Most heart breaking/disappointing loss?

[SpaceRaider]

Saw on twitter, where some Chicago Bear fans were discussing about their loss last night being the most heart breaking and disappointing loss they've witnessed. My first reaction is well you ought to be a Blue Raider fan, but then I tried thinking about through the years, in any MT sport and I have witnessed too much, I guess, to come up with just one. What was the most heart breaking loss in MT history?

 

[Blueraider_Mike]

There have been many...right now the UAB championship game is still too fresh to look beyond...then I'd second the first game against FAU (2003?) because it signaled a lot of pain coming our way we just didn't see it at the time.

 

[blueraiderJT]

I have more than one.

1. The Championship UAB game. We had the fastest dude in the stadium and we used him on sweeps. He still nearly won it for us.

2. Troy 2006. we had that game. They get an onside kick and a crazy 4th down miracle throw to beat us.

3. UNT 2001 - We had talent everywhere but UNT had the D and it was enough. The first out right championship denied which started the curse. 8-3 and we sit at home on bowl season while a 5-7 goes instead.

4. Vandy 2015 - We had that game and the NIX "bleed like a sieve" defense let a terrible VU team march right through us for the win.

5. Illinois 2015 - We had that game as well. We missed a very makable FG and we had a punt blocked for a TD.

There are more like FIU in 2014, UTEP 2014, UTSA 2016, Hawaii 2016, Central Michigan 2015 and 2006. Take your pick. We have so many. FAU 2003 too. That's a good one.

 

[SigmaNuBlue]

Alabama (2001?) - Andrico Hines pick 6 to Freddie Roach. The state of our program/athletic dept changes if we win that game.

 

[rcodeman]

There have been many...right now the UAB championship game is still too fresh to look beyond...then I'd second the first game against FAU (2003?) because it signaled a lot of pain coming our way we just didn't see it at the time.

My first game as a student....A harbinger of things to come!

 

[FranklinRaider315]

Homecoming 2016 vs. WKU

 

[RandallThomason]

Alabama (2001?) - Andrico Hines pick 6 to Freddie Roach. The state of our program/athletic dept changes if we win that game.

2002. Hines’ first game as a starter.

 

[MTFNBY5]

There have been so many significant/memorable losses as a fan going back to the OVC days. It seems as if as soon as any sport is on the cusp of real success we lay an egg. Often the losses are so devastating as to overwhelm the memories of the big wins, of which we have had many.

In my mind I just can't get over two recent 4-game series, one in FB and one in BkB:

The 4th loss in the last game of the 4-game series with the school on West End showed to me just how far the two program have diverged since MT made the move up to D-1 with all the dreams of becoming relevant. VU may be slightly better today than the early 90s (still a $EC bottom dweller) but we have evidently fallen significantly. I have lost all hope that we will become a top G-5 program, much less be relevant to those increasing numbers for whom "all things P-5" are the only pertinent teams. Regardless, can't go back to 1-AA (FCS), caught in no man's land (college football purgatory).

In basketball I don't know if I will ever get over the last four games of the Davis regime. After finally making the top 25 (a dream of mine for 50 years) and being mentioned by more than one pundit as a team capable of a deep NCAA run (another longed for event) we fail in the ability to repay Marshall for our only in conference road loss on Senior Night, we lose to the 9th seeded team in the conference tournament quarter-finals, somehow secure a win against a good Vermont squad which gave hope to a NIT run only to be followed by a blow-out loss to a Louisville team with whom we should have been competitive - A terrible end to the best years of MT basketball I have witnessed; and to see the wheels completely come off in the aftermath.
It hurts, it damn sure hurts to be so close and yet so far from dreams for my school which have carried me since I first became a fan when conference-foe WKU was nationally ranked top-10 in BkB and went to the final four. And now I'm down to just hoping we can win another game this season. Sucks!!!

 

[SigmaNuBlue]

2002. Hines’ first game as a starter.

Fun fact...Hines actually lined up at WR the first play of the game. I believe Rashard Lee took the first snap out of a wildcat package.

 

[JohnDavidBlue]

2001 - Loss to North Texas. Got no favor from NMSU to beat mean green. This was the beginning of UNT Sunbelt domination.

2002 - Loss to SEMO. That just stunk. We all knew we were going to be in the L colllumn the entire game.

2003 - Fl Atlantic. Flew into south Florida the following Sunday (game was on a Thursday) only to read about their first 1-A win at the beginning of my honeymoon.

2006 - Troy

2007 - Stockstill’s decisions in the VA game opened my eyes to how blah he is.

2010 - on. Entirely disappointed.

 

[MTFNBY5]

2001 - Loss to North Texas. Got no favor from NMSU to beat mean green. This was the beginning of UNT Sunbelt domination.

2002 - Loss to SEMO. That just stunk. We all knew we were going to be in the L colllumn the entire game.

2003 - Fl Atlantic. Flew into south Florida the following Sunday (game was on a Thursday) only to read about their first 1-A win at the beginning of my honeymoon.

2006 - Troy

2007 - Stockstill’s decisions in the VA game opened my eyes to how blah he is.

2010 - on. Entirely disappointed.

You were reading on your honeymoon???

 

[SubwayAlumni]

I had to pour a bourbon before I started to read this thread.

 

[Raiderclyde]

MT's heartbreaking losses are like Lays Potato Chips...we can't stop at just one. It's too much embedded in our heritage.
Gloom, despair, and agony! Here's my list...

1984 - Louisiana Tech 13-21. Winning this game gets us into the National Championship of 1-AA. Never got any closer to a national title or national respect than this semi-final game.

1985 - Georgia Southern 21-28. MT closed regular season at #1 and had a perfect regular season at 11-0. Our last one. Loss was an upset and hurt dearly and GSU ended up building a powerhouse dynasty as their football program was about 4 years old at the time.

1987 - Youngstown State - Strange homecoming loss, 16-17. Nothing bad, but nothing great either other than we didn't lose many homecomings under Boot's reign once he built the program back.

1990 - Boise State 13-20. Loss was respectable, but we lost it on a fake punt with the game tied in the fourth quarter. Boise drove and scored the winning touchdown with about 6:00 left. We were playing with our #2 and #3 quarterback, IIRC.

1992 - Marshall 21-35. Second round of 1-AA playoffs. Lots of dropped passes and a backup quarterback was successful in beating us (Todd Donnan).

1997 - Tennessee Tech 20-30 in Cookeville. A dreary day under the flood lights in Tucker Stadium and we lost a halftime lead with a disastrous third quarter on defense that saw Jerome Tillman and Brent Billen run through our defense like a knife to hot butter. Tech milked the 4th quarter clock taking up over half the quarter in the process of scoring its final points.

1998 - EIU 32-35. Boots Donnelly's final home game as head coach. Had a chance for the OVC title that year. EIU was down 21-32 with 1:25 left and scored twice to win. Our first instance of gift wrapping a win to the other team. Our loss meant Tennessee State won the OVC title that year. This was the first season in our newly renovated Floyd Stadium.

2001 - North Texas in Denton 21-24. Mean Green ended up winning 26 straight Sun Belt games and four consecutive championships. Our miracle comeback later against NMSU and 54-6 win over Arkansas State counted for nothing in getting a bowl game with an 8-3 record.

2002 - Saw two heartbreaks Alabama 34-39 where we played an excellent game only to see slip away and the loss to Southeast Missouri State 14-24 where we played very uninspiring. This was really proved to be a turning point of Coach Andy McCollum's HC Career at MT. What might have been had we won in Alabama.

2003 - Another two heartbreaks. FAU (mentioned earlier) and Louisiana Lafayette. UL Lafayette was a 4 overtime disappointment and a 51-57 loss. Seemed like we did everything we could to lose that one.

2006 - Troy. 20-21 Couldn't stop 4th and 17 with around a half a minute left and a running clock. Gift wrapped championship #2 to the other team.

2007 Virginia.

2011 The entire season. Ten losses. Bad season coming after the New Orleans Bowl and Go Daddy Bowl. Led to the slow disengagement of the fan base, in my conjecture.

2012 Yet another two heartbreaks. Loss to 1-AA McNeese State and Loss to Arkansas State 0-45. Got STEAMROLLED in front of a packed stadium in Jonesboro. Just terrible. Had we won, we would have won the Sun Belt title, but instead we got shut out of the bowl season with an 8-4 record.

2014 UTEP 21-24. Nothing good about this game.

2016 Western Kentucky 43-44: came down to poor clock and game management. Pulled defeat in the jaws of victory at Homecoming. Also, don't forget the take down by UTSA 25-45 where nothing seemed to go right and it felt like a trip to the woodshed by a otherwise inferior team.

2018 UAB 25-27 on CBS Sports Network in a nearly empty stadium. 12 men on the field and a bad second quarter doomed our C-USA Championship bid. So many "what ifs", a tackle or a run here or there. Championship gift wrapping #3 to the other team. OH, SO VERY CLOSE!!!!

And, as an added bonus: an Appalachian State 13-45 loss. In fact most of our modern bowls could fit the bonus description whether it be Central Michigan or Miami of Ohio.

With all those painful games said, it takes a special type of fan to be a Blue Raider year in and year out...Chicago Bears have nothing on us in disappointments. But, let's end the 27 year streak of missing the outright championship and go grab us a C-USA trophy next year.

Looking forward to autumn and the gridiron of 2019!

 

[cipman2000]

There have been many...right now the UAB championship game is still too fresh to look beyond...then I'd second the first game against FAU (2003?) because it signaled a lot of pain coming our way we just didn't see it at the time.

I was at that game in 2003. We lost at the buzzer with a pass in the end zone.. That hurt.

 

[cipman2000]

Alabama (2001?) - Andrico Hines pick 6 to Freddie Roach. The state of our program/athletic dept changes if we win that game.

Oh my how I agree with this statement.

 

[cipman2000]

MT's heartbreaking losses are like Lays Potato Chips...we can't stop at just one. It's too much embedded in our heritage.

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Gloom, despair, and agony! Here's my list...

1984 - Louisiana Tech 13-21. Winning this game gets us into the National Championship of 1-AA. Never got any closer to a national title or national respect than this semi-final game.

1985 - Georgia Southern 21-28. MT closed regular season at #1 and had a perfect regular season at 11-0. Our last one. Loss was an upset and hurt dearly and GSU ended up building a powerhouse dynasty as their football program was about 4 years old at the time.

1987 - Youngstown State - Strange homecoming loss, 16-17. Nothing bad, but nothing great either other than we didn't lose many homecomings under Boot's reign once he built the program back.

1990 - Boise State 13-20. Loss was respectable, but we lost it on a fake punt with the game tied in the fourth quarter. Boise drove and scored the winning touchdown with about 6:00 left. We were playing with our #2 and #3 quarterback, IIRC.

1992 - Marshall 21-35. Second round of 1-AA playoffs. Lots of dropped passes and a backup quarterback was successful in beating us (Todd Donnan).

1997 - Tennessee Tech 20-30 in Cookeville. A dreary day under the flood lights in Tucker Stadium and we lost a halftime lead with a disastrous third quarter on defense that saw Jerome Tillman and Brent Billen run through our defense like a knife to hot butter. Tech milked the 4th quarter clock taking up over half the quarter in the process of scoring its final points.

1998 - EIU 32-35. Boots Donnelly's final home game as head coach. Had a chance for the OVC title that year. EIU was down 21-32 with 1:25 left and scored twice to win. Our first instance of gift wrapping a win to the other team. Our loss meant Tennessee State won the OVC title that year. This was the first season in our newly renovated Floyd Stadium.

2001 - North Texas in Denton 21-24. Mean Green ended up winning 26 straight Sun Belt games and four consecutive championships. Our miracle comeback later against NMSU and 54-6 win over Arkansas State counted for nothing in getting a bowl game with an 8-3 record.

2002 - Saw two heartbreaks Alabama 34-39 where we played an excellent game only to see slip away and the loss to Southeast Missouri State 14-24 where we played very uninspiring. This was really proved to be a turning point of Coach Andy McCollum's HC Career at MT. What might have been had we won in Alabama.

2003 - Another two heartbreaks. FAU (mentioned earlier) and Louisiana Lafayette. UL Lafayette was a 4 overtime disappointment and a 51-57 loss. Seemed like we did everything we could to lose that one.

2006 - Troy. 20-21 Couldn't stop 4th and 17 with around a half a minute left and a running clock. Gift wrapped championship #2 to the other team.

2007 Virginia.

2011 The entire season. Ten losses. Bad season coming after the New Orleans Bowl and Go Daddy Bowl. Led to the slow disengagement of the fan base, in my conjecture.

2012 Yet another two heartbreaks. Loss to 1-AA McNeese State and Loss to Arkansas State 0-45. Got STEAMROLLED in front of a packed stadium in Jonesboro. Just terrible. Had we won, we would have won the Sun Belt title, but instead we got shut out of the bowl season with an 8-4 record.

2014 UTEP 21-24. Nothing good about this game.

2016 Western Kentucky 43-44: came down to poor clock and game management. Pulled defeat in the jaws of victory at Homecoming. Also, don't forget the take down by UTSA 25-45 where nothing seemed to go right and it felt like a trip to the woodshed by a otherwise inferior team.

2018 UAB 25-27 on CBS Sports Network in a nearly empty stadium. 12 men on the field and a bad second quarter doomed our C-USA Championship bid. So many "what ifs", a tackle or a run here or there. Championship gift wrapping #3 to the other team. OH, SO VERY CLOSE!!!!

And, as an added bonus: an Appalachian State 13-45 loss. In fact most of our modern bowls could fit the bonus description whether it be Central Michigan or Miami of Ohio.

With all those painful games said, it takes a special type of fan to be a Blue Raider year in and year out...Chicago Bears have nothing on us in disappointments. But, let's end the 27 year streak of missing the outright championship and go grab us a C-USA trophy next year.

Looking forward to autumn and the gridiron of 2019!

All of those and add in losing to Missouri in 2003. 41-40..

 

[SubwayAlumni]

Honestly, why? Why are we doing this to ourselves?

 

[Blueraider_Mike]

Honestly, why? Why are we doing this to ourselves?

Lets start a thread about the best wins, there have been many of those too

 

[MT Glenn]

Honestly, why? Why are we doing this to ourselves?

We're Blue Raider fans. We don't just endure the pain, we embrace it.

 

[JohnDavidBlue]

 

[bobdizole]

Troy in 2007. Blew a 14 point lead going into the final 2 minutes. Still only bested by the falcons collapse in the super bowl as the worst meltdown I have ever seen

 

[Raiderclyde]

Troy in 2007. Blew a 14 point lead going into the final 2 minutes. Still only bested by the falcons collapse in the super bowl as the worst meltdown I have ever seen

The Eastern Illinois game in 1998 was equally as bad as it was for the OVC Championship had we won that game. Much larger crowd than UAB--either game in 2018. Two EIU touchdowns in 1:25 after we kicked a FG to extend lead by 11, 32-21. Basically, all we had to do is get on one knee to cover-up EIU onsides kick when it was 32-28 with about :30 left, and it would have been a great send off for Boots as coach with at least a share of OVC crown and we owned the TSU tiebreaker (first game of the season) giving us the trophy. EIU's receiver scored with only :06 left (he could possibly made it to the parking lot or even Kwik Sak on Greenland, before we could get a tackle, if he kept full stride). Nevertheless, we still had an outside chance at a co-championship crown even the next week, but Tennessee Tech lost to TSU which gave Tigers the OVC Championship that year. That was one that truly got away at an extremely bad time.

Remember hearing Boots later on WGNS nearly in tears recounting some the game as a missed opportunity and one of the hardest game experiences of his life. That was his final home game as coach and never forgot seeing the 20 years of accomplishments on the small message board on the old scoreboard and it felt very empty that night.

 

[blueraiderJT]

Troy in 2007. Blew a 14 point lead going into the final 2 minutes. Still only bested by the falcons collapse in the super bowl as the worst meltdown I have ever seen

2006. I was there. Still getting over it.