20 games in a row and a national championship? You mean just like Street won 20 in a row and a national championship? Ha!
You don't think the entire USC defense didn't key VY's every move??? LOL! Pete Carroll spoke after the game about the frustration of knowing exactly what's coming but having no way to stop it. Earl was a one of a kind and one of the greatest RBs ever, but no player in a Longhorn uniform was ever as unstoppable as Vince.
If you want to argue that Earl and Nobis played their positions better, go ahead. The problem is neither of them could affect the game in as many ways as Vince, who was a combination of Roger Staubach and Barry Sanders. If you contained the run, as Ohio State did, then he beat you with his arm. If you limited the passing game, Vince would torch you with his legs. You can like other players better, but no one in a Longhorn uniform ever had a greater impact on the game then Vince. I contend that you have to all the way back to Thorpe and Grange to find a player in all of college football who dominated the way Vince did. That does not mean Earl and Nobis were not dominant in their own right. For the record, I put all three among the top 15-20 players of all time in college football, with Ricky not far behind.
You make it sound like VY could do anything at anytime. Why did OU shut him out 12-0? I mean he's VY he doesn't need any help according to you. He should never have lost a game or ever been stopped for no gain. Why did it take a very questionable offensive pass interference call against a bad Kansas team with their second string quarterback playing for VY to have any chance to win that game. Why did he not use his superpowers and run all over them and win easily? Instead Kansas had shut him down for the most part till the last drive that would have never taken place without that offensive pass interference call. With Earl in that game with any quarterback that could hand off to him Texas wins easily. Earl never had the talent around him VY did, there are no one man teams. But just for grins do you think a starting backfield of Earl and say Jamaal Charles would have helped Earl or you so blind you can't even see that? I know this suppose to be about college careers, but why did Earl just keep on being Earl when he went to the NFL against NFL caliber defenses, because he was just that good.
VY did pretty well against NFL defenses his rookie year. And he had a coach who was determined not to let him succeed. VY beats Texans in OT
You very neatly avoided my questions about VY in that OU shutout loss and about that game against a bad Kansas team. Why is that? Or a starting backfield consisting of Earl and Jamaal Charles. Charles beng one of the many NFL caliber talent players that VY had at his disposal. As far as the NFL goes I think this says it all for Earl. When you can post a link like this about VY you will be sure and let me know won't you? The Link Earl was not only Rookie of the Year his first season in the NFL, but Offensive Player of the Year simply because he led the league in rushing too. The Link The Link Did I mention being named MVP of the NFL Three Years in a row? The Link Thanks for playing though! Earl also played for a coach that ran him into the ground and shortened his career and helped leave him crippled today. He played as hard as he could and as long as he could and never complained once about his treatment. How did VY react again? More importantly as great a football player as he was, he is even a better person, that people admire for way more than any of his feats on the gridiron.
NBHoen - VY is the best college football player I have ever seen. I am old enough that I was able to watch Earl play in person and obviously I have seen VY play. Earl had a great team around him and and great coaching staff. Ricky actually accomplished the most with less talent. It possible to love all 3 and still admit that VY was the most unstopable force on the college field,
I saw them all in person too and anybody can have an opinion, that is why I spell out things with facts. I also said there are no "one man teams" but according to some people here VY was just that and unstoppable. That is just not true and I proved it in prior posts. A third team quarterback that just handed off to Earl was the offense. Yes, you can love them all but VY had multiple future NFL players on his offense and Earl did not. Ricky had Applewhite, which many will argue to the death was one of the best quarterbacks ever at Texas. He had Wayne McGarity Kwame Cavil to throw to that loosened up defenses. All I get is VY was unstoppable, well some teams like that bad Kansas team stopped him and like I said if not for an offensive pass interference call you wouldn't get 99 out of 100 times on the road there would have been no 20 game VY win streak and no Rose Bowl against Michigan. OU shut him out 12-0, how did that happen to an unstoppable player? The first shutout since 1982 for Texas. OU players said after that game that we could have played all day and they wouldn't have scored. That doesn't sound like unstoppable to me. I hear nothing but general statements with no substance behind them. Facts are just facts, not just my old man can beat up your old man logic.
And again as a junior I keep telling you he had multiple future NFL players that helped not let the defense key on him and Earl did not. I hear no mention of all the NFL caliber offensive skill players Earl had on his team. If people would go back and read more than just the last couple of posts you would know this. If Earl had just one of those skill players with him it would have made a huge difference. Even with a third string QB a starting backfield of Earl and Jamaal Charles or Ramonce Taylor just might have helped him don't you think? There are no one man teams, you take away all those weapons VY had his junior year and you would see how unstoppable he was. What part of this statement do you not understand? Nobody is talking about Barry Sanders because he did not play at Texas. Since you mentioned him though Thurmond Thomas had more career yards at OSU than Sanders because he started over Sanders for two years. They should have put them in the same backfield somehow. As far as having moves and highlights like nobody else, Gale Sayers says hold on there. The Link The Link Six touchdowns and 336 yards as a rookie in one game where he didn't even play the whole game in horrible playing conditions.
Earl was great the minute he stepped on the field at Memorial field, including playying defensive tackle to block kicks. Sorry, but VY was not great the minute he stepped on the field. He took a year and a half before he blossomed into a great player. He was pulled in games in favor of Mock - Tech, Missouri, Washington State. No one ever pulled Earl out of a game and replaced him because he wasn't getting the job done, ever. I enjoyed both these players, but Earl was better because he was great his entire career.
No Greg Davis apologist here for damn sure. I watched Nobis, Street, Earl, Ricky and VY in person and love em all. Earl was the best and I will have to add Metcalf in the conversation as a great player on bad teams. I am not putting VY down, I just am not forgeting his rise to becoming a great player. He was redshirted his freshman year? He did not start at the top and was not real good his redshirt year 2003 or the start of his soph year 2004. He had games where you could see what was coming in the future in 2003, but he wasn't great until the second half of the 2004 season and then took off with a really good team. The 2003 OU, Tech and and Washington St games fairly well back up my opinion.
VY as a true freshman woud have beaten out Simms in 2002 if there had been open competition? Is that what you are saying? Ask Roy Williams, B J Johnson and Sloan Thomas how that open competition would have ended.
VY as a freshman was an out-of-this-world runner. 998 totals yards and 7.4 yards per carry, but that doesn't even tell the whole story. Saying that VY did not blossom enough as a QB during this period to be compared to Earl is ridiculous. What was Earl's pass efficiency rating? I mean c'mon. Vince was a combination of Roger Staubach and Barry Sanders. As great a runner as Earl was, one of the greatest in football history, there is no comparison with the double threat VY posed. Vince went 30-2 as a starter. There is a reason for that.
