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As a redshirt freshman in 1991, Jones came off the bench for an injured Derek Brown at Kansas. In that game, Jones had 27 carries for a (then) school-record 294 yards and a Big Eight record six touchdowns. A few weeks later against Oklahoma, Nebraska had a shot at the Big Eight title and a trip to the Orange Bowl. However, the Huskers were trailing 14-13 late in the game.

A freezing rain fell most of the day, turning the Memorial Stadium Astroturf into a green sheet of ice. Yet, on the go-ahead scoring drive, Jones was sure-footed, cutting and sprinting his way down the field – and into the end zone. Nebraska’s final drive covered 80 yards and took 10 plays. Calvin Jones had nine carries for 78 yards, including a gutsy fourth-and-1 conversion and 15-yard touchdown on the next play.


One of the most memorable moments of Jones’s Husker career was a 47-yard touchdown against Colorado in 1992. 




As a junior in 1993, his final season at Nebraska, Jones had another 1,000-yard season despite missing time with a knee injury. He was an All-Big Eight pick for the second straight season and a finalist for the Doak Walker Award. Jones finished his standout career as Nebraska’s second leading rusher (currently seventh) even though he started just 12 games in his career.

Calvin Jones had a successful NFL career, winning a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers. He was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 2004. Jones died in his home of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning in 2025. He was 54.

Murtaugh broke into the starting lineup in 1968, recording a team-high 99 tackles. He was named honorable mention All-Big Eight. As a junior in 1969, Murtaugh had 126 tackles, which broke Wayne Meylan's single-season record. Murtaugh earned first-team All-Big Eight honors.


Jerry Murtaugh was a team captain in 1970 despite his tendency to land in coach Bob Devaney's doghouse. | Nebraska Athletics

The Cornhuskers won their first national championship in 1970. He ended the 1970 season with 142 tackles, breaking his own record (back then, bowl games were not included in the stat totals). Murtaugh also set the school record for most tackles (342). That mark stood for over 30 years until Barrett Ruud broke it in 2004. In addition to being All-Big Eight and All-America, Murtaugh was the 1970 Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year.

If you’re compiling a list of the best linebackers in school history, Marc Munford’s name should be on that list. A strong tackler, he led the team in tackles in each of his final three seasons. He is in an elite group of Huskers to win all-conference honors in three seasons.

As a sophomore, he had a breakout performance against Missouri with a career-high 16 tackles and a 57-yard interception return for a touchdown. A devasting knee injury cost Munford the final two games of his junior season, but he still led the team in tackles and repeated as an All-Big Eight pick. In his senior season, he was a captain of a Blackshirt defense that held Kansas to minus-21 yards on 22 carries.

Munford was an excellent prep baseball player with offers to the some of the top college programs of the day. He wanted to moonlight with the Nebraska baseball team, but the coaches wouldn't allow it. He was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 1997.

Pat Tyrance is one of those players who embraced the "student" part of the student athlete. In fact, let’s start on the academic side:

Tyrance, a Biology/Pre-Med major, was a two-time Academic All-American. He was named a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete in 1990. He earned the prestigious NCAA Today's Top Six Award in 1990, one of the top honors for student athletes.*

*Tyrance's wife, Renita Robinson - the 1989 NCAA triple jump champion for Nebraska's track team - was also an Academic All-American and was Today's Top Six finalist the previous semester. 




On the football field, Tyrance was no slouch.

Lightly recruited out of Millard North High School, Tyrance played in every game as a redshirt sophomore, with five starts. In his junior season (1989), he was an All-Big Eight pick. His senior season (1990) got off to an unconventional start. In addition to having a wife and newborn son at home, Tyrance missed the spring game to take the Medical College Admission Test. He did find time to hit the weight room, as evidenced by his team-best 446-pound bench press.


In the 1990 season opener against Baylor, Nebraska was clinging to a 6-0 lead in the fourth quarter. The Bears had second-and-goal from the 5, but Tyrance forced a fumble at the three. Nebraska scored a late touchdown to win 13-0. In a loss to eventual co-national champion Colorado, Tyrance forced two more fumbles and an interception with his pressure on quarterback Darian Hagan. Tyrance led the team in tackles his last two seasons and finished 13th in career tackles . A team captain, Tyrance repeated as an All-Big Eight pick. He was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 2005.

After a year in the NFL, Tyrance started medical school at Harvard Medical School, where he earned his Doctor of Medicine. Since that wasn't enough of a challenge, he also earned a Master of Public Policy in Healthcare Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. In 2015, he received an MBA from the George Washington School of Business. Dr. Pat Tyrance is currently an orthopedic surgeon. In 2009, he was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-American Hall of Fame, making him just the second Nebraska football player (Dave Rimington)

Andra Franklin was different. He was a best-of-both-worlds hybrid who could block and tote the rock. Born and raised in Alabama, he turned down Bear Bryant to come to Nebraska.

A four-year letterman, Franklin gained 1,753 yards in his career. That is the most by a NU fullback, and almost 200 yards ahead of second place (Dick Davis, who followed Solich in the 1960s). When he graduated, Franklin had the ninth-most rushing yards in Nebraska history. Franklin was an All-Big Eight selection in 1980, his senior season.

As any Osborne-era fullback will tell you, their primary role was to block for the I-back. The I-back in Franklin's junior and seasons (Jarvis Redwine) rushed for 2,213 yards on a ridiculous 7.1 yards per carry. Obviously, Marvelous Jarvis and the offensive line deserve a ton of credit, but I guarantee that Franklin's blocking and threat as a runner made Redwine's life much easier.