Who remembers the 1983 Cotton Bowl. SMU beat Pitt 7 to 3, I think. Dickerson was the running back for SMU and Pitt had the ball on about the 2 yard line and was about to score. Then a fumble - turnover.
1983 Cotton Bowl Pitt - SMU
- Thread starter neench
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Yes, I was there. It was cold and sleeting/raining most of the game. The SMU frat boys were obnoxious to add insult to injury.
That game was so bad that it most likely cost SMU a portion of the National Championship.
A game I’d like to forget….A Foge clunker. Pitt’s O was horrible in that game.
When number two beats number one in a bowl game there really isn't much chance that number four is going to jump number two in the polls.
Unless number four would have been Notre Dame.
The ball was at the inch line when McCall fumbled. No need to have a play called where the RB jumps the pile. A QB sneak or quick handoff to McIntyre suffices. I bet Pitt wins that game if it scored on that opening series.
SMU “Pony Express” backfield: Eric Dickerson and Craig James.
Foge’s offenses consistently did less with more.
Good God....yes....I still go into a depression when I recall that game. When it was over....I remember saying to others who were watching with me....I think we just witnessed the 'beginning of the end' of Pitt's glorious run as a college football powerhouse.
Ah the good ole days when there was such a thing ...
It was painful to watch but I remember Russell Carter and one of Pitt players and I want to say it was Marc Spindler got into leading up to the game. They were rivals in hs and Spindler said yeah I remembered him he was supposed to play but he missed the game because he was in jail. One of the funnier lines.
Yep, truly a sad moment, thought the same thing. Actually after the opener with UNC began to have some doubts. Think about it, you have Dan Marino and only score 7 points against UNC, 3 versus SMU, and 10 against the nits (which included Foge's intentional punt on 3rd down). Foge should have been canned after the 1984 season but was brought back for one more lackluster year.
Although given the Pitt admin, I doubt anyone could have maintained the level of success. Ed Bozik was the worse hire in sports history, and we are still feeling the consequences of him putting all his eggs in basketball/Big East instead of realizing football drives the bus. Also, think about it....your star QB is ruled ineligible for failing an algebra class. What school that is serious about football would allow that to happen?
We should probably stop now....this is not a trip down memory lane....rather a trip down 'nightmare' lane!
Yeah, I just wrote about that game a couple days ago in the peak thread. The game was sleet all game long. Marino threw an INT in SMU end zone because Collins slipped on the ice he was open perfect pass and the defender behind him caught it. Also Schubert missed a 26 yard FG too. The best team lost that day. It was the first Pitt game I remember.
I always thought if a better QB was left in the cupboard, Foge could’ve kept Pitt at 8-9 wins a season. A step down from 1976-81 for sure, but no coaching change is made in 1986 and Major Harris is under center by 1987. Maybe the administration doesn’t destroy the program heading into the 1990s with a Pitt guy at the helm.
Crazy that Foge’s last team beat two future NFL QBs who’d win a playoff game: Jim Everett and Erik Kramer.
Just as bad as losing a bowl game 3-0. Gale force winds, continuing to throw the ball instead of giving it to shady 50 times
