Best game this decade you're attended?

[TommyTrojan]

It wasn't the most dominating game, but the crowd, weather, and the play on the field was the best I've seen in person in a while.

Cal at USC 2004

Gameday was out west for the first time in years....Matt Leinart vs Aaron Rodgers...JJ Arrington, Reggie Bush, Marshawn Lynch, Lendale White, probably more backfield talent than most NFL games will feature!

Rodgers put on one of the better performances ever, but it wasn't enough.

IMO, this is one of the Top 10 games of the decade involving any team.

http://www.sfgate.com/blogs/images/sfgate/fortyniners/2005/12/20/sp_cal_530kr.jpe

[Akahikea]

The Sun Bowl win over Missouri was far and away the best. The Fiesta Bowl beatdown of Notre Dame was the most gratifying though.

[Lincoln Tower]

Toss up:

2002 win over Michigan 13-9, tOSU moves to 13-0 and a Fiesta Bowl berth.

2005 loss to Texas 25-22, despite the loss, probably the best game atmosphere I've been at. And the Vince Young guy turned out to be pretty good...

[jeff4bucks]

have to say OSU/Miami Fiesta Bowl-Jan '03. Not much can top that.
OSU/NC St. 3OT game in 2003 was a great one too.

[Don]

It barely makes the time limit of a decade but the '97 UF/FSU game in Gainesville. Last game of regular season and FSU is ranked #1 and undefeated. FSU team entered the game with a nation-best 64 sacks but had none (in 36 passing attempts) against Noah Brindise and Doug Johnson. The Seminole defense was No. 1 nationally against the run but was shredded for 162 yards and four touchdowns by Fred Taylor. But, FSU takes the lead in the fourth quarter and then widens the lead to 4 point late in game on Sebastian Janikowski field goal. He stops to mock the Gator chomp by using his fingers in a mini-chomp.

Then Doug Johnson’s 63-yard bomb to Jacquez Green set up Fred Taylor’s fourth rushing touchdown of the day. Gators win 32-29 and FSU coach Bobby Bowden was left with a haunting loss that he later ranked as distasteful as the first “Wide Right’’ loss to Miami.

Oh-yeah!! and I was there.

[Blue Hen]

The final score wouldn't indicate that it was a 'nail biter' type best game, but the 2003 NCAA DIII championship game in which St. Johns (Mn) dumped heavily favored and powerful Mt.Union was the most memorable CF game I've attended in this decade. It was bitter cold and windy that December day in Salem, Va. but those tough folks from Minnesota were drinking cold beer and tailgating all morning with a wind-chill temperature about zero.
But what made the game so special were the legendary coaches.....Gagliardi vs Kehres.
John Gagliardi has won more college football games than anyone that ever lived and Larry Kehres has the highest career winning % among all the coaches that ever coached the sport and also has won more national championships than any coach in CF history. Seeing them together, pre-game and post-game was so memorable.

[ZOOMBAG]

2003 Notre Dame at Air Force.

Prime time on ESPN. Air Force was 6-0, ranked #15. Notre Dame was 6-0 ranked #8. The Game Day crew was at AFA. Took my 20 year old son out and stayed with a fellow zoomie classmate of mine. Over 56,000 packed into Falcon stadium. AFA got out to 7-0 lead but eventually lost 21-14. But it was about as great a sporting experience as I've ever had, eclipsed only by my trip to the 1987 Masters on a Sunday.

[HellYeahHokie]

Easily the loudest, most racous crowd I've ever been in. VT had just suffered a beatdown at the hands of the Mountaineers after being undefeated till that point. Miami came into Blacksburg ranked #2 in the land. VT now does a player "Walk", where the players get off the bus and head to the locker rooms surrounded by fans. Until that night, it was moderately attended (its a fairly new traditon that other schools have done for years, but hadn't quite caught on at VT. That night, it was different. The crowd was 5-6 people deep for several hundred yards. The busses had to stop early because the line was so long. Quite simply, the atmosphere was absolutely electric. I've been to a lot of great football games, but none had that atmosphere.

Then VT came in and destroyed the Canes, and the place went bananas.

VT had a horrible swoon after that game and were just horrible, but for that game, the Hokies put on a performace that won't ever be forgotten by those who were there.

The other great game would have been the USC-VT preseason kickoff game. Playing a team like the Trojans with Leinhart and Bush, and having a shot at winning the game until an phantom offensive pass interference call was just great. It was an extremely physical game, and well played by both sides, but I remember just being amazed at how hard the Hokies were hitting. This was Adibi and Hall's first game as llinebackers, and we knew had something special with those guys (even though Adibi only played 1/2 because his bicep tore off his arm.

So even with the loss, we knew the Hokies had something going. Because the previous season had ended so miserably, and really in state of confusion, that game was a very good sign. The Hokies went on to win the ACC championship in their first season as members, beating Miami on their home field. It was a great year, for sure.

[HellYeahHokie]

If we're talking about games in the last 10 years, then of course the National Championship game was right up there with Miami '03. The Sugar Bowl was great because it was the MNC, and Vick put on an unbelievable show, but in the end it was a loss. The VT-Miami 03 game still ranks as the best ever, because of the atmosphere and the final score.

(But I didn't see any women flashing in Blacksburg like they were in New Orleans, so bonus points for that game.)

[TommyTrojan]

I should have specified, from 2000 on forward.

Yeah, I remember watching that VT/Miami game on TV thinking this was the game where Miami was going down. Ron Frankin said it was the loudest stadium he's ever heard. The 2005 game between you guys started out just as loud, but it grew quiet as the game went on :)

[GatorGrad]

If it has to be since 2000 only, I would say the following:

2000: Florida beats Tennessee 24-20 in Knoxville on a last second TD pass from Jesse Palmer to Jabar Gaffney.

2006 (07) BCS Championship Game: After all of the crap Florida fans took all week in Glendale from the overwhelming and cocky Buckeye fans, 41-14 sure was sweet. Never in my life had I heard so much pre-game cocky trash talking than prior to that game. After Ginn's kickoff return, the place erupted and I thought we were in for a long night. Little did I know that the rest of the night would be ours.

Pre 2000, I would agree with Don - beating #1 FSU 32-29 in 1997 with a TD and INT in the final minute in The Swamp was just magical and the craziest home game atmosphere I had ever been a part of.

[HellYeahHokie]

I should have specified, from 2000 on forward.

Yeah, I remember watching that VT/Miami game on TV thinking this was the game where Miami was going down. Ron Frankin said it was the loudest stadium he's ever heard. The 2005 game between you guys started out just as loud, but it grew quiet as the game went on :)

It only got quiet after the referee stole the game :)

[EvilVodka]

2002 Sugar bowl: SEC Champ LSU vs. Big 10 Champ Illinois

[Don]

2002 Sugar bowl: SEC Champ LSU vs. Big 10 Champ Illinois


Are you sure that you are a 'Nole fan and aren't a closet SEC fan ?

[EvilVodka]

Are you sure that you are a 'Nole fan and aren't a closet SEC fan ?

Well, I'm an LSU alum ('04)...but I've followed FSU for years, since 87

[fanofthegame]

While WVU jumped out to an early lead, I think everybody in the building knew Georgia was going to storm back. That game was Steve Slaton's national emergence. WVU did the fake punt to seal the win 38-35.

[Scarlet Hayes]

2006 (07) BCS Championship Game: After all of the crap Florida fans took all week in Glendale from the overwhelming and cocky Buckeye fans, 41-14 sure was sweet. Never in my life had I heard so much pre-game cocky trash talking than prior to that game. After Ginn's kickoff return, the place erupted and I thought we were in for a long night. Little did I know that the rest of the night would be ours.


You forgot the media. They kept up the talk that you didn't belong there. yadda, yadda, yadda... You guys couldn't have asked for a better scenario.

[FLORIDA HERD FAN]

1. Down 38-8 at the half, Leftwich threw for 576 yards and led Marshall back to a 64-61 win over East Carolina in the 2001 GMAC Bowl.

2. Ohio State defeats Marshall 24-21 in 2004 with a Mike Nugent 55-yard FG on the final play of the game.

[Scarlet Hayes]

Best game I attended this decade (2000--present)? That's easy, 2004 OSU vs UM. I went down without a ticket. Had my nephew with me. he was hell-bent on getting into the game. Talked this scalper down to $300 a pair. That was the lowest we could find. I couldn't believe the tickets were going for so much. UM had already wrapped up a share of the BT title. OSU already had 4 losses coming in. I thought for sure that they were going to run us right out of the Horseshoe, in ugly fashion to boot. I told my nephew that it better at least be competitive. And boy was it ever! OSU saved their best for last. 37-21. Regarding Troy Smith, a star was born.

To add even more drama for THE GAME, that sleazeball, Tom Friend, comes out with yet another hatchet job on OSU just a week before. Coincidence I'm sure. AHEM. This was one of MANY REappearances of Maurice Clarett that we OSU fans had to deal with. All the mud and slime that punk (Friend) could sling he slung. Yet, all he stirred up was a troubled kid and a kid that took $500. Meanwhile...our AD (an excellent AD and a top flight man. class all the way) retires on the verge of a breakdown. I cannot wait for the day that that punk (Friend) gets his. I can't wait for the day when journalists have their lives opened up before the whole country to speculate/feast on. Maurice Clarett was a goldmine to ESPN. An ace in the hole when things were slow. And clowns like Friend say that OSU "used" guys like Clarett. Talk about hutzpah!

Sorry, I got a little off track. :)

[Doc]

OSU beats Miami in one of the greatest college football games of all time. I doubt I'll ever attend another game quite like that one. An absolute electric game.

As for the Gator fan's comments a few messages above, you only see what you want to see. I saw plenty of Gator fans talking trash in Glendale...it certainly wasn't limited to the Buckeye fans. If I saw the Gator chomp once, I saw it 1,000,000 times. I was yelled at, cussed at, ragged on, etc. It happens, its part of the game. Let it die...you won the game with ease. Enjoy it.

[Stumpy Stew]

The best game for pure excitement was the Appalachian - Furman game in 2002 in Boone, NC. The "Miracle on the Mountain". The Mountaineers score a defensive 2 point conversion with 7 seconds to go in the game to win 16 to 15. The App fans went nuts and the Paladins were completely quiet.

Other than that one, I'd have to say both of the championship games ASU was in. Excitining and very meaningful. Both not decided until the last.

GO APPS!!
BEAT MICHIGAN!!