My list is kinda all over the place, but here goes:
Jake Plummer (Arizona State): Remember following him from afar as he led ASU to the Rose Bowl his senior year and very nearly the national title. Just played with a certain confidence and style that was fun to watch.
Roy Williams (Oklahoma): He flat out dominated games from the safety position and even though he played in the same conference, it was hard not to respect his game. That leaping hit on Chris Simms remains one of the best plays I have ever seen.
Dat Nguyen (Texas A&M): Fearless player who seemingly made every tackle possible in any game he played. Arguably the best defensive player in Big 12 history. Aggies as a whole remain remain very weird to me, but it was damn fun to watch the KSU title dreams go up in smoke in that 1998 Big 12 title game.
Danny Wuerrfel (Florida): He was the perfect fit for Spurrier's offense and absolutely lit up the scoreboard when that was not so commonplace. When he was on, he was pretty much unstoppable. Also did not hurt that the Old Ball Coach had no issues with running up the score on just about everybody.
Simeon Rice (Illinois): No idea why I remember him, probably because it was weird to see Illinois on TV so much when they had that really good defense. Basically was a DE trapped in a LB's body.
Troy Davis (Iowa State): Pretty much made Iowa State football relevant all by himself. Iowa State was absolutely terrible at the time and they had those God awful uniforms, but somehow he was rushing for 2,000 yards with ease.
Ken Simonton (Oregon State): He and Oregon State came out of nowhere. Dude was stacked for such a short guy and was worth staying up to watch at times. Also extremely awesome to watch what he and his teammates did to Notre Dame in the 2001 Fiesta Bowl.
Michael Vick (Virginia Tech): Years before he went all dogfighting and Ron Mexico on everyone, Vick was a freshman that was just flat out dominant in a pretty weak league. But Vick had his coming out party in the '99 national title game against Florida State, even though Tech lost. Just not used to seeing a freakish athlete like him at QB.
Warren Sapp (Miami): Back when Miami was a perennial title contender and they were full of characters, Sapp fit right in. Dominated the line of scrimmage and was pretty cocky as well. Also remember the big fuss about him failing several drug tests leading up to the NFL draft. Remember when pot was a really big deal?
Tim Dwight (Iowa): A really fast white guy who was also a track star. If not for Wes Welker, every smallish white WR would be compared to him. He could do just about everything, especially in the return game.
The list could go on and I did not list a lot of recent players (Cam Newton, Reggie Bush, Andrew Luck, etc.), but it was still fun to think back a bit to some of these guys that are largely forgotten today.
Jake Plummer (Arizona State): Remember following him from afar as he led ASU to the Rose Bowl his senior year and very nearly the national title. Just played with a certain confidence and style that was fun to watch.
Roy Williams (Oklahoma): He flat out dominated games from the safety position and even though he played in the same conference, it was hard not to respect his game. That leaping hit on Chris Simms remains one of the best plays I have ever seen.
Dat Nguyen (Texas A&M): Fearless player who seemingly made every tackle possible in any game he played. Arguably the best defensive player in Big 12 history. Aggies as a whole remain remain very weird to me, but it was damn fun to watch the KSU title dreams go up in smoke in that 1998 Big 12 title game.
Danny Wuerrfel (Florida): He was the perfect fit for Spurrier's offense and absolutely lit up the scoreboard when that was not so commonplace. When he was on, he was pretty much unstoppable. Also did not hurt that the Old Ball Coach had no issues with running up the score on just about everybody.
Simeon Rice (Illinois): No idea why I remember him, probably because it was weird to see Illinois on TV so much when they had that really good defense. Basically was a DE trapped in a LB's body.
Troy Davis (Iowa State): Pretty much made Iowa State football relevant all by himself. Iowa State was absolutely terrible at the time and they had those God awful uniforms, but somehow he was rushing for 2,000 yards with ease.
Ken Simonton (Oregon State): He and Oregon State came out of nowhere. Dude was stacked for such a short guy and was worth staying up to watch at times. Also extremely awesome to watch what he and his teammates did to Notre Dame in the 2001 Fiesta Bowl.
Michael Vick (Virginia Tech): Years before he went all dogfighting and Ron Mexico on everyone, Vick was a freshman that was just flat out dominant in a pretty weak league. But Vick had his coming out party in the '99 national title game against Florida State, even though Tech lost. Just not used to seeing a freakish athlete like him at QB.
Warren Sapp (Miami): Back when Miami was a perennial title contender and they were full of characters, Sapp fit right in. Dominated the line of scrimmage and was pretty cocky as well. Also remember the big fuss about him failing several drug tests leading up to the NFL draft. Remember when pot was a really big deal?
Tim Dwight (Iowa): A really fast white guy who was also a track star. If not for Wes Welker, every smallish white WR would be compared to him. He could do just about everything, especially in the return game.
The list could go on and I did not list a lot of recent players (Cam Newton, Reggie Bush, Andrew Luck, etc.), but it was still fun to think back a bit to some of these guys that are largely forgotten today.
