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Who deserved the 1980 national championship?
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:20 am
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:20 am
While we all focus on BYU as the least likely/deserving/good national champion of the 1980s, the decade actually started with one of the least [your choice of adjective] we'll ever see. The Dawgs beat three Est. S&P+ top-20 teams by a combined 15 points. And hey, they did win all three of those games, and only one was at home. But they also played four teams ranked between 30th and 59th and won those four games by a combined 22. They finished the season having played just three teams that finished better than 6-5.
his was a crazy year that featured phenomenal teams playing brutal schedules; Penn State ranked first in SOS, Florida State second, USC fifth, Pitt ninth, and Nebraska 17th.
FSU beat Nebraska and Pitt in back-to-back weeks but lost to Miami right before that, Nebraska lost to FSU but beat Penn State, Penn State lost to NU and Pitt, Pitt lost to FSU but beat Penn State. Meanwhile, after playing poorly and losing to both Stanford and Texas in the early-going, Oklahoma caught fire late, handing UNC its only loss (41-7), then beating both Nebraska and Florida State.
Meanwhile UGA & Herschel Walker ran over Bill Bates, and UGA beat a (5-6) Tennessee by 1. Scott Woerner returned a punt and an interception for touchdowns, and the Dawgs beat (6-5) Clemson, 20-16. Walker was hurt against Ole Miss, so Carnie Norris and Buck Belue combined to rush for 250+ in a 28-21 win. Walker outrushed eventual Heisman winner George Rogers, 225-174, and Rogers lost a late fumble in a 13-10 UGA victory. Lindsay Scott's famous 92-yard catch and run beat Florida, 26-21. And Walker separated his shoulder against Notre Dame, then rushed for 150 yards anyway.
hypothetical College Football Playoff in 1980 would have been fascinating. Three teams were nearly shoo-ins, and I have no idea who gets the fourth spot.
Here are your end-of-regular-season AP rankings:
1. Georgia (11-0)
2. FSU (10-1)
3. Pitt (10-1)
4. OU (9-2)
5. Michigan (9-2)
6. Baylor (10-1)
7. Notre Dame (9-1-1)
8. Nebraska (9-2)
9. Alabama (9-2)
10. Penn State (9-2)
11. Ohio State (9-2)
12. USC (8-2-1)
13. North Carolina (10-1)
The top three are easy enough. UGA is unbeaten, FSU is 10-1 with wins over Pitt and Nebraska, and Pitt is 10-1 with only the FSU loss. And the fourth spot goes to ... ?
As mentioned, OU was smoking hot and would have stood a solid chance of getting the final Playoff bid because of the wins over North Carolina and Nebraska. But Baylor was the SWC champ with wins over SMU, Arkansas, and Texas (which beat OU) and had only one loss ... to San Jose State. San Jose State! (The Bears would get smoked by Alabama in the Cotton Bowl.) Notre Dame was 9-1-1 with wins over Alabama and Miami, a 17-point loss to USC ... and a tie against a dreadful Georgia Tech team. North Carolina had one loss but, it was by 34 points to OU.
You have a lot of drastically flawed one-loss teams (two of which were conference champions) and some amazing two-loss teams. I think OU gets the nod here, but losing 31-14 to Stanford at home, and then losing AGAIN, isn't a particularly good. That said, a 1 Georgia vs. 4 Oklahoma and 2 FSU vs. 3 Pitt Playoff is pretty damn strong, even if OU wasn't even the best two-loss team available. And if you're looking to avoid rematches, FSU-OU and UGA-Pitt would be good, too.
FSU was probably the best team in 1980
his was a crazy year that featured phenomenal teams playing brutal schedules; Penn State ranked first in SOS, Florida State second, USC fifth, Pitt ninth, and Nebraska 17th.
FSU beat Nebraska and Pitt in back-to-back weeks but lost to Miami right before that, Nebraska lost to FSU but beat Penn State, Penn State lost to NU and Pitt, Pitt lost to FSU but beat Penn State. Meanwhile, after playing poorly and losing to both Stanford and Texas in the early-going, Oklahoma caught fire late, handing UNC its only loss (41-7), then beating both Nebraska and Florida State.
Meanwhile UGA & Herschel Walker ran over Bill Bates, and UGA beat a (5-6) Tennessee by 1. Scott Woerner returned a punt and an interception for touchdowns, and the Dawgs beat (6-5) Clemson, 20-16. Walker was hurt against Ole Miss, so Carnie Norris and Buck Belue combined to rush for 250+ in a 28-21 win. Walker outrushed eventual Heisman winner George Rogers, 225-174, and Rogers lost a late fumble in a 13-10 UGA victory. Lindsay Scott's famous 92-yard catch and run beat Florida, 26-21. And Walker separated his shoulder against Notre Dame, then rushed for 150 yards anyway.
hypothetical College Football Playoff in 1980 would have been fascinating. Three teams were nearly shoo-ins, and I have no idea who gets the fourth spot.
Here are your end-of-regular-season AP rankings:
1. Georgia (11-0)
2. FSU (10-1)
3. Pitt (10-1)
4. OU (9-2)
5. Michigan (9-2)
6. Baylor (10-1)
7. Notre Dame (9-1-1)
8. Nebraska (9-2)
9. Alabama (9-2)
10. Penn State (9-2)
11. Ohio State (9-2)
12. USC (8-2-1)
13. North Carolina (10-1)
The top three are easy enough. UGA is unbeaten, FSU is 10-1 with wins over Pitt and Nebraska, and Pitt is 10-1 with only the FSU loss. And the fourth spot goes to ... ?
As mentioned, OU was smoking hot and would have stood a solid chance of getting the final Playoff bid because of the wins over North Carolina and Nebraska. But Baylor was the SWC champ with wins over SMU, Arkansas, and Texas (which beat OU) and had only one loss ... to San Jose State. San Jose State! (The Bears would get smoked by Alabama in the Cotton Bowl.) Notre Dame was 9-1-1 with wins over Alabama and Miami, a 17-point loss to USC ... and a tie against a dreadful Georgia Tech team. North Carolina had one loss but, it was by 34 points to OU.
You have a lot of drastically flawed one-loss teams (two of which were conference champions) and some amazing two-loss teams. I think OU gets the nod here, but losing 31-14 to Stanford at home, and then losing AGAIN, isn't a particularly good. That said, a 1 Georgia vs. 4 Oklahoma and 2 FSU vs. 3 Pitt Playoff is pretty damn strong, even if OU wasn't even the best two-loss team available. And if you're looking to avoid rematches, FSU-OU and UGA-Pitt would be good, too.
FSU was probably the best team in 1980
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Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:22 am to Pdubntrub
Georgia
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:23 am to Pdubntrub
Georgia
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:23 am to Pdubntrub
You sir can go to hell. 
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:24 am to Pdubntrub
Georgia. Next question
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:26 am to Pdubntrub
Most deserving: UGA
Best team: Pitt, Dan Marino was the QB, O-Line consisted of Jim Covert, Mark May and Russ Grimm, defense consisted of Hugh Green and Rickey Jackson like cmon man haha
Best team: Pitt, Dan Marino was the QB, O-Line consisted of Jim Covert, Mark May and Russ Grimm, defense consisted of Hugh Green and Rickey Jackson like cmon man haha
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:31 am to ThePTExperience1969
quote:
est team: Pitt, Dan Marino was the QB, O-Line consisted of Jim Covert, Mark May and Russ Grimm, defense consisted of Hugh Green and Rickey Jackson like cmon man haha
FSU beat #3 Nebraska 16-13 in Nebraska. The next week they beat #3 Pitt by 2 touchdowns (Pitt was without a doubt the most talented team int he country tho)
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:31 am to Pdubntrub
Would've been a nice troll, but just way too damn long to read it all.
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:32 am to Pdubntrub
I get what you are saying about the close games, but Georgia had essentially no passing game, and Herschel Walker was the offense.....as a whole. That tends to make for close scores, but not necessarily close games.
Add to that, Herschel Walker separated his shoulder early in the first quarter, I believe, in the national Championship game, and still played the entire game. The game might not have been as close had he been healthy.
It's always interesting to debate these things, but it seems most in this thread believe Georgia deserved the championship.
Add to that, Herschel Walker separated his shoulder early in the first quarter, I believe, in the national Championship game, and still played the entire game. The game might not have been as close had he been healthy.
It's always interesting to debate these things, but it seems most in this thread believe Georgia deserved the championship.
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:39 am to DawgsLife
quote:
I get what you are saying about the close games, but Georgia had essentially no passing game, and Herschel Walker was the offense.....as a whole. That tends to make for close scores, but not necessarily close games
I think this was probably the worst Dooley/Walker team, not that any of those teams were bad. They didn't play Bama who finished number 5, the best team they played that year finshed the season number 9. I don't think they could've beat Pitt, FSU or Oklahoma at the end of the year.
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:40 am to Pdubntrub
Wonder why FSU joined the ACC instead of the SEC?Bobby
Bowden even admits it
Congrats on that run in '90's with those ACC "powerhouses"
Bowden even admits it
quote:
Then, Bowden told the story of how Florida State joined the ACC in the early 1990s instead of the SEC. Bowden’s reasoning was that Florida State would have had a tough time winning a national championship if it had to go through the SEC.
"I felt that it was too difficult to win through the SEC to win a national championship," Bowden told Finebaum. "I felt like our best route would be to go through the ACC and that did prove out to be correct. I don’t know if we could have made it through the SEC."
Congrats on that run in '90's with those ACC "powerhouses"
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:41 am to Pdubntrub
Alabama
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:43 am to Pdubntrub
Georgia deserved the 1980 national championship. Everyone knew the way the system worked back then. Would Georgia have defeated one of the other top four teams in a BCS-style national championship game? That's a different question.
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:49 am to el gato
quote:
Everyone knew the way the system worked back then.
They should've played Pitt in the Sugar Bowl or FSU. FSU and UGA would've been a great game. I think Pitt would've beat them like they did 2 years later. Walker was great but I'd take Marino
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:49 am to Pdubntrub
quote:
I think this was probably the worst Dooley/Walker team, not that any of those teams were bad. They didn't play Bama who finished number 5, the best team they played that year finshed the season number 9. I don't think they could've beat Pitt, FSU or Oklahoma at the end of the year.
Not playing a top rated team does not make a team bad, nor does it have anything to do with how good or bad a team is. Either a team is good, or it is not. Who you play might help you clarify whether or not you are good, though. You can be the best team in the country and never play a top 20 team.
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:50 am to Pdubntrub
quote:
They should've played Pitt in the Sugar Bowl or FSU. FSU and UGA would've been a great game. I think Pitt would've beat them like they did 2 years later. Walker was great but I'd take Marino
Georgia didn't make that choice!
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:51 am to DawgsLife
quote:
Not playing a top rated team does not make a team bad, nor does it have anything to do with how good or bad a team is. Either a team is good, or it is not. Who you play might help you clarify whether or not you are good, though. You can be the best team in the country and never play a top 20 team.
Does this logic work for UCF last year?
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:52 am to Pdubntrub
quote:
Does this logic work for UCF last year?
Sure. Why not?
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:55 am to Pdubntrub
quote:
Does this logic work for UCF last year?
Absolutely does. They might have been the best team in the nation, but because of their schedule we will never know. However, I know you aren't comparing Georgia's 1980 schedule to UCF's.
On a side note. I realize Marino was a great QB, but he was not a great QB until 1981. He was average to maybe above average in 1980. he really turned it on the next season.
He threw for 1609 yards 16TD and 14 INTs in 1980. Not what I would call dominating and game changing.
Posted on 7/9/18 at 9:55 am to DawgsLife
quote:
Georgia didn't make that choice!
Not knocking UGA by no stretch, going undefeated in college football at any level is very very hard to do, ask the gators. I'm not saying it is was UGA's choice to play Notre Dame but looking back at it now it was a poor choice by the Sugar Bowl
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