History of Nebraska Cornhuskers football

College football team

History of Nebraska Cornhuskers football

First season| 1890; 135 years ago
Stadium| Antelope Field
Nebraska Field
Memorial Stadium
Location| Lincoln, Nebraska
Conference| WIUFA (1892–1897)
Big Eight (1907–1995)
Big 12 (1996–2010)
Big Ten (2011–pres.)
All-time record| 924-430-40 (.677)
Bowl record| 27-27 (.500)
Claimed national titles| 5 (1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997)
Unclaimed national titles| 7 (1915, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1993)
Conference titles| 46
Division titles| 10
Heisman winners| Johnny Rodgers – 1972
Mike Rozier – 1983
Eric Crouch – 2001
Consensus All-Americans| 54[1]

The history of Nebraska Cornhuskers football covers the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's football program from its inception in 1890 until the present day. Nebraska competes in the Big Ten Conference as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and plays its home games at Memorial Stadium, where it has sold out every game since 1962.

Nebraska is among the most storied programs in college football history and has the eighth-most all-time victories among FBS teams. NU has won forty-six conference championships and five national championships (1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, and 1997), along with seven other national titles the school does not claim. Its 1971 and 1995 title-winning teams are considered among the best ever. Nebraska's three Heisman Trophy winners – Johnny Rodgers, Mike Rozier, and Eric Crouch – join twenty-four other Cornhuskers in the College Football Hall of Fame.

The program's first extended period of success came just after the turn of the twentieth century. Between 1900 and 1916, Nebraska had five undefeated seasons and completed a stretch of thirty-four games without a loss, still a program record. Despite a span of twenty-one conference championships in thirty-four seasons, the Cornhuskers did not experience major national success until Bob Devaney was hired in 1962. Devaney won two national championships and eight conference titles in eleven seasons as head coach, but perhaps his most lasting achievement was the hiring of Tom Osborne as offensive coordinator in 1969. Osborne was named Devaney's successor in 1973 and over the next twenty-five years established himself as one of the best coaches in college football history with his trademark I-formation offense and revolutionary strength, conditioning, and nutrition programs. Following Osborne's retirement in 1997, Nebraska cycled through five head coaches before hiring Matt Rhule in 2022.

## The early years

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### Program origins (1890–1899)

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Nebraska's football history unofficially began in 1889 when a group of civil engineering students chopped down enough trees to create a small field at the corner of 10th and R Streets in Lincoln.[2] A team was formally organized the following year under the direction of Dr. Langdon Frothingham, a newly hired veterinary pathologist from Harvard University. Frothingham was asked to oversee the program because he was familiar with the rules of the game and had brought a football with him from the East Coast.[3] Nebraska's first game was a 10–0 Thanksgiving Day victory over the Omaha YMCA on November 27, 1890.[3] Frothingham broke his leg during a practice prior to the season's only other game, an 18–0 win over Doane that actually took place in February 1891, and left the university shortly thereafter.[3]

The 1890 Nebraska Old Gold Knights, the University of Nebraska's first football team

Prior to NU's 1891 matchup with Iowa, the Hawkeyes sent Theron Lyman to Lincoln to prepare Nebraska – which played the 1891 and 1892 seasons without a coach – for its game against the more experienced Hawkeyes. Nebraska credits Lyman as its head coach for the game, though he likely did not even attend Iowa's 22–0 win.[4] In December 1891, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri formed the Western Interstate University Football Association, one of college football's first conferences.[5] Nebraska – now playing under the colors scarlet and cream as the "Bugeaters," but also referred to as the "Rattlesnake Boys" and "Red Stockings" – appointed attorney J. S. Williams its temporary coach in the middle of 1892. His only game was a 1–0 forfeit victory over Missouri[a] after the Tigers protested the presence of African-American George Flippin on NU's roster.[7] Flippin, NU's first black athlete and the fifth at a predominantly white university, later joked "I was so good I beat the University of Missouri all by myself."[8]

University supporters soon became upset by the "cheap-John plan of amateur coaches" and the school responded by hiring Frank Crawford as its first official head coach in 1893.[5][9] Crawford became a vocal critic of Flippin and vetoed the election of his star player as team captain, stating "it takes a man with brains to be a captain; all there is to Flippin is brute force."[10] The first documented use of "Cornhuskers" appeared in a school newspaper headline during Crawford's first season ("We Have Met The Cornhuskers And They Are Ours"); in this instance, the term was used to derogatorily refer to Iowa.[11][12] Nebraska won its first conference championship in 1894, after which Crawford departed for Texas.[9] Assistant Charles Thomas was promoted and led the Bugeaters to a second WIUFA championship the following season, which included a long-distance road trip to Butte, Montana.[5][13]

Nebraska was coached by a pair of future College Football Hall of Famers to close the nineteenth century – though both are better known for their tenures elsewhere, Edward N. Robinson and Fielding Yost led the program to a combined 19–7–1 record from 1896 to 1898.[14] Alonzo Edwin Branch took over in 1899, Nebraska's only losing season prior to World War I.[14]

### Emergence as a Midwest power (1900–1905)

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Walter C. Booth led Nebraska to twenty-four consecutive wins from 1901 to 1904

The University of Nebraska's football program did not have a nickname during its first decade, though many were used unofficially. The most popular was Bugeaters, a reference to Nebraska's meager food supply during an 1870s drought; many Nebraskans appreciated the rugged characterization of their state despite its negative connotations.[15] Sportswriter and state native Cy Sherman hated the Bugeaters moniker and began using "Cornhuskers," which had appeared previously but wasn't applied to Nebraska until Sherman did so in 1899.[15] It caught on quickly and was officially adopted in 1900. Nebraska hired former Princeton star Walter C. Booth the same year and he soon raised a Midwest football power.[3] In Booth's debut season as head coach, the Cornhuskers held their first seven opponents scoreless before falling to Minnesota in the first-ever meeting between the teams.

Booth's third team was the best in Nebraska's young football history. The Cornhuskers went 9–0 without allowing a point, outscoring opponents 164–0.[15] The Cornhuskers' title hopes were dashed when Fielding Yost's 11–0 Michigan team was voted national champion following its season-ending 23–6 win over Minnesota (Nebraska defeated the Gophers 6–0). Nebraska applied to join the Western Conference (now the Big Ten) following the season, believing Michigan's membership elevated its title chances, but the application was denied on account of Lincoln's distance from other schools in the conference.[16] Throughout Booth's tenure the Cornhuskers were led by halfback John Bender, who starred for five seasons and retired as college football's all-time leader in points scored.[15] Bender captained NU to another undefeated season in 1903. Having won twenty-two consecutive games, most in dominant fashion, it was written that Booth could "weep with Alexander the Great because there are no more teams to conquer," given Nebraska's difficulty finding competitive and willing opposition in the Midwest.[3]

Colorado defeated Nebraska 6–0 in October 1904, ending a twenty-four-game winning streak that was a program record until 1995.[b][3] Booth left Nebraska following the 1905 season over a contract dispute (his $2,000 annual salary was higher than any other university faculty member) and returned with a newly earned law degree to the East Coast, where he lived the rest of his life away from football.[16]

### A new landscape (1906–1910)

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Months after Booth's departure and still without a head coach, Nebraska faced Doane in an exhibition to familiarize its team with college football's significant offseason rule changes.[17] These safety-based updates were mandated by President Theodore Roosevelt and included the legalization of the forward pass, the banning of the flying wedge, the creation of a neutral zone, and an increase in yards to gain a first down from five to ten.[17] NU professor and chairman of the athletic board James T. Lees was a member of the committee that drafted the new rules, which were initially unpopular but eventually proved instrumental in improving player safety.[18]

Nebraska hired former Michigan tackle and assistant coach William C. Cole in 1907, the same year it formed the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (later the Big Eight) along with seven other Midwest universities, including the three from the WIUFA. NU's 16–6 win over Kansas in its lone conference game was enough to claim the first MVIAA championship. Cole resigned after a second title in 1910 when the MVIAA passed legislation requiring coaches to be full-time faculty members, feeling he could not manage his farm in Missoula, Montana while living year-round in Lincoln.[19] NU beat Haskell 119–0 in his final game as head coach, the largest margin of victory in program history.[19]

During the third year of Cole's four-year tenure, the university opened Nebraska Field, its first venue designed to host football.[20] The driving force behind the new stadium was Earl Eager, one of Nebraska's first graduate managers of athletics (a part-time precursor to the modern athletic director). Eager was a former halfback who played his entire collegiate career at Antelope Field, which had little permanent seating and was described as "either as hard as pavement or a sea of mud."[20] Eager's cause was assisted by the university's expansion, which necessitated the construction of academic buildings on Antelope Field. Eager himself prepared much of the land for the stadium at the northeast corner of North 10th and T Streets.[20] Nebraska and Iowa tied 6–6 on October 23, 1909 in the first game at Nebraska Field.

### The Stiehm Rollers (1911–1915)

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Ewald O. Stiehm with the "Stiehm Roller" in 1920

Following Cole's departure, Nebraska hired Ewald O. Stiehm from Ripon College as the first full-time coach in school history.[21] The twenty-four-year-old Stiehm – nicknamed "Jumbo" because of his large feet, a term he despised – was given an annual salary of $2,000 to serve as head football coach and director of athletics, the same as Booth's salary five years earlier but less than the $3,000 his predecessor earned for a less-demanding role.[22][23] Stiehm's tenure began with a 117–0 victory over Kearney–Normal, the only game ever played between Nebraska and what is now Nebraska–Kearney. The fiery Stiehm was subject to such frequent outbursts that the school established a women and children's sitting section at Nebraska Field far from the home sideline.[24]

Nebraska's 1911 season included high-profile meetings with Minnesota (a 21–3 Golden Gophers win) and Michigan (a 6–6 draw). Stiehm was particularly enamored with the Minnesota shift, a precursor to modern pre-snap motion, and had an assistant document the technique during the teams' 1912 meeting.[22] Stiehm implemented the shift the following week, the first game of a school-record thirty-four-game unbeaten stretch. This included a 7–0 victory over Minnesota in 1913 which prompted Golden Gophers coach Henry L. Williams to discontinue the annual series between the schools. Stiehm assembled smaller-than-usual rosters with players that relied on quickness and misdirection, a departure from Nebraska's reputation as an "unusually rough" program (it's unclear if this reputation was deserved).[25][23] His "Stiehm Rollers" lost just twice during his five-year tenure.

Prior to their 1913 meeting with the Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Kansas State head coach Guy Lowman threatened a boycott due to the presence of lineman Clinton Ross, a black player, on Nebraska's roster.[26] Though KSU faced NU and Ross each of the previous two seasons without complaint, it joined the MVIAA in 1913 and Lowman claimed there was a gentlemen's agreement throughout the conference that disallowed black athletes. Nebraska denied such an agreement existed and the game was played as scheduled. Ross was NU's last black player until 1952 despite Stiehm and university chancellor Samuel Avery outwardly favoring integration in collegiate athletics.[26]

End Guy Chamberlin was named Nebraska's first consensus All-American in 1915

In 1914, Vic Halligan was named the first All-American in Nebraska history;[c] Guy Chamberlin became NU's first consensus All-American a year later.[d][4] Chamberlin served in the United States Army during World War I and later joined the Canton Bulldogs of the young American Professional Football Association (now the National Football League). He won two NFL championships as a player and four more as a player/coach and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.[28] Led by Chamberlin, Nebraska finished 1915 undefeated and won its sixth consecutive MVIAA title. NU gave Notre Dame its only loss of the season in the first meeting of what became an annual rivalry.[29] The Cornhuskers were invited to face Northwest Conference champion Washington State in the second Rose Bowl, but university officials balked at the cost of sending the team to Pasadena and declined.[23][22] Nebraska was retroactively awarded the 1915 national championship by multiple iterations of the Billingsley Report, an NCAA-designated selector developed in the 1960s, but does not claim the championship.

Stiehm had verbally agreed to remain at Nebraska until at least 1917, but given the successes of the entire athletic department (he also coached Nebraska's basketball team to three conference championships), asked the Athletic Board for a raise in 1916.[22] The board refused and declined an offer from local businesses to help pay the additional salary, and Stiehm agreed to take over Indiana's athletic department at an annual salary of $4,500.[22] He later stated that even after receiving Indiana's lucrative offer, he would've stayed at Nebraska if it met his initial request of $4,250 (approximately a twenty-percent raise).[24] Stiehm's career record at NU was 35–2–3 and his .913 winning percentage is the highest in school history.[15] He arrived in Bloomington to significant fanfare but his teams never reached the heights they did at Nebraska. After seven years at Indiana, Stiehm died of stomach cancer at age thirty-seven.[22]

### Post-Stiehm years (1916–1922)

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Nebraska hired E. J. Stewart from Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) to replace Stiehm as head football and basketball coach. NU traveled to Portland, Oregon to face Stewart's former team during his first season in Lincoln, the furthest west the Cornhuskers had ever traveled.[30] This was partly a result of Stewart's desire to schedule more difficult opposition across all sports, which he viewed as the best way to "add to Nebraska prestige around the United States."[31] He addressed this in the 1917 Cornhusker student yearbook: "the adoption of the policy of playing only the big institutions in football in the future is probably the most important step undertaken by the new athletic administration."[31]

Three games after defeating Oregon Agricultural, Nebraska's lengthy unbeaten streak was ended in a 7–3 defeat to Kansas in Lincoln. Two weeks later, NU faced new rival Notre Dame – assistant Knute Rockne served as head coach for the game, the first of ten he would lead the Irish against the Cornhuskers. Stewart's vision was realized in 1917 when Nebraska faced powerhouses Michigan and Syracuse in addition to Notre Dame. As the season progressed the college football landscape was disrupted by American entry into World War I – Nebraska lost several players to the war throughout 1917 and Stewart himself departed to assist the YMCA, which helped promote morale and provided services to prisoners of war.[32]

With its roster and staff depleted by the war and the Spanish flu pandemic, Nebraska turned to professor William G. Kline to lead the shortened 1918 season at Stewart's suggestion.[33] The team received word near in November that star end Roscoe Rhodes, set to be a team captain before he was drafted, was killed in action in France on October 28, 1918.[34] Stewart briefly returned to Lincoln after the war in an administrative capacity; though no longer head coach, he ordered heather green jerseys for the team to wear in 1919.[35] The university attempted to order its traditional scarlet and cream jerseys after Stewart departed permanently, but the green uniforms had already been manufactured.[35] The changes were reverted the following year.

Nebraska vs. Notre Dame at Nebraska Field on Nov. 30, 1922, the final game at the stadium

Nebraska played the 1919 and 1920 seasons independent of the MVIAA under Henry Schulte. Schulte, described by Rockne as "the greatest line coach in the game," was head coach for only two seasons but remained on staff as an assistant until 1927.[36] Nebraska named the Schulte Field House in his honor, which served as the program's primary practice and locker room facility from 1949 until 2004.[37]

Nebraska rejoined the MVIAA in 1921, the same year it hired Fred Dawson from Columbia as head coach. Dawson's first season featured a November trip to Pittsburgh to face Pop Warner and Pitt. Nebraska's 10–0 victory was among the first football games broadcast live on radio, though Lincoln was out of signal range of Pittsburgh radio station KDKA.[38] The Cornhuskers finished 7–1, falling only to Notre Dame in South Bend. Dawson and NU beat the Irish in each of the following two seasons, the only losses across four years for Notre Dame's famed offensive backfield nicknamed the "Four Horsemen."[39] Nebraska's 14–6 victory in 1922 was the final game at Nebraska Field – with an estimated 16,000 fans it was also the highest-attended.[40] The series continued until 1925 when Notre Dame administrators canceled it, citing "antagonistic, anti-Catholic behavior" during their visits to Lincoln.[29]

## Postwar triumphs and transitions

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### First years at Memorial Stadium (1923–1929)

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The University of Nebraska began exploring the construction of a larger steel-and-concrete stadium to replace Nebraska Field less than a decade after its completion. The wooden bleachers of Nebraska Field were often filled beyond capacity and the condition of the venue had become "as inadequate as the old one was in 1907."[20] The departure of Jumbo Stiehm and American entry into World War I delayed the project, but fundraising was restarted in earnest when college football exploded in popularity after the war.[41][42] The Nebraska Memorial Association initially planned a stadium, museum, and gymnasium complex to be dedicated in honor of Roscoe Rhodes, but the project was scaled back due to fundraising difficulties and local pushback (a gymnasium, the NU Coliseum, was constructed three years later). A groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 23, 1923 when the fundraising target of $450,000 had been met.[42]

The dedication of Memorial Stadium on Oct. 20, 1923

Construction on the 31,000-seat venue, designed pro bono by local architects John Latenser and Ellery Davis, was completed in less than six months, in time for the 1923 season. Nebraska defeated Oklahoma 24–0 in the first game at Memorial Stadium on October 13, 1923.[e] Instead of naming the stadium for Rhodes, the dedication was expanded to include all Nebraskans who served in the American Civil War, the Spanish–American War, and World War I.[44]

Nebraska hosted Illinois and star Red Grange at Memorial Stadium to open 1924 – the Cornhuskers contained Grange but the favored Illini won 9–6. Dawson had taken a leave of absence for health reasons the previous winter and retired following the season. Ernest Bearg, the top assistant to Illinois head coach Robert Zuppke, was named Dawson's successor – NU's athletic board believed Bearg's experience as a backfield coach with Grange would complement Henry Schulte, who was still on staff as a highly regarded line coach.[45] Nebraska defeated Illinois and Zuppke 14–0 in Champaign in Bearg's debut, the first home game of Grange's career in which he did not score.[46] Tackle Ed Weir was the star of this defensive display and after the season he became the first Cornhusker to twice be named a first-team All-American. Weir, who Knute Rockne called "the greatest tackle I ever saw," was a charter member of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.[47]

Representatives from the ten MVIAA universities met in Lincoln in 1928 and agreed to a splintering of the conference – Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma retained the MVIAA name (though it became more commonly referred to as the Big Six) and Drake, Grinnell, Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State), and Washington University formed the Missouri Valley Conference.[48] Nebraska won the inaugural Big Six title in dominating fashion, defeating its five conference opponents by a combined score of 108–6. However, Bearg was criticized for "not using deception and strategy" after disappointing late-season results against Pittsburgh (a 0–0 draw) and Army (a 13–3 loss), and tendered his resignation following the season.[49]

### Dana Bible and Biff Jones (1929–1941)

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Dana X. Bible in 1935

Nebraska tried to hire Knute Rockne away from Notre Dame but instead settled on Texas A&M head coach Dana X. Bible at Rockne's suggestion.[49] Bible served at A&M for eleven highly successful years, winning five Southwest Conference titles and producing two teams that would retroactively be named national champion. Bible was a staunch believer in "fundamental football" and emphasized the importance of scouting and meticulous planning prior to each game.[49] Shortly after being hired, he embarked on a statewide tour explaining his methodology and asking for support.

Bible's early teams were led by state native George Sauer, a two-way star whose big-game performances drew national recognition.[50] Sauer and NU finished 8–1 in 1933 and were ranked second nationally by the Dickinson System, an NCAA-designated selector. Nebraska graduated all but one starter after the season, and in its 1934 spring game a team of freshman defeated a team of more experienced players.[51] Among these freshmen was halfback Sam Francis, a future Olympian who finished runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1936 and became Nebraska's first number-one selection in the NFL draft.[51]

Official program for Nebraska's game against Pittsburgh on Nov. 15, 1941, three weeks before the United States entered World War II

Led by Francis and backfield mate Lloyd Cardwell, Nebraska debuted at No. 15 in the inaugural AP poll in October 1936; the Cornhuskers finished the season ranked ninth. After the season, Bible accepted a twenty-year contract offer worth $15,000 annually to become head coach at Texas.[49] He assisted in the search for his replacement, Biff Jones, and departed Nebraska after eight seasons as its longest-tenured head coach.[52] He was a charter member of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.

Jones was a veteran head coach when he arrived at Nebraska – he coached Army for four years, LSU for three, and Oklahoma for two.[53] He was also a reserve officer in the United States Army during his coaching career and was forced to resign from OU when he was transferred to Fort Leavenworth in November 1936.[54] Months later, he retired from the armed forces with the rank of major to accept the job at NU.[53]

Nebraska lost just once in Jones's first season, a 13–7 defeat to eventual AP champion Pittsburgh. NU was held to negative net yardage but maintained a narrow advantage until a late fumble in its own territory allowed the Panthers to take their first lead, which they did not relinquish.[55] Nebraska's 25–9 victory over Kansas State in 1939 was broadcast locally in Manhattan, making it the second televised college football game.[56][57] NU finished 7–1–1 but failed to win the Big Six for a second consecutive year.

Nebraska reclaimed the conference title in 1940 and finally played in its first bowl game after declining a Rose Bowl invitation in 1916 – No. 7 Nebraska fell 21–13 to No. 2 Stanford in the 1941 Rose Bowl. Stanford coach Clark Shaughnessy is considered the "father of the T formation" and along with Dana X. Bible (then at Texas) helped popularize the offense throughout the 1940s.[58] Nebraska adopted the T formation in 1941 with limited success; the Cornhuskers were shut out twice and limped to a 4–5 finish, which included the first five-game losing streak in school history. Jones signed a long-term contract extension following the season but was recalled soon after to teach at the United States Military Academy during World War II.[59] Though Nebraska maintained the position would still be available to him after the war, Jones remained at West Point and never coached football again.[60]

### War years (1942–1949)

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The landscape of college football changed drastically during World War II as most able-bodied men were drawn into the war effort.[61] The most successful football universities of the era were those which offered military programs, especially service academies – Army claims a national title in each of the 1944, 1945, and 1946 seasons.[62] Nebraska did not provide military courses of any kind, and while the university was still able to field a team (mostly made up of seventeen-year-olds not eligible to be drafted) when many major programs could not, the Cornhuskers suffered four consecutive losing seasons after only three in the program's first fifty-one years.[61][4] Jones's assistant Glenn Presnell led a makeshift team in 1942 until he was drafted into the Navy and replaced by athletic director Adolph J. Lewandowski.[62] Lewandowski released the entire coaching staff, including himself, after back-to-back 2–6 seasons and hired NFL veteran George Clark.

Clark resigned from his coaching duties after a single season but remained in an administrative role and assisted in the hire of Bernie Masterson, a former Shaughnessy assistant. Masterson rededicated the program to the T-form and implemented aspects of the Chicago Bears playbook from his time as a quarterback under George Halas.[63] This complex scheme, which required the memorization of hundreds of plays and alignments, did not translate into results – Nebraska struggled mightily on offense under Masterson and he was fired two seasons into a five-year contract.[64] His final Big Six game was a 14–13 defeat against Oklahoma and first-year coach Bud Wilkinson. In the week prior to the game NU's student council protested a longstanding agreement among Big Six universities prohibiting black athletes and accused OU's athletic board of perpetuating this agreement.[65]

Clark reappointed himself following Masterson's firing and again led the team for a single year, Nebraska's eighth consecutive season with fewer wins than losses and the same year future rival Colorado joined the MVIAA (unofficially renamed the Big Seven).[62] Among the few bright spots of this era was fullback, center, and linebacker "Train Wreck" Tom Novak, whose "fearless, relentless passion" endeared him to fans.[66] The Omaha native received a marching band tribute during halftime of his final home game and remains the only four-time all-conference selection in program history. After he was paralyzed in a fall later in life, the university created the Tom Novak Award to be given annually to the senior who "best exemplifies courage and determination despite all odds."[66] Novak's No. 60 has not been worn by any Nebraska player since and is the only number the school has permanently retired.[f][66]

### Continued struggles (1950–1961)

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Bobby Reynolds in 1951, a year after being named "Mr. Touchdown, U.S.A."

Nebraska hired New Hampshire head coach Bill Glassford in 1949, signing him to an "ironclad" contract worth $12,500 annually.[67] Glassford was a disciplinarian who led rigorous and lengthy practice sessions, both before and during the season.[67] His hard-nosed methods were initially successful – Nebraska finished 6–2–1 in 1950, its first winning season since 1941, and was ranked seventeenth nationally. Halfback Bobby Reynolds rushed for 1,342 yards and was named "Mr. Touchdown, U.S.A.," a promotional award given by RCA to the player who scored the most touchdowns in 1950.[68] His 157 points were the fourth-most in major college football history.[69]

Glassford's demanding regiment began to take a toll the following season – during a preseason "boot camp" in Curtis, Nebraska (over 200 miles from Lincoln), Reynolds suffered a shoulder injury from which he never fully recovered.[69] Among the backfield replacements for Reynolds was Tom Carodine, Nebraska's first black player since 1913.[70] NU went just 2–8 in 1951[g] and was similarly underwhelming over the following seasons. The situation became so dire – in terms of both on-field results and off-field treatment – that a group of thirty-five players (over half the team) petitioned the university to remove Glassford in January 1954, but his airtight contract made it "nearly impossible" to terminate him.[67] In response, Glassford discontinued his remote preseason camp and attempted to improve his relationships with players.[67][71]

Nebraska was invited to play in the 1955 Orange Bowl despite going just 6–4, as Big Seven rules prevented champion Oklahoma from appearing in consecutive seasons.[71] Nebraska fell to Duke 34–7 at Burdine Stadium (later the Miami Orange Bowl) in its first of seventeen Orange Bowl appearances.[72] Instead of exercising a five-year contract option that would have tied him to NU until 1960, Jennings resigned after a 5–5 1955 season and never returned to coaching.[71] Despite the icy relationships he developed during his tenure, Glassford was a Nebraska supporter and booster for the rest of his life and maintained relationships with some of his former players.[73] In 2016, he died at 102 as the oldest-living NFL player.

Nebraska hired twenty-nine-year-old Bud Wilkinson assistant Pete Elliott to replace Glassford, but he left for California after a single season.[14] Backfield coach Bill Jennings, who had followed Elliott from Norman, was promoted to head coach. Elliott and Jennings brought Wilkinson's split-T formation to Lincoln with minimal success – Nebraska was shutout thirteen times in fifty games under Jennings.

The highlight of Jennings's tenure was an upset victory over Oklahoma in 1959 that ended OU's NCAA-record seventy-four-game conference winning streak.[74] NU opened the following season with a win in Austin over No. 4 Texas; Nebraska entered the AP poll for the first time since 1954 but lost six of its remaining nine games to finish 4–6. Jennings frequently found himself at odds with program supporters, at one point stating "there is an intense desire to do something good in this state, like elect a president or gain prominence in politics. But we can't feed the ego of the state of Nebraska with the football team."[75] Jennings coached Nebraska to five consecutive losing seasons; after his removal the program did not have another for nearly four decades.

## Bob Devaney era

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### A quick turnaround (1962–1966)

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New athletic director Tippy Dye did not renew Jennings's contract and attempted to bring Hank Foldberg to Lincoln, the same coach he hired at Wichita (now Wichita State).[76] Foldberg declined so he could return to his alma mater Texas A&M, and Dye turned to Michigan State's Duffy Daugherty, a friend of NU chancellor Clifford M. Hardin from his own time at MSU.[76] Daugherty suggested Dye and Hardin instead interview Bob Devaney, his former assistant who had been at Wyoming since 1957. Devaney's teams won or shared the Skyline Conference championship in four of his five years in Laramie and twice finished in the national top twenty-five, which Nebraska had not done since 1950. Dye soon offered the job to Devaney, but there was initial skepticism Wyoming would agree to release Devaney from his recently extended contract.[77] Devaney unofficially began his coaching duties at Nebraska in January 1962, touring the state and meeting with players a full month before Wyoming's board of trustees voted 8–4 to grant his release.[76]

Bob Devaney and quarterback Frank Patrick in 1967

Devaney's tenure began with a dominating with over South Dakota and an upset victory over Michigan in Ann Arbor.[78] Nebraska won Devaney's first six games before falling to Missouri – the first game of Memorial Stadium's sellout streak that would become an NCAA record.[79] NU was invited to the Gotham Bowl, defeating Miami (FL) 36–34 on a frigid day in New York City to earn the program's first bowl win.[79] The star of Devaney's early teams was offensive lineman "Boomer" Bob Brown, who ran a 4.4-second forty-yard dash despite being the largest player on Nebraska's roster.[80] Brown, the second selection in the 1964 NFL draft, became a five-time All-Pro and joins Guy Chamberlin and Will Shields as the only Cornhuskers in the College Football and Pro Football Hall of Fame.[81]

Nebraska's thirty-two-year conference title drought ended in 1963 when the Cornhuskers beat Oklahoma to claim the Big Eight[h] championship in the last week of the regular season. The game, a 29–20 Nebraska win, was nearly canceled due to the assassination of John F. Kennedy the day prior.[82] NU defeated Auburn in the Orange Bowl to finish 10–1 and ended the season ranked sixth, the highest final rank in school history.[i]

Nebraska's surge into the upper echelon of college football continued through the mid-1960s. The Cornhuskers began 1964 9–0 before being upset by unranked Oklahoma and falling to No. 2 Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. NU opened 1965 as the top-ranked team in the country for the first time and started 10–0, defending its Big Eight title for a second consecutive season. Though NU had fallen to No. 3 by bowl season, losses by top-ranked Michigan State and No. 2 Arkansas meant Nebraska's Orange Bowl matchup with No. 4 Alabama was a de facto national championship game (in 1965, the Associated Press broke from tradition and released its final poll after bowl season).[83] Bear Bryant's Crimson Tide gained 518 yards of offense and beat Devaney's Cornhuskers 39–28 in the first of three bowl matchups between the coaches.[84] In 1966 Nebraska won the Big Eight and started 9–0 for a third consecutive season, but was again upset by Oklahoma and fell out of national championship contention. After the season, Tippy Dye resigned and Devaney became athletic director.[85]

### Staff changes and Devaney's first title (1967–1970)

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Bob Devaney in 1965

Despite unprecedented national success during Devaney's tenure, another loss to Oklahoma and a second bowl loss to SEC power Alabama raised concerns his teams didn't have the caliber of athletes to regularly compete at the highest level.[86][87] This was exacerbated by a 1967 season in which Devaney's "full house" T-form offense averaged less than thirteen points per game and Nebraska finished 6–4 despite leading the country in total defense.[87] Devaney began to place greater emphasis on fast, athletic players – his talented 1968 recruiting class included Jerry Tagge, Jeff Kinney, Rich Glover, and Larry Jacobson.[86] After another 6–4 season, Devaney gave control of the offense to thirty-one-year-old I formation disciple Tom Osborne, a move Devaney said "saved his career."[88]

Osborne's later teams were famous for their prolific use of the run-heavy I-form option, but his first offenses relied on a more balanced attack with similarities to modern spread formations.[89][86] Osborne's I-form design included a wide-spread wingback, a position made famous at Nebraska by versatile offensive and special teams weapon Johnny Rodgers.[90] Devaney also promoted defensive assistant Monte Kiffin prior to 1969, though he was not officially named defensive coordinator until Osborne became head coach (Osborne is the only assistant Devaney ever gave the title of "coordinator").[91] Kiffin's preferred one-gap technique required quick, responsible defensive line play and he encouraged players to take up racquetball to maintain agility and mental sharpness.[92] Kiffin was assisted by Boyd Epley, who founded one of the country's first football-focused weightlifting programs.[93] Epley remained at Nebraska for thirty-five years and is sometimes considered the "father of modern strength and conditioning."[93]

Nebraska started 2–2 in Osborne's first year leading the offense but won its final seven games, with dominant season-ending victories over Oklahoma and Georgia led by quarterback Van Brownson. NU began 1970 in the national top ten with Brownson as the presumptive starter, but he injured his elbow in preseason camp. Jerry Tagge started the season's first two games, including a 21–21 tie against No. 3 USC in Los Angeles, and Devaney opted for an unusual rotation between the two quarterbacks when Brownson returned.[94] Brownson and Tagge split time the rest of the season and led Nebraska to a 10–0–1 finish.

NU exited its regular-season finale ranked third nationally but likely needing losses by three other unbeaten teams (Texas, Ohio State, and Notre Dame) to have a national title shot.[95] Notre Dame lost to USC in its own regular-season finale before defeating Texas in the Cotton Bowl and Ohio State was upset by Stanford in the Rose Bowl, opening the door for Nebraska to claim the national title with an Orange Bowl win over LSU.[96] Trailing 12–10 midway through the fourth quarter, Tagge led a sixty-seven-yard drive and scored on a quarterback sneak to give NU a lead it would not relinquish. As the only unbeaten power-conference team, Nebraska was the presumptive title favorite over one-loss Notre Dame, but Devaney still campaigned after the game: "even the Pope would have to vote us number one."[95] The next day Nebraska was voted number one to claim its first national championship from a major selector. President Richard Nixon visited the university on January 14 to present the team with a plaque honoring it as "undisputed champions."[97]

### The Game of the Century and a title repeat (1971–1972)

[edit]

I-back Jeff Kinney scored four touchdowns in Nebraska's 1971 "Game of the Century" win over Oklahoma

With Tagge as the unquestioned starter, Nebraska began 1971 as the country's second-ranked team and quickly moved up to number one. The Cornhuskers won each of their first eleven games by at least twenty-four points to set up a Thanksgiving Day meeting with No. 2 Oklahoma. NU and OU were each among the best teams of the era in 1971, combining for seventeen of twenty-two all-Big Eight selections and twelve staff members who became FBS or NFL head coaches.[98] The headline matchup of "The Game of the Century" was Nebraska's defense (allowing 6.4 points per game) against Oklahoma's new wishbone offense (scoring 44.6 points per game). The buildup was unprecedented – Oklahoma expanded the press box at Owen Field to accommodate credential requests from more than twenty states.[98][99] OU coach Chuck Fairbanks shut off phones in the football dormitory, while Nebraska brought its own provisions to Norman to avoid the risk of food poisoning. Players from both teams recalled vomiting from anxiety.[98]

Nebraska, unbeaten for twenty-nine games, took a 7–0 lead after a seventy-two-yard punt return by Johnny Rodgers. The return became the game's signature moment due to play-by-play announcer Lyell Bremser's radio call: "holy moly! Man, woman, and child did that put 'em in the aisles! Johnny "The Jet" Rodgers just tore 'em loose from their shoes!"[100] Oklahoma lost three fumbles as its wishbone attack was initially stymied by All-American nose guard Rich Glover, who finished with twenty-two tackles. OU scored twice late in the second quarter to take a 17–14 halftime lead; two short Jeff Kinney touchdowns put NU back in front in the third. Kiffin succeeded in limiting star Sooner running back Greg Pruitt throughout the afternoon, but quarterback Jack Mildren totaled 267 yards of offense and four touchdowns, the last of which gave Oklahoma a 31–28 fourth-quarter lead.[101] Tagge led Nebraska on a twelve-play drive capped by Kinney's fourth touchdown with 1:38 remaining and Nebraska won 35–31. Sportswriter Dan Jenkins suggested postgame "it was the greatest collegiate football battle ever," a sentiment that has been maintained since.[102][101][103] The game – which featured 829 offensive yards, four lead changes, and just one penalty – was viewed by fifty-five million people in the United States, the largest college football audience ever.[99][98]

Nebraska beat Alabama 38–6 in the Orange Bowl to defend its national title, becoming the first and only champion to defeat the No. 2 (Oklahoma), No. 3 (Colorado), and No. 4 (Alabama) finishers in the AP poll. NU's 1971 team is considered among the best in college football history.[104] Devaney planned to retire but was convinced to return in 1972 to try for an unprecedented third straight title.[105] He named Osborne his successor prior to the season and players later suggested the "murky" chain of command may have hindered the team, which saw its thirty-two-game unbeaten streak end in a week-one upset at UCLA.[86] Persistent turnover issues – eight in a tie against Iowa State and six in a three-point loss to Oklahoma[j] – cost Nebraska any shot at another championship.[107] After the regular season, Rodgers was named the first Heisman Trophy winner in school history and NU beat Notre Dame 40–6 in the Orange Bowl in Devaney's final game as head coach.

Devaney ended his career with eight Big Eight championships and a 136–30–7 record, the eleventh-highest winning percentage in major college football history. His program produced eighteen All-Americans in his eleven years including Rodgers, 1971 Outland Trophy winner Larry Jacobson, and 1972 Outland and Lombardi Award winner Rich Glover.[4] He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1982. Devaney remained at the school as athletic director until 1993 and died in 1997 at age eighty-two.[108]

## Tom Osborne era

[edit]

### Succeeding a legend (1973–1979)

[edit]

Tom Osborne in 1965 as an offensive assistant

Once the job was his, Osborne officially promoted Monte Kiffin to defensive coordinator and hired Jerry Moore from SMU as his wide receivers coach and primary offensive assistant.[105] Osborne's first game was a 40–13 victory over UCLA in a top-ten matchup on September 8, 1973. Nebraska spent much of the season ranked second nationally but was upset by Missouri in October, Osborne's first head coaching loss. After a loss in Norman to end the regular season (the first meeting between Osborne and Barry Switzer, who succeeded Chuck Fairbanks the same year Osborne replaced Devaney), NU was invited to play in the Cotton Bowl against Southwest champion Texas. The Cornhuskers beat the Longhorns 19–3 on a frigid day in Dallas, Nebraska's fifth consecutive bowl victory.[109]

Quarterback David Humm was Nebraska's most prolific passer of the era; his 5,035 passing yards were a program record for over thirty years. He suffered a concussion during NU's 1974 game against Missouri, Nebraska's second straight loss to the Tigers. Humm recovered to lead the team through the remainder of the season, including a sixth consecutive bowl victory, and finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting.[110] When Humm graduated, Osborne turned to California transfer Vince Ferragamo to lead his offense. The Cornhuskers began 1976 as the country's top-ranked team but dropped after a week-one tie at LSU. Despite upset losses to Missouri and Iowa State, Nebraska had a chance to win the Big Eight championship against Oklahoma – instead, OU used a pair of fourth-quarter trick plays to complete a ten-point comeback, prompting Switzer to coin the term "Sooner Magic."[111] NU went 4–3 in the Big Eight, the worst conference finish in any of Osborne's twenty-five seasons, and he came to believe he would have been fired if Nebraska lost to Texas Tech in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl.[112]

NU lost to Washington State to open 1977 and fell out of the AP poll for the first time since 1969. The following week, Nebraska gave fourth-ranked Alabama its only loss of the season behind 128 rushing yards from I-back Rick Berns and two interceptions from future state governor Jim Pillen.[113] The Cornhuskers again limped to the finish of the regular season, but a late comeback in the Liberty Bowl against North Carolina gave Osborne his fourth bowl victory in five seasons. Nebraska lost a season-opening rematch with Alabama in 1978 but won nine straight games before hosting top-ranked Oklahoma, a team Osborne had yet to defeat as head coach. Nebraska sealed a 17–14 victory when Pillen recovered a Billy Sims fumble at NU's three-yard line with 3:28 remaining, the last of ten OU fumbles.[114] The following week, Nebraska – one win away from a likely meeting with Penn State to determine a national champion – was upset by Missouri despite a school-record 255 rushing yards from Berns.[115]

Osborne interviewed with Colorado following the 1979 Orange Bowl, later saying "I thought there was enough unhappiness here that maybe I ought to look for a job."[116] CU offered a considerable salary increase and Osborne even traveled to Boulder to meet the team, but he ultimately declined the offer, not wanting the coach against the players he had recruited to Nebraska.[116]

### The Scoring Explosion (1980–1984)

[edit]

The early years of Osborne's tenure were defined by Nebraska's struggles against Oklahoma and its run-heavy wishbone offense – from 1973 through 1979 OU went 7–1 in the series despite averaging less than five pass attempts per game. Osborne had always used some option concepts but they were limited given the skillsets of pass-first quarterbacks Tagge, Humm, and Ferragamo.[89] By the late 1970s, Osborne was primarily recruiting option-style quarterbacks, beginning with Jeff Quinn, who became Nebraska's starter late in 1979. NU led the country in rushing yards in 1980, the first of eleven times under Osborne.[89] Nebraska was one of four 1980 national champions retroactively selected by David Rothman's FACT, an NCAA-designated selector, but the school does not claim the title.

The Rimington Trophy, awarded annually to the country's best center, is named for two-time All-American Dave Rimington

Osborne's offensive transformation was complete in 1981, when he turned to prized dual-threat recruit Turner Gill after a 1–2 start dropped the Cornhuskers out of the national top twenty-five. In Gill's first start, Nebraska beat Colorado 59–0 and set an NCAA record with forty-two first downs.[117] NU regained its national ranking the following week and did not fall out of the AP poll again until 2002. The Cornhuskers finished 9–2 with Gill and Mark Mauer rotating at quarterback, earning an Orange Bowl bid against undefeated Clemson. The Tigers won 22–15 – Nebraska was still selected as co-champion by the National Championship Foundation but does not claim it.[118] Second-ranked Nebraska traveled to Penn State in the third week of 1982 – trailing by three with fourteen seconds remaining, PSU quarterback Todd Blackledge threw a fifteen-yard pass to Mike McCloskey that was ruled a completion at the NU two-yard line despite McCloskey landing out of bounds.[119][120] Without replay review to overturn the call, the play stood, and the Nittany Lions scored on the next play to win 27–24. It was Nebraska's only loss of the season – though the Cornhuskers were selected national champion by mathematical selector Berryman QPRS, 11–1 PSU was awarded the title by both the AP and coaches.[120] Senior center Dave Rimington became the first Cornhusker to be named a unanimous All-American for the second time.

Nebraska started the following season ranked No. 1 and won a rematch with Penn State 44–6 in the first Kickoff Classic.[121] Osborne's option attack – led by Gill, Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier, and future No. 1 NFL draft pick Irving Fryar – averaged 57.8 points across its five non-conference games and earned the nickname "The Scoring Explosion."[122] Nebraska survived a conference-opening scare against Oklahoma State and marched through the rest of its schedule, finishing 12–0 with an NCAA-record 624 points scored.[123] NU immediately fell behind Miami (FL) in the Orange Bowl; trailing 17–0 early in the second quarter, the Cornhuskers converted a fumblerooski, a trick play which had Gill intentionally set the ball on the ground to be picked up by All-American guard Dean Steinkuhler, who ran nineteen yards for a touchdown.[124] Nebraska trailed for most of the game until Jeff Smith scored with less than a minute remaining to make the score 31–30. Instead of kicking an extra point to tie the game (likely resulting in Nebraska being voted national champion), Osborne elected to go for two and the outright win; Gill's conversion pass fell incomplete.[125][123] Nebraska does not claim a national title despite being awarded one by several selectors, and Osborne's 1983 team is considered among the best to not win a major championship.[123][104]

Nebraska replaced nine offensive starters in 1984 but the country's top scoring defense kept NU in championship contention.[126] The defense was led by Charlie McBride, who joined Osborne's staff when Monte Kiffin departed in 1976 and was promoted to defensive coordinator in 1982. McBride's defense held No. 8 UCLA and No. 9 Oklahoma State to three points each in dominating victories, but Nebraska was again denied a national title opportunity when Oklahoma beat the top-ranked Cornhuskers in Lincoln in the season's final week.

### 1990s dynasty (1985–1997)

[edit]

Tommie Frazier in 1993

Nebraska ended the 1980s with more wins than any other program, but failed to win a national championship from a major selector (though NU has five unclaimed titles from the decade).[127] Barry Switzer's departure from Oklahoma in 1988 left the program mired in sanctions [128] and gave Nebraska a clearer path to conference success, but did not help the Cornhuskers on the national stage; from 1987 to 1993, NU lost seven straight bowl games to ACC opponents. The last of these was the controversial 1993 national championship game,[129] in which a blown call at the goal line and a missed field goal cost Nebraska the title.[130] Osborne was so upset by this loss that he had the scoreboard at Memorial Stadium display the 18–16 final score for the entire offseason.[131]

Nebraska's 1993 team was led by star quarterback Tommie Frazier. Frazier was the biggest recruit in Osborne's 1992 class, which has since been listed among the greatest recruiting classes in college football history.[132] Frazier, a Florida native, also represented a philosophical shift in recruiting for Osborne, who had historically been successful largely with Midwestern players and an unusually high number of walk-ons.[133] In the middle of the 1994 season, however, a leg injury to Frazier meant pro-style backup Brook Berringer had to step in and run Osborne's option-based offense; Berringer's kind demeanor and heroics over the rest of the regular season endeared him to fans.[134] While Frazier returned to start the national championship game, Berringer replaced him in the second quarter, and behind two Cory Schlesinger touchdowns, NU won Osborne his first outright national title as a head coach.[135]

Statue of Tom Osborne and Brook Berringer outside the Osborne Athletic Complex at Memorial Stadium

Nebraska's 1995 team is often listed as the greatest in college football history.[104] Behind Frazier, who finished second in Heisman Trophy voting, and I-back Lawrence Phillips, the Cornhuskers won every game by at least fourteen points and set a college football record by scoring 53.2 points per game.[136] Nebraska beat four teams that finished in the top ten, including a 62–24 Fiesta Bowl blowout victory over Florida and head coach Steve Spurrier to win the national championship.[137] Osborne's title teams in 1994 and 1995 join Devaney's 1970 and 1971 teams as the only undefeated back-to-back national champions since 1956.[138] Berringer was killed in a plane crash two days before the 1996 NFL draft, where he was projected to be a mid-round selection.[139] Over four thousand people attended his funeral service, and in 2006 a statue of Osborne and Berringer was erected at Memorial Stadium.[140]

In 1996, the Big Eight merged with the Southwest to create the Big 12 Conference. Despite its similarity in name, the Big 12 was an entirely new conference and did not retain any of the Big Eight's history or records.[141] After a shutout loss at Arizona State in week two, Nebraska won ten straight games to make the first Big 12 Championship Game. However, the Cornhuskers missed out on a fourth straight national championship appearance when they were upset by Texas.[142]

Nebraska started the 1997 season outside the top five, but a win at second-ranked Washington quickly vaulted the Cornhuskers up to No. 1.[143] A 45–38 overtime victory at Missouri in week nine kept the Huskers' title hopes alive, though it dropped NU to No. 3 in both polls. The comeback win was highlighted by the Flea Kicker, a last-second, game-tying touchdown that bounced off the foot of intended receiver Shevin Wiggins and directly into the hands of Matt Davison.[144] Nebraska returned to the conference championship game and beat Texas A&M 54–15 for its first Big 12 title.[145] Nebraska entered bowl season trailing Michigan in both polls, but a 42–17 victory over Peyton Manning and Tennessee in the Orange Bowl narrowly boosted NU to the top of the Coaches Poll.[146]

On December 10, 1997, Osborne announced he would retire following the Orange Bowl, and longtime assistant Frank Solich would take over. NU's subsequent victory made him the only coach to retire following a national championship.[147] Nebraska posted a 60–3 record in the final five years of Osborne's tenure. His career record of 255–49–3 gives him the fourth-highest winning percentage in major college football history.[148]

Osborne was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999,[149] and has been recognized as one of the greatest coaches in college football history.[150][151] After his retirement from coaching, Osborne was elected to Congress and represented Nebraska's third district from 2001 to 2007. He returned to the University of Nebraska as athletic director in 2007, retiring in 2013.[152] The university finished construction on the Tom and Nancy Osborne Athletic Complex in 2006 and dedicated the field at Memorial Stadium in his honor.[153][154]

## The post-Osborne era

[edit]

### Program in transition (1998–2010)

[edit]

Bo Pelini in 2008

Upon Osborne's retirement, the program was handed over to running backs coach Frank Solich, who had played at Nebraska under Devaney. In his six seasons, Solich won the 1999 Big 12 title and took the Cornhuskers to the 2001 national championship game, a season in which quarterback Eric Crouch won the Heisman Trophy.

The Cornhuskers slipped to 7–7 in 2002, the first non-winning season for Nebraska in forty years. That season also saw the Huskers fall out of the AP Poll altogether after being ranked every week since October 11, 1981. The run of 348 consecutive weeks in the AP Poll is still the longest in college football history. Following the season, Solich made aggressive changes to his coaching staff. The approach appeared successful, as the Cornhuskers improved to 9–3 in 2003, but second-year athletic director Steve Pederson fired Solich after the season, justifying the move with the now-infamous claim that he would not "let Nebraska gravitate into mediocrity" or "surrender the Big 12 to Oklahoma and Texas".[155] First-year defensive coordinator Bo Pelini was appointed interim head coach and led the Cornhuskers to a 17–3 win over Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl. Solich was so upset with his alma mater and longtime employer that he did not return to Lincoln for over fifteen years.[156]

Although Pelini interviewed for the position as permanent replacement, former Oakland Raiders coach Bill Callahan was named Solich's successor following a forty-day, one-man coaching search conducted by Pederson.[157] Callahan's mandate to prevent Nebraska's decline was not immediately successful, as his NFL-style West Coast offense was criticized harshly by fans for its departure from Osborne's run-dominant option. Criticism did not die down when Nebraska went 5–6 in Callahan's first year, NU's first losing season since 1961.[158] Following moderate success in 2005 and 2006, 2007 saw the Huskers lose five consecutive games for the first time since 1958, including a record-setting 76–39 loss to Kansas.[159] Pederson was fired as athletic director in the middle of the five-game slide. Osborne, who had retired from Congress earlier in the year to make an unsuccessful bid for governor, was named interim athletic director. Callahan later met the same fate as Pederson, as he was fired by Osborne immediately after a season-ending 65–51 loss to Colorado.[160]

Osborne was named full-time athletic director in December and hired Pelini to return to Nebraska as the program's thirty-second head coach.[161] Pelini's first team tied for the Big 12 North division title with a 9–4 record, the best record among first-year FBS coaches. In 2009, Heisman finalist Ndamukong Suh helped Nebraska lead the country in scoring defense at 10.4 points per game, just two years after ranking among the nation's worst.[162] NU finished 10–4 and Pelini was given a raise and contract extension.[163] Following the 2010–11 academic year, the University of Nebraska announced it was ending its association with the Big 12 and joining the Big Ten Conference.[164]

### Move to the Big Ten (2011–present)

[edit]

See also: 2010–14 Big Ten Conference realignment

Scott Frost

Pelini's four seasons coaching in the new conference resulted in only one conference title game appearance, a 70–31 loss to unranked Wisconsin in 2012. In 2014, following another season in which Nebraska performed poorly against high-quality opposition, athletic director Shawn Eichorst fired Pelini.[165] At the time of the firing, the university still owed Pelini $7.65 million.[166] Pelini left the program with a 67–27 record, winning either nine or ten games each season; NU lost three games under Pelini in his final season, the only year he did not lose exactly four games.[166] School officials cited Pelini's lackluster record in important games and a pattern of "unprofessional behavior" toward fans, players, and school employees as contributing factors to his dismissal.[167]

Shortly after, Eichorst hired Mike Riley to lead the program, a move that was harshly criticized given Riley's lack of recent success at Oregon State.[168][169] The Cornhuskers ended 2014 under interim coach Barney Cotton, losing to USC in the Holiday Bowl and finishing 9–4, Nebraska's seventh consecutive four-loss season.

In 2016, Riley took Nebraska into the national top five for the first time since 2010, but a 4–8 2017 season was the program's worst in fifty-six years. Following a home loss to Northern Illinois, University of Nebraska chancellor Ronnie D. Green fired Eichorst and appointed former Husker Dave Rimington interim athletic director.[170] Bill Moos was hired as Eichorst's replacement in October and terminated Riley the day after the season ended.[171] On December 2, 2017, Moos hired alumnus Scott Frost from UCF, after Frost led the Knights to a 13–0 2017 season.[172] Frost began his Nebraska head coaching career just 9–15 through two seasons.

In 2019, Nebraska announced construction of a 350,000-square foot, $155 million athletic complex adjacent to Memorial Stadium's northeast corner.[173] The following March, in the midst of a nationwide push to allow further student-athlete compensation, NU partnered with Opendorse to "help student-athletes build their individual brands", the first university to do so.[174] Nebraska finished 3–5 in 2020, a season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the following year finished just 3–9. Frost was fired following a 1–2 start to the 2022 season, his fifth as Nebraska's head coach.[175] At the time of Frost's departure, Nebraska's previous thirteen losses had come by nine points or fewer. Wide receivers coach Mickey Joseph was named Frost's interim replacement, making Joseph NU's first black head coach in any sport. Following the 2022 season, Nebraska announced the hiring of Matt Rhule to be the next head coach, after having served stints at Temple, Baylor and with the NFL's Carolina Panthers.

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Nebraska lists the final score as 1–0,[4] while Missouri lists it as 6–0.[6] The schools agree the result was a victory for Nebraska via Missouri forfeit
2. ^ Nebraska won several exhibition games against Lincoln High School during its twenty-four-game winning streak, which are not included
3. ^ Halligan was also named a third-team All-American in 1913 and unofficially in 1915. Walter Camp, an influential voice in the formation of early football, named Halligan to his 1915 All-America team, despite Halligan having graduated the season before. Critics used this as evidence Camp made his selections with limited knowledge of Western players and teams[27]
4. ^ A consensus All-American is named a first-team selection by more than half of selector organizations
5. ^ Nebraska was forced into blue practice jerseys when Oklahoma mistakenly brought its home reds to Lincoln. NU wore blue-trimmed uniforms when honoring Memorial Stadium's hundredth anniversary in 2023[43]
6. ^ Nebraska also considers Bob Brown's No. 64 and Johnny Rodgers's No. 20 permanently retired, but these were worn by several players after their collegiate careers ended
7. ^ One of Nebraska's two wins in 1951 was a 6–6 tie against Kansas State in Manhattan later credited as a forfeit victory for NU when it was discovered two Wildcats were ineligible
8. ^ The MVIAA was unofficially renamed to the Big Eight when Oklahoma State rejoined the conference in 1960. In 1964, the conference officially became the Big Eight
9. ^ The AP poll typically released its final rankings prior to bowl season until 1968. The Coaches Poll did the same until 1974
10. ^ In early 1973, Oklahoma forfeited eight wins from the previous season when it was discovered the Sooners had used players ineligible under NCAA rules, which gave second-place Nebraska the 1972 Big Eight title. Decades later, Oklahoma reversed course and recognized these wins. Both schools claim the championship[106]

## References

[edit]

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5. ^ a b c Fricke, Mark. "Nebraska Football In The 1890s" (PDF). library.la84.org. p. 11\. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
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* v
* t
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Nebraska Cornhuskers football

Venues|

* Lincoln Park (1891–1893)
* Antelope Field (1894–1908)
* Nebraska Field (1909–1922)
* Memorial Stadium (1923–present)

Bowls and rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Colorado (Buffalo Head)
* Iowa (Heroes Trophy)
* Kansas
* Kansas State
* Miami (FL)
* Minnesota ($5 Bits of Broken Chair)
* Missouri (Victory Bell)
* Oklahoma
* Wisconsin (Freedom Trophy)

Culture and lore|

* History
* Herbie Husker
* Lil' Red
* "Dear Old Nebraska U"
* "Hail Varsity"
* Cornhusker Marching Band
* Blackshirts
* Origin of "Cornhuskers" nickname
* 1939 Kansas State game
* Game of the Century (1971 Oklahoma game)
* Fumblerooski
* 1982 Penn State game
* Flea Kicker
* Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass
* 2009 Big 12 Championship Game
* Yes Man

People|

* Head coaches
* All-Americans
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* 1890
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* 2014
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* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
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* 2020
* 2021
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* 2025

National championship seasons in bold
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