Chaminade over UVA, NCST over UH, Nova over Gtown...maybe that Duke over UNLV game? are the biggest NCAA upsets ever
Maybe not the biggest in history but what a comeback that was and what a choke job by a real professional milan side I know i skipped a few classes to catch the entire build up/match Unthinkable now to have a champions league final on Wednesday but them was the days
All big upsets. The Duke over UNLV and Villanova/Georgetown games are bigger to me because they were in the final four. Chaminade was a big deal because Ralph Sampson was on UV. Image if something like that happened today with social media
Chaminade is a huge upset because they are Division II in hoops and they beat Louisville the next year after the Virginia upset.
While not the “biggest”, I was actually surprised to see that they had the Oilers a full touchdown favorite over Joe Montana. By contrast, the Bills were only a 3 point favorite the following week in the AFC championship game…. Would the Oilers have made that game a true pick’em or actually be favored had they won? Schottenheimer thoroughly outcoached Paredee/Gilbride that game. The Oilers had beaten them 30-0 earlier in the season, so the Chiefs had plenty of reasons to try something different. Sacks, turnovers were the difference. Montana was fine… but the defense really won that game for them. I also felt as good as the run and shoot was when clicking… any above-average defensive mind could probably dissect enough of the looks to figure out the weaknesses. And the main issue with that offense is that they had no counter. No adjustments possible. The Rams went through a similar issue when they got beat up by the Pats in the Super Bowl. That was the official end of offenses that had only one speed without deception.
Oilers had oline issues all year Mike Munchak was in his last year and basically playing on one leg. He was taking cortisone shots just to play some weeks and add to that they had rookie LT Brad Hopkins playing next to him which was not going facing Derrick Thomas. The Oilers had plenty of chances but the offense didn't do anything and eventually Montana made plays when the Chiefs needed it and won the game. I doubt they beat Buffalo if they won because Buffalo beat them like a drum in September that year in Buffalo.
That Buffalo game was in the midst of them getting acclimated to Buddy’s defense… it would have been a different game, just like the Oilers-Chiefs was a different game from week 2. But yeah, there would have been some serious demons to exercise had that rematch ever come to fruition. And you pretty much nailed it as far as the O-line issues are concerned… and that was always going to be one of the most critical aspects of the run and shoot. If you didn’t have an elite O-line, and didn’t have a mobile QB (Moon wasn’t), you were going to be vulnerable. They got away with it for many years because Munchack-Matthews were playing at a HOF level for a chunk of it. Matthews was so good he was able to play almost every position on the line to optimize it. While everybody thought it was about Moon and the WR’s (honestly, the WR’s were probably average on most teams… while Moon was elite), it was really the O-line and Moon’s quick release/accuracy.
I still feel a bit sick when that game comes up, because watching it remains so vivid in my memory. Yes, still stings. That should have been our year. Doesn't rank with the Cougars/NC State loss, though.
I was talking to my business partner last week about that season. He didn’t know about Buddy Ryan punching Kevin Glibride on the sidelines but that was because Ryan saw the weakness of the run n shoot and wasn’t shy about letting Gilbride and Pardee know.
There are too many years of Houston sports that make me sick because that shouldve been our year. I guess I should be happy about the recent Rockets and Texans. No one is going to think the last two years could’ve been our year.
