History of the SEC series

#26
#26
Herschel Walker is the greatest college football player I’ve ever seen, and it’s not close.

Bo is the greatest athlete I’ve ever seen play college football.

Bo had the more memorable pro career, but Herschel was a man among boys from the day he stepped foot on campus as a freshman, and was the best player on the field, every Saturday, from his freshman year to his last bowl game as a junior.

Regarding the show, it’s been a Bear Bryant infomercial up until the 80s episode, very little Tennessee other than Holloway and a dash of Reggie White, and almost no Florida with the exception of Spurrier and 10 seconds of Emmitt.

I’m sure I’ll find the 90s episode much more interesting.
 
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#27
#27
Lawrence Wright said:
Herschel Walker is the greatest college football player I’ve ever seen, and it’s not close.

Bo is the greatest athlete I’ve ever seen play college football.

Bo had the more memorable pro career, but Herschel was a man among boys from the day he stepped foot on campus as a freshman, and was the best player on the field, every Saturday, from his freshman year to his last bowl game as a junior.

Regarding the show, it’s been a Bear Bryant infomercial up until the 80s episode, very little Tennessee other than Holloway and a dash of Reggie White, and almost no Florida with the exception of Spurrier and 10 seconds of Emmitt.

I’m sure I’ll find the 90s episode much more interesting.
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Well, we talk about Florida football lacking history all the time so it’s not a lack of Florida coverage for me.

I just figured if it’s a history of the league, it should mention all of the members of the league.

And that includes Kentucky, Miss State, Vandy, etc.

You don’t just discuss a school when they were good.

But, I’ll take the 80’s as an example. The LSU earthquake game that decided an SEC title should have been mentioned.

And as a news story, Florida’s probation costing them the SEC and the title being vacated (I believe the only time that’s happened) deserved a mention. That’s a hell of a story. That’s honestly, as a news story, got to be in the top 5 in the SEC in the 80’s.

But, instead, we discussed Ray Perkins removing Bear Bryant’s tower.
 
#28
#28
VolForLife83 said:
Bo all day everyday. People always like to say Herschel had more yards. But he also carried the ball 350 more times than Bo. And that was in 1 less year lol

Both were beasts though
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350 extra carries. Let that sink in.

While 99% of the players out there need some recovery time, Herschel was out there pounding it just about every play. I mean....40 carries sometimes. That's unreal.
 
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#29
#29
Yeah, the 80s episode was awful. Bama/Barn lovefest. Should have been something in there about Tony Robinson and the Sugar Vols that came out of nowhere to beat the Mighty Hurricane thugs. Also should have been more about Bo and Herschel.

If the 90's episode follows suit, it should basically be about UF, UT and Bama.
 
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#30
#30
99gator said:
Well, we talk about Florida football lacking history all the time so it’s not a lack of Florida coverage for me.

I just figured if it’s a history of the league, it should mention all of the members of the league.

And that includes Kentucky, Miss State, Vandy, etc.

You don’t just discuss a school when they were good.

But, I’ll take the 80’s as an example. The LSU earthquake game that decided an SEC title should have been mentioned.

And as a news story, Florida’s probation costing them the SEC and the title being vacated (I believe the only time that’s happened) deserved a mention. That’s a hell of a story. That’s honestly, as a news story, got to be in the top 5 in the SEC in the 80’s.

But, instead, we discussed Ray Perkins removing Bear Bryant’s tower.
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I didn’t mind the lack of UF coverage, seeing as how before the 90s there wasn’t much to cover.

I agree that there should be more balance. The only Vandy coverage I’ve seen was the guy who Chuckie Mullins collided with.

I’m guessing Mississippi State will get more air time in the 2000s episode with the hiring of Sylvester Croom.
 
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#31
#31
99gator said:
1. It’s about college.

2. I would argue Herschel is the greatest college football player in the history of the SEC.

3. Herschel’s teams lost 3 games in 3 years and two of them were bowl games. They never lost an SEC game while he was in school.

Not trying to knock Bo because he was great, but Herschel was in another league.

And when it comes to supernatural freakishness, Herschel was in college what Bo was in Tecmo Bowl. As great as he was, Bo knew injury in college and the NFL. Herschel still looks like he could play

On a side note, Herschel is 12th all time in NFL all purpose yards despite his time in the USFL
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Bo also fumbled the ball on the goal line against Alabama one year costing them the game. Herschel never did anything like that which I can recollect. Herschel had more yards in fewer seasons and Bo was nowhere close to the man Herschel was as a freshman. Even Finebaum agrees Herschel > Bo.
 
#32
#32
unfrozencvmanvol said:
Herschel had more yards in fewer seasons and Bo was nowhere close to the man Herschel was as a freshman. Even Finebaum agrees Herschel > Bo.
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Herschel also carried the ball 350 more times than Bo. Bo also missed most of his Jr season with an injury. But if we looked at avgs. And gave Bo the other 350 carries with his 6.6 ypc avg, he would have 2,310 more yards. Putting Bo at 6,613 yards. Walker had 5,259 yards. Bo would have out rushed him by 1,354 yards
 
#33
#33
VolForLife83 said:
Herschel also carried the ball 350 more times than Bo. Bo also missed most of his Jr season with an injury. But if we looked at avgs. And gave Bo the other 350 carries with his 6.6 ypc avg, he would have 2,310 more yards. Putting Bo at 6,613 yards. Walker had 5,259 yards. Bo would have out rushed him by 1,354 yards
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Isn't that the point though? Kind of like Emmitt Smith in the NFL.

Being able to tote the rock that many times says something. Bo couldn't because Bo couldn't stay helathy.

You should see Herschel's seasonal rushing attempts in the USFL. Absolutely insane to be able to hand it off to a running back that often.
 
#34
#34
VolForLife83 said:
Herschel also carried the ball 350 more times than Bo. Bo also missed most of his Jr season with an injury. But if we looked at avgs. And gave Bo the other 350 carries with his 6.6 ypc avg, he would have 2,310 more yards. Putting Bo at 6,613 yards. Walker had 5,259 yards. Bo would have out rushed him by 1,354 yards
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Georgia handed off to Herschel on every play almost. He got all of those yards with everyone knowing he was getting the ball. As 99 says, that he held up under that is part of the amazing thing about him. I shudder to think what he would have done if he had played in an offense with a competent passing game. He was the most dominant college football player I have ever seen, Bo was great too, but I'd rather have had Herschel. I would rank Michael Vick's 99' season and Cam Newton's 10' season up there with him, they were equally dominant those years, but it was only a year.
 
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#35
#35
99gator said:
I watched tonight’s episode about the 80’s and most of the other episodes.

Do they know other schools played football in the league besides Alabama and Auburn?

And before people make jokes, it’s not about Florida.

I mean the eight other schools got very little mention in general. Bear Bryant got more air time in death than Georgia of the early 80’s

And no offense meant to the producers of that program, but they’ve got that whole Herschel-Bo thing bass ackwards.

Herschel>>>>>>>>>>>Bo and the impact on their programs is also not close.

Sorry, didn’t mean to go on a rant but it was brutal IMO
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Hate to say it but, that is usually what happens in a 1 team Conference.
 
#36
#36
BamaJack said:
Hate to say it but, that is usually what happens in a 1 team Conference.
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That's just the thing. The 1980s were probably the most competitive decade I can remember. Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Florida and maybe LSU all won conference titles.
 
#37
#37
BamaJack said:
Hate to say it but, that is usually what happens in a 1 team Conference.
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As I mentioned, I get that Bama is going to get more love than everyone else. They should and I’m fine with that.

But, if it’s a history of the league, it should be OF THE LEAGUE.

And it shouldn’t necessarily have anything to do with winning or losing.

For instance, the 90’s should be more about expansion and the conference title game and the impact on the 12 members more than whatever it was that Florida and Tennessee did on the field. That’s the big story of the league for that decade.

If you are just going to discuss and profile champions, do a history of SEC champions and legends program.

Now, I understand that they only have in an episode about an hour and a half of screen time and fitting a decade or longer into an hour and a half is hard. I get that too.

But, seriously, there are other rivalries, other programs, other stories.....good and bad.....that are interesting and haven’t been told.

Hell, the teaser at the end of this program was the mention of “new rivalries” and was clearly hinting at Florida-Tennessee and I thought, “damn, you haven’t mentioned any of the old ones yet except for one of them”

JMO.
 
#38
#38
EZE said:
I don’t agree with that at all. I’d put them in the same ballpark for college careers. (As an aside, I think Jamal Lewis was very much in the same mold pre injury).

But post-college, Bo knew much more than Herschel.
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If I had to choose between Bo and Herschel, I would choose Bo
 
#39
#39
99gator said:
I watched tonight’s episode about the 80’s and most of the other episodes.

Do they know other schools played football in the league besides Alabama and Auburn?

And before people make jokes, it’s not about Florida.

I mean the eight other schools got very little mention in general. Bear Bryant got more air time in death than Georgia of the early 80’s

And no offense meant to the producers of that program, but they’ve got that whole Herschel-Bo thing bass ackwards.

Herschel>>>>>>>>>>>Bo and the impact on their programs is also not close.

Sorry, didn’t mean to go on a rant but it was brutal IMO
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i agree 100%. Nothing but Bama and Auburn. Vols had some good teams in the 80's as did the gators.
 
#40
#40
EZE said:
I don’t agree with that at all. I’d put them in the same ballpark for college careers. (As an aside, I think Jamal Lewis was very much in the same mold pre injury).

But post-college, Bo knew much more than Herschel.
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The Cowboys loved Hershel and those 6 draft pics they got for him setting them up to win some super bowls.
 
#43
#43
VolForLife83 said:
Herschel also carried the ball 350 more times than Bo. Bo also missed most of his Jr season with an injury. But if we looked at avgs. And gave Bo the other 350 carries with his 6.6 ypc avg, he would have 2,310 more yards. Putting Bo at 6,613 yards. Walker had 5,259 yards. Bo would have out rushed him by 1,354 yards
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Herschel had more carries? Advantage Herschel.

Herschel was more durable? Advantage Herschel.

Herschel was more productive in three years at UGA versus Bo’s four years at Auburn? Advantage Herschel.
 
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#44
#44
99gator said:
Well, I don’t want to be misunderstood. It should be dominated by Bama. But, not the 80’s.

And “dominated” shouldn’t be 99% of the program.

I mean, people may think I am being over the top about Herschel, but they glossed over him like he was just some dude.

This really isn’t about Florida. Except for Neyland and Condrege, I haven’t seen Tennessee mentioned
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Wait till the 90s buddy
 
#46
#46
Glocker_Alum_2005 said:
Just finished 90's. Pretty much an FL love fest with a spinkle of Manning , Tim Couch, and '98 TN. ESPN is to UF as Fox news is to Trump. As a TN fan, hard to relive all those losses to Spurrier...95 & 96 especially.
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Yeah. For all of the hype and talk about spurrier, they only won one ring during that time just like us. Now post 2000 is a different story, but we were the last powerhouse before the Saban era.
 
#47
#47
bamawriter said:
I haven't watched the 1980s episode yet, so all of the complaints in this thread may be justified. That being said, the 80s were a major down period for SEC football. That decade was arguably the worst for the conference in its entire existence. Bryant's retirement might have been the most significant moment of the entire decade, and that's pretty sad.
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I had a lot of fun watching SEC football in the 80's. Much more than now.
 
#48
#48
99gator said:
And to show what I mean so we’ll see what happens, but the biggest story in the 90s should be the SEC expanding and the conference title game, not Florida.

Now, based on the show so far, if Florida were Bama, the 90s would be entirely about Spurrier with 5 minutes devoted to SEC expansion and Peyton Manning
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As a TN guy, I hate to say the 90s should be about Spurrier, but I think that's it. He was the entertainment of CFBL IMHO. Oh we hated him, but not the way I hate everything bama. He embarrassed us, along with most others. But it wasn't boring. It was full of character.

And Lord save me but I just loved watching Spurrier, coach and talk. At the end of the day I still bleed orange. But he was fun. I am old stodgy, I want a respectable team, coach , I formation, Al Wilson , Leonard little, and I wanted more than anything to pound spurriers team into the ground.

Nothing beats Neyland stadium. GO VOLS

If Spurrier were to coach GSU, it would have been can't spell UpseT without UT.

The world is dreary place. And when you are the object of some good cheer amongst your fellow man embrace it.
 
#50
#50
Johnnyreb#VFL said:
Yeah. For all of the hype and talk about spurrier, they only won one ring during that time just like us. Now post 2000 is a different story, but we were the last powerhouse before the Saban era.
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Bama, UF and UT all won national titles in the 90s.

However Spurrier won 5 SEC titles in the 90s, and made the SECCG in ‘92 and ‘99.

UF earned the lions’s share of coverage in that 1990s episode.

For anyone to suggest otherwise is foolish.
 
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