1980 season.
- Thread starter GloryDawg
- Start date
Pads....I remember wearing those big pads. Always had a loud pop when hitting.
Orange bowl looked like a real dump.
Man o man did we have defense.
Orange bowl looked like a real dump.
Man o man did we have defense.
I take those uniforms back in a heartbeat.
Take those helmets and pants along with the 1991 jerseys and that'd make a great looking uniform today.
The 80 team is my favorite. Solid defense, solid running game with a hit or miss passing game.
Reality is that it was a "MISS" passing game, but that team was fun to watch.
I agree with that assessment. John Bond got a lot of credit for 80 yards passes that the receiver ran 75 of those yards.
He threw five 70 plus yard TD's in his senior year. I don't believe one of them was more than 20 yards in the air. but that fella could fly.
Plus when you run the ball 80% of the time, you can really sell the play action and people like Glenn Young would be streaking down the field wide open (if Bond could hit him).
The wing bone was fantastic with a QB like John Bond. And that defense is a whos who of all time greats at MSU. That's the way football was meant to be played.
Last edited:
The 1980 senior class the one that shoulda/coulda had Hugh Green and Ray "Rooster" Jones if coach Tyler could have kept it the Kang away. It would still be the greatest recruiting class we ever had IMO.
A very nice memory. I saw several games that year. The So Miss debacle I remember getting a bad sunburn. But the rest I saw were enjoyable…..wins over bama, LSU and OM were sweet. If I remember right Nebraska had a very good team finishing in the top 10. So not a bad loss.
College football back in those days was about 80% run/20% pass. I still prefer a 60% run/40% pass offense even nowadays, but I know I'll never see it again. Fans now would almost rather lose than not pass it a gazillion times per game.
Coach Bellard modified the wishbone to the wingbone to take advantage of the State halfbacks skill sets. Watch the video by the OP, you will see the wingbone in action. 3 halfbacks lined up in a straight line behind the QB, not with a fullback and 2 halfbacks.
All you have to do is come down here to Picayune and catch some Maroon Tide Football. You’ll probably be able to count on one hand the number of times we throw it in a game. We still run the quickies and the traps down here.
That's my dad at the 21:30 mark!
LSU game. Maroon hat hollering probably at us to get in our seats. He's the one with the closeup
We just had so many great players at all positions, on both sides of the ball. Bond has to be considered as arguably one of the top option quarterbacks ever. Great vision and speed. We had an allotment of backs and receivers, along with a powerful offensive line. Just so much fun to watch my sophomore year at State!
Wesley Reed wouldn’t talk to Jackie for 6 months when he came to State…. He HATED Jackie for getting Hugh…
You and, apparently, 236,538 other state fans …. based on my conversations through the years. Not sure how memorial was able to hold all the state fans who allegedly attended the game.
I thought it was closer to 2 million.
I did not attend that Bama game. My dad went to the game on a guys' road trip, which was something he rarely did. He never stopped talking about that game and the trip.
Kinda crazy to think about that there were only two home games on campus. I know that was the norm back then but still weird to think about now.
I was at both the 1980 Mississippi Southern debacle (14-42) and the Bama 6-3 game. What a roller coaster.
As far as I can tell its the only year in our history that we beat Alabama, Auburn, LSU and OM all in the same year. I know it was the only year in modern times.