing terrible, OM winning most of the way. Then, the impossible happened. take the 5 minutes and watch the video (yes, that is Tirico, Herbie, and Corso on the call) [more unwanted info: i still get goosebumps when i watch the video. JUST FUCKING AMAZING]
4.2007 Alabama: 107 yard TAINT thrown by John Parker Wilson. stadium feels and sounds like it is about to come down. good times.
5. 2009 Ole Miss: Thanks, Jevan!!!!

Never recieving votes:
2008 Auburn: BABY I’M BURNING
2001 @ Florida: 52-0 GOTDAMN

Like gtne91 above, I didn’t become a GT fan until I enrolled at the Institute, so we’ll be looking at 2005 onward. I happened to be able to think of exactly five off the top of my head, so that’s how many I’ll do (all are home games unless otherwise specified):

5. 9/2/2006 – Notre Dame 14, Georgia Tech 10. Although I did go to all Tech’s home games my freshman year, that year was mostly spent figuring out just what the hell was going on, as I actually had no interest in football whatsoever before then. My sophomore year’s season opener, complete with GameDay on campus, was where my fanhood really began to solidify. We lost the game (the only GT loss on this list), but it was still a great experience.

4. 10/17/2009 – Georgia Tech 28, Virginia Tech 23. My first time back at Bobby Dodd Stadium after graduation and it resulted in a home win over a then top-five team.

3. 11/29/2008 (Sanford Stadium, Athens, GA) – Georgia Tech 45, Georgia 42. My first ever road game. My first time seeing the Jackets take down Georgia. Weather was shitty and so was the traffic on 316, but obviously I didn’t care.

2. 11/20/2008 – Georgia Tech 41, U of Miami 23. Final home game as a student on a frigid Thursday night in Atlanta. Wasn’t hard to stay warm with the Jackets rolling up roughly eleventy billion yards on the ground against the Canes.

1. 11/1/2008 – Georgia Tech 31, Florida State 28. gtne91 covered this one above. My last Saturday game as a student and the loudest I’ve ever heard Bobby Dodd Stadium. And yes, I was among those rushing the field.

1. 11/24/01- W&M 39, Villanova 36- Played after Thanksgiving because of 9/11, this was essentially a playoff game where the winner went to the 1-AA playoffs. Brian Westbrook broke the all-time record for total yardage. I think he had something like 300 yards that game and I thought, “man, they did pretty well against him.” W&M was up 39-21 with 7 minutes to go, then held off a furious rally because we didn’t have any defense to speak of (a recurring trend). Nova got the ball back with about 90 seconds left but the game ended with an INT at midfield.

2. 12/4/04- W&M 44, Delaware 38- Tribe was down 31-10 to start the 4th. On 3rd and 6 our CB (Stephen Cason, I think?) jumped an out route and took it back for a TAINT. Delaware decided to stop running the football (I think they were averaging like 8 yards a carry) and gave the ball back quickly. Lang Campbell (Payton Award winner/folk hero) hit some amazing passes. Ended up winning in double OT- just for drama, our kicker missed an XP so that we’d have to sweat out Delaware’s last possession.

4. 11/22/03- W&M 59, Richmond 17. This was @Richmond, which made it more awesome. When we scored late, we chanted “go for 2” and “we want 60!” Richmond’s coach would leave his job after this game.

5. 11/13/04- W&M 27, JMU 24 @ JMU. The aforementioned Lang Campbell went 26-33 for 323 with 2 TDs against the #1 defense in 1-AA. I think he missed on one pass in the 2nd half. After JMU tied it on a TD pass where their QB was 3 yards past the line of scrimmage when he threw it, Campbell took over with 50 seconds left. Greg Kuehn hit a 48 yard pass. Best part about this was I was there with my sister, a JMU student, so I got to see the pain on her face. 2nd best part was being nearby when Lang ran over to hug his parents afterwards. Near me was an attractive girl that I started to hit on before realizing she was dating a defensive lineman on our team and he could eat me.

6. W&M 26, UVA 14. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX4CXSNGM2I] B.W. Webb FTW.[/url] One of the three happiest moments of my life.

1) 2005 SEC title vs. LSU
Shockley and Sean Bailey came out firing, the blocked punt was beautiful, and DJ remains my favorite player ever.

2) New Years Day 08 Sugar Bowl vs. Hawaii
Capped off a very strange and very exciting season. Game was a brutal beating but the trip was an absolute blast.

3) 07 vs Auburn
The “Blackout Game”. It’s hard to describe just how amped up Athens was for this game.

4) 06 @ Auburn
Tre Battle intercepted 58 passes and the Dawgs upset a top 5 Auburn squad. I was a broke Senior at UGA and didn’t win the ticket lottery. I got in late in the 2nd quarter by bribing a gate worker.

5) 04 vs. LSU
Revenge game where the Dawgs came out and curb stomped the Tigers. Extremely loud. I’ll never forget Xavier Carter kneeling down on the 1, thinking he was in the end zone. This game would be top 3 for me if we hadn’t laid an egg the next week vs. TN

6) 06 vs. Tech
Tony Taylor’s fumble return, the “Reggie, Reggie” chants, Calvin Johnson finishing 0-fer his career vs. UGA, it was fun.

7) 04 Cocktail party
My first trip to Jax. Even though Florida was a shell of itself and (redacted) had just been fired, I knew to never under value a win over Florida.

8) 06 Chick-fil-a Bowl vs. VT
Got down big early 21-3, came back to win. Added bonus is that I was sitting in the VT student section.

9) 09 @ Tech
The things I heard Tech fans say to my group as we were entering the stadium would make Charlie Sheen blush. They were significantly quiter after the game. PAUL JOHNSON IS A GENIUS, NOTICE HIM DAMNIT, HES A GENIUS NOT A PUSSY LIKE YOU PUSSY NON GENIUSES!!!!!!!!!!1

10) 03 vs. Auburn
Fun as hell game where it was loud as hell. Odell’s INT to the house was a blast.

Big games in my era that I missed but I’m sure would be top 10 for me if I was there:
-Any big game from 02, magical season
-07 Cocktail Party
-03 @ TN

1 – FSU vs UF 2010 (31-7)
Probably the best atmosphere at Doak in a long, long time. The game started slowly but soon the floodgates opened and by the 4th quarter, the Gate fans were making for the exits like rats from a burning barge while the crowd chanted “Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye”. It was loud from beginning to end. The streak ended, Ponder had the game of his career, and it ended up being Urbie’s last regular season game as UF’s coach. And to top off an otherwise awesome night, the announcer notified the crowd of the UMd lead over NC State in a game that gave us a spot in the ACCCG.
2 – FSU vs VT ACCCG, 2005 (27-22)
Although it was only 2.5 hours away in Jacksonville, there were still droves of Hokies, all amped up and fairly certain that the game was already won. However, Beamer’s curse of (almost) never beating Bobby was in full force that night, and the wind quickly left the sails of the VT fans when FSU took over in the 3rd quarter, handing us the ACC Championship.
3 – FSU vs UM 2005 (10-7)
The end of the six game streak the Canes held over us. It was my junior year, and I watched the botched FG from about 30 yards away in the student section. I haven’t heard the stadium that loud in my life. It was absolute chaos. It was an ugly, low scoring game, but the defense was dominant (9 sacks!) and for the first time in a long time, a botched FG was screwing our opponent instead of us.
4 – FSU vs Clemson 2010 (16-13)
This game came after consecutive heart-breakers against NCSt and UNC, so morale was low and we needed the win. Then came Dustin Hopkins’ 55-yard blast with time expiring. The kick exploded, and then the crowd did. Aside from the UM game in 05, it was hard to get any louder than the crowd was right then. It was a tight game and either team’s to lose, but EJ managed to grind out a victory in place of an injured Ponder.

Haven’t had a whole lot to celebrate, when we’ve been 6-39 in 4 years with the average score being something like 41-15. But I do have some fond moments (apologies if I can’t remember the score, we’ve had so many soul-numbing losses it kind of merges into one big fucking nightmare. Oh well at least I had some moments).

1) University of Montana 11/10/2007- I painted my whole damn head for this game, brought on the A-Game…and got into vicious shouting matches with the 2,000 something asshole Grizzly Football fans that drove down. Griz fans, by the way, are like Alabama fans but without the championship claims. Said to be classy but it’s a LIE, A DIRTY FUCKING LIE I TELL YOU! (They’re nice in other sports but football they’re evil). It all started with me chatting with a few friends and catching the eye of a 70-something old Griz fan. We made slight eye contact and she yelled at me “FUCK YOU”. Me being me, responded “FUCK YOU TOO BITCH!” My house, do not come into it with that attitude. Montana was ranked in the Top 5 if I remember right and we stuck it to them all game, including returning a 93 yard kick return for a TD to tie it 14 all (Gods blessings upon you, JD Ponciano). I was so delirious I ran to their fan section and gave them a two-handed salute. Administrators caught me and kicked me out of the game. Ushers snuck me back in. We ended up losing 27-14 and Griz fans tried starting fights with ours, because they are supreme douchebags when it comes to football. Adding to my horrible day was that Illinois upset Ohio State and everyone knew I was a huge Buckeye fan and subsequently came up to me and rubbed it in. Of course, they backed off after I beat one of them up pretty good. All in all that was a bad day to be me.

2) Montana State, 10/4/2008: The semester before I started playing rugby. We hosted Montana State in a football game and one of their bigger, drunker fans tried to run his flag past our student section after the Bobcats scored. Knocked his ass out and took the flag for a trophy. An usher confiscated the flag and made me give it back. I won that shit fair and square. ISU lost that game 33-21. Still was nice knowing MSU never tried that again :)

3) Montana State, 9/29/2007: OK this trip was just fun. Never been to Bozeman before (you’re not missing anything; Missoula is the better trip, but it was cool to go just to get out of Idaho for a day and see the sights), got seats close to the field, and became the first non-Montana State fan to get to burn the Grizzly Bear at the tailgate. I lit that little fucker on fire and beat the charred remains, earning the admiration of Bobcat fans everywhere (except the dude I knocked out the next year). ISU lost that one 40-20.

4) Weber State, 11/8/2008: Tackled a Wildcat fan running his flag down our fan section. We lost 59-27. Weber fans like me though so it wasn’t as painful. They brought me cookies and I got to see them finally win a Big Sky Championship after 18 years (because Montana wins every goddamnfuckingyear except this past season heh heh…they missed the playoffs and their fanbase was ready to hang the first year coach)

5) Weber State, 10/16/2010: The Game Nobody Wanted to Win. Our defense held up incredibly well but the way the offense played ensured we would lose this one. The good thing was, was that Weber’s offense was as equally determined to fail as ours (I thought that wasn’t…fucking…possible). Offense threw away chances to score inside the 20 several times and at one point BOTH teams threw consecutive interceptions.

6) NAU, 9/25/2010: This was our Homecoming game, and by this time it was believed John Zamberlin would be out of a job (nice guy, fun kids, great wife and good linebackers coach [he played in that Blizzard Game for the Patriots] but terrible head coach, alienated a lot of players and fans, and by 2010 he was generally regarded as one of the worst coaches at ISU since Garth Hall). I won Homecoming Duke (should have been King; my Duchess and I won the vast majority of the student vote, which should be the only vote that counts in Homecoming Elections…ERHEM) and had a lot of fun waving an Imperial German flag in the parade and interacting with spectators (which isn’t allowed in the parade, but fuck it!). This is, to me, the Punting Is Winning Game. The punter, David Harrington (a Tennessee transfer and a good friend of mine) outpunted the offense 342 to 151 yards. We lost to NAU 32-7 and gave up I DON’T KNOW HOW MANY SACKS /is bitter towards baby-faced offensive line //wished we had the line of the Larry Lewis days, one of which just won a Super Bowl with the Packers

7) Sacramento State, 11/22/2008: In addition to watching Ohio State kick Michigan’s ass (again) I was treated to the lone win of the 2008-2009 campaign. Also, this was the final game for the Larry Lewis recruits (I remember the very end of that era in Fall 2006, right before I started school. Stands were still decent and orange-clad and loud). We won 36-33 in a wild overtime game that featured quarkback Kenyon Blue going full HAM and running around, through and over the Sac State defense. Overtime saw us on 3rd and 16 and I, along with the student section, made like Aggies and migrated to the end of the stands. Along that migration I ran into an obnoxious (coulda been a Raiders fan) Sac State guy who screamed at me (and everyone else) “GIVE IT TO #29! LET’S SEE WHAT HE CAN DO!” (29 is Kenyon). We did, he darted and wove and dove into the endzone for the win and I just smiled at the guy, who glared at me and sulked away. Best part: I rushed the field, got into the celebration with the players and sang the fight song with them on the field to the crowd.

8) Portland State, 11/14/2009: THE END OF JERRY GLANVILLE GAME. Beat PSU 41-34, stuffed the Pistol when it counted, forced fumbles and key picks. I rushed the field again to celebrate our lone win, and saw Glanville up close, burying his head in his hands. Also saw some of the coaches for PSU standing close to him. Very somber moment; I knew Glanville wouldn’t be coming back. I felt bad because I’m a huge Oilers/Titans fan and adore the guy. Best part was chatting up some of the PSU players after the game and helped them load their bags onto the bus (heh heh heh, I promise it was out of goodwill)

9) Montana State, 10/30/2010: All I know is that we came so fucking close to beating MSU and SUPERQUARTERBACK Denarius McGee or whatever his name was. I had several shots of rum before this game to deaden whatever pain associated with it and before I knew it, we were in a position to win. But the OLine did what they’re really good (or bad at, depends on your view) and let the QB get sacked again and again. Worst part: game was decided by refs. I saw McGee step out of bounds 3 times (3!!!) and his last second TD run counted. Assholes. This was particularly painful, but thanks to the rum, not as much.

10) Not much of a ten here, unless you wanna count the game against Montana State where I got into a shouting match with one of their corners in 2006 that lead directly to a touchdown in HIS direction, or the soccer match where I got into a verbal assaulting match against Boise State’s soccer players in 2007 (we won that shit AND the Gov’nah’s Cup).

Lots of fun little times at Idaho State University :)

#1: 2007 @ Georgia 37 Auburn 20 – Blackout. Precisely 7 days after marrying an Auburn grad. Spent the evening not speaking to each other. Didn’t care.
#2: 2002 Georgia 30 Arkansas 3 – SEC Championship game. I remember the first 2 drives, and that’s it.
#3: 2004 @ Georgia 45 LSU 16 – Loudest I’ve ever heard Sanford Stadium
#4: 2002 Georgia 24 @ Auburn 21 – Clinch the East on 4th & 15 from the 19 w/ 1:44 left
#5: 2001 Georgia 26 @ Tennessee 24 – Verron Haynes

1. 2002 @ Georgia 51 Tech 7 – Last game at home as a student
2. 2003 Georgia 26 FSU 13 – Drunkest I’ve ever been while remaining vertical
3. 2001 Georgia 31 @ Tech 17 – Verron Haynes is still running.
4. 2000 @ Georgia 21 Tennessee 10 – Damage to Hedges ruined it somewhat for me
5. 2005 @ Georgia 48 Boise St. 13 – Fuck you, Mandel.

—24 November 2007, Missouri 36-Kansas 28. Not only was it the only time I’ll probably ever see Mizzou ranked #1, but it was my birthday.

—6 October 2007, Missouri 41-Nebraska 6. The most cathartic crowd I’ve ever seen (as it was FINALLY the moment the Tigers had turned the corner and could beat the Huskers with some regularity), until…

—23 January 2009, Missouri 62-Kansas 60. …this one. Yeah, it’s bouncyhoops, but when Taylor’s shot went in it was as if the ghosts of Quin Snyder, Ricky Clemons, and so forth had finally been exorcised. (After last night, though, a ton of people are praying Anderson takes the Arkansas job, as we can finally get someone who recruits big men and plays a more physical game.)

—25 October 2010, Missouri 36-Oklahoma 24. It started at 7:30 at Lakota Coffee in downtown Columbia, where they didn’t mind if I poured peppermint schnapps into my hot chocolate. Then I held up one side of the gigantic sign of Moe Syszlak my friend made (he held the other, and another guy had the initials “T.J.” on sticks) for Gameday, then went back to my apartment and watched the morning games. After that, I bought a six-pack of Cathedral Square Blonde Ale (some of Weston, MO’s finest beer…not counting some stuff Weston Brewery’s put out), somehow found a good parking place and tailgated. The rest of the night was spent hoarse, up until I got to rush the field and kiss the goal line (as too many people were kissing the 50). After that, I helped some people slice up the goalpost and got a little piece, which proudly sits on my desk, as payment.

—28 November 2009, Missouri 41, Kansas 39. The headline in the KC Star the day after was “RESSEL MANIA”, and as my friend said when he first saw it, “If you wanna see a fat-ass get fired, gimme a HELL YEAH!”

1) 1998 Rose Bowl- U-M 21 v. WSU 16. In person, at the back of the stadium, Woodson. Fuck you, Ryan Leaf.

2) Nov. 27, 1996. Tshimanga Biakabutuka 313, Eddie George, 105. (U-M 31, OSU 23) I could have gained 150 yards in the holes that Michigan’s O-line opened for Timmy that day.

3) August 26, 1995: Michigan 18, Virginia 17. Comeback from 17-0.

4) Nov 22, 2003- 100th Michigan/OSU game- Michigan 35- OSU 21.

5) Jan 1 2008- Michigan 41- Florida 35. The only time that year that the offense really did what it was capable of.

6) October 13, 1984. Tigers 4, Padres 2. Jack Morris’ complete game.

7) September 16, 2006- Michigan 47, ND 21. My first trip to ND, and the Yakety Sax/ Woodley “bitch get off me” touchdown.

8) September 22, 2007- Michigan 38- ND 0. Hee.

9) October 30, 2004- Michigan 45, Michigan State 37- Braylonfest.

10) Nov 1, 2003- Michigan 27-Michigan State 20. Chris Perry’s 51 carry “Maximus” game. The crowd willed that kid to get up, again, and again, and again.

Georgia Tech beats visiting #1 Notre Dame 3-3 at roughly the same time as Larry Munson is destroying all of the furniture in the Gator Bowl Press Box, “Lindsay Scott, Lindsay Scott….” uGA eventually moves to #1 and beats ND for the 1980 NC, so dawgies, you can thank us for that one. Greatest day in the history of the state for Football.

October 23, 1982 GT 31-21 over Vols. First Home Division 1 win of my 4 years on campus. I was a sophomore, so we sucked (1-10) in 1981 after knocking off The Bear in Tuscaloosa.

November 11, 1972 GT 42-10 over BC. All America LB Randy Rhino (what a name) picks a pass off a BC Tight End’s helmet.

January 23, 1984 GT 72 UVA 71 Triple Overtime. THE most exciting sporting event I’ve ever seen. No scoring in first OT, fall behind by 5 in the 2nd OT, Spider Salley makes key Free Throws, Jackets survive a last second shot by Othell Wilson to beat the then #19 Cavs. All GT players were in class the next morning (Mark Price, John Salley, Anthony Byrd, Scott Petway, Bruce Darlrymple) even though the exhausting game ended near midnight; and got a standing Ovation.

November 23, 1967 Bullpups vs. Baby Jackets game for Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital in Atlanta, "Strong legs will run that weak legs may walk." A game of National importance when Freshmen were not allowed to play Varsity, this game over the years raised over $6 million for crippled children. I don’t know who won, I do know it is the first football game that I can clearly remember. I attended games in 1966 at age 3 (on the sidelines because Granddad and Bobby Dodd were big pals), and one game below.

March 10, 1985 GT 57 UNC 54 for GT’s first ACC Tournament win. In the Omni in Atlanta. Mark Price MVP and suffered from terrible back spasms throughout the tournament. With so many injuries, the Jackets were the “Thin Gold Line”.

February 25, 1977. Pistol Pete Maravich scores 68 (?) to beat Knicks. Got there late.

1967 Orange Bowl, loss to Florida and Heisman Trophy winner, Steve Spurrier. Kim King QB for GT, “The Young Left-hander”. I was there, but don’t remember this one. Sat in Mom’s lap.

January 4, 1981 Cowboys 24 Falcons 10. So close to a Division Title.

October 5, 1975 Steve Bartkowski’s first win as a Falcon.

March 12, 1985 Bird hangs 60 something on the Hawks. Some fool gave me his tickets.

#10: ND-LSU 2007. Sugar Bowl trip was awesome. The game itself? Less so.

#9: ND-Pittsburgh 2005. First game of the Weis era. It looked like a glorious beginning.

#8: ND-Nebraska 2000. Stupid Bob Davie. Stupid stupid stupid.

#7: ND-Boston College 2005, basketball: We got there one hour before gametime to start chanting “20! CLAP! CLAP! AND ONE!” Still the loudest I’ve ever heard the JACC.

#6: ND-Michigan 2004. After the BYU game, I was ready to write off the season. Then we won the game, the students stormed the field, and we could postpone writing off the season for another few weeks.

#5: ND-Utah 2010. Oh, we’re not supposed to win this game? LOLZ. Followed by storming the field for the first time ever.

#4: ND-USC 2005. Damn you, Reggie Bush. Damn you to hell.

#3: ND-PSU 1992. Snow Bowl. Last minute comeback in the cold. Jerome Bettis catching the winning TD.

#2: ND-Michigan, 2008, hockey. Overtime win against Michigan to advance to the National Championship game before getting bounced by Boston College.

#1: ND-FSU, 1993. Sealing the win over #1 Florida State with Sean Wooden knocking down a Charlie Ward pass in the end zone as time expired. Followed by absolute bedlam.

Bonus: The Gators’ SEC slate in 2008. I’ve never seen anything like it. Houston Nutt wakes up every day and wonders how the fuck he managed to beat that team.

10 UF-Cincy 2010. Only on here because if there’s a way to send out an era, that was it. Everything that was great about Florida football under Meyer worked in that game. Too bad there was another season of Adderpzio to tarnish it.

9 UF @ FSU 2008. The game that featured the clip that ESPN would lead SportsCenter with for a year (Tebow’s Braveheart moment). Also, the absolute lowpoint in the history of Doak. Florida’s fans showed up and stayed loud, and pretty much treated the game like a home game.

8 UF-LSU 2006. JUMP PASS I

7 UF-UT 2005. My first rivalry game at the Swamp. I don’t remember much, because it was also the first time I snuck alcohol into the stadium, but I do remember winning in a pretty tight game.

6. UF-Ark 2006. Crazy SEC title game. Florida looks like their going to win in a blowout, then Arky scores 3 straight TDs, then the fake punt, then the real punt, then the only good play of Wondy goddamn Pierre Louis’ career.

5 UF- UGA 2008. It was a total blowout, but you can’t find a better revengancer game.

4 UF @ FSU 2006. Chris Leak goes off and the Gators take the only close game of the series under Meyer.

3 UF-Vandy 2005. Fucking Jay Cutler. He stepped up into the spotlight and scared the crap out of every Gator fan in the world, then he went all LOLCUTLER and threw a pick to end it. The only OT game I’ve been to.

2 UF- OU 2009. I was in the seventh row. Ahmad Black, Joe Haden, and Major Wright combined and made the play of the game right in front of me when they broke up a goal line pass with a few seconds left in the 1st half batted it around, keeping it alive til Wright finally picked off off Bradford.

1 UF- SC 2006. Jarvis Moss wins at everything forever

I didn’t get into Bronco football until after I moved to California in ‘98 (probably as a way to keep in touch with home) and I went to College of Idaho (which has no football team). So listing my favorite 10 favorite games attended would end up being a list of the 10 games I’ve attended in person. But here are my favorite five.

1. Boise State-OU Fiesta Bowl. Great long weekend in Phoenix with my wife. Mom came down day before the game. Boise State dominates for most of 3 quarters, then squanders an 18-point lead, then Z does his Z thing and throws a pick to lose the game EXCEPT WE WIN SPORTS MIRACLE CIRCUS STATUE LEFT ECSTASY.

2. Boise State-Nevada 2007. 69-67, Broncos in 4 OT. Kaep v. Moore = lots of points.

3. Boise State-TCU Fiesta Bowl. Probably boring unless you root for one team or the other, but I was on edge for the whole game. Also, capped another great long weekend in Phoenix with my wife.

4. Boise State-Fresno 2008. Broncos had 13-10 at the half, then went on to win 61-10. Equally important: took a great picture of my wife which I see every time she calls.

5. Boise State-USU 2010. Senior Day. Not a close game, but it was nice to cheer what was probably the best Broncos team ever one last time after the soul-crushing loss to Nevada the week before.

1.) November 14, 1998 : #1 Tennessee 28 – #10 Arkansas 24. The “Stumble and Fumble” game…
The one time I can actually classify what I heard at a game as literal white noise. I couldn’t speak for several days, and couldn’t sleep that night for the ringing in my ears.

2.) September 19, 1998 : #6 Tennessee 20 – #2 Florida 17. It was actually a terrible game, Florida had negative yards rushing… and Tennessee was completely incapable of completing a pass that wasn’t just a random jumpball. But who cares? Nobody else in the SEC had been able to touch us since 1994(as in we literally lost to nobody in the SEC except Florida between October 94 and November 99) so we were ecstatic.

3.) October 11, 1997: #9 Tennessee 38 – #13 Georgia 13. We’d been punked by Florida largely because our running game was astoundingly bad, but Freshman Jamal Lewis got the start the next week against Ole Miss and nearly broke the 200 yard mark. In his first game against his home state school, that had rejected him in favor of Jasper Sanks, he ran for 232 yards and Tennessee won their 8th straight in the series.

4.) December 6, 1997 @ Atlanta, GA: #3 Tennessee 30 – #13 Auburn 29. Our first appearance in the SEC Championship game, which had been bogarted by Steve Spurrier up until that point. Pretty sure we were ~10 point favorites, but Auburn just whipped us for the entire first half. Al Wilson, at least according to accounts I’ve heard, terrified everyone else in the locker room during halftime. We then proceeded to thump Auburn in the second half… but just barely squeaked by due to the size of the HT deficit.

5.) December 1, 2001 @ Gainesville, FL: #5 Tennessee 34 – #2 Florida 32. In my entire life I have never seen as confident a fanbase as I did that day. They had every reason to be I suppose, we hadn’t won in Gainesville since 1971(which is a misleading stat since we almost never played before 1992) and were 17 point underdogs(which was pretty damn questionable with us at #5, and one dumb squib kick vs. Georgia from being #1). Anyhoo, I think just about everyone in Orange and Blue was either wearing a rose or selling roses(NC Game was the Rose Bowl)… it was a good natured bunch that day but I don’t think anyone under the age of ~40 was remotely concerned with the possibility of a loss. Tennessee ran out to a 14-0 lead within a few minutes, and despite Florida catching up before HT the mood had decidedly changed within the stadium… and rather than getting louder it got QUIET late in the game. When Rox Grossman’s 2pt conversion fell incomplete you could hear a pin drop, but the Gator fans were infinitely more gracious in defeat than literally any other group of fans I’ve ever met.

6.) September 30, 1989: #12 Tennessee 21 – #4 Auburn 14. We’d just had a miserable failure of a season in 1988 going 5-6, and that was about all I could remember of Tennessee football. I don’t remember much of this game, but I remember it was played in a freaking monsoon and that Reggie Cobb went absolutely nuts against the best defense in the country.

7.) October 28, 2000: Tennessee 20 – Alabama 10. We got off to a bad start, with the Gaffney “catch” and our first loss to Georgia since 1989… but all of that was without Casey Clausen, who was the favorite to start before an injury in fall camp. This was his first game, and he absolutely owned Alabama… and demonstrated some serious balls. I remember a play where he had his helmet ripped off, and he still ran for an 8 yard gain.

I’m sure I could dig up three more stories, but I need to eat this sandwich that just arrived. And yeah, some of those up there are full game videos.

I really enjoy reading all your all’s favorite/memorable games. I was at none of them. But I can remember watching so many on tv and cheering along with you all.

So here’s my list. They will be most memorable football games for me, whether or not I was there.

10 & 9.. My Union Redskins team played rival Jenks Trojans. I"m old and the memory is fading but it was the last two years where we DIDN’T play at University of Tulsa’s stadium. I THINK in 1997 we played AT Jenks. They have the typical high school stadium. Visitor stands MIGHT hold 2000. We lost. No rushing the field. In 1998 Jenks came to us. Made national news. I think we fit like 33,000 people in our stadium. It only holds about 20K (they added bleachers in the endzone, and if you were special sports, you could be on the sidelines). We won that game. We wore black. FUCK. YES.

8. High school team again. Playing for state championship in 1998 against, you guessed it, Jenks. Except EVERYONE had to travel to Stillwater to see the game. We lost this game. 1998 was the year they moved Union out of a district with Jenks so that we COULD play each other for a championship. 1999 they held the championship game at TU’s stadium so everyone could make more money. (speaking of money, apparently NFLfilms did a documentary about the rivalry in 2007…go figure. At least no one sold out to MTV). Also, Union or Jenks has won the Oklahoma state high school 6a championship in football every year since 1996. There may or may not be recruitment violations.

7. Michgan/AppState. I was hungover as shit. My friend and I were sleeping off our hangovers in her bed. We would wake up to check the score. Needless to say we were hangover free by the end of the game.

6. OU vs Boise State. Sigh. Again not there, but memorable because I had a heinous stomach virus. I left the TV on so I could hear…between dozing and spending time in the bathroom I was able to make out the plays on the screen. And piss my neighbors off by hurlting insults at Bob Stoops for not knowing the “trick” plays that even my incapable of anything but crawling from the bed to the bathroom could figure out. But I still can’t ask for the man to be fired (willie martinez on the other hand…hmmm we will see)

5. I wasn’t at this game either, but 8/28/2004. I can remember Universty of Missouri Rolla making the ESPN bottom line for WINNING a football game. Finally. I had graduated the year prior. Poor engineers (really the Miners, but whatever). But hey WE MADE ESPN!

4. The first D1 game I tried to go to was ND at Tech in 2006. I was in Columbus, GA at the time and a co worker was a recent Tech grad. I ended up tailgating with her, and getting up to the gates with her and her sorority, until they kicked me out. Where I promptly returned to my friends apartment and slept for the next 12 hours. Sigh.

3. Kentucky at UGA, 11/21/2009. Friends of mine had tickets for their friends who are Wildcats. We sat in the visitor section and watched Kentucky come back to win. It was also the first time I heard Party in the UGA which almost made me throw things at Georgia students.

2. OU at Miami 10/3/09. This game made me hate Jacory Harris and Miami Fans. The only nice ones were the one from New York who I got to tailgate next to. And by New York, I mean they could have been extras on Jersey Shore.

1. FSU at OU 9/11/10. First OU home game I ever attended. Went with a friend who is an FSU grad. Yelled at people who were being disrespectful after the 9/11 homage. Yelled at FSU players..could touch the players if I wanted to. Realized that some FSU players were nice guys when they gave their arm bands to one of the little kids and got berated for it by their coaches. Heinous sunburn. ALL. THE. BEER. Oh and OU won.

10. 10/29/94 UF 52, Georgia 14
Darren Hambrick makes the single most spectacular individual play I’ve ever seen at the Swamp on an interception return to end the first half.
9. 10/3/98 UF 16, Bama 10
First trip to Denny Field (as some old-timers still called it), home team fans couldn’t be nicer, Gators overcome fumble-itis to prevail. Staying in Rose Tower and hanging with the Tide fans made the weekend.
8. 11/29/86 UF 14, FSU 10
Bell to Nattiel in a downpour in Tally.
7. 9/17/88 UF 58, Indiana State 0
My high school teammate Stacey caught a pass in the left flat, reversed field, turned the corner on the whole defense, and scored. First time Gator fans saw how special he was. Dude still has two of the longest scoring receptions in Gator history. If he didn’t blow out a knee against LSU….
6. 12/29/88 UF 14, Illinois 10
Now-defunct All-American Bowl in Birmingham. Defense-dominated game, thought Emmitt made a nice play at the beginning and at the end of the game, and Huey Richardson seemed to single-handedly bottle up Jeff George and the Illini. The party in the South Side was more than half the fun in my first bowl game.
5. 1/2/99 UF 31, Syracuse 10
Due to the _olphins hosting a playoff game at Joe Robbie, this Orange Bowl was actually played at the Orange Bowl. I was really impressed by Rob Konrad for the Orange, but that McNabb guy seemed way overrated. Eight future NFLers on the Gator defense made Donovan look positively ordinary. Bonus: I got to go with my buddy Chris and his new girlfriend, who, having attended Cal State San Luis Obisbo, had never seen a real college football game before. She liked the result, and I guess she liked him, since they’re married with two boys now.
4. 1/2/02 UF 56, Maryland 23
Rexy sits out the first quarter for a curfew violation, then lights up an overmatched ACC team (is there any other kind?) en route to a rout in Spurrier’s last game as HBC at Florida. Bonus points for straight-on kicker Matt Piotrowicz getting six tackles on nine kickoffs.
3. 11/1/86 UF 18 Auburn 17
Gators fall behind 17-0 to the #5 ranked ream, before Kerwin limps on to the field and leads UF to it’s most memorable comback ever (at least in my memory). Damndest thing: Florida beat Auburn, Georgia, and FSU that year, yet didn’t get invited to a bowl game. Losses to Mississippi State and Kentucky might’ve had something to do with that, I dunno.
2. 10/23/93 Toronto Blue Jays 8, Philadelphia Phillies 6
Lucked into tickets, proposed to my girlfriend just before the game (she said “Yes”), then Joe Carter did his thing. Why am I including a baseball game in this list? Because I’ve been a Jays fan since the late ‘70s, and because Fuck Clemson, that’s why.
1. 1/2/97 UF 52, FSU 20
You always remember your first.
And the next morning, when all the celebrating was over, the wife looks at me and says, “I’m throwing away my pills. I want to have your children.”
Yep, good trip.

9/29/07: _______ 33 – ND 19. No explanation needed.

11/22/08: _______ 62 – IU 10. Sending Papa Joe out with a bang.

11/7/09: _______ 38 – Michigan 36. At the Big House. First win there since 1967. In their student section.

Where’s Purdue Harbor? Too drunk/hungover to watch my team get destroyed by OSU in person that day. me = moron.

1) 2010 Football: Michigan State 34, Notre Dame 31. Aaron Bates hits Charlie Gantt with a TD pass on a fake field goal in OT. By far, the best sporting event I’ve ever attended, and it was my first game at Spartan Stadium in a decade.

2) 1999 Football: MSU beats Michigan to start the season 7-0. Lots of future pros in this game on both sides of the ball. MSU had a 3 TD lead in the 2nd half when Tom Brady subbed in for Drew Henson as UM’s quarterback. Brady almost led the Wolverines back, but MSU held on for the huge victory.

3) 2000 Citrus Bowl: MSU 34, Florida 31 – Plaxico Burress goes off for 150+ yards and 3 TDs. Paul Edinger wins it with a FG at the buzzer to top the OBC and the Gatah

4) 2010 Basketball – Regional semis and finals in St. Louis. MSU beats Northern Iowa and Tennessee to reach the Final 4. I sit next to Magic Johnson for half of the UNI game.

Those are the only games that truly stand out. I was in school during down periods for both football and basketball, (‘92 to ’97) so none of those games really stand out. I’ve been back for only a few games since I graduated.

1. Nov 4, 2000 NU 54 Michigan 51. Randy Walker introduces the world to the spread offense and Urban Meyer among others take note

1. Oct 2, 2004 NU 33 OSU 27. NU broke a 33-year losing streak to OSU, beating the sixth-ranked Buckeyes in overtime. Last time the "goal posts were laked"…

1. Jan 1, 2010 – Outback Bowl: NU 35 Auburn 38 — Pat Fitzgerald lets thug life off the hook, by going for a TD in OT, instead of a FG. War Eagle has not lost since…

1. Nov 7, 2009 – NU 17, Iowa 10. Beating Iowa in Kennick, as the undefeated, 4th ranked Hawkeyes shit the bed for the second year in a row at home. Corey Wooten begins his career of knocking out QBs, as Stanzi goes down and goes down hard. Favre gets the same treatment 3 years later.

1. Nov 13, 2010 – NU 21 Iowa 17. Three in a row, as just NU macks the Hawks, and they like it a lot.

1. Nov 5, 2005 NU 28 Iowa 27. Same as the others, but Cats spot Hawks 21 points and mount them Hawks.

1. 2007 Kentucky over #1 LSU in 3OT (eventual national champion LSU that is). That was a very special moment and the best father-son moment I can ever think of with my dad.
2. 2010 Kentucky over #10 South Carolina
3.-10. (Kentucky has only had 2 good football games in program history)

I was in college 88 – 92 and promptly moved to the east coast, so the only games I’ve seen live since were:

• ’92 Liberty Bowl – the horror
• ’00 SC v Penn State @ Meadowlands. Man, those Penn State fans were surly.
• ’03 @ Washington
• ’05 v VA Tech @ FedEx Field
• ’08 @ Virginia

and with the exception of the Liberty Bowl, they were all just delightful.

But really, even though very few games in college stand out after the passage of time, and I know there was nary a win against Notre Dame, they were all good – because I was young and dumb, they sold beer in the stadium, and sometimes you got to see Oklahoma get pantsed and sometimes it was another heartbreaker against UCLA but there was always something else to do, whether you were celebrating or blowing off steam.

1. Fiesta I, Jan, 1 2007, Boise State vs. Oklahoma
2. ‘07 @home vs. Nevada (69-67 4OT)
3. ’09 @home vs. Oregon (19-8)
4. Fiesta II, January 4, 2010 vs. TCU (17-10)
5. ’06 @home vs. Oregon State (42-14)
6. ’09 @home vs dUI (63-25, because honestly, who doesn’t like beating a Vandal?)
7. LV Bowl vs. Utah (26-3)
8. ’09 @home vs NMSU (42-7, because it was the last one as an undergrad)
9. ’06 @home vs Fresno St. (45-21)
10. ’06 @home vs. Sacramento State (45-0, yes it WAS a Div IAA team, but it was my first game as a BSU undergrad. Ever. so it counts.)

Notice that the ‘08 season didn’t make the cut. While I went to all the home games, they were nothing to write home about that season.

1. 2006 Michigan (42-39): Game of the Century, not much else needs to be said. Still have a piece of the field planted in our mulch bed back home.
2. 2009 USC (15-18): I know we lost, but that was the craziest I have ever seen the Shoe. I remember sitting by myself in the stands for an hour after the game, then driving back home to Sandusky at 3 a.m., all alone. I’m surprised I didn’t jerk the wheel into a ditch.
3. 2009 @Michigan (21-10): First/only time in the Big House, sat in student section, plus we won to go the the Rose Bowl, always fun.
4. 2009 @Penn State (24-7): First/only time in Happy Valley. Pryor’s return to Pennsylvania. The Penn State students were the angriest opposing fans I have ever seen, I think they are pissed that we’re their rival but they aren’t ours. Anyway, watching Pryor torture them on one leg was neat.
5. 2008 Michigan (42-7): Senior year of high school, me and my Michigan fan friend road-tripped to C-Bus for the day to watch Laurinaitis, Beanie and co. welcome RichRod to the world’s greatest rivalry.
6. 2009 Iowa (27-24 OT): Overtime for the Big Ten title. Rushed the field afterward and sung Carmen Ohio amidst the team. Pretty cool.
7. 2010 Miami (36-24): Beating the hell out of “Da U” in Columbus was sweet, especially watching Cam Heyward run stagger the length of the field after his interception.
8. 2010 Michigan (37-7): RichRod’s final foray into the world’s greatest rivalry. First home Michigan game as a student.
9. 2004 Penn State (21-10): First game in the Shoe. Tedd Ginn had a punt return for a touchdown and the defense had a pick-six, only time I got to see Santonio Holmes/AJ Hawk in-person.
10. 2009 Wisconsin (31-13): Killed the Badgers despite 180 total yards. Two defensive TDs and a Ray Small kick return TD were the offense for the Buckeyes

1. 2007 Auburn – First blackout game. I have never experienced Sanford Stadium as electric as it was that night. You just had to be there to understand.

2. 2004 Cocktail Party – Even if it was Coach [Redacted’s] first lame duck game, it is the only win over the Gators I’ve seen live (only been to the 2004 and 2005 games live). After 2005, I refuse to go back to Jacksonville because I don’t want to experience the sorrow that most likely accompanies a UGA fan’s trip back.

3. 2002 Auburn – Freshman year, first road game. Never heard a crowd go from so loud to so silent you could hear a pin drop when Greene hit Johnson on 4th and 15 in the back of the end zone to wrap up the SEC East.

4. 2002 Clemson – First game as an undergrad and Fuck Clemson. That’s why.

5. 2002 Georgia Tech – I usually have qualms about running the score up, but I’ve got no problem doing it against little brother.

6. 2009 Georgia Tech – On their way to the ACCCG the next week. UGA having its worst season in nearly a decade. Many drunken Tech frat boys screaming in my face on the way in “What’s the good word?”. Four hours later after Caleb and Washaun wrapped up our ownership of the state those same frat boys didn’t find me asking them “What’s the good word?” as hilarious as they did earlier that night.

7. 2004 LSU – Revenge for the two losses a season earlier. David Greene completed 10 passes in this game. Five of them were for TD’s. I believe it’s still the worst loss a Nick Saban coached team has experienced.

8. 2006 Auburn – UGA comes in unranked after losing four games in five weeks. Auburn is still in the BCS discussion after upsetting Florida earlier in the year. Auburn gets bitch slapped by a four loss team with a freshman QB on the road when Brandon Cox decides to complete more passes to the UGA secondary than to his own team. Weather was miserable, but the joy was pure bliss.

9. 2003 Auburn – Odell Thurman returning an Jason Campbell INT 99 yards for a TD is the single loudest moment I can remember in Sanford Stadium.

10. 2006 Georgia Tech – Reggie Ball. The gift that just keeps on giving.

As with the OP, tough to rank these, so we’ll go chronologically.

1. 1997 Syracuse: my first football game in person, and we crunched Donovan McTurtle.
2. 1999 Clemson: Thursday night, Corey Moore goes MY GAME on Brandon Streeter in the fourth quarter, forcing a fumble, recovering it and returning it to the end zone to lock the game up and make clear that this season just might be a big deal. One of the three loudest moments I have ever heard in Lane.
3. 1999 BC: capping the undefeated season. The old scoreboard had a 3-line by ~15-character LED board; we watched it update us on Nebraska-Colorado from the field until it became clear that with that game in overtime, NU couldn’t jump us to go to the MNC game.
4. 2000 Sugar Bowl vs FSU: we lost, but we damn well proved we belonged there. No, VT’s modern era didn’t start here; pin that on 1995. But in terms of making our point to a national audience, this was it.
5. 2001 Miami: despite Grant Noel’s 4-for-20 day, we were a dropped 2-point conversion from knocking off one of the greatest college football teams of the past 15 years. The blocked punt/recovery TD that led to that dropped conversion was another of those loudest moments in Lane; as the volume cranked up with Miami at the line, I’m convinced to this day that every single person in the stadium, on both sides, knew that punt would be blocked. Beamerball is a cliché now; back then, at its best and before other coaches caught on to using your best players on special teams, it was closer to a reign of terror.
6. 2003 Miami: probably the loudest game by average across the full 60 minutes. After we’d blown a potential undefeated run at WVU the previous week, we were fighting for our lives against a top-5 UM team. Sadly, some of the vindication of this game was wiped out by the absolute disgrace of the rest of the season.
7. 2004 Duke: VT’s inaugural ACC game. The Sugar Bowl was about national validation; this was personal. Two generations of Hokies grew up in Virginia with their noses pressed against the ACC’s window in the popular press, and watched the Metro bounce us, the A-10 drain the life from our basketball program and non-revenue sports, and the Big East only admit us under extreme financial duress. Conference realignment had been an existential drama to our athletic program; seeing those letters on our field and a new set of banners flying from the top of Lane made it clear that we were home now.
8. 2004 @Miami: “A-C-C! A-C-C!” In the one year of an 11-team ACC, this game became a de facto ACCCG. Before the game, a Miami fan ran screaming into the middle of the small parking lot under the 836 that about 20 Hokies had colonized, lit a maroon T-shirt on fire and threw it down. At the end of the game, the OB scoreboard operator powered down as soon as the clock hit 0:00, preventing any pictures from being taken. None of it mattered. Starting play in the ACC was validation; winning the league capped it.
9. 2008 @Nebraska: A-plus. Unquestionably my best Hokie road trip ever. Competitive game that we won, good showing by the traveling Hokies (including a visible presence at O’Hare the next day), absolutely top-notch hosts.
10. 2009 Nebraska: the return visit was excruciating for 58 minutes and change, but then Tyrod hit Danny Coale down the sideline and Dyrell Roberts streaking frantically across the end zone. Post-Roberts TD is also in the three loudest moments I’ve ever heard at Lane.

I’m only going to list 5, but they’re pretty good.

5. LSU – Ark on a friday after thanksgiving sometime around 2003 (I actually don’t know when). Close game as I recall. Notable because a friend of mine and I got the exact same random guy to buy us beer before and after the game…which actually means I’m wrong on the date because I must not have been 21, must have been in 2001. Hashish was smoked inside tiger stadium, which can’t happen that often.

4. LSU 28 UT 24 – 2006. In Knoxville, LSU won on the last play of the game. Glenn Dorsey was running over to the LSU section and getting them jacked up beyond belief in between series. Inexplicably, I and a group of LSU fans were sold seats directly behind the UT bench. Needless to say, bad idea. They were screaming at the UT players by name and number all game, including classics like “Yo 26, you’re blocking for a bitch”

2 (tie). LSU 40 Miami 3 2005 (Peach Bowl) Two top 10 teams. Total asskicking of Miami, with the backup QB in his first start no less. Massive shit talking by UM fans before the game, not so much afterwards. Seemed like karma for all the shit Miami put everybody through for what seemed like forever. I’m not enough of an expert on Miami to say this for sure, but it almost seems like UM’s never been the same. I almost got into a fight with two UGA fans while totally hammered in front of my parents when they (the UGA fans) switched sides midway through the game.

2 (tie) LSU 31 – Tennessee 20 (SEC Championship) Ruined Tennessee’s national title hopes, with our backup QB (again!) after they cheap shotted Rohan Davey out of bounds. I was living in ATL at the time as well, so I got to party properly before and after the game.

(BONUS STORY ABOUT THIS GAME: There was an elderly man and what was almost certainly his granddaughter sitting near me who were UT fans. The LSU fans were giving him unbelievable amounts of shit (not me, seriously). Dude got so pissed he pulled out his pocket knife and threatened them, and he and his poor granddaughter were promptly thrown out of the game. I would imagine this would be his worst game of all time.)

1. LSU – Florida 1997. First really good game I can remember attending, as we weren’t very good for the first 9 or so years that I attended games. Florida was #1, and Spurrier had our number but there was definitely a feeling in the air that we had that one, for no discernable reason. Total revenge game against OBC, one of Kevin Faulk’s best games, and Spurrier (as I recall) has said that the aftermath was the only time he’s really feared for his life at a football game.

Honorable Mention. NU 34, FSU 17 – 1986
My first Husker game in person, and if I remember right it was also the first night game in Lincoln. I’d placed third or something like it at the state fair spelling bee that morning [ogre.NERDS.jpg], but I was far more excited about the game. It rained – we wore trashbag raincoats – NU won convincingly – I haz a happee.

5. NU 52, CU 7 – 1992
“The Nightmare on 10th Street.” Halloween night game, so everyone’s properly lubricated, many are in costume, and Colorado thinks they’ve got a chance. I’ve never heard Memorial Stadium louder in person. We stomped them Buffaloes good that night.

4. NU 17, KSU 6 – 1994
Tommie Frazier was out with bloodclots, Brook Berringer out with a collapsed lung, so Matt Turman, the Turmanator, who I’d sacked in a playoff game three years earlier, gets the start for NU. Liberal doses of Lawrence Phillips and the Pipeline turned KSU’s defense into mush by the end of the 4th quarter and NU survives an honestly tough game. KSU fans were shitheels, so the victory was doubly enjoyable. At the band party the night before, I started flirting with a very attractive young lady, and by the time we rolled back into Lincoln the next night we were an item. WINNING all around.

3. NU 24, CU 7 – 1994
200th consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium. GOOOOOOOORGEOUS fall afternoon for college football. Brook Berringer is healed up and torches Colorado multiple times, including a play-action option pass to Eric Alford which might still be the prettiest play I’ve ever seen in NU history. It wasn’t even as close as the score indicates: complete ass-whupping all around.

2. NU 62, Gators 24 – 1996 Fiesta Bowl.
For the sake of Fearless Leader, I’ll just leave it at that.

1. NU 24, Miami 16 – 1995 Orange Bowl.
SOOOO many demons exorcised that night. 10 years after Osborne goes for 2 with the best offense college football ever saw. 1 year after losing to FSU, helped by terrible officiating. Seven straight bowl losses prior to this game. We’re down a few points at the start of the 4th quarter, but during a TV timeout we notice Warren Sapp and Ray Lewis are on their knees gasping for air, while the Pipeline (NU offensive line) is standing tall and ready to keep kicking ass. For once, NU is the faster, stronger team in Florida in January and delivers a knockout punch to win Osborne his first national title. I’m not kidding when I say a significant portion of my entire childhood was spent waiting for this moment – I was 9 in 1984 and remembered the end of that Orange Bowl all too well. Oh, and I was still seeing the lovely young lady from the Kansas Sate game above, which was nice.