Well now that baseball is done, it's officially 10 athletic years in the ACC. So how have things been going? What are your favorite 10 games and moments from this era?
1. FSU 2016. It pretty much encapsulates that moment in the Lamar era. Everything was great. We were the talk of the sport with the Heisman winner. It put us on a path with Clemson for a game that would determine a playoff and ACC title game spot. The ultimate moment for our fans. College Gameday was here. It had it all.
2. Notre Dame 2023. Brohm was home. Brohm delivered a win that we needed on ABC Primetime. Sometimes big years get lost if there is not a big moment. But we got it and our field storm. Everything that started to fall apart in Fall 2015 felt like it went away that night.
3. Miami 2014. We arrived. We conquered. We did to Miami what they used to do to others. We were the upstart underdog program that was taking college football over in a new league. Bobby was back. ESPN primetime. ACC Takeover Begins NOW!
4. Notre Dame 2014. This might be the best team overall in UofL history and they never get their respect. Playing in a division with FSU and Clemson that year plus Devante's injury early killed the hype, but this team got their moment. NBC game at Notre Dame with Reggie Bonnafon at QB. Are you kidding me!? This game gets lost because it happened in between the Teddy and Lamar years, but it was huge nonetheless. This was our best team we ever had other than the QB spot, but we were so complete.
5. 2015 Music City Bowl. Now to be fair to A&M and that game, Kyler Murray and Kyle Allen both transferred, and we missed out on a more epic matchup. But Lamar's legend was national that night and we put the world on notice. A big win over a SEC school that recruits top 10 and NFL talent constantly and on national TV. So big in that moment.
6. UCF 2021. For all the crap we gave Satt, he inherited a mess and stabilized our program. HE wasn't the guy we wanted, and it worked out well, but he had some moments. That Friday Night last minute comeback win was special. We needed some good news and good vibes. One of those games that didn't mean much in the grand scheme, but it was special if you were there.
7. Miami 2023. We clinched a berth in the ACC Title game. It's a game we did not deserve to win and we played bad, but we overcame and won a big game on ABC. Top 10. Fringe playoff hopes alive. Had Kentucky the next week and FSU after. IT was a fun time.
8. Kentucky 2014. Now we're 3-6 against them since joining the ACC, so I'm going to appreciate this one. Rivalry games need fun and close matchups to really mean more. We had the pregame fight. We had a back-and-forth battle. We had Devante Parker cementing his legend with one final game where he took over. And we shut their mouths. They even had a bye week the week before and couldn't close the deal when we played like crap. Kyle Bolin legend game!
9. Wake 2019. That was a wild ride of a game. Coming off the 2018 2-10 disaster, we needed some hope. We were all just hoping to be competitive again, let alone a bowl game? We beat BC the week before and it felt great, but it was BC. But this Wake game showed would Tutu, Hawkins, and Malik could do when it got rolling. We beat a ranked team in a shootout. We started moving our expectations up. Our 2-10 rebuild got sped up. Granted, the 2019 season kind of hurt Satt long term because it raised expectations for his rebuild when we truly just overachieved that year.
10. Wake 2022. After the BC loss, we were dead. Everyone wrote the team off. But something happened, we won 5 of our last 6 games. We were on of the best pass rushing teams in the nation. We were doing it with a backup QB. Wake cheated us the year before. And we just exposed them and our defense took over that day. Considering all that happened, we were ranked #25 going into the last week of the season. That team kept fighting. Satt wasn't the guy and we needed Jeff, but he left the roster in good shape and way better than the place he found it.
1. FSU 2016. It pretty much encapsulates that moment in the Lamar era. Everything was great. We were the talk of the sport with the Heisman winner. It put us on a path with Clemson for a game that would determine a playoff and ACC title game spot. The ultimate moment for our fans. College Gameday was here. It had it all.
2. Notre Dame 2023. Brohm was home. Brohm delivered a win that we needed on ABC Primetime. Sometimes big years get lost if there is not a big moment. But we got it and our field storm. Everything that started to fall apart in Fall 2015 felt like it went away that night.
3. Miami 2014. We arrived. We conquered. We did to Miami what they used to do to others. We were the upstart underdog program that was taking college football over in a new league. Bobby was back. ESPN primetime. ACC Takeover Begins NOW!
4. Notre Dame 2014. This might be the best team overall in UofL history and they never get their respect. Playing in a division with FSU and Clemson that year plus Devante's injury early killed the hype, but this team got their moment. NBC game at Notre Dame with Reggie Bonnafon at QB. Are you kidding me!? This game gets lost because it happened in between the Teddy and Lamar years, but it was huge nonetheless. This was our best team we ever had other than the QB spot, but we were so complete.
5. 2015 Music City Bowl. Now to be fair to A&M and that game, Kyler Murray and Kyle Allen both transferred, and we missed out on a more epic matchup. But Lamar's legend was national that night and we put the world on notice. A big win over a SEC school that recruits top 10 and NFL talent constantly and on national TV. So big in that moment.
6. UCF 2021. For all the crap we gave Satt, he inherited a mess and stabilized our program. HE wasn't the guy we wanted, and it worked out well, but he had some moments. That Friday Night last minute comeback win was special. We needed some good news and good vibes. One of those games that didn't mean much in the grand scheme, but it was special if you were there.
7. Miami 2023. We clinched a berth in the ACC Title game. It's a game we did not deserve to win and we played bad, but we overcame and won a big game on ABC. Top 10. Fringe playoff hopes alive. Had Kentucky the next week and FSU after. IT was a fun time.
8. Kentucky 2014. Now we're 3-6 against them since joining the ACC, so I'm going to appreciate this one. Rivalry games need fun and close matchups to really mean more. We had the pregame fight. We had a back-and-forth battle. We had Devante Parker cementing his legend with one final game where he took over. And we shut their mouths. They even had a bye week the week before and couldn't close the deal when we played like crap. Kyle Bolin legend game!
9. Wake 2019. That was a wild ride of a game. Coming off the 2018 2-10 disaster, we needed some hope. We were all just hoping to be competitive again, let alone a bowl game? We beat BC the week before and it felt great, but it was BC. But this Wake game showed would Tutu, Hawkins, and Malik could do when it got rolling. We beat a ranked team in a shootout. We started moving our expectations up. Our 2-10 rebuild got sped up. Granted, the 2019 season kind of hurt Satt long term because it raised expectations for his rebuild when we truly just overachieved that year.
10. Wake 2022. After the BC loss, we were dead. Everyone wrote the team off. But something happened, we won 5 of our last 6 games. We were on of the best pass rushing teams in the nation. We were doing it with a backup QB. Wake cheated us the year before. And we just exposed them and our defense took over that day. Considering all that happened, we were ranked #25 going into the last week of the season. That team kept fighting. Satt wasn't the guy and we needed Jeff, but he left the roster in good shape and way better than the place he found it.
