re: The 2025 Ohio State team might be the greatest team in College Football history.

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No they didn't.

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Texas scored with 3:28 left to make it 14-7 and were driving down to potentially tie it with a minute or so left in the game when Ohio State’s defense stepped up and made the stop on 4th down to win by a TD. Not exactly a blowout victory.

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It says in the subject Ohio State might be the greatest team in college football history

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That’s silly hyperbole

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And the tweet has Michigan as a great team also

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I mean they went 15-0 and won the NC in 4 team playoff. This is kind of semantics, saying they were great =/= saying the all time greatest

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The 2019 LSU team is very overrated and would've gotten trounced by the 2020 Bama team.

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Jesus Christ lol

At least do better at disguising your trolling

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a pretty shitty 8-4 Florida team made bama sweat in Atlanta

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That 8-4 Florida team alone had as many first rounders the following spring (2) as 1995 Nebraska and all of its opponents combined.

Teams at the height of the SEC and playoff era have had and faced far more talent than great teams of many years ago.

Mentioning 2023 Michigan and 2024 Ohio State but not 2018 Clemson and 2020 Alabama is certainly a choice.

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Mentioning 2023 Michigan and 2024 Ohio State but not 2018 Clemson and 2020 Alabama is certainly a choice.

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I don’t know why 2018 Clemson doesn’t get more love.

1. They had a #1 pick at QB who could run and throw. 1995 Nebraska’s QB was a limited passer.

2. They had a RB who averaged 8.1 ypc in 2018 and has been a consistent NFL starter. 1995 Nebraska’s RB was a colossal head case.

3. The WR comparison is a joke.

4. 2018 Clemson had a good OL with an All-American LT. No one on 1995 Nebraska’s OL was an All-American.

5. 2018 Clemson had two first team All-Americans and three first round draft picks on the DL. Wistrom was really the only standout on the 1995 Nebraska DL and he was just a sophomore.

6. Isaiah Simmons was an All-American and first round draft pick, and Tre Lamar was a 250 lb. thumper in the middle. 1995 Nebraska didn’t have anyone like that.

7. 2018 Clemson had a great secondary led by A.J. Terrell, who was better than anything 1995 Nebraska had.

8. Dabo Swinney has won two outright national titles in less time than Osborne. Venables is one of the most respected defensive minds in the game.

9. 2018 Clemson won 15 games to 1995 Nebraska’s 12.

10. 2018 won the national title against a better opponent than 1995 Nebraska did.

The only criticism of 2018 Clemson is Lawrence was a freshman and it took a few games for him to overtake an incumbent starter and for the team to gel with him as the QB. Once they did, though, they blew everyone out and truly had no weaknesses in any position group. And with such a strong defensive front and a great DC who actually coached against the Nebraska I in the late ‘90s/early ‘00s, they would be well prepared for their running game.

I would take 2018 Clemson over 1995 Nebraska all day.

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He was also the 6th pick in the draft.

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And (unlike Etienne) didn’t have the talent or mentality to thrive in the NFL.

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You’ve used the draft/NFL talent as a marker of the lack of talent 95 Nebraska had and played against.

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It’s a pretty good marker, eh?

How did Osborne’s teams fare against the Oklahoma (Switzer), Miami, and FSU teams that had NFL-ready defensive talent that none of their 1995 opponents had?

1995 Nebraska didn’t have to deal with the Selmon brothers, Brian Bosworth, Cortez Kennedy, Jesse Armstead, Michael Barrow, Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp, Ray Lewis, Jonathan Vilma, Ed Reed, etc., like a lot of Nebraska’s contenders had to in the Devaney-Osborne-Solich years.

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When you ignore that about Phillips and just say he was a head case (which is true) it shows you have more of an agenda rather than debunking a common belief.

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Phillips was exposed in the NFL (both mentally and physically) when he wasn’t facing mediocre run defenses anymore.

If your life depended on it, would you want to saddle up with Phillips and give him 25 carries into the teeth of, say, the 2021 UGA defense? Would you really count on him giving you a ball busting effort against a really formidable defense?

I wouldn’t.

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At least you could have said he only had a 6.0 ypc in his best season or 7.7 in only 5 games in 95

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I mentioned Etienne’s 8.1 yoc in 2018.

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Not really the point, lots of guys that were draft high have busted out. Phillips was a criminal, maybe mentally ill, but he did have enormous talent which is why he was drafted high.

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He was indeed talented but also struggled with adversity, and Nebraska backs didn’t face much adversity running through the old Big 8 conference.

I question if (in a real game) Phillips would put forth a valiant effort against a defensive front that could match his OL and lay the wood to him here and there. He certainly couldn’t do it in the NFL.

I think Phillips was more of a frontrunner than a winner.

It’s a valid criticism.

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It’s a pretty good marker, eh?

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Yes, so when you don’t mention it about Phillips is looks like you have an agenda rather than using facts/data.

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Phillips was the only player on the field in the infamous 1996 Fiesta Bowl who would go in the first round the following spring.

I don’t think you would find too many national championship games where that is the case, especially in the playoff era.

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Barry Sanders played in the same conference a few years earlier, quality of defenses faced in college had nothing to do with Phillips success in college or his failure in the NFL.

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Sanders proved he could be successful at both levels. Phillips did not.

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your bias is showing which is too bad because you make some interesting points but it’s becoming clear you just don’t like Nebraska or Osborne

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I actually like Osborne and Nebraska. What I believe people fail to realize is that (in GOAT discussions) the 1995 team did not have to face the same hurdles as many other Nebraska teams.

1. Osborne struggled against Barry Switzer because the wishbone was hell in its day and OU had great defenses. Nebraska didn’t have face that in 1995.

2. Osborne had a seven game (nearly eight game) bowl losing streak from 1987-1993 against some really talented defensive fronts with coaches experienced against his scheme. Nebraska didn’t have to face that in 1995.

3. Bill McCartney challenged Osborne at times at Colorado. Nebraska didn’t have to face him in 1995.

4. Osborne faced a number of OOC national championship contenders in his career like Bryant’s Bama teams, Paterno at PSU, etc. Nebraska didn’t face any of that in 1995.

I’m not saying 1995 Nebraska wasn’t great because they were, but every hurdle that tripped up Osborne for so many years was moved out of the way in 1995.

The 1971 and 1994 Nebraska teams were undefeated. The 1971 team had to play one OU’s best teams and the 1994 group had to try to move the ball on Sapp and Lewis in the infamous Orange Bowl.

The 1995 team faced OU at rock bottom and a Florida team in the bowl game that was pass-oriented and did not care about defense, much less run defense.

The 1995 opposition couldn’t have been more favorable for Osborne’s style. A lot of his teams would have run through the Big 8 without an elite OU, shitty OOC competition, and no future NFL stud DL and LB’s to worry about in the bowl game.

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This is completely irrelevant, we could sit here all day and find players that “did not face adversity” in college that were great pros.

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How many of those guys committed s**cide in prison?

If Phillips had played against a defense like 2011 Bama or 2018 Clemson or 2021 UGA and was called upon to carry the ball 25-30 times, you don’t think its valid to question him having the mentality to do that to the best of his ability?

I would not bet on Lawrence Phillips against an opponent of equal talent.

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The quality of competition faced in college has nothing to do with how a player does in the pros.

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If a player was successful in college but couldn’t hack it in the NFL, perhaps that player wasn’t necessarily as good as he looked.

A lot of Nebraska backs rushed for big yardage on overmatched opponents in the old days.

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To the original point you did not mention Phillips was a top 6 pick, actually you didn’t even name him you just said he was a head case, while true it’s an incomplete picture and implies bias.

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Head case is putting it mildly.

Etienne averaged 8.1 ypc in 2018 to Phillips’ 7.4 ypc in 1995. Etienne has been a hell of a lot better against NFL competition.

Whatever.

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You could have compared his stats to Etienne and said TE was better but glossing over it looks like you’re trying to hide the fact about where he was drafted.

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Okay, he was drafted #6. What does that change?

At every position group on the field 2018 Clemson is comparable or a lot better than 1995 Nebraska. And with Clemson’s DL and Venables” time at OU during Nebraska’s I formation days, they would match up especially well against the old Nebraska style.

I would like to know how anyone thinks a one-dimensional I formation offense with no receiving threats would be favored to beat a team that has superior talent on the DL (that is also well coached) combined with a balanced offense with a future #1 pick at QB.

How is that a favorable matchup for the Huskers?

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How many of those guys committed s**cide in prison?

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There are NFL Hall of Famers that committed suicide that’s not really relevant to how good the 1995 Nebraska team ranks all time

He was 6’0 212 and ran in the 4.4-4.5 range, talking about his mental makeup 20 years later is shifting the goal post the discussion is about Nebraska.

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If a player was successful in college but couldn’t hack it in the NFL, perhaps that player wasn’t necessarily as good as he looked. A lot of Nebraska backs rushed for big yardage on overmatched opponents in the old days.

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A lot of Alabama and UGA backs couldn’t hack it in the NFL. But players are not the same at every stage of life, some peak in college other develop in the pros. Ahman Green was a freshman on the 95 Nebraska team and their leading rusher in 97, he had a 12 year NFL career. The point you are still missing is the level of competition he faces in college has no bearing on good he can be in the pros