Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Looking back at the 2008 Packers for clues about what it will take for the 2023 Packers to be successful.
Attempting to connect two football teams separated by 15 years is probably a fool’s errand, but the 2023 Green Bay Packers have a special connection to the 2008 Packers, and it’s worth diving into to see if the first team quarterbacked by Aaron Rodgers can teach us anything about the team about to be run by first-year starter Jordan Love this season.
Here are some things to consider about the 2023 Packers after diving into the 2008 team:
ESPN recently ranked the greatest teams in college football history that weren’t able to finish the season with a national title.
Some of the greatest teams in college football history weren’t able to close out the season with a national title. As is the case with every sport, you sometimes need a little luck on your side.
ESPN recently ranked the 50 best teams to not win a national title. To create the rankings, Bill Connelly used his SP+ ratings from full play-by-play data going back to 2005, then created estimated versions for before 2005 using points scored and allowed. He then eliminated teams with more than one loss.
The 2008 squad for Texas led by head coach Mack Brown and quarterback Colt McCoy landed at No. 18 overall. It was a year of ‘what could have been’ that left an everlasting image of Michael Crabtree’s touchdown reception to lift Texas Tech over Texas in a crucial Big 12 matchup on the minds of many.
Here’s what ESPN had to say about this particular Longhorns squad:
Florida beat Oklahoma in the 2008 national title game. Both teams were totally deserving of their places in the title game — yes, OU lost to Texas, but they also destroyed the Texas Tech team that ended up knocking off the Horns, so that’s always been a wash to me — but it didn’t change the fact that the 2008 season produced more than two deserving teams.
Aside from losing an all-time classic to Tech, the Horns were outstanding, beating three consecutive top-11 teams midseason (OU, Missouri, Oklahoma State), then taking down Ohio State by four in the Fiesta Bowl to finish 12-1.
This season is a touchy subject for many Texas fans, but there’s no doubt the Longhorns were deserving of reaching the national title game. In October of 2008, Texas defeated the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl. After Texas dropped a close road game to Texas Tech a few weeks later, it created a three-way tie (Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma) in the Big 12 South.
Despite Texas closing out the season by defeating Texas A&M 49-9, Oklahoma moved past Texas in the BCS rankings. The three-way tie was then resolved by the fifth tie-breaker and the Sooners ultimately advanced to the Big 12 Championship instead of Texas.
Primary playmakers for Texas throughout the 2008 season were Jordan Shipley, Colt McCoy, Earl Thomas, Quan Cosby, Blake Gideon, Sergio Kindle, Roddrick Muckelroy, and Brian Orakpo.
Detroit’s defense ranks last in several categories and could allow the most points in NFL history
During Saturday’s hopeless 47-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the social media lamentations made it clear. This edition of the Detroit Lions defense could be the worst unit to ever wear the Honolulu blue and silver.
They might already be there with the eye test, but the wretched and incompetent failure that is the Lions defense in 2020 could validate the historical status in Week 17 against the Vikings. The team could surpass the winless 2008 edition in points allowed.
Detroit currently sits at 482 points allowed, the worst in the NFL in 2020. The Raiders are next up at 447, 35 points behind the injury-riddled Lions unit. And that 35 figure is fitting, because if the Lions surrender 35 or more points to the Vikings next Sunday, it will break the franchise record for most points allowed in a season.
The winless Lions of Rod Marinelli in 2008 allowed 517 points in going 0-16. The 2020 edition currently sits third in franchise ignominy, with the 2009 team under Jim Schwartz ceding 494 points to opponents in finishing 2-14.
It will be difficult to break the NFL record for most points allowed in a 16-game season, set by the Baltimore Colts in 1981. Those Colts allowed 533. If the Vikings can score 52, the record falls to the Matt Patricia-styled Lions.
In the first meeting with Minnesota, the Vikings won 34-20.
The Lions are also last in the NFL in TDs allowed (35), first downs allowed (384), passing yards allowed (4,175) and rushing TDs allowed (35), though the Jaguars and Seahawks can both surpass the Lions in some of those categories in their respective games on Sunday.
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Florida Gators were out for revenge against the Georgia Bulldogs in 2008 and got it in remarkable style thanks to Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow.
Rivalries are bitter by nature. Everyone wants to defeat their biggest foe, after all.
But rivalries in sports rarely carry outright disdain, at least from coaches and players. Sure, drunk fans may duke it out in the stands, but the teams themselves usually demonstrate mutual respect for each other.
That wasn’t the case in the 2008 Florida-Georgia game, though. For the Gators, that game meant one thing and one thing only: revenge.
For context, we have to go back to the prior year. After scoring a touchdown in the first quarter to break a 0-0 tie, the Bulldogs’ bench cleared to celebrate the score in the end zone, drawing an excessive celebration penalty. UGA went on to win the game 42-30.
A play that @GeorgiaFootball fans (and all college football fans) will always remember: The Gator Stomp. pic.twitter.com/qQvn3udmFL
— SEConCBS (@SEConCBS) November 5, 2020
The following year, Florida hadn’t forgotten. And coach Urban Meyer and the Gators showed no mercy.
In a battle of top-10 teams, UF beat the breaks off the Bulldogs and asserted itself as the top team in the SEC East, which it went on to win in addition to conference and national championships.
The Gators ran up the score in a 49-10 win, and they took every opportunity to make it hurt for the Bulldogs.
With his team up big late in the game, Chris Rainey was back to return a punt. He caught it, slowly took a couple steps and began to lower his knee to the ground.
But he faked the kneel and popped back up, rushing down the sideline toward the end zone. Unfortunately for the Gators, the play was called back.
By the time the Bulldogs finally found the end zone late in the second half, the majority of their fans had left and the 50/50 split in the stadium was then leaning decidedly Orange and Blue.
Taking pity on the Georgia players, whose fans had abandoned them, some Florida fans in the crowd cheered after the UGA touchdown — just to be courteous, of course.
Even in the final minute, with the outcome already decided, Meyer called all of his remaining timeouts, just to prolong Georgia’s suffering a little while longer.
Never forget the time when the #Gators were beating Georgia 49-10 with a minute to go and Urban Meyer called all his timeouts to make the Bulldogs just sit there and suffer a few minutes longer. #TBT #THWG pic.twitter.com/UBcHj4WyCQ
— InAllKindsOfWeather.com (@AllKindsWeather) October 25, 2018
When the Gators take on the Bulldogs in Jacksonville this Saturday, it’s unlikely to see a repeat of that result. In the 12 years since, Georgia has found more success and has won the last three matchups in the series.
But UF coach Dan Mullen, who was the offensive coordinator during that 2008 game, will look to swing things back in Florida’s direction and earn his first win in the rivalry as head coach.
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For the first time since Brad Lidge with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008, a former Notre Dame player has won a World Series title.
For the first time since Brad Lidge with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008, a former Notre Dame player has won a World Series title. That player is Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder A.J. Pollock, whose team won its first championship since 1988 on Tuesday. Though he had only one double and one walk in seven plate appearances during the Fall Classic, he’ll surely take a ring in his second season in Los Angeles.
For the first time since 2008, the Irish have a World Series Champion!!
Congrats to AJ Pollock and the @Dodgers for claiming the World Series crown last night!!#IrishInMLB x #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/bojARtcL5u
— Notre Dame Baseball (@NDBaseball) October 28, 2020
Pollock’s seven seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks included an All-Star selection and Gold Glove in 2015. After reaching the playoffs only once during that time, he took his talents to Chavez Ravine for a four-year, $55 million deal beginning in 2019. During the pandemic-shortened regular season, he tied with Mookie Betts for the team lead in home runs with 16. He also posted a slash line of .276/.314/.566 and had 34 RBIs over 55 games.
Congratulations to A.J. for playing a role in making the City of Angels the city of champions in 2020.
ESPN recently listed Texas as one of the best squads to compete since 1935 that did not win a national title that season.
There have been many dominant teams over the years who just couldn’t seem to close out the season on a high note.
ESPN recently released a list of the top 25 teams since 1935 who failed to win a national title that season. Unfortunately, Texas made the list at No. 13.
It’s a year that’s tough to stomach around Austin, but one that was too impressive to ignore. The Longhorns went 12-1 in 2008, defeating Oklahoma and Oklahoma State while dominating other opponents.
However, a brutal last-second loss to Texas Tech forced Texas out of national title contention. ESPN’s Bill Connelly even went as far as stating that this team was better than the team that Texas fielded in the 2010 national championship.
“The 2008 season produced one of the most perfectly framed arguments of the BCS era. Texas beat Oklahoma 45-35, defeated an excellent Oklahoma State team and won nine other games by an average of 47-14. But the Longhorns lost an all-time thriller to Mike Leach and Texas Tech, and when OU obliterated that Tech team a few weeks later, it gave the Sooners the smallest of BCS formula edges. The two teams were almost perfect equals that year — a best-of-seven series between them would seemingly go the distance every time — but only one could advance, and it wasn’t the Horns.
So be it. But this team was dynamite. Colt McCoy completed 77% of his passes, Quan Cosby and Jordan Shipley combined for 2,183 receiving yards and Brian Orakpo spearheaded an opportunistic defense. The Horns would make the national title game the next year, but this was the better team.”
Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree provided Texas with one of the most painful college football moments in history. If the Longhorns were to squeak by the Red Raiders, there’s not doubt we would have all benefited from witnessing a Colt McCoy vs. Tim Tebow national championship matchup.
What could have been.
Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby shared the field to make one of the best receiving cores in UT history. They also share the same birthday.
Not only did Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby share the field to make up one of the greatest receiving cores in Longhorn history, but they also share the same birthday. Cosby turns 37 years old today, while Shipley turns 32.
The two player’s best season came in 2008 with potential Hall of Fame quarterback Colt McCoy. Cosby led the team in receptions and receiving yards, while Shipley had more touchdowns. Between the two of them, they had a combined 181 receptions, 2,183 receiving yards, and 21 touchdowns in 2008.
Happy Birthday to one of the greatest duos in @TexasFootball history @Jordan_Shipley
& @QCosby17 🤘🏻pic.twitter.com/uiRhk9fnzc— Chris Bennett (CB) (@chrisgb002000) December 23, 2019
One of Shipley’s best moments at Texas came in the 2008 Red River Shootout. Down 11 early in the second quarter, Shipley returned a kick off for a touchdown, giving the Longhorns a spark in the game. Texas went on to win 45-35, securing their third victory over Oklahoma in four years.
After Texas was left out of the Big 12 and National Championship later in the 2008 season, they were set up with Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. Losing 21-17 and driving with under 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Cosby came up huge for the Longhorns. Running across the middle of the field from the slot, McCoy found Cosby, who broke free and dove into the end zone to secure another BCS bowl victory for Texas.
Both had short careers in the NFL and are now retired. Both Cosby and Shipley are in the top five in career receptions, career receiving yards and career receiving touchdowns at Texas. Two of the best to ever do it for the Longhorns, we wish both of them a very happy birthday!
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