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Worst loss in NU history?

I'm not talking about margin of victory, though that could be a contributing factor. But the talk of Miami 1995 made me think: is this the worst loss in NU history? I'd imagine someone could say no, because it was necessary to set up the rest of the season. And at the time you couldn't know how bad it would be. Still, looking back, it's gotta be up there.

For personal reasons, and because it cost us a Rose Bowl appearance, I vote Iowa 2000.
It's not like Miami 1995 was a bad team. They only lost two games that season.

I would definitely put Iowa 2000 up there, although I think Nebraska 2000 was worse. Illinois at Wrigley was pretty bad too, as was 2006 Michigan St.
 
Right, Nick Roach suffered a season-ending injury on a NU punt that was nullified by an MSU penalty when we were up 24-3, we went on to score a TD, picked them on the next play, scored another TD, and then went into prevent mode with 9:30 to go in the 3rd hoping to hold on.
Agreed, but the prevent mode was primarily on offense. The defense could not get off the field because the offense kept going 3 and out.
 
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If we are talking non-impactful but just bleh regular season games - would go with series of Michgag games with hail mary passes, M00N (what the bleep was that 2pt conversion?), non-called illegal procedures
This gets my vote because I despise all things Michigan, so losing to them is like losing 2 games
 
I was at a good friend‘s wedding for that Nebraska game. Checking the score during the service. Not being able to scream and curse when we lost like that was a real problem.

I was at my cousin's wedding, and some of my cousins behind me were watching the game on their phones during the ceremony. (Much of my family was disappointed that they had the wedding on a Nebraska home game weekend, and it was the only NU/UNL football game that I missed).

The Hail Mary happened just after the recessional. Good thing it didn't happen during the ceremony.
 
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2007 loss @ Duke on a computer screen with a spinning blue devil had the double whammy of costing NU a bowl and ending Duke’s losing streak that was primed to remove us from the record books.
 
2007 loss @ Duke on a computer screen with a spinning blue devil had the double whammy of costing NU a bowl and ending Duke’s losing streak that was primed to remove us from the record books.

Ok, my memory was off. 2007 loss was in Evanston. Spinning Blue Devil icon game was a narrow win in 2008.
 
2007 loss @ Duke on a computer screen with a spinning blue devil had the double whammy of costing NU a bowl and ending Duke’s losing streak that was primed to remove us from the record books.

That's a common myth among NU fans. Our winning that game would have kept their streak alive but they beat James Madison in the first game of the season in 2008. If we had won in 2007 their streak would have extended to 32 games.

Now if they had lost to both NU in 2007 and James Madison to start off 2008, then they would have played us again for a chance to tie the record at 34. We won the rematch in 2008, but they won their next game against Navy.
 
New Hampshire, Illinois st. Western Mich, Army etc....all brutal but we have risen off the ground ,flying at altitude at a very high speed.....I predict we will not loose a no😁n-conference game this year
 
At least the OwlVision game was a win for NU, or it would probably be on this list.
 
Outback Bowl loss against Auburn. What a great game. Just killed me to lose that one.
Speaking of great games we lost: how about the tcu loss with Walker as coach where our kicker missed like 5 easy field goals that would have won it for us? That was an excruciating loss I thought. I believe it was the opener of our season?
 
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2013 Ohio State. This game changed the whole 2013 season. There was a lot of hype with this NU team. ESPN Gameday showed up. It was the game where NU would finally show the world that it was one of the marquee teams. Then they lost and lost the next six consecutive games. It was a real disappointing season.

2010 Illinois @ Wrigley was another bad loss. Mikel Leshoure rushed for 300+ yards. Evan Watkins' disappointing performance instantly ended the humor of EffYeahEvanWatkins.com.
 
I agree that Ohio State loss was it. We where in position towin and fumbled on a QB sneak and everything went downhill from there.
 
If there was one game in the last 30 years that we lost that I wished we had won, OSU in 2013 would be it, and that includes the Rose Bowl. Who knows how different the last seven years (and there were some great ones in there!) would've gone if NU had pulled that one out.
 
When you are expected to lose, the losses don't hurt so bad, but you are still disappointed. A mega-blowout can be tough, even if expected to lose. Being on the wrong end of a controversial, last second or notably peculiar game also hurts. Losing a big game when major rewards are up for grabs also hurts.

Historically, I think the NU's loss at the end of the 1936 season against Notre Dame is the most devastating loss, as NU had already beaten previous # 1 Minnesota and had clinched the Big Ten championship and was undefeated with the #1 ranked. The loss almost certainly cost NU the AP national title with Minnesota claiming the title over NU despite NU being the undisputed Big Ten champion and having previously beaten Minnesota.

In more contemporary times, the loss that really hurts me most personally is the 2006 loss to Michigan State. I had to go on a media shutdown after that game with no reading or viewing of any media outlet that might possibly mention MSU's comeback from being down 38-3 in the third quarter. It is still the greatest comeback in NCAA Division 1A (FBS) history and leaving me trying to root for other teams to break it like when a Josh Rosen led UCLA came back from around 34 points down against Texas A&M a few years back, but that was not enough to break it. Honorable mentions as the worst loss include the 66-17 loss to Nebraska in 2000 Alamo Bowl, a 38-35 loss at home to Penn State when NU was favored to win the Big Ten thein 2001 and PSU was 0-4, which was upsetting when it happened but turned out to be the harbinger of a very bad season.
 
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There have been some doozies, all in the Fitz era

Duke breaking their losing streak
New Hampshire
Army
Illinois State (has to be the worst)
Purdue in Persas first year (they were awful)

The worst however may have been during the Randy Walker era, 2000 loss @Iowa. Cost them a trip to Pasadena.
 
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If there was one game in the last 30 years that we lost that I wished we had won, OSU in 2013 would be it, and that includes the Rose Bowl. Who knows how different the last seven years (and there were some great ones in there!) would've gone if NU had pulled that one out.

I was at that game, and was absolutely devastated walking out of Ryan Field. However I think you are sensationalizing things just a bit.

The 2013 team was really the start of an era of offensive struggles-especially along the oline.
 
I'm not talking about margin of victory, though that could be a contributing factor. But the talk of Miami 1995 made me think: is this the worst loss in NU history? I'd imagine someone could say no, because it was necessary to set up the rest of the season. And at the time you couldn't know how bad it would be. Still, looking back, it's gotta be up there.

For personal reasons, and because it cost us a Rose Bowl appearance, I vote Iowa 2000.
Silver lining: It was our introduction to Randy Walker.
 
What happened was that Nebraska was a really good team that had ended up in the Alamo Bowl due to some flukey stuff, and the Cats had a gimmick sort of offense and a defense with some serious flaws. Nebraska had a month to prep to stop our offense and exploit the holes in the Cats’ defense. They felt disrespected and disappointed with their season, and took it out on Northwestern.

We have many really good candidates for this dishonor... but that Nebraska beat down was the the most one-sided game I've ever watched. I usually change the channel during such bloodshed.

Someone mentioned an MSU game, but NU gave them some pay back in the 2016 MSU game I rewatched recently - NU hung 54 on MSU, the most ever against them at Spartan stadium, so any MSU game no longer qualifies.
 
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