T1B

nice moonshine jug.

lydell mitchell was a stud. from my absolute earliest NFL memories is him with the Colts. and Terry Metcalf with the Cardinals.

Nice astroturf. Please tell me it has been replaced at some point in the last forty years?

That WV running back worked damn hard to get back to the line of scrimmage about a minute in.

[wolfie/luther]I like how the PSU db just got up and patiently hopped around to flip the ball to the ref then shake hands with his teammate as they ran to the sideline. Does anybody do that any more? Does every run of the mill play end with a WWF style celebration just for doing your job on the field?[/wolfie/luther]

JoePa was the young age of what..82 back in '69? ahhhh the good ol days of youth.

Did Joe ever consider getting some contacts? Just wondered.

TheJON wrote:Did Joe ever consider getting some contacts? Just wondered.

They don't make contacts thick enough for him.

I didn't know that Penn State used to have the numbers on the helmets, Bama-style.

Lydell Mitchell and Franco Harris might have been the best college backfield ever, at least in terms of NFL success.

I liked West Virginia wearing the gold unis on the road. With the rule change, I'd like to see ND go back to green on the road (for most games, anyway -- obviously we can't do that against Michigan State) and white for bowl games (we used to do better in bowl games when we always wore white for bowl games).

Terry in Crapchester wrote:I liked West Virginia wearing the gold unis on the road.

That was pretty cool to see. I know Pitt has worn the gold on the road occaisionally over the last couple of season. I am hoping that we can get gold jersey at some point and wear it at home, or on the road.

What other great college backfield combos have there been, in terms of NFL success...

I bet people here come up with some good ones.

Erik Dickerson and Craig James.

Marcus Allen and Charles White.

Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams. (Okay, I'm reaching there.)

What about Frank Gore and whathisface, who blew up his knee...

Did Warrick Dunn have any good backfield mates at FSU, or Emmitt at Florida?

Jesus, I'm blanking on this shit now, but didn't Barry Sanders have someone good there at Okie St, just ahead of him?

Rocky Blier have anybody good with him at ND? They were good then, and I don't recall Rocky being the big star, so maybe there was some big star there with him...

Does USFL/NFL success count?

Mike Rozier and Mark Schellene

NFL

Roger Craig/Tom Rathman okay my years might be amiss, but as MGo says..."You've been drinking the swill"

Ahman Green/Cory Schlesinger see above

Thurman Thomas, O State before Barry Sanders. Willis McGahee blew out his knee at Miami.

Billy Sims, David Overstreet, Kenny King.

Huskers: Roger Craig, Mike Rozier, Tom Rathman, Irving Fryer and Turner Gill. that was some sick shit out of the I option.

Thurman Thomas...

:doh:

Okay, if he and Barry Sanders ever shared the same backfield while at Okie St then there's your #1 collegiate backfield of all time, in terms of NFL success.

I don't think Mike Garrett and O.J. Simpson ever did, but I'd put Thomas-Sanders above them anyway.

Defensively, I don't know that any pair will beat Ronnie Lott and Dennis Smith.

i don't think TT and BS ever split carries. and they didn't beat OU.

Pokes had Gundy, Hart Lee Dykes and Sanders together though.

Van wrote:Rocky Blier have anybody good with him at ND? They were good then, and I don't recall Rocky being the big star, so maybe there was some big star there with him...

I'm drawing a blank as to who, if anyone we heard of at the NFL level, played with Bleier in the backfield at ND. That being said, the most fertile time for running backs at ND was in the late 80's -- early 90's, when the following went through:

Anthony Johnson
Ricky Watters
Tony Brooks
Reggie Brooks
Rodney Culver
Dorsey Levens
Jerome Bettis
Ray Zellers
Mark Edwards

Obviously, that stretches over the course of a few years, and not all of these guys were in school at the same time. Every name on that list overlaps a few of the others, though, and all of these guys went on to play in the NFL, albeit with significantly varying degrees of success at that level.

From my time, Larry Moriarty, Greg Bell and Allen Pinkett all went on to play in the NFL.

Vegas Ferguson was a pretty good back for ND.

however, if extended period of time is the thing...you'd be hard pressed to beat for Greg Pruitt, Joe Washington, Elvis Peacock, David Overstreet, Kenny King, Billy Sims. all those cats were avg'ing about 7 ypc. Pruitt avg'd 9 one year. 9 yards per tote, that's just sick.

King Crimson wrote:Vegas Ferguson was a pretty good back for ND.

Speaking of which, Vagas and Jerome Heavens were in the same backfield, and each, for a time, was the all-time leading rusher in ND history. I don't think there's another college backfield at any school, in history, that could make that claim. Not in the modern era, anyway.

Yes, it would be difficult for any other backfield from any other school in history to claim they were ever ND's all time leading rushers.



One other thing's for certain: One would be hard pressed to come up with a cooler couple of names in one backfield than Vegas (or was it Vagas?) Ferguson and Jerome Heavens.

I.M. Hipp might be able to say something there. Who were his backfield running mates?

Van wrote: I.M. Hipp might be able to say something there. Who were his backfield running mates?

out of the I, Hipp's mate was probably some roided up farm kid FB from Smalltown, NE. Jarvis Redwine was Hipp's successor in the I-back, if i recall.

it took Dr. Tom a while to realize you could recruit the brothers to run the option. but he was stacked with Jersey bro's at I back.

Okay, yeah, that's right, Jarvis Redwine. That's your coolest sounding tandem right there, I.M. Hipp and Jarvis Redwine, if those two ever played together.

Van wrote:Okay, yeah, that's right, Jarvis Redwine. That's your coolest sounding tandem right there, I.M. Hipp and Jarvis Redwine, if those two ever played together.

let's Sooner out and go with Elvis Peacock and Horace Ivory. screw the Bugeaters. ehheh.

I. M. Hipp will be a monster name to overcome.

Van wrote:Okay, yeah, that's right, Jarvis Redwine. That's your coolest sounding tandem right there, I.M. Hipp and Jarvis Redwine, if those two ever played together.

They were teammates for one season: 1979. Redwine was a transfer from Oregon State, so he had to sit out the '78 season.

What makes Jerome Heavens and Vagas Ferguson so unique is that they were actually on the field together. Heavens played FB and Ferguson played TB. I'm guessing that Hipp and Redwine were rarely on the field at the same time, except perhaps when Nebraska was using the wishbone.

Van wrote:I. M. Hipp will be a monster name to overcome.

Leodis Flowers

Terry in Crapchester wrote:

Van wrote:Okay, yeah, that's right, Jarvis Redwine. That's your coolest sounding tandem right there, I.M. Hipp and Jarvis Redwine, if those two ever played together.

They were teammates for one season: 1979. Redwine was a transfer from Oregon State, so he had to sit out the '78 season.

What makes Jerome Heavens and Vagas Ferguson so unique is that they were actually on the field together. Heavens played FB and Ferguson played TB. I'm guessing that Hipp and Redwine were rarely on the field at the same time, except perhaps when Nebraska was using the wishbone.

Nebraska ran the option out of the I. maybe they ran some bone with Devaney, that's before my time.

Van wrote:I. M. Hipp will be a monster name to overcome.

College basketball player, but I always thought Napoleon Lightning was the best sports name I ever heard. He played for the St. Francis Red Flash (I think that's the school in PA; IIRC, the one in NY is nicknamed the Terriers) against ND my junior year at ND. He was his team's star player -- with a name like that, what else would you expect?

Agreed. Nothing tops Napoleon Lightning. That's nearly a porn-level fake name.

If we're going outside of college football, another perfect name that sounds completely made up was the Russian tennis player, Anna Smashnova.

Van wrote:If we're going outside of college football, another perfect name that sounds completely made up was the Russian tennis player, Anna Smashnova.

World B. Free

I don't count that one, since it actually was a made up name. Lloyd Free doesn't quite have the same panache.

God Shamgod

Dixie Normous

Killian wrote:God Shamgod

If that one was on dude's birth certificate then it's at least a podium finisher.

When you think about it, all names are made up.

Mercury Morris.

Killian wrote:God Shamgod

Best...one...ever. He had a decent run in that one tourney with Ron Artest.

TheJON wrote:Dixie Normous

Shocker N0J has manmeat on his mind.

PSUFAN wrote:

Killian wrote:God Shamgod

Best...one...ever. He had a decent run in that one tourney with Ron Artest.

Didn't God Shamgod go to Providence, not St. John's?

I guess I'm getting things mixed up...

Maybe you're thinking of Bootsie Thornton.