FanHouse OldSchool

"Old School" is the College Football FanHouse's irregular look back at the rich history of college football, usually through the medium of embeddable flash video. Check out the Old School archive for more famous plays and infamous hair.

Though Michigan-Notre Dame doesn't shape up to be one of the marquee games of 2008, it was a big deal in 1992. The teams would finish with just one loss between them, though Michigan would pick up three ties. One of them came against Notre Dame thanks in large part to this spectacular Reggie Brooks touchdown run:



Yes, Brooks was out when he crossed the goal line and, yes, Notre Dame's current defensive coordinator missed a tackle. Working for them even then, the scoundrel.

Start your work week off right with Monday Morning Coffee, where Fanhouse scours YouTube for the finest college football footage available. Either that or we give up after a couple minutes and just post the "I Like Turtles" kid.

The Pitt Panthers are heading into the 2008 season buoyed by a strong returning team and a stunning upset of likely title contenders West Virginia to finish their 2007 campaign. It's rather unfamiliar territory for Pitt fans under the age of 30, as Pitt has spent the last 20 years somewhere between "mediocre" and "punchline." Yes, Pitt went to a BCS Bowl in 2004, but they were smoked by Utah, finished ranked #25, and were generally regarded as the worst team in BCS history until Hawaii redefined "suck" last year. Oh, and their coach is known best for his inconsistent facial hair.

Things weren't always so bad for Panthers, though. Back in the late 70s and early 80s, they featured guys like Dan Marino, Tony Dorsett, and the man who (sorry, Michigan fans) most deserved to be the first defensive Heisman winner, Hugh Green. Though the Panthers would never capture the MNC in the era, they came awfully close. Here, they face Georgia in the 1980 Sugar Bowl.



Yes, that's the Jackie Sherrill. This would be his last game coaching for Pitt, moving on to coach at Texas A&M for a then-record $1.7 million over 6 years (seriously, that was a record). He resigned among controversy in 1988, leaving the Aggies in smoldering, NCAA-sanctioned ruins. After three years away from the game, Sherrill stepped in as head coach at Mississippi State in 1991. He stayed for 12 seasons, leaving the Bulldogs in (surprise!) even worse, smoldering, NCAA-sanctioned ruins. He does, however, make the bowtie "work."

"Old School" is the College Football FanHouse's irregular look back at the rich history of college football, usually through the medium of embeddable flash video. Check out the Old School archive for more famous plays and infamous hair.

Before offering bloomin' onions and enraging Iowa fans, the Outback Bowl was the Hall of Fame Bowl, a plucky little operation out of the tiny city of Tampa, Florida.

On January 1, 1990, the Hall of Fame Bowl was hosting Auburn and Ohio State. The Buckeyes took an early lead and seemed to be in command of the game. Then Auburn tailback Stacy Danley took a flare pass from Reggie Slack, a decision that nearly cost him his life.



Amazingly enough, that hit did more to incite the passion of Auburn than of OSU. Said Auburn LB Quentin Riggins:

"When we saw that hit and what it did to Stacy, it woke us up."

We're sure Riggins was speaking metaphorically, but in case anyone at the stadium was literally asleep, they were probably jarred into consciousness with the sound of Zack Dumas rearranging Danley's nervous system. Nonetheless, the Tigers would rattle off four straight touchdowns en route to a 31-14 victory.

"Old School" is the College Football FanHouse's irregular look back at the rich history of college football, usually through the medium of embeddable flash video. Check out the Old School archive for more famous plays and infamous hair.

Which never goes over well with the press. Note the editorial demanding the grizzled Iowa coach take the heat or get out of the kitchen. You know the dance, coach wants the media to "play it straight", media wants to razz the coach or program. I just want to know who still wears those dark indoor glasses.

"Old School" is the College Football FanHouse's irregular look back at the rich history of college football, usually through the medium of embeddable flash video. Check out the Old School archive for more famous plays and infamous hair.

"Big Daddy" Dan Wilkinson, that is. The Ohio State defensive tackle would go on to be the #1 pick in the NFL draft after performances like this in 1993. There are actual offensive highlights to watch, but I recommend you focus on the center of the Ohio State defensive line as Wilkinson proceeds to collapse and devour the Washington Husky interior like a black hole chewing up massive galaxies.

Both leave me in terrified awe.

"Old School" is the College Football FanHouse's irregular look back at the rich history of college football, usually through the medium of embeddable flash video. Check out the Old School archive for more famous plays and infamous hair.

With the news that future Army vs. Navy games might take place in different cities around the country, it's probably a good time to look back at this historic rivalry in all it's glory. I'm big on tradition in college football. Some things are so big that they should be set in stone and never changed. But the Army-Navy game transcends college football , especially in times of war. While this game doesn't have the influence it used to have on the national championship, it still deserves to be played in front of 100,000 screaming fans. If that means moving the game around the country every year, then so be it. Everyone should have a chance to see this game in person at least once before they die. And it should look just like this, but with newer uniforms and in color.

"Old School" is the College Football FanHouse's irregular look back at the rich history of college football, usually through the medium of embeddable flash video. Check out the Old School archive for more famous plays and infamous hair.

The Rose Bowl became an exclusively Big Ten-Pac-10 affair in 1947 and remained that way until the BCS came into being, but before that the PCC, the Pac-10's forerunner, took on all comers from out east. Alabama was actually a frequent participant, appearing in six Rose Bowls.

These are what pass for highlights from the 1938 edition against Cal; someone actually says "and how":



Apparently, in 1938 off tackle runs qualified as devious trickery.

Amazingly, this stands as Cal's most recent victory in the Rose Bowl. Alabama would make a final appearance in 1946, defeating USC 34-14.

"Old School" is the College Football FanHouse's irregular look back at the rich history of college football, usually through the medium of embeddable flash video. Check out the Old School archive for more famous plays and infamous hair.

A little tribute to The MZone, the recently departed Michigan blog that had a brief fling with fame when Colin Cowherd ripped off some of their content, in the form of a 1980s Ohio State commercial heavy on the Buckstaches:



Oh, yeah, and there's AN ENORMOUS INSECT ROBOT THAT'S GOING TO KILL US ALL.

(via Our Honor Defend.)

"Old School" is the College Football FanHouse's irregular look back at the rich history of college football, usually through the medium of embeddable flash video. Check out the Old School archive for more famous plays and infamous hair.

Michigan blog MVictors keeps Michigan fans appraised of the weird goings-on of the eBay memorabilia market, and this time he's got a doozy:



As you can probably surmise, that's a watch presented to legendary Michigan State coach Biggie Munn by the governor of Michigan, and it went for a cool $500 a couple days ago. A whistle purporting to be the very item Munn used at workouts before the 1954 Rose Bowl fetched $90. (Mmmmm... Rose Bowl spittle.)

Munn was frickin' ridiculous as a Michigan State head coach, going 54-9-2 in seven season and winning two national titles. Duffy Daugherty, Munn's successor, would experience similar success as the Spartans raided the south for black players SEC teams refused to recruit, but once he retired and the SEC integrated Michigan State embarked on 40 years of mediocre results.

"Old School" is the College Football FanHouse's irregular look back at the rich history of college football, usually through the medium of embeddable flash video. Check out the Old School archive for more famous plays and infamous hair.

Weird things show up on Youtube from time to time. This is amongst the strangest, a 1932 Looney Tune in which some sort of dog-student shows up on campus with a coat made of live cats and participates in the strangest game since that 54-51 Northwestern-Michigan game, which I am fully aware took place more than 70 years after this thing was made.

If you want to cut to the action, the game starts at around four minutes:


I think Rich Rodriguez is recruiting that little mouse-thing to be a slot receiver.