Records for Nebraska’s freshman-junior varsity team were first kept in 1956, and through its final regularly scheduled season in 1990 the combined record was 120-17-1.
The Husker freshman-jayvees endured just one losing season, dropping their final three games to Air Force, Coffeyville (Kan.) Junior College and Waldorf (Iowa) Junior College in 1987 to finish 2-3.
One Last Time
In February of 1991, Nebraska announced it would discontinue its freshman-junior varsity program, in anticipation of an NCAA reduction in the number of allowable football assistants, a cost-cutting measure that went into effect for the 1992 season. Soon after, the Big Eight Conference passed a rule prohibiting freshman-junior varsity teams, also to cut costs.
Nebraska would play one more junior varsity game in 1993, against the Air Force Academy. Tom Osborne scheduled the game as a favor to Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry.
It was played on a Friday afternoon in early October at Memorial Stadium, in front of an audience estimated at just over 500. Many Husker fans were on the road home from Stillwater, Okla., where, on Thursday night, Nebraska had defeated Oklahoma State 27-13, Osborne’s 200th victory.
Husker grad assistants Gerry Gdowski and Bill Busch coached the team, Gdowski the offense, Busch the defense. The players practiced only once together in preparation.
Redshirted freshman quarterback Matt Turman, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound walk-on from Wahoo, Neb., who had yet to earn the nickname “the Turmanator,” directed the 49-20 victory, completing 9-of-11 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 73 yards.