In basketball, a few come to mind immediately:
1. Beating IU in the NCAA regional semi-finals in 1980. I believe at one point we were up 19 (57-38?) and cruised on in for the victory. I was watching that game with several IU friends and was out numbered like 5-1 so I kept my exuberance down a little bit. Man were they bummed out.
2. The next game we beat Duke for the regional championship. That Duke team was a pre-season top 2 or 3 ranked team, and that regional final had us, IU, Duke, and Kentucky. That was quite the feat to come out of that regional final four.
3. Beating Kansas in the regional semi-final with the Big Dog. That game seemed to be the one that might get Keady over the hump as I believe that was his first elite 8 appearance. That was a tough regional as it included Duke (#2 seed), Kentucky (#3 seed), and Kansas (#4 seed), all of which had been ranked #1 at one point during the season, something we never attained that year, and yet we were the #1 seed in the regional. IIRC, the Big Dog and Zo scored all but 8 of our points that night.
4. The chair game. Enough said.
In football:
1. Beating tO$U when Brees rallied us late after a crucial turnover. That game virtually assured us of a Rose Bowl trip.
2. Pounding ND into submission in South Bend in 2004. Orton's 97 yard TD throw from the end zone to Taylor Stubblefield was a thing of beauty that I will never forget.
3. Upsetting Kansas State in the Alamo Bowl game when Drew was a sophomore. KSU was such a prohibitive favorite and we totally outplayed them. I also remember camera shots of KSU's defensive coordinator (Stoops?) just having a melt down trying to figure us out. IIRC, they had 3 outstanding linebackers but with our spread offense they had matchup problems galore.
4. Rallying to beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl season. Down 28-10 at the half and showing no signs of being able to stop them on defense. And then Dorsch nailed one of the biggest kicks of his life.
1. Beating IU in the NCAA regional semi-finals in 1980. I believe at one point we were up 19 (57-38?) and cruised on in for the victory. I was watching that game with several IU friends and was out numbered like 5-1 so I kept my exuberance down a little bit. Man were they bummed out.
2. The next game we beat Duke for the regional championship. That Duke team was a pre-season top 2 or 3 ranked team, and that regional final had us, IU, Duke, and Kentucky. That was quite the feat to come out of that regional final four.
3. Beating Kansas in the regional semi-final with the Big Dog. That game seemed to be the one that might get Keady over the hump as I believe that was his first elite 8 appearance. That was a tough regional as it included Duke (#2 seed), Kentucky (#3 seed), and Kansas (#4 seed), all of which had been ranked #1 at one point during the season, something we never attained that year, and yet we were the #1 seed in the regional. IIRC, the Big Dog and Zo scored all but 8 of our points that night.
4. The chair game. Enough said.
In football:
1. Beating tO$U when Brees rallied us late after a crucial turnover. That game virtually assured us of a Rose Bowl trip.
2. Pounding ND into submission in South Bend in 2004. Orton's 97 yard TD throw from the end zone to Taylor Stubblefield was a thing of beauty that I will never forget.
3. Upsetting Kansas State in the Alamo Bowl game when Drew was a sophomore. KSU was such a prohibitive favorite and we totally outplayed them. I also remember camera shots of KSU's defensive coordinator (Stoops?) just having a melt down trying to figure us out. IIRC, they had 3 outstanding linebackers but with our spread offense they had matchup problems galore.
4. Rallying to beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl season. Down 28-10 at the half and showing no signs of being able to stop them on defense. And then Dorsch nailed one of the biggest kicks of his life.
) when they were first no longer considered a "Cinderella", but an actual power and many predicted Purdue's demise. Haha... man, good times. I can remember Cameron Stephens going off on Texas (I think) and we "upset" them. I don't remember the actual game, but I remember Kramer hitting that shot from his knees. I'm too young (still) to remember the '80 or '69 Final Four teams, unfortunately.
