2022 Egg Bowl

[curseddawgs]

Where does it rank all time for you knowing what we know now?

 

[patdog]

I think it has to be way up there. Leach's last game. It's nice that he's able to go out on a win. And I think it's a key game in that it's the difference between a really good season and an OK one and it broke a 2-year losing streak in the rivalry. It was already a pretty special Egg Bowl, but I think a lot more so now that he's gone.

 

[Faustdog]

It's got to go in the top 5 Egg Bowl wins of all time. Perceptions changed overnight. Look at some of these prevailing lines of thought before the game:

1. Leach can't win rivalry games
2. Kiffin owns Leach, OM has passed us, Kiffin's offense is just too explosive, etc. (nope)
3. Leach doesn't win road games (won on the home fields of 4 of our 6 West opponents)
4. Can't win in the rain
5. Leach is a 6-7 win coach in the SEC, tops

Leach took over a disaster of a locker room where our starting quarterback had just missed our bowl game because our starting linebacker literally broke his face. He installed a completely new system with extremely limited practice time due to covid, then played an all-SEC schedule mostly with a true freshman quarterback that nobody else wanted.

By the end of that year he had us within a touchdown of knocking off an anointed Ole Miss team on their home field. The next year we're a poorly played and criminally officiated Memphis game away from 8-4.

Much of the talk is about his personality, and that's fine. His personality deserves the attention. Then it goes to his offense. And that's fine. He and Mumme changed the game. But one thing that doesn't get discussed as much is that the guy just knew how to run a program.

 

[patdog]

But one thing that doesn't get discussed as much is that the guy just knew how to run a program.

He did a lot to undo the damage Moorhead did to the culture of the program.

 

[DoggieDaddy13]

It's got to go in the top 5 Egg Bowl wins of all time. Perceptions changed overnight. Look at some of these prevailing lines of thought before the game:

1. Leach can't win rivalry games
2. Kiffin owns Leach, OM has passed us, Kiffin's offense is just too explosive, etc. (nope)
3. Leach doesn't win road games (won on the home fields of 4 of our 6 West opponents)
4. Can't win in the rain
5. Leach is a 6-7 win coach in the SEC, tops

Leach took over a disaster of a locker room where our starting quarterback had just missed our bowl game because our starting linebacker literally broke his face. He installed a completely new system with extremely limited practice time due to covid, then played an all-SEC schedule mostly with a true freshman quarterback that nobody else wanted.

By the end of that year he had us within a touchdown of knocking off an anointed Ole Miss team on their home field. The next year we're a poorly played and criminally officiated Memphis game away from 8-4.

Much of the talk is about his personality, and that's fine. His personality deserves the attention. Then it goes to his offense. And that's fine. He and Mumme changed the game. But one thing that doesn't get discussed as much is that the guy just knew how to run a program.

Your last point is what we're going to miss. And why I am worried about where we go from here. There are not many coaches like him in terms of operation, discipline, and TOTAL commitment.

 

[kired]

Definitely will be one of the more memorable ones for me. Swore I'd never go back to one in Oxford after the 2012 game - I even turned down free tickets to the 2014 game because I hated that place so much. But my son talked me into it this year since he'd never been to a game there. Bought 2 tickets that afternoon, drove over, and we watched the last game a true legend of college football would ever coach.

I hate that was his last game - but on the other hand I think it's awesome his last game was a win against OM.