With UofL Football set to meet Alabama in the Camping World Kickoff, Cards Sports Zone is taking you back in time to 1991 and the Fiesta Bowl.
UofL, after controversy over Arizona voting not to adopt Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a paid state holiday, was extended an offer to play in the game against blue blood power Alabama. Howard Schnellenberger, after some persuasion, was able to get school officials to accept the bid.
Most everyone in the college football world expected an easy victory for Bama. Coach Schnellenberger had other ideas. He truly believed his team could win and exuded confidence to his team. In fact, he told them to take a stance of “arrogance” against the blue blood Bama.
To be honest, it isn’t much different from the build up to this year’s matchup. Everyone expects a Bama beat down of UofL while Coach Petrino is preaching about the talent of his team and the fact they believe they will win. The team has talked about different advantages they believe they have over the Crimson Tide.
Well, Coach Schnellenberger shocked the college football world when UofL blasted Alabama 34-7 in the 1991 Fiesta Bowl. That game was the first time UofL fans believed, in my opinion, that the program could grow and become a power. It gave everyone the belief UofL could play with the elite.
Ever since that game, UofL climbed the college football ladder, arriving eventually in the ACC and having the school’s first Heisman winner. Now, UofL is looking to fulfill Howard Schnellenberger’s prophecy of a national title for UofL. It starts this Saturday by playing the defending national champs. The only variable, of course, is time.
Check out the full 1991 Fiesta Bowl below. It’s time to get hyped.
I guess a Cards fan would be more liable to remember the 1991 Fiesta Bowl more than the 1976 and 1977 beat downs in the regular season (24-3 and 56-7).