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The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: 847badgerfan on February 02, 2025, 09:48:45 AM

Title: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on February 02, 2025, 09:48:45 AM
This sucks.

Nebraska's spring game likely canceled as transfer portal has made it detrimental, Rhule says | AP News (https://apnews.com/article/nebraska-spring-game-4ac083d40ed67d625cce23063c635de7)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on February 02, 2025, 09:55:03 AM
yup, was a great experience for kids and others that couldn't afford a gameday during the season

2 reasons,-- 1st two ACL injuries last spring, 2nd televised game means other programs are watching and could steal players because there's no tampering penalties.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on February 03, 2025, 12:06:19 PM
Nebraska football has its new special teams coordinator, and it's a familiar name making a return home.

Mike Ekeler, the Blair High School graduate who played collegiately at Kansas State before developing into a position coach under Bo Pelini, will take the special teams role after four seasons at Tennessee, a source confirmed Monday morning.

The Volunteers consistently fielded some the nation's best punt return units under Ekeler, ranking at the SEC's top unit in 2021, 2023 and 2024 in return yards. In 2024, UT topped college football with 424 return yards. Nebraska had 73.

"Each year we push the envelope to get better," Ekeler said in August 2024 during training camp about his unit. "And we got a saying, it’s ABT, all about technique, for ABM, all about money. These guys buy in, they get it, they see it every single day."
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on February 09, 2025, 12:36:01 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/XQLpBBo.png)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on February 16, 2025, 09:50:29 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/TiVpMJu.jpeg)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on February 18, 2025, 01:24:55 PM
https://youtu.be/MMFmpKltfM8
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on February 20, 2025, 12:47:37 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/gPuJPmk.png)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on February 22, 2025, 10:16:16 AM
The Nebraska Cornhuskers canceled their home-and-home series set for the 2026-27 seasons with the Tennessee Volunteers on Friday, and it’s going to cost them. Per Brett McMurphy of The Action Network, Nebraska is going to have to pay $1 million for their decision, as the buyout was $500,000 for each game scheduled with Tennessee.

The series, which was set to begin with Nebraska hosting Tennessee in 2026 from Lincoln before a 2027 return date in Knoxville, was canceled at the Cornhuskers’ request, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, citing the Huskers’ desire for eight home games in 2027 during planned renovations to Memorial Stadium.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: MarqHusker on February 22, 2025, 10:29:23 AM
Boo
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on February 22, 2025, 10:33:03 AM
Chickens...
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: MarqHusker on February 22, 2025, 10:43:25 AM
This series was first penciled in a zillion years ago and each school kept moving for one reason or another.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on February 22, 2025, 11:07:12 AM
helping free up the Vols schedule for a 9th conference game
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on February 27, 2025, 11:00:00 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/Mstcq4m.jpeg)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on February 28, 2025, 01:16:32 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/a6FctLs.jpeg)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on February 28, 2025, 09:27:06 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/8aK1RVK.png)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on March 01, 2025, 02:08:35 PM
https://youtu.be/s0XAmeAxaRM
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on March 04, 2025, 04:46:52 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/bzecJ1Z.jpeg)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on March 05, 2025, 09:41:27 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/zZljsDI.jpeg)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on March 06, 2025, 12:15:58 PM
Mark your calendars on April 26th for The Husker Games presented by FNBO. 🏈🏐⚽️
The action-packed day features Nebraska Football activities in Memorial Stadium, Nebraska Soccer vs. Wyoming at Hibner Stadium + a Nebraska Volleyball match against Kansas at Devaney.
Fans can also participate in tours of the Osborne Legacy Complex, the Husker Equipment Sale and a Food Truck Festival.
🎟️ Tickets on sale Tuesday, March 11th
ℹ️ More info » go.unl.edu/ehtw


(https://i.imgur.com/OxCFhoc.jpeg)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on March 10, 2025, 12:02:52 PM
Former Husker Running Back Jeff Kinney with OJ Simpson

(https://i.imgur.com/ohQQbW4.jpeg)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on March 29, 2025, 06:51:49 PM
The message is there in the big print the moment anyone walks into Memorial Stadium.


(https://i.imgur.com/trosU3W.png)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on March 29, 2025, 06:54:52 PM
While some fears among Husker fans when Holgorsen was named offensive coordinator revolved around his history of slinging the ball around, but that's something he says isn't in the plans.

"I'm not interested in my old air raid roots," Holgorsen said. "If you need to run the ball, you need to run the ball."
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: Brutus Buckeye on March 29, 2025, 09:13:43 PM
Luckily you guys don't have to play another game against the Hoosiers this year. 
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on March 29, 2025, 09:58:13 PM
Amen, Brother
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on April 05, 2025, 12:08:56 PM
NEWS: Nebraska has secured a commitment from Central Michigan transfer Ugnius Jarusevicius.

Jarusevicius earned first team All-Mac honors after averaging 16.2 points and 7.3 rebounds last season.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on April 13, 2025, 08:47:18 AM
This week in Husker history
The week of April 12-18, looking back in five-year intervals

1900: The plug is pulled on Nebraska's first conference, the Western Inter-State University Foot Ball Association. Nebraska's last season in the league was 1897.

1910: Nebraska fights Kansas' proposal to replace football with rugby in the Missouri Valley Conference.


1915: Robert S. Devaney, future Hall of Fame coach of the Cornhuskers, is born on April 13 in Saginaw, Mich.

1920: The Missouri Valley Conference gives a provisional OK to Nebraska's rejoining the league, but the Cornhuskers would remain independent for one more season. Also, former Husker Dick Rutherford becomes the head football and basketball coach at Oregon State. | Full story

1925: Students who made pledges for the construction of Memorial Stadium are woefully delinquent on their payments.

1930: Spring practices come to a close, and coach Dana X. Bible declares them a success.

1950: The university announces that Omaha station WOW will televise the Huskers' home games for a second consecutive year.

1980: Verne Lewellen, captain and quarterback of the 1923 Nebraska team that upset Notre Dame's Four Horsemen, dies at age 78. He earned all-pro honors with the Green Bay Packers and was a longtime executive with the franchise. 

2000: With the top quarterbacks sitting out, the spring game ends in a 21-21 tie -- and features a punt by KaLena “Beanie” Barnes, the first woman to try out for Nebraska's football team. Also, the Seattle Seahawks trade former Husker Ahman Green to Green Bay, where he would become the Packers’ all-time rushing leader.

2005: After newcomer Zac Taylor passes for 357 yards in the spring game, 2004 starting quarterback Joe Dailey confirms he’s leaving the team.

2015: Former Husker player and broadcaster Adrian Fiala dies at age 67. Also, former Husker Lawrence Phillips is accused of killing his cellmate in a California prison.

2020: A virtual spring game replaces the real thing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on April 18, 2025, 01:37:32 PM
University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering
  ·
Patrick Payne, a 2012 graduate with a degree in civil engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering, was chosen as one of “the best 12 Young Engineers Under 40” (out of nearly 40 nominees of candidates) by Railway Track & Structures (RT&S).
Payne, general director of maintenance of way for Union Pacific Railroad, oversees more than 700 employees. His team maintains and repairs more than 8,000 miles of track across terrains in the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. A husband and father to two young children, Payne dedicates his time outside the railroad to his family. Whether it’s school fundraisers, involvement in his family’s church or support of the community’s Global Outreach Charities organization, he works tirelessly to balance parenthood with the demands of the railroad.


(https://i.imgur.com/jeK6kcu.png)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on April 20, 2025, 03:10:30 PM
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - The No. 18 Nebraska softball team recorded a seven-run third inning and downed the Indiana Hoosiers in five innings by a score of 12-4 on Saturday afternoon at Bowlin Stadium. The Huskers drew 2,699 fans, which is a program record for attendance. The previous record was set on April 27, 2024 against Northwestern.

With the win, NU evened the series to 1-1 and improved to 33-11 (12-4 Big Ten), while Indiana fell to 29-13 (8-8 Big Ten).
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on April 21, 2025, 02:34:18 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/GkDCk4o.jpeg)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on April 24, 2025, 09:18:40 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/3rKR3BY.jpeg)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on April 29, 2025, 12:21:54 PM
Dylan Raiola signs new NIL deal with Adidas ahead of second season at Nebraska

On Tuesday, Adidas announced it has signed Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola. Adidas also has a pre-existing partnership with Nebraska. Raiola is excited to join the Adidas family.

“Heading into my second season, the goal remains the same: help build the next era of Nebraska football and leave a legacy that makes our fans proud,” Raiola said in a statement. “Joining the elite family of athletes at Adidas is a tremendous honor, and their support strengthens the journey as we continue building something special in Lincoln.”

His 2,819 passing yards are the most by a freshman in program history. His completion percentage last season was also a freshman record for the Cornhuskers. Raiola led all true freshmen and ranked third among all freshmen in passing yards.

For his efforts, he was a semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award. 

Obviously, Raiola is succeeding off the field as well. Raiola boasts a $2.3 million On3 NIL valuation, ranking No. 21 in On3’s NIL100. He’s also done deals with Campus Ink, EA Sports and Panini America in the past.

Raiola is only the latest athlete to sign with Adidas. Ahead of the NFL Draft, the company also announced deals with highly-touted prospects Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter. Adidas vice president of sports marketing Chris McGuire is thrilled to add Raiola to that list.

“We’re focused on identifying and building the most dynamic and talented roster of student-athletes in collegiate athletics,” McGuire wrote in a statement. “He’s one of the most promising young quarterbacks in the country and his commitment to building a special legacy at Nebraska makes him an ideal addition to our roster.”
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 01, 2025, 05:21:26 PM
4-Star QB Trae Taylor Commits to Nebraska Over Illinois, LSU and Texas A&M
The Huskers have picked up their first commitment for the 2027 class, a four-star quarterback from Illinois.

Nebraska football's depth at quarterback is now cemented for the next several seasons.

Trae Taylor, a four-star QB in the class of 2027, has committed to Matt Rhule and the Huskers. Taylor picked the Big Red over Illinois, LSU and Texas A&M.

A 6-foot-3, 186-pound rising junior at Carmel Catholic in the Chicago area, Taylor is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 2 prospect in Illinois and No. 35 prospect in the 2027 class. He's rated as the third-best QB in the class.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on May 02, 2025, 08:40:35 AM
After watching this, I hope he sucks. Completely classless.

https://twitter.com/kevinsjuts/status/1918047777319469554 (https://twitter.com/kevinsjuts/status/1918047777319469554)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 02, 2025, 08:46:42 AM
it was, he has apologized 
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on May 02, 2025, 08:47:16 AM
Not good enough. Damage is done. He's garbage.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 02, 2025, 08:55:10 AM
you weren't gonna like him anyway
I wish that was the dumbest thing I did at his age
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on May 02, 2025, 09:07:54 AM
Quote from: FearlessF on May 02, 2025, 08:55:10 AM
you weren't gonna like him anyway
I wish that was the dumbest thing I did at his age

Of course not. He goes to school at Carmel Catholic. F CC.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 04, 2025, 06:50:09 AM
This week in Husker history

1920: Nebraska's return to the Missouri Valley Conference is delayed by a year because of the Huskers' scheduled game against Rutgers at New York's Polo Grounds. Conference rules require all games to take place on a college campus.

1965: Bob Churchich connects with Freeman White for a pair of touch­downs in the spring game for the Whites, but the Reds come out on top, 33-27. Also, university administrators shoot down a student-led proposal to make “Husky Herf” the school's spirit symbol.
(https://i.imgur.com/mKfrY3X.png)

1985: The opener against Florida State is moved up a week to Sept. 7 for an ABC national telecast.

2005: Nebraska's Darren DeLone is found not guilty of assault in connection with a pregame incident in which an Oklahoma sprit squad member was injured.

2020: The Big Ten extends its suspension of team activities through June 1.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: MarqHusker on May 04, 2025, 12:27:47 PM
Quote from: 847badgerfan on May 02, 2025, 09:07:54 AM
Of course not. He goes to school at Carmel Catholic. F CC.
Short term dopamine hit of social media post apparently irresistible.   Sad norms continue. 
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 07, 2025, 09:03:23 AM
The home-opener for Nebraska football this fall will be against an opponent who already knows they won't be playing in a bowl game.

Akron has been handed a postseason ban after posting a failing Academic Progress Rate score for 2023-24. The Zips had a 914 multi-year APR score, which is below the 930-threshold required to remain eligible for postseason competition.

Only three football programs received postseason bans for their latest APR rate, with Akron being the only one in FBS. The two FCS programs are Mississippi Valley State and UAPB. Florida A&M, Missouri State, Murray State, and Utah Tech all received practice time reductions for low APR rates.

According to Reddit, only four programs in the last decade have fallen below the threshold to be eligible for postseason play. New Mexico State and LSU did so in 2023, but a COVID waiver was still in place. Idaho was the last program to receive a postseason ban.

For comparison, Nebraska posted a 976. The Huskers have stayed above 960 since the 2010-11 release. NU had low numbers in the mid-2000s, scoring as low as 932 in 2004-05.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 10, 2025, 08:17:34 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/BAjsv6D.jpeg)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 11, 2025, 07:59:04 AM
This week(s) in Husker history
The weeks of May 10-31, looking back in five-year intervals:

1920: With a $1 million goal, fundraising for a Memorial Gymnasium & Stadium gets under way, but the effort would eventually fizzle.

1955: Four Husker football players lose their scholarships after taking part in a mid-April panty raid that got out of hand.

«1970: Dave Humm, a heavily recruited quarterback from Las Vegas, signs a national letter of intent with Nebraska. Also, the regents approve the installation of AstroTurf at Memorial Stadium, and work begins. 

1975: Dave Humm is selected to play in the Coaches All-American game.

1995: Husker O-lineman Rob Zatechka earns Big Eight athlete of the year honors.

2000: Former Husker lineman Jim Raschke looks back on his days as pro wrestling's Baron Von Raschke

2010: Speculation about a possible move to the Big Ten by Nebraska starts getting serious, and a showdown appears to loom at June’s Big 12 meetings as commissioner Dan Beebe says, “We need to talk about where we’re going and who's on the plane when it takes off.”

Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: MrNubbz on May 11, 2025, 08:12:15 AM
Quote from: FearlessF on May 02, 2025, 08:55:10 AM
you weren't gonna like him anyway
I wish that was the dumbest thing I did at his age
Bad troll job for sure but yes to the above, before lunch I had that beat twice on most days
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 11, 2025, 08:14:59 AM
1955: Four Husker football players lose their scholarships after taking part in a mid-April panty raid that got out of hand.

could have been something like this if I were lucky!
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: MrNubbz on May 11, 2025, 08:15:20 AM
Quote from: FearlessF on May 07, 2025, 09:03:23 AM
Akron has been handed a postseason ban after posting a failing Academic Progress Rate score for 2023-24. The Zips had a 914 multi-year APR score, which is below the 930-threshold required to remain eligible for postseason competition.

Only three football programs received postseason bans for their latest APR rate, with Akron being the only one in FBS. The two FCS programs are Mississippi Valley State and UAPB. Florida A&M, Missouri State, Murray State, and Utah Tech all received practice time reductions for low APR rates.
In other words the Zips can't afford the legions of tutors to keep the squad compliant like the Blue Bloods
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 11, 2025, 08:46:53 AM
Zips obviously doing something wrong
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: MrNubbz on May 11, 2025, 08:58:06 AM
See the above comment, Lawrence Phillips wasn't exactly on the Dean's List,neither was Terrelle Pryor or Rashan Gary and a slew of others. Many,many others
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 11, 2025, 07:35:20 PM
 a slew
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: Brutus Buckeye on May 11, 2025, 08:37:54 PM
Quote from: FearlessF on May 07, 2025, 09:03:23 AM
Utah Tech received practice time reductions for low APR rates.





(https://media.tenor.com/Xp4a1oGXQGgAAAAe/noo-darth-vader.png)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 13, 2025, 05:53:02 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/GXMKvh3.jpeg)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 20, 2025, 08:44:02 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/xNhw38M.jpeg)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 21, 2025, 10:23:36 AM
Dave Feit’s Greatest Huskers by the Numbers: 99 - Neil Smith and Barry Turner
The countdown kicks off with the dominating Blackshirt from Louisiana and a celebration of Husker fan passion.

Dave Feit is counting down the days until the start of the 2025 season by naming the best Husker to wear each uniform number, as well as one of his personal favorites at that number.  For more information about the series, click here.  To see more entries, click here.

Greatest Husker to wear 99:  Neil Smith, Defensive Tackle, 1985 - 1987

Honorable Mention:  Terry Connealy

Dave's Fave:  Barry Turner, Defensive End, 2005 - 2009

A great start to the countdown! 

Prior to 1985, only three Cornhusker players had ever come from the state of Louisiana:  Ernest English (1956), Laurie Green (1966 - 67), and Burton Burns (1973 - 74).  If you're unfamiliar with these names, I don't blame you.  None of these players earned a varsity letter.  For reference, by 1985, Nebraska had letterwinners hailing from 40 different states, including Connecticut, Maine, and Vermont.

But Nebraska's fortunes in the Crescent State changed in the middle of the 1980s.  Ace recruiter Jack Pierce started working the state.  He built relationships and established a pipeline.  In the 40 years since 1985, there have only been three seasons (2003, 2004, 2021) without a Louisiana native on the roster.

The players in the first few classes from Louisiana were pretty special.  LeRoy Etienne, Mickey Joseph, Reggie Cooper, and Tyrone Hughes all made a significant impact at Nebraska.*

But none of them were as great as Neil Smith.

Smith was a dominating defensive tackle and fearsome pass rusher.  A 1987 Sports Illustrated article described Smith as "a 6'6", 261-pound defensive tackle with a 7'1½" arm span and a 35-inch vertical jump, who can run faster than any previous Nebraska lineman."  He is easily on the short list of the greatest defensive linemen to ever play at Nebraska.  

As a junior in 1986, he recorded 10 sacks.  At the time, it was the 5th most in school history (currently tied for 10th).  In his senior season (1987), he earned All-Big Eight and All-America honors.

How about this stat line from his final regular season game (1987 at Colorado):  12 total tackles, 9 solo, 2 tackles for loss, a fumble recovery, and a blocked field goal.  That is a Rich Glover / Ndamukong Suh level of dominance.

After his senior year, the Kansas City Chiefs traded up in the draft to select Smith with the second overall pick.  Smith had a long and successful NFL career with the Chiefs, Broncos, and Chargers, winning two Super Bowl rings.

Neil's son Keelan is a redshirt freshman on the 2025 Nebraska team.  We'll also see more relatives throughout this series.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 21, 2025, 10:24:18 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/94gGosv.png)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 22, 2025, 09:47:50 AM
Dave Feit’s Greatest Huskers by the Numbers: 98 – Grant Wistrom
Is Wistrom the best player of the 1990s championship era? What role did he play in Tom Osborne coaching in 1997?

Greatest Husker to wear 98:  Grant Wistrom, Rush End, 1994 – 1997

Any college football program that considers itself a “blue blood” can point to several amazing seasons or even extended periods of success.  But few programs can match the dominance Nebraska displayed between 1994 and 1997. 

The Huskers went 49-2.  They won three national championships and nearly played for a fourth.  NU was 16-1 versus ranked teams and outscored everybody by an average score of 44-14.  It is not a coincidence that those were the four years Grant Wistrom played for Nebraska.

Grant Wistrom was the best defensive player on those championship-era teams.  Heck, he’s in rarefied air all time. 

His list of accomplishments is lengthy, but here are some of the highlights:

1997 Lombardi Award winner (NU’s fourth).
One of 13 Huskers to be a first team All-American twice.
Two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year
Nebraska career leader in tackles for loss (58.5)
Second-most sacks in school history (26.5)
Set position records (Defensive Ends, Rush Ends, and Outside Linebackers) with 15 total tackles and 11 assists against Colorado in 1996.
Twice named a first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American.
Wistrom was a freak athlete who re-wrote the record book.  The mid-90s Husker teams were absolutely loaded with talent.  And yet, Wistrom always stood out.  He was strong enough to fight through offensive linemen, yet fast enough to chase down a running back.  He had an instinctive nose for the ball that allowed him to force fumbles and intercept passes.


Simply put, Grant Wistrom was a winning player.  Wistrom won an incredible six championships in a nine-year stretch.  Two in high school, three in college, and a Super Bowl.

***

Fun fact:  Nebraska was not a lock to sign Grant Wistrom out of high school.  As Wistrom told Huskers Illustrated, he “grew up an OU fan, and had the Brian Bosworth haircut.”  But Oklahoma’s probation and Barry Switzer’s resignation meant the Sooners weren’t a national power.  Missouri – his home state school – was never really in the mix.  Wistrom really liked Michigan and strongly considered the Wolverines.

Nebraska?  Well, Wistrom didn’t exactly fall in love with the school during his official visit.  He didn’t mesh with the guys he met, including his recruiting trip host, Trev Alberts.  But position coach Tony Samuel convinced Wistrom to give Nebraska another chance.  A second trip to Lincoln is where Grant “fell in love with the place.”

Where would Nebraska have been without him?

***

Tom Osborne was going to retire after the 1996 season.

That was the original plan.  In 1991, he had made a promise to Frank Solich – the loyal lieutenant who was becoming increasingly interested in leading his own program.  Osborne would coach for five more seasons, then hand the keys over to Solich.

Osborne, as detail oriented as they come, had his exit planned out:  “I think an ideal scenario for me would have been to go through recruiting, go through spring ball, and then disappear in May.”

But Grant Wistrom and Jason Peter altered the plan.

In January of 1997, Osborne met with both Wistrom and Peter.  Osborne assumed he was going to hear the “Coach, I’ve got to do what’s best for me and my family” speech informing him that his two best defensive players both planned to forgo their senior seasons and enter the NFL Draft.  They likely would have been first round picks.

Instead, they told Osborne that losing two games in 1996 (to Arizona State and Texas) was not very good.  Osborne agreed.  They didn’t want to leave Nebraska with that bitter taste in their mouths.  So, the duo told Osborne they planned to come back in 1997, and “win ’em all.”

Wistrom told the Omaha World-Herald in 2017.  “I think it just kind of epitomized that whole team. Everybody was selfless on that team. Everybody had a job. Jason and I could have put ourselves first, but we put our family team above our own needs.”

Unless you were in the room where it happened, nobody knows for sure what came next.  Did Wistom and Peter convince Osborne to stay?  Did they even know about his promise to Solich and plans to walk away?  Did Osborne feel an obligation to coach another year because his star players were coming back?  Was Osborne worried about altering his promise to Solich?*


*The symmetry between the transition from Bob Devaney to Tom Osborne and from Tom Osborne to Frank Solich is interesting.  Devaney had made a promise of his own:  Devaney would step aside (and full-time into his role as athletic director) after the 1971 season.

But the 1971 team rolled to a national championship – Nebraska’s second in a row.  Devaney decided to go for a three-peat in 1972.  When that team fell short, he honored his promise and promoted Osborne.  Now, Osborne was putting Solich – who had interviewed for the Minnesota job in December 1996 – in a similar situation. 

Tom Osborne decided to coach the 1997 season.  Instead of following his original plan to “disappear in May,” Osborne announced his retirement on December 10, 1997, effective at the conclusion of the 1998 Orange Bowl. 

That same day Osborne announced his retirement, Grant Wistrom was named the winner of the Lombardi Award as the nation’s outstanding college football lineman. 

***
For all of his on-field accomplishments, Wistrom might be most fondly remembered for his leadership.  He (and Peter) were vocal leaders who held themselves – and everyone else – to a championship standard. 

After spring ball in 1997, Wistrom led the team through “voluntary” workouts.  In one session, held on a steamy May day, Wistrom wasn’t pleased with the level of intensity he was seeing from a handful of teammates.  So, the team ran the stadium steps again.  And again.  And again.  After a while… well… let’s just say the trash cans needed to be hosed out that night. 


As Wistrom told Sports Illustrated before the 1997 season, “That got the message across real quick that we weren’t going to put up with a lot of the b.s. from (1996), the lackadaisical attitudes and everything.  After that, we had one of the best summers any of us can remember.”

Nebraska’s sports psychologist, Dr. Jack Stark told a story about Wistrom’s leadership and championship mentality on the 1997 Unity Council.  A player who had been missing classes was brought in.  Wistrom said “you will get your butt out of bed and you will go to class. If you don’t go to class, you will run with me at 6 in the morning and I don’t care what the coaches say.”  When the player tried to give an excuse about his car not starting, Wistrom said he would come pick him up and drive him if that’s what it took to win a championship. 


“(Wistrom and Peter) really set the tone for that 1997 team,” Osborne told Huskers.com in 2007.  The talent was “obviously pretty good, but the dedication and commitment was exceptional.” 
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 23, 2025, 08:54:26 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 97:  Pat Engelbert, Middle Guard, 1987 – 1991


In his Huskers.com bio, Pat Engelbert is described as “one of the most decorated Husker student-athletes” earning Academic All-America honors twice (second team as a junior, first team as a senior), an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, and a place on the CFA Scholar-Athlete team.

On the field, Engelbert was no slouch.  He was second team All-Big Eight as a senior and earned ESPN Player of the Game honors in the Colorado game.  He also received the Guy Chamberlain Award, given to the Husker who “has shown by the play and contributions to the betterment of the University of Nebraska football squad that he has the qualities and dedication” of Chamberlin.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 23, 2025, 09:28:46 PM
Husker legend Tony Davis was one of eight individuals inducted into the Cotton Bowl Classic Hall of Fame during enshrinement ceremonies on Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Friday.

A tough, hard-nosed running back from Tecumseh, Neb., Davis closed his career with more than 2,400 rushing yards during his three seasons from 1973 to 1975. Davis excelled as a sophomore, rushing for 1,114 yards for Coach Tom Osborne’s first Husker team. He capped his standout season with an outstanding performance in Nebraska’s 19-3 victory over Texas in the Cotton Bowl. Davis pounded the Longhorn defense all day long, rushing for 106 yards on 28 carries and scored on a three-yard run. Davis and his Husker teammates seized momentum in the third quarter and broke open a 3-3 stalemate with back-to-back touchdowns to help cap a 9-2-1 season and finish No. 7 in the AP rankings.

Davis went on to star for the Huskers in 1974 and 1975, helping the Huskers to appearances in the Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl in his final two seasons. Davis was also the MVP of Nebraska’s 1974 Sugar Bowl win over Florida and was inducted into the Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame in 2021, giving him the rare distinction of being in the Halls of Fame for two of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious bowl games.  He is also the only Husker in both the Cotton Bowl and Sugar Bowl Halls of Fame.

Davis was joined in the 14th Hall of Fame class by Notre Dame fullback Jerome Bettis, Texas linebacker Randy Braband, Ole Miss head coach David Cutcliffe, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association Chief Ambassador, Past Chair and former Team Selection & Playoff Committee Chair Finley (Fin) Ewing III, CBAA Historian Charlie Fiss, Auburn running back Bo Jackson and Alabama linebacker DeMeco Ryans. The eight honorees add their names to a group that has grown to 93 men and women who have left an indelible mark on the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, one of America's original bowl games.

Davis went on to play six seasons in the National Football League, appearing in 89 career games with the Bengals and Buccaneers.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 24, 2025, 07:42:51 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 96:  Jimmy Williams, Defensive End, 1978 – 1981

Over the years, there have been a ton of remarkable stories of players who walked on to the Nebraska team.  You’ll read a few of them in this series.

But for my money, nothing can top the story of Jimmy Williams, and his brother Toby (who was a finalist for the “Greatest” title at #97).

The Williams brothers didn’t go out for football as high school sophomores in Washington, D.C.  As juniors, they played sparingly.  The each made the all-league team as seniors, but their only scholarship offers were from Richmond and Virginia Union. 

Their father, James, knew his sons could play at a Division I school.  So, he began a letter writing campaign, sending dozens of letters to coaches across the country asking for a chance.  A tryout.  Only two schools – Auburn and Nebraska – wrote back.  They picked Nebraska – partially for their reputation, and partially because they agree to look at Jimmy and Toby.

When the Williams brothers tried out in Lincoln, Tom Osborne and his staff saw two scrawny kids (Jimmy weighed 185 pounds and ran the 40 in 4.8 seconds) with poor fundamentals, who had played against weak competition.  But the coaches also saw potential.  The boys could be Cornhuskers – if they paid their own way. 

Their first year was rough – and not just in the football program.  The boys are two of eight siblings.  Paying two out-of-state tuitions was a challenge.  “Everything was new to us: the environment, the quality of football, everything,” Jimmy told the Washington Post in 1981.  “A couple of times, they cut off our food because we were a couple of days late paying our bill. Things got ugly for a while.”

The boys benefited from the systems that Osborne had in place.  Boyd Epley’s strength and conditioning program helped their slow and scrawny frames.  Academic supports helped them adjust to the rigors of college.  As for the deficient fundamentals, Osborne and his staff utilized a teaching style that Osborne borrowed from a different coaching legend:  UCLA basketball’s John Wooden. 

Despite John Wooden’s record-setting success, he never talked about winning.  Instead, he focused on the process.  Break the game down into components.  Here is the proper way to lace your cleats.  This is the correct three-point stance.  When the ball is snapped, step here with this foot while your head and hands go there.  And so on.  Stack those building blocks on top of each other, much like Wooden’s famous Pyramid of Success, until the desired end result is met.

Jimmy was placed on scholarship after his freshman season.  Toby would join him a year later.

By the time he was a senior, Jimmy Williams had bulked up to 227 pounds but had dropped his time in the 40 to a blistering fast 4.34 seconds.  Williams used that size and speed to become an All-American and the 1981 Big 8 Defensive Player of the Year.  He recorded 10 sacks in 1981, which was the school record (1981 is the first year that sacks were tracked as an official stat).  His 10-sack season is still tied (with four others) as the 10th-most in a season.


Jimmy Williams was a first-round draft pick and played 12 seasons in the NFL.  He has gone on to become a college assistant coach, spending the 2003 season on Frank Solich’s staff.

***

It’s hard to accurately describe the mythical appreciation I had for Lawrence Pete as a kid.  In his playing days, the Huskers would only be on TV three or four times a season, with two of those (the Oklahoma game and the bowl) happening after Thanksgiving.  So for a 12- or 13-year-old kid, the majority of what I knew about the team came from what I heard on the radio.

I can vividly remember being in the car on a Saturday afternoon driving through Millard.  My dad was listening to the game on KFAB.  Pete sacked the quarterback, and the announcers (Kent Pavelka and Gary Sadlemyer) mentioned that Lawrence Pete was the strongest Husker ever.  EVER! 

Do you understand how mind-blowing that was to me? Nebraska had been so great for long with legendary players on both sides of the ball, and this guy was the stronger than any of them?  He could bench press 500 pounds!?!  Holy Husker Power, Batman!  He had to have muscles on top of muscles.  Look out, Oklahoma!  There’s no way your stupid Sooner Magic is going to be able to block this guy!

That turned out to be true, as Pete and the 1988 Blackshirts kept Oklahoma out of the end zone for the first time in 46 years.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 25, 2025, 07:51:34 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 95:  Danny Noonan, Middle Guard, 1983 – 1986


For most people, the name “Danny Noonan” conjures the unassuming protagonist of “Caddyshack” (played by Michael O’Keefe), not the greatest Husker to ever wear #95.  But since “Caddyshack” is one of the most quotable movies of all time, let’s combine the two.


Cinderella story. Out of nowhere.” 

A Lincoln native and Northeast High grad, Noonan did not receive a ton of recruiting interest.  He was reportedly the final name on Nebraska’s in-state offer list and did not get a scholarship offer from any other school.

“Hey, Kid! Park my car, get my bags… and put on some weight will ya?”

By the time he was a college senior, Danny Noonan was a mountain of a middle guard:  6’4″, 275 pounds, most of it pure muscle.  But as a freshman, Noonan was a 225-pound defensive end.  In a 2016 interview, he talked about getting his butt kicked by Outland and Lombardi Trophy winner Dean Steinkuhler in 1983.

Noonan knew the answer to never having that happen again:  Husker Power.  Few players are more synonymous with Husker Power than Danny Noonan.

As a teenager, Noonan’s dad would drop young Danny off at a weightlifting gym and pick him up an hour later.  Boyd Epley used to kick him out of the weightroom on the day before games.  When Nebraska released the Husker Power 50-Year Team, it was no surprise that Noonan was one of the honorees.  After his lengthy NFL career ended, Noonan worked with Epley and Husker Power in multiple capacities.

“The world needs ditch diggers, too.”

Before his junior season, Noonan was moved to middle guard.  In Nebraska’s 5-3 defense, that meant frequent double teams from centers and guards.  Middle guard is vitally important to a team’s success, but it’s not exactly a place to accumulate great statistical numbers.


“Well… We’re waiting.”

It took time for the spotlight to shine on Danny Noonan.  As a sophomore in 1984, he recorded six sacks, despite being a backup.  In his junior year, he had 11 sacks and finished second on the team in tackles for loss.  Noonan picked up second-team All-Big Eight honors behind two All-Americans (Jim Skow and Oklahoma’s Tony Casillas).

“There’s a force in the universe that makes things happen. And all you have to do is get in touch with it, stop thinking, let things happen, and be the ball.”

As a senior in 1986, Noonan was a dominating force.  Seven more sacks to bring his career total to 24 (the fourth most in NU history).  First team All-Big Eight.  Big Eight Athlete of the Year.  Consensus first team All-American.  First-round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys. 

And he cemented his legacy as one of the greatest Huskers of all time.

So, he’s got that going for him, which is nice.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: MrNubbz on May 25, 2025, 08:04:37 AM
    Greatest Husker to wear

  (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/77/c7/7c/77c77c57fa6845d7ee57d9da4c0c7dd0.gif)

(https://gifdb.com/falling-asleep)

(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fgifdb.com%2Fimages%2Fhigh%2Ffalling-asleep-in-meeting-s5a1irp94x61j62t.gif&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=f500218aa445393c5defb76e5d973db063b80d100f757bf11a6d9f286dbe21c2)
(https://gifdb.com/falling-asleep)


(https://tenor.com/view/morgan-freeman-falling-asleep-audience-clap-clapping-gif-11938513)

(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.tenor.com%2FGX93qmmyz2UAAAAC%2Fmorgan-freeman-falling-asleep.gif&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=ec5f1bad2daa5d551736efe3afd87d577da3c722ba74037cf99fe51c46f32ffe)
(https://tenor.com/view/morgan-freeman-falling-asleep-audience-clap-clapping-gif-11938513)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 26, 2025, 08:14:49 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 94:  Jared Crick, Defensive Tackle, 2007 – 2011

How do you view Jared Crick’s career? 

Do you see him as one of the best defensive tackles in school history?  Do you see him as a very good player who reaped the rewards of playing next to Ndamukong Suh?  Maybe you see him as a cautionary tale for players who decide to come back for their senior season.

It’s easy to look at Crick’s sophomore year in 2009 – Ndamukong Suh’s senior season – and see how playing next to the legendary Suh benefited Crick.  With Suh facing frequent double teams, Crick was able to use his explosive power and quickness to make plays. 

Case in point:  Nebraska’s 2009 trip to Baylor.  The Bears were determined not to let Suh beat them, so they double-teamed him on every play.  The good news:  Suh had – by his 2009 Heisman Trophy worthy standards – a relatively quiet day:  5 tackles, including three for loss, and a sack. 

But bad news for the Bears:  Jared Crick put up video game numbers:  13 total tackles (10 solo), seven tackles for loss – including a school record FIVE sacks, a pass breakup, and a fumble recovery.  The Blackshirts allowed just three points in a 20-10 win.

You can argue that Suh’s dominance allowed Crick to have a breakout game – and you’d probably be right.  But here’s the thing:  Crick’s five-sack masterpiece was a statement that he was an excellent player in his own right.  Opposing offenses had to account for both of Nebraska’s defensive tackles, which undoubtedly helped Suh in the second half of 2009.

In 2010, Suh was playing for the Detroit Lions, and Crick was the star on the defensive line.  Playing alongside sophomore (and first-time starter) Baker Steinkuhler, junior Terrence Moore, and redshirt freshman Thad Randle, Crick was now the one receiving the bulk of the double teams. 

It didn’t matter. 

Crick had a great junior season, putting up a team-high 9.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss.  He was an All-Big 12 selection again, this time as a unanimous pick.  Crick was also a second team All-American.

After the 2010 season, Crick was faced with a big decision.  He could head off to the NFL, where he was likely to be a Day 1 pick, or he could come back for his senior season, finish his degree, and try to become a first-round pick like Suh.  The Cozad native chose to stay at NU.

Unfortunately, Crick’s senior season did not go as planned.  He tore a pectoral muscle in October and missed the final seven games of the year.  He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the fourth round and played seven seasons in the NFL.

I’m hopeful Crick is remembered as an excellent and athletic defender who performed admirably in Suh’s shadow and who showed tremendous loyalty in coming back for his senior season.  Those guys will always have a special place in my heart.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 27, 2025, 10:21:39 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 93:  Ndamukong Suh, Defensive Tackle, 2005 – 2009


I can tell you that he’s arguably the greatest defensive lineman – ever – to play college football.  I can remind you of his utterly ridiculous 2009 season where his individual stats (82 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, 24 QB hurries, 10 pass breakups, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble, and 3 blocked kicks) were as good as – or better than – the entire defensive lines of the top three teams in 2009*.  We can watch highlights from the 2009 Big 12 Championship, where “dominating” doesn’t do his performance proper justice.  And on and on.

*I promise you that these numbers are not typos.

2009 Alabama defensive line:  98 tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, 20 QB Hurries, 5 Pass Break Ups, 0 Interceptions, 1 Forced Fumble, and 3 blocked kicks.  Alabama won the national championship in 2009.
2009 Texas defensive line:  112 tackles, 22 TFL, 14 sacks, 48 QBH, 5 PBU, 0 INT, 1 FF, 0 blocked kicks.  Texas was the 2009 runner up.
2009 Florida defensive line:  116 tackles, 25.5 TFL, 15.5 sacks, 10 QBH, 7 PBU, 0 INT, 2 FF, 0 blocked kicks.  Florida won the National Championship in 2008 and finished #3 in 2009.
2009 Ndamukong Suh:  82 tackles, 23 TFL, 12 sacks, 24 QBH, 10 PBU, 1 INT, 1 FF, 3 blocked kicks.  2009 Nebraska finished 10-4, winning the Big 12 North.  The Huskers lost the Big 12 Championship game on a field goal when one second was added back onto the clock.
Seriously.  Ndamukong Suh – by himself! – had equal or better production than No. 1, 2, and 3 teams.  And I could easily make the argument that those numbers don’t fully account for the impact he had on the 2009 Blackshirts becoming one of the greatest defenses in Nebraska history.

So, you’re just going to have to believe me when I say this next sentence is typed with zero hyperbole:

Ndamukong Suh is arguably THE greatest player in Nebraska’s lengthy and successful history.

He’s easily the most decorated Cornhusker.  In 2009, he won the Outland Trophy, Lombardi Award, Bronko Nagurski Award, and Chuck Bednarik Award.  Suh was also a finalist for the Walter Camp National Player of the Year Award and the Lott Trophy. 

If Heisman voters were capable of voting for somebody other than the best offensive player on one of the top two teams, he would have won that trophy too.  Suh finished fourth, one of the best results ever for a defense-only player.

We could spend the rest of the day recapping how Suh absolutely destroyed Texas’s offensive line and threw Colt McCoy around like a rag doll.  Twelve tackles, six for loss, with 4.5 sacks.  And let’s be honest:  those video game numbers don’t do justice to how much he dominated the No. 3 team in the nation.  It looked like a five-time Pro Bowl player against a junior high team.  You’ll never see a more dominating performance from a defensive player.

At Mizzou in 2009, Ndamukong Suh was unstoppable as the monsoon rains that fell all night.  Six tackles, a sack, interception, forced fumble, and a pass breakup.  That Thursday night ESPN game was Suh’s coming out party for a large portion of the country.

A sleeper pick is the time Suh almost sacked a quarterback without touching him.  In the 2009 Oklahoma game, Suh drove tackle Jarvis Jones – a 6’7″ 277-pound behemoth of a man – seven yards backwards, into the lap of quarterback Landry Jones.  Hurried by his tackle’s backside, Landry Jones managed to throw the ball away.  But Suh finished the play by shoving Jarvis into his quarterback.

There’s a similar play in the 2007 USC game.  The ball is snapped at the 37.  The Trojan running back takes the handoff at the 42… and is tackled at the 44 for a seven-yard loss.  Suh tackled him with his left arm, because his right was still engaged with the guard Suh had pushed back 21 feet.  Teams struggled to deal with his brute strength.

As a fan of fullbacks, I definitely know that Suh caught a pass out of the backfield for a touchdown against Kansas – one of three touchdowns he scored in his career.  Suh had a 49-yard pick six against San Jose State.

Let’s close with the unforgettable finish to the 2008 Colorado game.  Alex Henery had just hit a school record 57-yard field goal to take a two-point lead.  NU kicked off.  On second down Zach Potter tipped a Cody Hawkins pass.  Suh caught it and rumbled 30 yards for the game-clinching touchdown, trucking Hawkins – the son of Colorado’s head coach – in the process. 

Memorial Stadium – stilling buzzing after The Kick – went into absolute delirium.  My favorite part of that play is Suh glancing back at trampled wreckage of Cody Hawkins with a “did I step on something?” look.

There will never be another Ndamukong Suh.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 27, 2025, 08:24:15 PM
Nebraska made the deluxe cover of EA Sports College Football…

(https://i.imgur.com/gcLc6zi.png)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 28, 2025, 08:39:47 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 92:  Derrie Nelson, Defensive End, 1976 – 1980

The walk-on program – especially under legendary coaches Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne – played an instrumental role in Nebraska’s sustained success, impacting the program in numerous ways.

They all paid their own way to attend the University of Nebraska, often with little to no guarantee of anything, other than the chance to prove themselves.

In 2009, Randy York of Huskers.com published some eye-popping numbers about Nebraska’s walk-on program.  Between the start of the Bob Devaney era (1962) and 2009, 442 walk-ons became letterwinners and 131 became starters. 

A 2019 article in the Omaha World-Herald listed 25 former walk-ons who were picked in the NFL Draft, including a first-rounder (Jimmy Williams), a Pro Bowl pick (Sam Koch), and two with Super Bowl rings (Koch and Scott Shanle).

Derrie Nelson is a prime example of this, and of how Nebraska’s walk-on program worked.

Nelson is from Fairmont, Nebraska, about 60 miles west-southwest of Lincoln.  The village of Fairmont is rather small (about 760 people when Nelson was growing up).  Fairmont High School – like many small Nebraska towns and villages – played eight-man football because it didn’t have enough players for 11-man.

Nelson was a gifted athlete with strong genetics.  His uncle, Bob Cerv, is a Nebraska baseball legend who played for the New York Yankees.  But it was hard to get a lot of recruiting attention as an eight-man player in Fairmont, Nebraska, in the late 1970s.  Regardless, Nelson had dreamed of playing for Nebraska.  He just needed an opportunity.  The walk-on program gave him a way to get his foot in the door. 

From there, Nelson’s talent and hard work took over.

After a standout year on the freshman team, Nelson started as a sophomore in 1978.  He provided an immediate impact:  42 tackles, 3 fumble recoveries, one INT and a punt block.  He was named to the All-Big Eight honorable mention team.


He just kept getting better throughout his career.  Take the 1979 Missouri game for example.  The Huskers were up by three points, but Mizzou had the ball on the 11 with time for one more play.  A field goal would end the game in a tie, a touchdown would win it.  Mizzou chose to try for the win.  Nelson – playing on a severely sprained ankle – sacked the quarterback for an 18-yard loss.  Time ran out and Nebraska held onto win 24-21. 

That ankle kept him out of two other games, which likely impacted his postseason honors.  Even so, Nelson was first team All-Big Eight and an honorable mention All-American in 1979.

As a senior in 1980, Nelson had one of the finest seasons of any former walk-on.  He was a team captain, the Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year, first team All-American, and a finalist for the Lombardi Award.  The 1980 defense may have been the best of Tom Osborne’s career.  Nelson and crew held opponents to just 9.2 points per game (the lowest of the Osborne era) and recorded three shutouts. 

Not too shabby for a walk-on from Fairmont.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 28, 2025, 03:50:11 PM
Nebraska AD Troy Dannen confirmed that Valentino’s pizza, Fairbury hotdogs and Runza will be STAYING at Memorial Stadium and other UNL venues.

New concession food will be announced ahead of the season 👀

(https://i.imgur.com/6EjRJ30.jpeg)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 28, 2025, 03:54:03 PM
new turf!

(https://i.imgur.com/kSjfNYG.jpeg)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on May 29, 2025, 05:56:55 AM
Quote from: FearlessF on May 28, 2025, 08:39:47 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 92:  Derrie Nelson, Defensive End, 1976 – 1980

The walk-on program – especially under legendary coaches Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne – played an instrumental role in Nebraska’s sustained success, impacting the program in numerous ways.

They all paid their own way to attend the University of Nebraska, often with little to no guarantee of anything, other than the chance to prove themselves.
County Scholarships.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: MarqHusker on May 29, 2025, 08:52:42 AM
4H of Lancaster County!
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 29, 2025, 09:12:11 AM
the Husker beef program!
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 29, 2025, 09:14:23 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 91:  Kent Wells, Defensive Tackle, 1986 – 1989

Honorable Mention:  none


Nebraska.  Oklahoma.

Those two words once made up the greatest rivalry in college football.

In the 68 seasons of the Big Six, Big Seven, and Big Eight conferences, Nebraska or Oklahoma won (or shared) the conference title 58 times. 

Most of the time, their annual meeting would decide everything.  Who would win the conference?  Who would go to the Orange Bowl?  Who was still in the national championship conversation?  And who would spend the next year upset about losing? 


The OU-NU series has been there for milestones throughout Nebraska’s history:

1923:  The first-ever game at Memorial Stadium in 1923.  The Cornhuskers, being gracious hosts, wore blue jerseys to not clash with the Sooners’ crimson.
1963:  The two teams played one day after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, at the insistence of Bobby Kennedy.
1995:  Fittingly the final game of the Big Eight Conference paired Oklahoma and Nebraska.
2010:  Although the annual series died (by Oklahoma’s choice) when the Big Eight became 12, Nebraska’s final game as a member of the Big 12 conference was against Oklahoma.
After winning the two most recent games (2021 and 2022), the Sooners lead the all-time series 47-38-3.  The teams have played five times on Thanksgiving Day, 10 times on Black Friday, and once on a Sunday in the 1979 Orange Bowl. 

Since the start of the AP Poll in 1936, Nebraska and Oklahoma have met 73 times.  Nebraska was ranked 41 times, 47 for Oklahoma.  Only 10 times were both teams unranked, and just once after 1961.  Both teams were ranked 25 times, including a five-game stretch from 1984 to 1988 where the worst ranking of either team was ninth.  That is a rivalry* with some real stakes.


*Let’s pause for a second to put the OU-NU being a “rivalry built on mutual respect” narrative to bed.  Sure, the distance (454 miles between the two stadiums) dissipated some of the 24/7/365 vitriol of Michigan – Ohio State, Alabama – Auburn, or other legendary college football rivalries.  But let’s not act like the players were going out for ice cream sundaes after the games.  There are quotes from players on both sides – from darn near every season – that show this game wasn’t a bunch of buddies getting together for a friendly game.

Who knows, maybe OU fans felt a polite respect – or even apathy – for Nebraska… I can’t speak for them.  But as a child of the Tom Osborne 80s, believe me when I say Nebraskans absolutely despised Oklahoma, Barry Switzer, and everything they stood for.  Switzer – the brash, self-described “Bootlegger’s boy” – was the clear anthesis of the stoic, teetotaling Osborne in every dadgum way.  Switzer’s Sooners were brash and built, in part, by Switzer’s willingness to color outside the lines of the NCAA rulebook.  To young Dave, it felt like a matchup of good vs. evil… and evil often won.


Switzer’s Sooners crushed Husker hopes and dreams year after heartbreaking year.  Those losses often came in the most painful way possible – via a deal-with-the-devil form of voodoo known as “Sooner Magic”. 


Oklahoma quarterback Jamelle Holieway ran for 110 yards during the Sooners' 27-7 win over Nebraska in 1985. / Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images
The games from 1984 – 1987 were especially painful for Husker fans. 

1984 – the Sooners scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to upset No. 1 Nebraska. 
1985 – Oklahoma scored the first 27 points in a 27-7 pounding. 
1986 – The wore all-red uniforms for the first time.  The Sooners scored 13 fourth quarter points, including the game winner with six seconds left.
1987 – Billed as “Game of the Century II”, with #1 NU hosting No. 2 OU.  The Sooners won 17-7 in a game that was not as close as the final score suggested. 
After the 1987 game, Tom Osborne’s head-to-head record against Barry Switzer was 4-12.  Throughout his tenure, Osborne didn’t care for the emphasis put on the outcome of the Oklahoma game.  He often said that he felt fans didn’t care if his teams won nine or 10 games in a season – only if one of those wins was against Oklahoma.

This takes us to 1988, with No. 7 NU traveling to No. 9 OU.  The Sooner wishbone offense had given Nebraska fits for years, as the Huskers failed to contain OU’s speedy quarterbacks and running backs.  Defensive coordinator Charlie McBride deviated from his usual 5-2 defense with a “Husker” alignment that was essentially a 4-3 look. 


One of the stars of the 1988 game was defensive tackle Kent Wells, a junior from Lincoln.  The Oklahoma newspapers said Wells and his fellow defensive tackles (Willie Griffin and Lawrence Pete) “did as they pleased,” combining for 17 tackles and three sacks.


Kent Wells moved into the starting lineup midway through his junior season. / 1989 Nebraska Football Media Guide
Wells was recruited out of Lincoln East High as an offensive lineman but made the switch to defense during his freshman year.  By the middle of his junior season (1988) Wells had earned a spot in the starting lineup. 

Wells had incredible strength.  Prior to his senior season (1989), Wells was bench pressing more than 440 pounds and had a squat of 540 pounds.  In addition to football, he used that strength as a member of the Nebraska track and field team, earning four varsity letters.  Wells won the 1989 Big Eight Outdoor title in shot put with an impressive throw of 57′ 3.5″.


Back to the 1988 game… The Huskers were clinging to a 7-3 lead and had not scored since their opening drive.  After a partially blocked punt, Oklahoma got the ball near midfield with 1:45 to go.  Everybody expected Sooner Magic to rear its ugly head and bring the Huskers pain.  On first down, Sooner QB Charles Thompson was sacked by Kent Wells for an 8-yard loss, his second sack of the game.  On fourth down, pressure by Wells forced Thompson to step up into the pocket, where he was sacked by Lawrence Pete.  Thompson broke his leg during the play.

The Sooners were held to just 98 rushing yards and 39 yards through the air.  It was the first time since 1942 that the Huskers did not allow a touchdown to Oklahoma.

The 1988 game was the final matchup between Osborne and Switzer.  After multiple NCAA investigations, scandals, and player arrests, Switzer resigned in June 1989. 
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 29, 2025, 09:20:49 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/QP1HT75.png)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 29, 2025, 08:40:42 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/Huw7TwF.png)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 30, 2025, 08:37:57 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 90:  Alex Henery, Placekicker / Punter, 2007 – 2010

The three contenders for this spot come from opposite ends of the physical spectrum.  At 6’7”, All-American John Dutton is described in his Huskers.com bio as the “biggest of all the Blackshirts”.  His teammates called him “Lurch,” after the butler in the “Addams Family.”  Adam Carriker, a two-time All-Big XII honoree, has biceps like Popeye.

Placekicker / punter Alex Henery – especially as an underclassman – was so slight that my buddies and I joked that his uniform number (90) was also his body weight… in full pads.  While he may have been small in frame, his accomplishments were larger than life.

Alex Henery’s name appears 47 times in the Nebraska record book.  That’s more than Tommie Frazier, Barrett Ruud, and Ndaumkong Suh, to name a few.

Henery holds NCAA records for the highest percentage of kicks (PATs and field goals) made in a season (98.6% in 2010) and for a career (96.7%).  He owns the NCAA record for field goal percentage in a career (89.5%) as well as the marks for kicks over 40 yards (78.8%) and between 40-49 yards (a ridiculous 95.4%). 

Alex Henery is Nebraska’s all-time leading scorer, averaging just under 100 points per season.


He made 193 of the 194 PATs he attempted, including a school-record 116 in a row.  But he was more a placekicker.  Henery also punted for two seasons, finishing in the top 10 for career punting average (42.18 yards).


Henery was a first-team All-American, a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, and earned first-team All-Big 12 honors as both a punter and placekicker.

Only one person’s name appears on both the top 10 “longest field goal” and “long punt” lists: Alex Henery.  In the history of Nebraska football, there have only been 18 field goals made from 51+ yards.  Henery made four of them.

But one kick stands out from the rest.

***

Trailing Colorado 31-30 late in the fourth quarter, the Huskers had driven down into scoring position.  NU had first-and-10 from the Buffalo 25.  If Nebraska did not gain another yard, it would be a 42-yard field goal attempt.  Not automatic, but definitely a makeable kick.


On first down, Roy Helu Jr. was stuffed for no gain.  Disaster struck on second-and-10.  Joe Ganz was sacked for a 15-yard loss.  The Huskers desperately needed to regain some yards on third down, but Ganz’s pass to Mike McNeill was incomplete.

Facing fourth-and-25 from the 40 with 1:50 left in the game, Bo Pelini called his second timeout to mull his options.  None of which were good.

If Nebraska punts, Colorado will likely run out the clock and win the game.  The odds of converting a fourth-and-25 are astronomically bad.  The final option is a 57-yard field goal. 

Nebraska’s longest ever made field goal is 55 yards.  Paul Rogers did it in 1969.  Billy Todd (1977) and Chris Drennan (1989) later matched it.  Two more yards – just six feet! – doesn’t seem like much until you realize that the kick essentially happens from midfield.  Henery’s career long was 48 yards, and he had missed from 53 and 52 earlier in the season.


Alex Henery trotted out to take the kick.  From my seat in the north end zone, I thought Nebraska was going to lose.

***

“Wow.  How about this, boys?”

Henery’s 57-yard field goal against Colorado is one of my favorite calls from longtime Husker radio announcer Greg Sharpe. 

“Hold your breath here on this one.” 

Sharpe names long snapper T.J. O’Leary and holder Jake Wesch (both seniors, and – like Henery – all walk-ons).

“The ball right on the N.”

“The snap is down.  The kick is up.  The kick is….”

The ball is in the air for what feels like an eternity.  About five seconds elapse from the time foot touches ball to when it lands.

“The kick is on its way. (“Get there!”)  The kick is….”


One of my favorite parts of the call is color commentator Matt Davison’s “Get there!” as the ball continues its travel northward.  It was the perfect vocalization of what every Husker fan – in the stadium and at home – was feeling in that moment.

“…GOOOOOOD!!!  HE BANGS IT IN THERE!  FIFTY-SEVEN YARDS OUT, A SCHOOL RECORD TO PUT THE HUSKERS IN FRONT 33-31!”


“The celebration needs to be rather short-lived, because there’s a minute-forty-three left and Colorado has one timeout.”

After letting everybody soak in what had just happened (with reaction and comments from Adrian Fiala, Davison, and sideline report Lane Grindle), Sharpe – the consummate professional – refocused the audience.  While he didn’t know what Ndamukong Suh was about to do, Sharpe was excellent at understanding the situation and making sure his listeners understood too.

Sharpe, Nebraska’s longtime play by play voice for football and baseball, died in 2025 after a year-long battle against pancreatic cancer.

He, like Alex Henery, is an all-time legend of the Nebraska program.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on May 31, 2025, 07:50:14 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 89: Broderick Thomas, Defensive End / Outside Linebacker, 1985 – 1988

Broderick “The Sandman” Thomas was a player ahead of his time. Big, fast, and unapologetically brash, he was a three time All-Big 8 pick and two time All-American. Thomas was one of the first in Nebraska’s stretch of game changing pass rushers (including Mike Croel, Trev Alberts, Grant Wistrom and others). 

Why “The Sandman”? As Thomas explained it, he picked up the nickname in high school, because he “put people to sleep” when he tackled them. He was a big fan of his nickname, telling reporters “As far as I’m concerned, it’ll always be Broderick ‘The Sandman’ Thomas. It’ll never be just Broderick Thomas again if I have to write it.”

Thomas also described himself as “the master of disaster,” which is a damn good nickname as well. But it is impossible to think of Broderick Thomas as anything other than The Sandman.

Coming out of high school in Houston, Broderick Thomas was the 30th best recruit in the country according to Athlon. Thomas had it all. He had the film. He had the high school production. Heck, he even had the bloodlines. His uncle Mike Singletary was an All-Pro linebacker with the Chicago Bears.

Thomas wanted two things from a college: 1) the ability to play right away, and 2) to be an outside linebacker – NOT a defensive end in a three point stance. In the mid-1980s, most true freshmen either redshirted or played on the freshman team. But for Thomas, many coaches were willing to accommodate that request. At Nebraska, Thomas played in eight games as a true freshman.

Oklahoma was an early favorite, but Barry Switzer wanted Thomas to be a hand-in-the-dirt defensive end. The Sandman chose Nebraska.

There were two deciding factors: 1) Even though he would technically be listed as a defensive end, in Nebraska’s base 5-2 defense, Thomas would be able to play standing up. It is worth noting that Thomas continued to insist upon being referred to as an outside linebacker. Before his senior season in 1988, Nebraska renamed his position to OLB. 2) Tom Osborne. Thomas’s mother grew up next door to the church that her father (Singletary’s dad) literally built himself. After meeting Osborne, she knew that’s who her son should play for.

Broderick Thomas’s career was special. In his sophomore season (1986), Nebraska was #2 in total defense, allowing a stingy 235.6 yards per game. Thomas had six fumble recoveries and returned one for a touchdown. He was All-Big Eight and an honorable mention All-American. In his junior season, Thomas repeated as an All-Big Eight pick and earned first team All-America honors. He was fifth in the Big Eight with 6.5 sacks and led the team with 41 solo tackles. 

As a senior in 1988, Thomas went to another level. He led – or tied for the team lead – in seven defensive categories. He earned All-Big Eight for the third year, All-American again, Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year, and was a finalist for the Butkus and Lombardi awards. Thomas lost the Butkus to Alabama’s Derrick Thomas by two votes. 

Thomas wanted to set the career sack record at Nebraska but finished seven shy of the mark, ending up with 22.5. Had Charlie McBride made the switch from the 5-2 to the 4-3 earlier, he probably would have done it.

For all of his success and accolades, Broderick Thomas seems to be remembered more for what he said than what he did. Think about today’s brash, trash talking players making bold proclamations before games. It’s hard to believe that The Sandman was doing those things 40 years ago. 

Reporters sought him out because they quickly learned he would provide a great quote and headline. “I know they’ll talk to me because I’ll talk to anyone about anything.” He referred to the 1987 season as the “Hell Raisin’ Tour” and said he and his fellow Blackshirts would be “bringing the wood.” Reporters – and fans – ate it up.

In the 1988 Colorado game, Buffs coach Bill McCartney was out on the field protesting a call. Thomas strolled over and told McCartney to get off the field or put on a helmet and pads.

“Confidence in a football player is number 1,” he told Huskers Illustrated in 2024. “You only can be what you believe you are. I always believed I was a great player and one of the best outside linebackers to ever play the game.”

In 2024, Thomas summed up his time at NU. “Nebraska was the place to go if you wanted to be a rock star. The lights shined brightest in the Big Eight from 1985 to 1988. The national title had to go through us because we always had something to say about it. I came in and professed who I was, what I was and what I was going to do.”

Broderick Thomas once said, “I’m the master of disaster. The master of the physical game. And the master of the talking game.”

Nobody disputed any of that, especially the talking part. His confidence and bravado often made headlines in an era where being boisterous was still frowned upon by coaches and players. You know the expression “bulletin board material”? The Sandman played in an era where opposing coaches would clip actual articles from the newspaper and put them on a bulletin board in the locker room to fire up their team.


A lot of those clippings seemed to happen when Oklahoma and Nebraska were squaring off. At some point during his career, Thomas started referring to Memorial Stadium as “Our House.” He told opponents, “You come in here, then give your respects and then you leave with a loss.” 


In Thomas’s junior season (1987), the game between No. 1 vs No. 2 showdown was being billed as “Game of the Century II.” Thomas made a not-so-subtle reference to Oklahoma’s “Sooner Magic”: “Houdini is not allowed in ‘our house,’ so there’s not going to be any fourth-quarter magic around here, unless we’re doing it.” 

Some enterprising person made and sold – “The keys to our house” – oversized red and white plastic keys on a ring before the 1987 OU game. Fans waved them… for a while. Nebraska lost 17-7, in a game that was not as close as the score indicated.

After the game, Oklahoma’s Keith Jackson said “We didn’t need a key to get in their house. We busted the damn door down.” Quarterback Jamelle Holieway missed the game with an injury but showed up after the game using a four-foot-long wooden key as a cane. “Broderick gave me this,” he joked.

That’s the downside of being brash… sometimes it blows up in your face. But there are two things you should know about Thomas’s talk:

He owned it. After the 1987 OU game, Thomas said “If it was me, I apologize. I’m not going to make any excuses. We lost the football game.”
His team had his back. They knew that Thomas always talked up his teammates and gave them credit for the things he accomplished. Wingback Richard Bell later said, “Broderick’s words can have a big impact on the team.” Bell credited Thomas’s pregame speech for Nebraska avenging the 1987 loss in Norman the following season.
“They said when they beat us at our house two years in a row that they had the keys to our house,” Thomas said after Nebraska’s 7-3 win over Oklahoma in 1988. “Well, we came and got those keys and we’re taking them back home.”

I loved the passion and swagger Thomas brought to NU, and I can think of several teams since he left that could have used somebody with his personality (and talents).
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 01, 2025, 09:55:51 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 88: Guy Ingles, Split End, 1968 – 1970

Bob Devaney once said that Nebraska fans are “understanding in defeat, but I would not want to put them to a serious test.” 

Well, in 1967 and 1968, he put Husker fans to a test. Two straight 6-4 seasons, finishing fourth and fifth in the Big Eight. Back then, there were only 10 bowls, so a six-win team had no shot at postseason play.* And the cherry on top: a 47-0 drubbing by Oklahoma in the 1968 finale. Fans were starting to get restless.

Nebraska’s offense was a big culprit in the back-to-back 6-4 seasons. In 1967, the Huskers averaged just 13 points per game. In 1968, the average jumped up to 16 points per game, but the Huskers were outscored on the season 161-155. Two of NU’s final three games in 1968 were shutout losses – a 12-0 dud to Kansas State* and the blowout at Oklahoma.

*The last time Nebraska was shut out at home was the Nov. 9, 1968, game against Kansas State.

In the offseason, Devaney turned the offensive over to a young guy who had started out on his staff as a graduate assistant, with his only “pay” coming in the form of free room and board. This assistant then spent a few years splitting time between football and being a university instructor teaching a course in Educational Psychology. His name was Tom Osborne.*

*After the blowout loss to OU in 1968, Osborne wondered if he was cut out for coaching, saying “I seriously considered resigning as a Devaney assistant after that game.” I’m not sure who – or what – changed his mind.

Osborne scrapped Devaney’s run-heavy T formation and installed a more balanced offense out of the I formation. The results were immediate.

In 1969, Nebraska had more rushing yards (with a better yards-per-carry average) than the year before. Passing yards increased by 66%. Scoring offense increased by a touchdown per game. Most importantly: The 1969 team went 9-2, winning a share of the Big Eight title. In 1968, Nebraska lost to Oklahoma by 47 points. In 1969, NU won by 30. That’s a 77-point swing in one season.

One of the biggest beneficiaries of the new Nebraska offense was a diminutive end from Omaha Westside High, Guy Ingles. As a sophomore in 1968, Ingles caught 14 passes for 146 yards. In Osborne’s 1969 offense, Ingles broke out with 26 catches, 408 yards* and three touchdowns. Against Oklahoma State, Ingles had a (then) school record 163 receiving yards on just five catches. 

*I get it… Those yardage numbers look really small by 21st century standards. But consider: Nebraska’s single-season receiving record at the time was 519 yards. With 408 yards, Ingles finished tied for eighth-most receiving yards in the Big Eight (with teammate Larry Frost). The 1969 team had three players (Jeff Kinney, Ingles, Frost) over 400 receiving yards, with a fourth – Jim McFarland – at 381. 

Ingles also has one of the great nicknames in Cornhusker history: “Guy the Fly.” It perfectly captured his speed, elusiveness and size (Ingles was listed at 5’9″ and just 158 pounds). I’m guessing defenses found him to be a pest as well.

In 1970, Ingles had 34 catches for 603 yards and a team-high eight touchdowns. Halfway through the season, he became Nebraska’s all-time leading receiver, and the first Husker to surpass 1,000 receiving yards in a career. 

*Ingles would not wear the all-time crown for long. Teammate Johnny Rodgers surpassed his record of 1,157 yards just 371 days later.

Guy “The Fly” Ingles was a second-team All-Big Eight pick in 1970 and won the Guy Chamberlin Trophy, given to an outstanding senior. Ingles was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 1995.

As for Nebraska, their offense was about ready to really take off.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 02, 2025, 07:56:22 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 87: Bob Martin, Defensive End, 1972 - 1975

"It was an easy decision to go to Nebraska… it was a religion for in-state players to be a part of the Husker football team." -Bob Martin (in a 2024 interview with Huskers Illustrated)

The backbone of the Nebraska football program has always been homegrown, in-state players. Yes, that sentence definitely reads like romantic homer-ism, but it is also an accurate statement. In the first 135 years of Nebraska football (1890 - 2024):

Over 2,200 Nebraska natives have appeared on a Nebraska roster.
Of those, more than 1,300 earned at least one varsity letter.
205 Nebraska natives have earned first team all-conference honors at NU.
37 of Nebraska's 108 first team All-Americans were born in the Cornhusker state.

That's pretty darn impressive when you consider Nebraska is a small state, population wise. Only 13 states have fewer people, and two of them share a border with Nebraska.* There's not exactly a wealth of elite talent within the expanses of this great state or the surrounding areas.

Yes, walk-ons accounted for a big chunk of the player and letterman numbers (I don't have exact figures on the split). That said, Nebraska - especially during the Devaney and Osborne eras - put a serious focus on in-state recruiting. We'll get more in depth on Devaney's recruiting later. Today, we’ll talk about in-state efforts during the Osborne era.

When it came to getting Nebraska kids to accept a Nebraska football scholarship, Osborne had an excellent track record. At the end of his coaching career he said, "You can count on almost one hand the (Nebraska) players we've recruited heavily who we haven't gotten."*

*I can't say for sure who he would count on that one hand, but I'll note that during Osborne's 25-year tenure, only 14 Nebraska natives played in the NFL without playing at Nebraska first. Of those, only four attended what is currently considered a "power conference" school: Junior Bryant (Notre Dame), Quentin Neujahr (Kansas State), Larry Station (Iowa) and Gene Williams (Iowa State). I'd guess Bryant and Station are on the "ones who got away" list.

The 11 other Nebraska natives from the Osborne era who played in the NFL went to in-state schools (UNO, Wayne State, Chadron State, Doane, Nebraska Wesleyan), lower level (South Dakota State) or non-power FBS schools (Wyoming and Colorado State).

For reference, in that same span, 38 of Osborne's Nebraska-born Cornhuskers went on to play in the NFL.

Osborne's level of in-state recruiting success is understandable. At the start of Osborne's tenure, the Nebraska program had been a statewide institution and point of pride for over 50 years. Nebraska was coming off back-to-back national championships in 1970 and 1971. Osborne is a man of impeccable character. And during Osborne's 25 years as head coach, his Huskers won. A lot.

The Nebraska natives who played college ball outside of the state often waited until Nebraska said no before pursuing other options. Even then, many considered walking onto the team.

Bob Martin was a great example of Nebraska's in-state recruiting success in the wake of the 1970 - 1971 championships. A native of David City, Martin earned 14 varsity letters across four sports. As a senior in 1972, he was named high school athlete of the year by the Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha World-Herald. A player with that résumé would have had multiple options, even 25 years before recruiting services.

Even though Martin signed before Bob Devaney's final season (1972), assistants Osborne and Cletus Fischer handled his recruitment. As Martin said in that 2024 interview, "I committed right after they offered me a scholarship."

Martin started his Husker career on the freshman team as an I-back before moving over to defense. In 1973 - Osborne's first season - Martin bypassed a redshirt and earned a Blackshirt. Martin would start every game as a sophomore.

A three-year starter, Bob Martin was a force at defensive end, earning All-Big 8 honors twice and All-America in his senior season. As a senior captain, 13 of his 61 tackles went for a loss. Sacks would not become a tracked statistic for another six years.

Martin went on to a successful NFL career with the New York Jets, starting as a rookie.

Even though Bob Martin's career coincided with the transition from Devaney to Osborne, he also has family ties to several other eras of Nebraska football. Martin's wife, Sheri, is a granddaughter of Cornhusker legend Clarence Swanson. He's the uncle of Mike Ekeler, an assistant coach on Bo Pelini and Matt Rhule's staffs. His son Jay was on the team from 2007 - 2011.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 02, 2025, 11:28:44 AM
New special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler has his man.

Nebraska has added Australian punter Archie Wilson. Wilson is a rugby-style punter, something Ekeler has worked with in the past and wanted in Lincoln.

Wilson, an 18-year-old who had previously played Aussie Rules football back home, visited Nebraska this past weekend. He trained at Prokick Australia, which develops Australians to become star punters in the college game and at the NFL level.

Ekeler worked with a rugby-style punter at his previous stop, Tennessee. Jackson Ross was also developed by Prokick. In 2023, Ross made the Ray Guy Award Final Candidate List and earned SEC All-Freshman honors.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 03, 2025, 08:26:13 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 86: Johnny Mitchell, Tight End, 1990 – 1991

At 6’3″ and 250 pounds, Mitchell looked like a tight end – albeit it a more muscular version. At an offseason 7-on-7 drill, his teammates thought he was a defensive lineman. They recounted stories of Mitchell’s ability to throw a 70-yard spiral – with both hands.

Today’s tight ends are freakish combinations of size, speed and athletic ability. Travis Kelce, Rob Gronkowski and others have seemingly revolutionized how we think about the tight end.

But Johnny Mitchell was doing it 35 years ago.

As a freshman in 1990, Mitchell caught 11 passes for 282 yards. Seven of his 11 receptions resulted in a touchdown. He averaged a ridiculous 25.6 yards per reception. Mitchell became the first true freshman Husker to earn first-team All-Big Eight honors since the legendary Tom Novak did it in 1946. 

Sophomore slump? No way. Mitchell set school records with 31 catches for 534 yards, and added five more touchdowns. In his final two games, Mitchell had 137 receiving yards against Oklahoma and 138 against Georgia Tech in the Citrus Bowl.* At the time, those were the sixth- and eighth-best receiving days in school history. They’re still in the top 30.

*Bowl games were not included in a player’s season statistics until 2002, so Mitchell truly had 672 receiving yards in 1991. Mitchell’s 138 yards is still Nebraska’s bowl game record.

Remember, this was an era where Nebraska was a run-first (and run-second) team. NU rushed for an average of 340 yards per game in 1990, 353 yards the following year. His primary quarterbacks (Mickey Joseph, Keithen McCant, and Mike Grant) were never going to be confused with gunslingers like Jim Kelly or Warren Moon.


Alas, in every time-travel story, there comes a time when the hero has to leave. For Johnny Mitchell, that was after his sophomore season. He was the first Husker to leave school early for the NFL, where the New York Jets took him 15th in the 1992 draft.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 03, 2025, 04:08:39 PM
University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering
  ·
Construction management alum Ndamukong Suh is on the ballot for the 2026 College Football Hall of Fame inductions. Suh is the lone defense-only player be chosen AP National Player of the Year since the award was first presented in 1998.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 03, 2025, 11:43:55 PM
LINCOLN, Neb. —
Nebraska Athletic Director Troy Dannen says they are walking into a completely different world over the next few years.

However, he feels like Nebraska has done enough leading up to now to compete in the world of name, image and likeness licensing. The roars in Memorial Stadium have been heard for years, but behind the scenes what happens off the field will see a major shift this upcoming year.

"The greatest change of all is we're going to be paying our athletes $20.5 million this year,” Dannen said.

Dannen says that to support the payroll, the university has had to change its business model.


"Our coaches will tell you the most important dollar that gets spent is to recruit and retain good quality student-athletes,” Dannen said.

Despite the settlement not even being passed yet, Dannen says the third-party collective NIL works is changing, as well as roster limits. No matter what happens in the settlement, Dannen says there are contingency plans in place for whatever the outcome.

"Nebraska is very fortunate in that I think because of the wisdom of all of my predecessors in athletics, we're in an extraordinarily strong financial position and we didn't have to do anything draconian to get to the point where we're able to support the athletes to the fullest,” Dannen said.

Athletes will not be employees of the university, according to Dannen. These will be NIL rights contracts, meaning the university is providing a fee to utilize athletes' rights to their name, image and likeness.

"It talks about if you violate academic standards, if you become ineligible because of your conduct, things like that, these contracts become void,” Dannen said.


Most of the deals will be one-year contracts, so if an athlete chooses to leave, there should be no issues. Dannen added that there will be a few exceptions for multiyear contracts, but the hope is the deals will make it attractive enough for athletes to want to stay at UNL.

"We've seen a lot of movement related to rev share and NIL,” Dannen said. “If the settlement works as intended, you will see a lot less player movement because of that, because there is a finite amount of money among all the institutions."

That $2.8 billion NIL settlement is still caught up in the courts. The original deadline was set for June 6, but a federal judge granted an extension, and the new date is June 27. That deadline also pushes the timeline for a potential resolution even closer to the expected start of revenue-sharing payments to athletes on July 1.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 04, 2025, 09:30:59 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 85: Freeman White, End, 1963 – 1965

The black players on the 1964 team referred to themselves as the “Magnificent Eight.” Their names: Jim Brown, Langston Coleman, Tony Jeter, Preston Love Jr., Willie Paschall, Ted Vactor, Harry Wilson and Freeman White.

Freeman White is one of the greatest receivers in school history. As a junior, White caught a Big Eight-best 19 passes for 338 yards – just one yard shy of the school record. He scored two touchdowns, both of which were over 55 yards. White earned All-Big Eight honors.

In his senior season, White set seven school records, including receptions and yards for a game, season and career. He easily repeated as All-Big Eight and earned All-America honors.*


(https://i.imgur.com/NW4jpi6.png)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 05, 2025, 10:55:52 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 84: Tony Jeter, End, 1963 – 1965

Bob Devaney did not shy away from recruiting black players to Nebraska. He embraced it. In north Omaha, where the neighborhood understood the reasons Gale Sayers went to Kansas, Devaney had to make inroads and build relationships. He put in the work, connected with parents and backed up his promises.

As Omaha players saw Devaney recruit – and play – their friends and classmates, the recruiting wins started to snowball. The successes of the Magnificent Eight helped Devaney sign two of the best players from Omaha – Mike Green from Tech and Dick Davis from North. In turn, Green was influential in persuading another Tech High graduate – Johnny Rodgers – to come to Lincoln. Although Devaney himself made a pretty convincing promise to keep Rodgers from heading to USC.

At a 2019 event, Johnny Rodgers recounted a vow that Devaney made to him: “Bob told me he was going to recruit more black players than anybody ever had, and he was going to let them play. And that’s what he went on to do.”

Devaney’s greatest gifts – his disarming personality and quick, self-effacing wit – helped him relate in both black and white living rooms all around the country. Many coaches would shy away from venturing into black neighborhoods for recruiting; they preferred to meet players at the high school. Devaney didn’t care. He went to where the players were and connected with them and their families. There is a classic Devaney recruiting story that is the perfect example of this.


Devaney was sitting in the living room of a humble West Virgina apartment. The mother of the recruit sat at the piano and played the old hymn “Bringing in the Sheaves.” She stopped, and asked Devaney a question:

“Is it true, that you have gone so far as to sing hymns with a mother to get her boy to go to Nebraska?”

“Yes, I did that,” Devaney replied. “The mother came to Nebraska and the boy enrolled at Missouri.”

In this case, the recruit – who initially wanted to go to Arizona State – ended up in Lincoln.

His name was Tony Jeter.

At Nebraska, Jeter started all 33 games of his varsity career. In 1963 (his first on varsity), he was the team’s leading receiver on a very run-heavy team (nine catches for 151 yards). At Minnesota, Jeter caught a 65-yard fourth-quarter touchdown that turned out to be the game winner. In 1964, he earned All-Big Eight honors.


As a senior in 1965, Jeter was once again named first-team All-Big Eight. He ended up with a career receiving line of 38 catches for 528 yards and one TD.*

*A reminder that old statistics do not include bowl games, which is a shame because Jeter had two touchdowns in his final game, the 1966 Orange Bowl against Alabama.

At the end of the 1965 season, Jeter was a named a first-team All-American. He was also honored as an Academic All-American, making him the first black player at Nebraska to earn that prestigious recognition.


Tony Jeter was drafted by the Green Packers and attended training camp with his older brother Bobby (an All-American at Iowa). However, Tony was traded to Pittsburgh before the season started.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 06, 2025, 08:04:19 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 83: Kyle Vanden Bosch, Rush End, 1997 – 2000

83 is the second number in our countdown without a first team all-conference pick. However, 83 is one of two numbers to be worn by a winner of the “Academic Heisman” award.

The Vincent dePaul Draddy Trophy (now known as the William Campbell Trophy) is given to the “absolute best in the country for his academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership.” Presented since 1990, it is widely considered the most prestigious academic award in college football.

Nebraska’s first “Academic Heisman” was won by Rob Zatechka in 1994. The second was won by Kyle Vanden Bosch in 2000.

Few Huskers have ever epitomized the combination of “brains and brawn” more than Kyle Vanden Bosch. In addition to the “Academic Heisman,” he won several other national scholar-athlete awards. He is one of a dozen Huskers to be a two-time Academic All-American and was first-team Academic All-Big 12 three times.

Vanden Bosch was also a three-time finalist for Nebraska’s “Lifter of the Year” award, winning it twice. He owns position records for the Husker Power Performance Index, which showcased his speed, power, agility and explosiveness.

When his athletic gifts and intelligence were combined on the football field, Vanden Bosch carried on a legacy of outstanding play by Nebraska rush ends.

In his senior season, Vanden Bosch earned second-team All-Big 12 honors with a team-high 17 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks (tied with Randy Stella for the team lead).

Vanden Bosch blocked two field goals against Texas A&M in 1999, tying an NCAA record.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 06, 2025, 10:41:48 PM
Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule posed with former NFL MVP quarterback Cam Newton during Friday's "Battle of the Boneyard." Newton coached his 7-on-7 team throughout the competition.

(https://i.imgur.com/QnV09p6.png)

Dylan Raiola and Trae Taylor were not the biggest quarterback names on the campus in Lincoln on Friday.

Nebraska football celebrated its "Battle of the Boneyard" on Friday, inviting numerous 7-on-7 teams from across the country to compete at Memorial Stadium. Included in the competitions were 2026 Nebraska quarterback commit Trae Taylor, who announced he was going to participate in the competition late Thursday night. The Illinois native competed as part of Raw Miami, his first time playing with the team.



The tournament drew some of the biggest names in college football recruitment, giving coach Matt Rhule and Nebraska football a chance to view top national talent from their own backyard. The event was also free and open to the public, as well as allowing full media access to anyone who chose to attend.

Alongside the high school talent at Memorial Stadium was former Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. The former National Football League MVP joined his C1N team as part of the Cam Newton Foundation.

The quarterback coached and threw some passes during the event, while also making time to pose with the Nebraska football head coach. The two overlapped in Newton's second stint with the Panthers, as Rhule brought in the former MVP to boost the Carolina offense in midseason. Newton finished 0-5 as a starter under Rhule in 2021, passing for 684 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 07, 2025, 08:05:32 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 82: Steve Manstedt, Defensive End, 1971 – 1973

“Nebraska natives don’t walk on to Lincoln. They crawl there.” – Jim Nantz, CBS Sports

With that in mind, let’s talk about two more facets of the fabled Nebraska walk-on program: Nebraska natives and so-called “late bloomers.”

Seemingly every year, Bob Devaney or Tom Osborne would find some unknown upperclassman from a small Nebraska town who had been toiling away in anonymity on the scout team. They’d put him on the field and watch that player blossom into a star or solid contributor. Opposing coaches HATED it. Graduations or injuries would leave holes in their rosters too, but they couldn’t promote a player up from their in-house farm team. That jealousy is what spawned the myth of the so-called “County Scholarship” player.*

*The “County Scholarships” allegation – which usually started as whispers from a team that Osborne had pounded into submission – was that the University of Nebraska offered a state-funded, non-athletic scholarship to be awarded to a deserving local boy or girl in each of Nebraska’s 93 counties. And – gosh darn it, what are the odds? – most of those county scholarships just happened to go to strapping young men who “walked on” to the football team. Once there, they laid in waiting for multiple years for the opportunity to record five tackles against Oklahoma State. 

There was just one problem: The admissions office at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has never offered such a program. And let’s be honest: If county scholarships were real, one of two things would have happened: 

The other Big Eight schools would have had the NCAA investigate (back when the NCAA actually had the ability to investigate and enforce punishments) and shut it down.
Every other team – looking at you, Texas, Alabama, Penn State and others – would have done the exact same thing.
The reality was Osborne’s massive walk-on program, combined with the way his teams practiced, and the Boyd Epley strength and conditioning machine, was the perfect incubator for developing players who would eventually contribute, start, and/or star.

Because let’s face it – not every college freshman who showed up on the football team’s doorstep was ready to play right away. There is a definite jump in speed and talent between high school football in Nebraska’s Class C (or an eight-man team) and a top-10 team regularly in the hunt for conference and national championships. Young men – even without a workout plan designed by Boyd Epley – go through a lot of physical maturation between their 18th and 21st birthdays. Most go through mental maturation as well. But it takes time and patience.

Sometimes, change was needed too. There are countless examples of players – both walk-ons and scholarship recruits – who changed positions before making it onto the field. Don’t think of it as a “trial and error” thing. Sometimes talented players got caught in a position-group logjam. Or a defensive coach might see an offensive player working on the scout team and realize he would be a good fit on the other side of the ball.

To Osborne, successful in-state walk-ons weren’t “diamonds in the rough.” T.O. never cared for that expression, especially when applied to his players. At the end of his coaching career he said, “I think we did a better job of developing people than most anybody around the country. And it was very meaningful.”

Back in 1984, Sports Illustrated wrote an article about walk-ons in college football. Not surprisingly, Nebraska’s program was a big focus of that story. This line is so accurate: “By Osborne’s reckoning, 90% to 95% of Husker walk-ons are home-state products who simply wanted to play for Nebraska from the time they made their first crab block in bootees.”

Osborne – a former walk-on himself – humbly acknowledged what he and Devaney built. “I guess we’re sort of the Mecca of walk-ons.”

It’s obvious to see how this system benefitted Nebraska. But what about the players? Why did they stick around, getting beat up daily in practice, for multiple years before seeing the field? I think it was a combination of many things:

Especially in the Devaney and Osborne eras, Nebraska kids truly wanted to play for Nebraska.
Being the only Division I program in the state obviously helped. The football program at the University of Nebraska – Omaha (UNO) was a Division II power that sent multiple players to the NFL, but many players chose to walk on at NU instead. For many, being able to say “I played for Nebraska” was better than being a starter at a smaller, in-state school.
Transferring was harder back then. There was no portal, and players would lose a year of eligibility. Most would stick it out.
Osborne (and most of the coaches who followed him) have always held back a handful of scholarships to be awarded to walk-ons who have earned them. A cynic might call that a carrot being dangled, but I see it more as a tangible way to show that hard work would be recognized and rewarded.

All of this gets us to our honoree today: Steve Manstedt,* a walk-on defensive end from Wahoo, Nebraska.

*Just so we’re all on the same page, I’m not stating – or even implying – that Steve Manstedt was a late bloomer or developmental project. 

I’ll also note that I’ve been using “late bloomer” and “developmental” somewhat interchangeably in this chapter. Without going down a semantics rabbit hole, I’ll freely acknowledge there is a difference between those types of players. For the most part, I think it’s fair to place guys who didn’t start – or play much – until their upperclassmen years into one of these categories, although it’s clearly not a one size fits all situation.

As for Manstedt, his Nebraska career occurred before I was born. But I’m of the opinion that anybody good enough to make any type of “greatest” list at a school like Nebraska was not a developmental project. Being a three-year letterman tells me that he wasn’t a late bloomer either. Heck, even the timeline isn’t that great. His senior year was Osborne’s first season.

But part of what I’m hoping to do in this series is discuss the various factors that made Nebraska such a dominating program for such a long period of time. Getting scholarship player level contributions from walk-ons who had paid their dues on the scout teams was a vital cog in the Big Red machine. Manstedt’s entry is arguably the closest fit, even if it admittedly a square peg / round hole situation. I certainly mean no offense, nor slight to his legacy.


Originally a walk-on, Manstedt became a three-year letterwinner. In his career, he logged 145 career tackles, including 17 for loss, playing on some of the great Monte Kiffin Blackshirt defenses. A backup to John Adkins on the 1971 team, he started as a junior in 1972 and received second-team All-Big Eight recognition with 61 tackles and two interceptions.

In his senior season (1973), Manstedt earned first-team All-Big Eight recognition.


In his final game, the 1974 Cotton Bowl against Texas, he caught a fumble in midair and ran it 65 yards to set up a score.

In 2012, Manstedt was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame.

His career remains a shining beacon for every walk-on to follow in his footsteps.


Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 08, 2025, 10:10:09 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 81: Willie Harper, Defensive End, 1970 – 1972

Tom Osborne’s coaching nemesis was Barry Switzer of Oklahoma. For Bob Devaney it was Alabama’s Paul “Bear” Bryant.

At the of the 1965 regular season, Nebraska was a perfect 10-0, Big Eight champions and ranked third. On Jan. 1, 1966, the dominoes started to fall. Second-ranked Arkansas lost to LSU in the Cotton Bowl. That afternoon, top-ranked Michigan State lost to UCLA. This meant the door was wide open for Nebraska to win its first national championship with a victory in the Orange Bowl. All the Huskers had to do was beat No. 4 Alabama.

The teams were tied at seven early in the second quarter. But then the Crimson Tide erupted for 17 unanswered points. Nebraska’s normally stout defense allowed 518 yards of total offense, and the Husker rushing attack struggled to get on track. Final score: Alabama 39, Nebraska 28. The Tide, led by legendary head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, won their second straight national championship.

A year later, Nebraska was 9-1 and ranked sixth. A 10-9 loss to Oklahoma on Thanksgiving Day ended their championship dreams, but the No. 4 Huskers still looked to make a bowl game. Bear Bryant called Devaney and said, “Let’s get together and have some more fun, Bob.”

Bama QB Kenny Stabler found All-America end Ray Perkins for a 45-yard completion on the game’s first play from scrimmage. Nebraska trailed 17-0 after the first quarter, and 27-0 before scoring early in the fourth quarter. Final score: Alabama 34, Nebraska 7.

The Huskers did not make a bowl game in 1967 or 1968. In 1969, Nebraska bounced back with an 8-2 regular-season record. Once again, Devaney received a phone call from Bryant looking to arrange another bowl matchup. Devaney told the story like this:

“I said, ‘Which bowl did you have in mind, Bear?’ and he said, ‘Well, we were thinking about the Liberty Bowl.’ I said, ‘Gee, sounds great.’ The next day we signed to go to the Sun Bowl.” The Huskers blew out Georgia 45-6 in the 1969 Sun Bowl. Colorado defeated Alabama 47-33 in the Liberty Bowl.

I’m not sure what Devaney’s reaction was when his 1971 team – the No. 1-ranked defending national champions – was matched up against Bryant’s No. 2-ranked Crimson Tide in the 1972 Orange Bowl. Was there trepidation? Cautious optimism?

I’m guessing there was a healthy amount of confidence. You see, Devaney learned some valuable lessons in those humbling defeats to Bryant. Nebraska needed better athletes. Nebraska needed to be more balanced on offense. Nebraska needed speed at every position, especially on defense. In 1970 – and especially 1971 – Devaney had checked all these boxes.

Devaney also had something else Alabama did not: a fully integrated roster. In the 1972 Orange Bowl, Johnny Rodgers, Gary Dixon and Bill Olds combined for 271 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. On defense, Rich Glover, Willie Harper and Jim Branch combined for one-third of NU’s total tackles. In 1971, John Mitchell and Wilbur Jackson became the first black players – ever – at Alabama.

The 1972 Orange Bowl was a lot like the 1996 Fiesta Bowl against Florida. Despite being the defending national champions, few experts gave Nebraska much of a chance. Devaney – still stinging from the previous losses to Alabama felt the pressure too. Instead of sending his assistants out on the road to recruit during December, Devaney kept them in Lincoln to study film.

Bob wanted to beat the Bear.

Then the game started.

In the first quarter, a fumbled snap on a Bama punt gave NU the ball near midfield. The Huskers would drive down for a touchdown. The Blackshirts stopped Alabama on their next possession, which led to another punt attempt. Good news: their punter fielded the snap cleanly and got off a good kick. Bad news: Johnny Rodgers was waiting to catch it.

When Rodgers picked the ball up after a couple of bounces, there were five Crimson Tide defenders between him and the next-closest Husker teammate. Johnny faked inside, bounced outside and turned on the jets. The 77-yard touchdown was his fourth punt-return touchdown of the season. It was 14-0 after one quarter and 28-0 at halftime.

Alabama scored midway through the third quarter and Nebraska added 10 more points for good measure. Final score: Nebraska 38, Alabama 6. The Huskers – who Bear Bryant said were “one of the greatest, if not the greatest, college football team I’ve ever seen.” – repeated as national champs.

“They just toyed with us.”

While Rodgers and the Husker offense got the headlines, it was the Blackshirts who won the game. Controlling Bama halfback Johnny Musso and the Tide’s wishbone attack was a centerpiece of the defensive game plan. In a 2016 interview with HuskerMax, middle guard Rich Glover put it a little more bluntly: “Every time I tackled Johnny Musso I tapped him on the butt and said ‘Every time you look up I’ll be right here waiting on you.’ The game was going to be won up front so we had to dominate. It was just a matter of getting busy.”


Defensive end Willie Harper said, “John Adkins had him on one side. I had him on my side. Rich had him in the middle.”

A standout performer on some of Nebraska’s (and college football’s) greatest teams, Harper was a two time All-American and a three-year starter.

Harper’s Husker story starts with Bill “Thunder” Thornton, NU’s fullback during the transition from Bill Jennings to Bob Devaney (1960 – 1962). Thornton was coaching high school football in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio when Devaney asked him to join his staff. Thornton recruited Harper – one of his former players – to join him in Lincoln. Thornton ended up as Harper’s position coach.

In his sophomore and junior seasons (1970 and 1971), Harper had double-digit tackles for loss, including an absurd 20 TFL in 1971. The combined yardage lost spanned the length of a football field, in each season. Harper was the most valuable lineman in the 1971 Orange Bowl against LSU, blocking a Tiger punt. During the 1971 season, Harper had three interceptions, which is both the single-season and career Nebraska record for defensive ends, rush ends and outside linebackers.

As a senior in 1972, Harper didn’t rack up gaudy TFL numbers, but he did anchor a defense that shut out four teams in a row. For his career, Harper has 41 TFL, which is tied (with Adam Carriker) for sixth-most in school history. It’s worth noting that the five players ahead of him all played four varsity seasons. Due to freshmen being ineligible, Harper played only three.


Bob Devaney thought very highly of him, writing in his 1981 autobiography, “Although Willie Harper never won the Outland Trophy, I’d have to put him in the same class with (Outland winners Larry) Jacobson and (Rich) Glover.”

In the 1972 Orange Bowl, Willie Harper had six solo tackles and was named the defensive MVP. His efforts were a big reason that Bob finally beat the Bear in the final meeting between the two legendary coaches.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 09, 2025, 10:34:46 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 80: Kenny Bell, Wide Receiver, 2010 – 2014

In his first year at NU, Bell was the Scout Team MVP. Throughout the rest of his career, Bell wore his blue scout team jersey under his pads as a reminder of where he came from, the work he put in, and in tribute to the starting defensive backs who made him a better receiver.

Kenny Bell’s first year on the field (2011) was Nebraska’s first year in the Big Ten Conference. For head coach Bo Pelini, it was a time of adjustment.

Pelini seemed to be figuring out how to win the Big 12 Conference, playing in the conference championship game in 2009 and 2010. But the Big Ten offered a fresh set of challenges. How would Bo’s defensive schemes – which worked pretty well against the explosive offenses of the Big 12 – fare against the “three yards and a cloud of rubber pellets” offenses of the Big Ten? Now that Nebraska was no longer playing at least one game per year in the state of Texas, could he still pull recruits from the Lone Star state?

In 2011, Bell broke out as a redshirt freshman with 32 catches for 461 yards – the second-best receiving season by a freshman in school history (behind Nate Swift in 2005). He also had an 80-yard touchdown run against Minnesota. Wisconsin gave the Huskers a rude welcome to the Big Ten with a 48-17 nationally televised blowout. Michigan would do the same later in the season. Nebraska’s first win as a member of the Big Ten was against Ohio State. After the game, Pelini was recorded – without his knowledge – making derogatory comments about Nebraska fans. That audio would not come out until 2013.


As a sophomore in 2012, Bell set school records for his class in receptions (50), yards (863) and touchdowns (8). Pelini’s 2012 team had one of the more remarkable runs of the 21st century, responding to a blowout loss to Ohio State (Bo’s alma mater) by winning six straight to win the Big Ten Legends division. The cardiac Cornhuskers had comeback wins at Northwestern, Michigan State and Iowa.

The Big Ten Championship Game against Wisconsin was another embarrassing blowout loss as Nebraska – shorthanded on the defensive line – could not stop the Badgers’ jet sweep. Well after the game was decided, Kenny Bell had one of the most famous and vicious blocks* in Nebraska history.

*At the time, this was a legal block. The so-called “Kenny Bell Rule” went into effect the following season. I will go to my grave upset that he was flagged for it.

In his junior season, Bell continued to make highlight-reel plays. A 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown at Penn State was critical in an overtime win. A leaping, one-handed circus catch against Illinois. The comeback win at Michigan? It doesn’t happen without Bell’s 26-yard catch on 4th & 2 that gave NU first and goal. NU’s three conference losses (at Minnesota, Michigan State and Iowa) were all by 13 points or more. In the Iowa loss, Pelini – frustrated by a bad call – swung his hat, nearly hitting an official. During his postgame press conference, he dared NU’s administration to fire him. Pelini was retained for 2014.


As a senior in 2014, all Bell did was set (then) school records for career receptions (181) and career yards (2,689), earn All-Big Ten honors, and serve as a team captain. He had two touchdowns in the thrilling regular-season finale against Iowa,* including the game winner in overtime.

*I thought it was exciting. But that win clearly did not impress athletic director Shawn Eichorst, who reminded us that we needed to “evaluate where Iowa was.” 

For all of his sideline volatility and intensity, Pelini’s players absolutely LOVED him. I think this quote, from Kenny Bell, sums up the team’s feelings about their coach:

“I would play for Bo Pelini against Satan himself and a team of demons at the gates of the underworld.”

Any questions?


Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 10, 2025, 08:15:56 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 79: Rich Glover, Middle Guard, 1970 – 1972

“In the land of the pickup truck and cream gravy for breakfast, down where the wind can blow through the walls of a diner and into the grieving lyrics of a country song on a jukebox—down there in dirt-kicking Big Eight territory—they played a football game on Thanksgiving Day that was mainly for the quarterbacks on the field and for self-styled gridiron intellectuals everywhere. The spectacle itself was for everybody, of course, for all of those who had been waiting weeks for Nebraska to meet Oklahoma, or for all the guys with their big stomachs and bigger Stetsons, and for all the luscious coeds who danced through the afternoons drinking daiquiris out of paper cups. But the game of chess that was played with bodies, that was strictly for the cerebral types who will keep playing it into the ages and wondering whether it was the greatest collegiate football battle ever. Under the agonizing conditions that existed, it well may have been.” 
    – Dan Jenkins, “Nebraska Rides High,” Sports Illustrated, Dec. 6, 1971.

“They can quit playing now, they have played the perfect game.”
    – Dave Kindred of the Louisville Courier Journal.

In the 50+ years that have passed since the Game of the Century, it has only grown in mystique. Obviously, it is a beloved game by Husker fans, but Sooner fans still speak reverently about the game and their role in it. That is rare. Chris Schenkel, who called the game for ABC, later summed up the sentiment from the Sooner sideline: “Neither team lost. Nebraska just scored four more points.”

Weeks before No. 1 Nebraska traveled to No. 2 Oklahoma in 1971, newspapers were already calling it “Game of the Year,” “Game of the Decade,” and yes, “Game of the Century.” At a minimum, it was a de facto college football playoff semifinal where the top two seeds somehow ended up on the same side of the bracket. This winner would own the Big Eight title and have an inside track for the national championship against the winner of No. 3 Alabama vs. No. 5 Auburn two days later.

Nebraska and Oklahoma had been ranked 1 and 2 since the second week of October. With no other Big Eight team* in the same stratosphere as the two Big Reds, it had been six weeks of blowouts and buildup to the game.

*Consider this: At the end of the 1971 college football season, Nebraska finished first, Oklahoma second and Colorado third in the AP Poll – the only time three teams from the same conference ended the year ranked 1, 2, 3. Colorado won at #9 LSU and at #6 Ohio State, and beat #15 Houston in the Bluebonnet Bowl. The Buffaloes’ only losses were to Oklahoma (44-17) and Nebraska (31-7). When the All-Big Eight teams were announced, 17 of the 22 players on the first team were Cornhuskers or Sooners.

NU and OU were on a completely different level.

Even though the game took place years (if not decades) before message boards, social media or ESPN, the hype was insane. No. 1 Nebraska at No. 2 Oklahoma. Thanksgiving Day in front of a national television audience. Think about the most highly anticipated regular-season college football game you can remember. Now multiply it by 10.

The two teams were evenly matched, yet distinct, and above all, dominating. Nebraska was unbeaten in its last 29 straight games. The lone blemish was a tie at No. 3 USC in 1970. Oklahoma was demolishing everybody in its path by an average of 29 points per game. It was offense (OU came in averaging a ridiculous 563.2 yards and 45 points per game) versus defense (the Blackshirts allowed a paltry 171.7 yards and 6.4 points per game to that point). As Sports Illustrated put it on the classic cover before the game: “Irresistible Oklahoma meets immovable Nebraska.” Coming into the game, every single team statistical category in the Big Eight was led by either Nebraska or Oklahoma.

The nation was divided on who would win. HuskerMax tracked down links to 18 different pregame predictions from local writers, national names like Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder, and even two computer simulations. The predictions were split 50-50.

One newspaper article said tickets (face value of $6) were going for $100. In 2025 dollars, that’s a face value of around $50 with a $780 asking price from a scalper.

Somehow, the game not only lived up to, but surpassed the hype.

***
There were four lead changes. Twice, Nebraska led by 11 points: 14-3 early in the second quarter and 28-17 late in the third. Oklahoma led at halftime and with 7:10 left in the fourth quarter. The two teams accounted for 829 yards of offense, 66 points and just one penalty (a 5-yard offsides against Nebraska). Fifty-five million people watched the game in the U.S., and it was also broadcast via satellite to Europe, Asia and Central America.

The scoring started just 3½ minutes into the game when Johnny “The Jet” Rodgers tore ’em loose from their shoes with his famous punt return. I’m not sure there is a better play to set the tone for a classic game.


Six of the nine touchdowns were three yards or less. Other than the Jet’s punt return, the longest scoring play was a 24-yard pass from Jack Mildren to Jon Harrison right before halftime.

Defensively, Monte Kiffin nearly outsmarted himself. Everybody knew Oklahoma’s wishbone offense was going to move the ball. Nebraska’s plan was to move cornerback Joe Blahak to safety and have safety Bill Kosch play cornerback. The coaches felt that Blahak would be a better tackler against the run. Since the Sooners didn’t pass much, Nebraska wasn't concerned about exposing Kosch in man-on-man coverage. In other words, the Huskers wanted OU quarterback Jack Mildren to beat them with his arm instead of his legs.

He nearly did. His passing stats (5-10 for 137 yards and two touchdowns) aren’t impressive by today’s standards, but it was almost enough. (Mildren also had 31 carries for 130 yards). Kosch, who had never played cornerback before, had a rough afternoon. Receiver Jon Harrison caught four passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns, including one in the fourth quarter that put the Sooners ahead. But Nebraska would get the ball back with 7:10 to go, plenty of time for a scoring drive.


After the game, Bob Devaney was asked what he told Tagge before sending him out for Nebraska’s final drive. His answer was classic, deadpan Devaney: “I told Jerry Tagge to keep giving the ball to Jeff Kinney, and if he ever got in trouble to make sure he threw it to Johnny Rodgers.” It turned out to be legendary coaching advice. Kinney had seven carries for 54 yards on the drive. Tagge completed only one pass during the possession: an 11-yard throw to Rodgers on third-and-8. Tagge avoided pressure, rolled to his right and found Rodgers across the middle. The throw was a bit low, but Rodgers made a terrific diving catch to extend the drive. 

Six plays later, on another third down, Kinney found a sliver of daylight among the 10 defenders Oklahoma had in the box and scored the game-winning touchdown. The senior from McCook finished with 174 rushing yards, four touchdowns and a few scraps of white cloth where his tear-away jersey once existed.

With less than 90 second left, Oklahoma had the ball at its own 19. On first down, Mildren had Jon Harrison open on a post route. With the pocket collapsing, he had to get rid of it, and overthrew him. After a 4-yard rush, Mildren was sacked by Larry Jacobson on third down. On fourth-and-14, Jacobson just missed Mildren again, but his pass went directly into the outstretched arms of Rich Glover.


It was a fitting end to what might be the greatest game ever played by a Cornhusker defender. For my money, only Ndamukong Suh in the 2009 Big 12 Championship Game comes close. Glover had an absurd 22 tackles. Twenty-two! Oklahoma ran 66 plays that ended with a player being tackled. That means in one-third of those plays, the tackle was made by Rich Glover.

The story goes that at some point in the Game of the Century, Devaney turned to his defense and asked, “Why don’t you guys give Rich Glover some help once in a while?”

Tom Brahaney was the Oklahoma center responsible for blocking Glover. Beforehand, he and Glover had to take a picture together on the field. Glover told him, “You don’t know what you’re in for today. I’m fired up.” It showed.


And make no mistake: Brahaney was not some shaggy-haired slouch yanked out of the student section. He was a two-time All-American (1971 and 1972) who played nine seasons in the NFL. Glover once said Brahaney is the best player he ever faced. Brahaney was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2007.

Glover wasn’t all that big (6-feet-1, 230 pounds), but he used his strength and speed to make plays and chase down opponents. Heck, coming out of New Jersey, Glover was viewed by most schools as too small. He had offers from Wyoming and Villanova, but Monte Kiffin got him to Nebraska. Devaney later called Glover “the greatest defensive player I ever saw.”

Rich Glover’s career was much more than just the Game of the Century. In 1972, he had one of the greatest seasons by a defensive player not named Ndamukong Suh. All-Big Eight again. All-America again. Winner of the Outland and Lombardi Awards – one of just 13 players to ever do it. Despite not having 1971 Outland winner Larry Jacobson playing next to him, Glover had more tackles in 1972 than 1971.


And there’s one area where Glover has Suh beat: Glover finished third in the 1972 Heisman Trophy voting, better than Suh’s fourth and the second-best finish by a full-time defensive player in Heisman history (Pitt’s Hugh Green was the runner-up in 1980). Glover’s Heisman finish is even more impressive when you consider that his teammate Johnny Rodgers finished first. Who knows how many votes he split?


Glover was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame and the Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame, and was named a starter on Sports Illustrated’s “All-Century” team in 1999.

***
Immediately after the Game of the Century ended, President Richard Nixon attempted to call Devaney in the locker room. The president had to wait for the celebration to settle down … and for Devaney to get a towel. The jubilant team had tossed him into the showers.

The Huskers had one final challenge on Thanksgiving Day 1971: getting back to Lincoln. I’ll let Glover (as he told HuskerMax in 2016) explain what happened:


“We couldn’t land the plane because people were on the runway. They had to move them off the runway so we could get the plane in. Once we got the plane in, they swooped in right up to the plane. We couldn’t get off the plane and onto the bus. People were lined up along the street just cheering us. There is nothing like Nebraska football. People that have never been and never seen it don’t know how it is. That song they play. There’s nothing like it.”


The Daily Nebraskan estimated 30,000 people were at the Lincoln Airport when the plane arrived. Other media outlets reported that fans scaled the airport fences and ran out on the tarmac as the plane was taxiing to the gate. Some players headed to a popular O Street bar where they didn’t pay for a drink all night.

The Game of the Century deserved the party of the century.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 11, 2025, 09:59:13 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 78: Dennis Carlson, Offensive Tackle, 1963 – 1965

Around the time Devaney was hired at Big Eight school Nebraska, the Big Ten’s bylaws were putting its teams at a competitive disadvantage. A 1966 Sports Illustrated article discussed some of the reasons behind the Big Ten’s lack of success in nonconference games in recent years:

Scholarship limits. Big Ten schools could sign only 30 scholarship recruits per year. In the Big Eight, the yearly limit was 45.
Redshirting. In this era, freshmen were ineligible (and often competed on separate freshman teams). But at Nebraska and other schools, players might redshirt in their second year – giving them more physical maturity and experience. Then, as now, redshirting benefited linemen the most. The Big Ten allowed redshirt seasons only in cases of season-ending injury.
Entrance requirements. Overall, it was harder to get into the average Big Ten school than the average Big Eight school. But, as the SI article noted: “as is true in all conferences that take their athletics seriously, the Big Ten will get that borderline case into school if he can borderline it from goal line to goal line in 9.6 seconds.”
The Big Ten / Rust Belt region that had been providing Ohio State, Michigan, Minnesota and other teams with an abundance of talented players for decades was still full of talented players, but those players now had fewer local options. Simply put, the Big Ten footprint was open for business.


Many other teams tried to capitalize on the talent surplus in the Big Ten region. Bob Devaney had advantages most of them did not. He knew the area well, having spent 14 years as a Michigan high school coach and four as an assistant at Michigan State. His dynamic persona made him an excellent recruiter, able to connect with just about anyone. And, as previously discussed, talent mattered more than skin color. Sadly, this was not the case at every school in the 1960s.

Devaney’s recruiting strategy began to crystalize: Get the best players in Nebraska, pluck as much talent out of Big Ten Country as he could and look everywhere else to fill out the roster.

Remember the “Magnificent Eight” – the eight black players on the 1964 team? Jim Brown and Preston Love were from Omaha. Four of them were from the Big Ten / Rust Belt region. Freeman White was from Detroit. Harry Wilson, Ted Vactor and Tony Jeter all grew up around 160 miles east of the Ohio State campus.  Willie Paschall was from Texas. And Langston Coleman was from Washington, D.C.*

*As a fan of walk-ons, I must pause to recognize Langston Coleman. He has been described as “Nebraska’s first walk-on.” 

Ted Sorensen, a Lincoln native and Nebraska alumnus, was working in D.C. as speechwriter for President John F. Kennedy. Coleman’s mother worked for Sorensen, and young Langston spent some time in his home. Coleman learned about Nebraska from Sorensen and decided he wanted to go to school in Lincoln – even if meant hitchhiking from Washington, D.C.

The story goes that when Coleman arrived in Lincoln, Devaney looked him up and down, turned to the coaches and said “Hell, if he hitchhiked all the way from Washington, we better find something for him to do.” He was on the team.



Dennis Carlson was another gem found in Big Ten country. From Minneapolis, Carlson played sparingly in his first season (1963, the last where rules dictated that players play both offense and defense). In 1964, the first year of offense/defense platoons, Carlson earned a starting job at right tackle and started to blossom. In 1965, Carlson earned All-Big Eight honors and helped lead the Cornhuskers to a perfect 10-0 record and Orange Bowl berth.

Carlson was elected to the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 2009.

The culmination of Devaney’s recruiting strategy was the 1970 national championship team. The 1970 roster lists 85 players from 17 different states.

31 players (36.5% of the roster) were Nebraskans, with seven from Omaha. 
27 players (31.8%) were from six of the seven states that comprised the Big Ten at the time (Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin). 
10 players were from Michigan, Devaney’s old stomping grounds.
7 players were from the Pennsylvania rust belt.
3 players, including quarterback Jerry Tagge, were from Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Add it all up and over 76% of Nebraska’s first championship team was in-state or from the Big Ten / Rust Belt.


***
In 1966, when two-platoon football was still relatively new, the NCAA implemented uniform numbering recommendations for players. Notable to our purposes here is the requirement that offensive linemen – centers, guards and tackles – must wear a number between 50 and 79.*

*The current NCAA rule book “strongly recommends” using uniform numbers to distinguish between positions (50 – 59 for centers, 60 – 69 for guards and 70 – 79 for tackles), but that is not as common as it once was.

Defensive players – such as the two honored at 79 – have always had more numerical flexibility. While defensive linemen and linebackers often wear numbers in the 50 – 79 range, they can wear any number between 0 and 99 – especially in the current era where a single-digit number is often considered a status symbol.


I tell you that to tell you this:

We’re about to get deep in the trenches with the unsung heroes of the game, the offensive linemen. This is a good thing! Nebraska has produced a ton of amazing offensive linemen, and I’m looking forward to sharing many of them with you.

By now, I’m guessing you understand what we’re hoping to accomplish here: Discuss the things that make Nebraska football great, tell stories, celebrate amazing players and reminisce about the good old days.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 12, 2025, 09:38:59 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 77: Toniu Fonoti, Offensive Guard, 1999 – 2001

Early morning, Saturday, Sept. 8, 2001.

It was the day of one of the most anticipated home games in years. Notre Dame was coming to Lincoln for the first time since 1948. The game would be a top-20 matchup (the Fighting Irish were #17, Nebraska was ranked fifth).

Even though the game would not kick off until 7 p.m., a record 15,808 Husker fans were already inside Memorial Stadium. Why? ESPN’s “College GameDay” was broadcasting live from the north end zone. Near the end of the show, eight members of the U.S. Army Parachute Team dropped into the stadium. One of them delivered a special package to analyst Lee Corso – an oversized red cowboy hat – signifying that he would predict Nebraska to win the game. The crowd went nuts.

Corso’s prediction was accurate. The Huskers cruised to a 27-10 victory on a beautiful, late-summer night. It was – start to finish – as close to a perfect day as one could ask for.

Three days later, the world turned upside.

Four commercial airplanes were hijacked by terrorists. Two were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center. One into the Pentagon. The fourth crashed into a Pennsylvania field after the passengers overtook the hijackers. All told, nearly 3,000 people died on the day that would forever be known as 9/11.

In the wake of the terrorist attacks, everything stopped. It didn’t feel right to have a football or baseball game while the country was in mourning. Slowly, the nation started to pull itself back up.

Nebraska’s next football game – against Rice University – was rescheduled from Saturday, Sept. 15 to Thursday, Sept. 20. As it worked out, the Rice game was the first college football game to be played after the attacks. The pregame Tunnel Walk featured representatives from the Nebraska State Patrol, Lincoln Fire Department and Lancaster County Sheriff’s Department. It is still talked about as one of the most memorable moments in the 100+ year history of Memorial Stadium.


The game itself was a 48-3 blowout. The offensive line – anchored by Toniu Fonoti – gave quarterback Eric Crouch the time and space to do whatever he wanted. Crouch threw for 165 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 97 yards and two more scores. He and the other starters did not play in the fourth quarter.


Fonoti – a 340-pound guard from Hawaii – was dominant throughout the 2001 season. Big, quick and strong, he owns the school record for pancake blocks in a game (32 against Texas Tech – 41% of all offensive plays), a season (201) and a career (379). He earned All-Big 12 and first team All-America honors. Fonoti was a finalist for the Outland Trophy (won by Miami’s Bryant McKinnie).

Toniu Fonoti declared for the NFL Draft after his junior season. Had he come back for his senior year in 2002, he could have ranked amongst the best offensive linemen in Nebraska history.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 13, 2025, 09:22:06 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 76: Jerry Minnick, Tackle, 1950 – 1953

At the end of the 1940 season, Nebraska went to its first bowl game. The Rose Bowl, granddaddy of them all. Even though the Cornhuskers lost to a very good Stanford team, optimism was high that the program – led by Biff Jones (who earned the rank of Major in the U.S. Army) – was headed for a national championship.

Yes, there was a war going on in Europe, but America was choosing to stay out of it. But on Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor. The United States was now at war.

World War II had deep and profound impacts all around the globe. It was the deadliest conflict in history. And since there is no good way to seamlessly transition from the death and destruction of war to something as trivial as college football, you’ll have to forgive me if we grind the gears shifting over to how World War II impacted the Nebraska Cornhuskers. I do not mean any disrespect toward those who served – or died – during the war.

WWII was rough on the program in many ways. NU’s coach, Maj. Lawrence McCeney "Biff" Jones, was ordered to active duty and left Nebraska shortly after war was declared. The Huskers would have four different head coaches in the next seven years. None of them lasted more than two seasons.


On the field, things were even worse. The University of Nebraska – unlike many other major universities – did not have an officer training program on campus. An 18-year-old from Columbus, Ohio, could go to Ohio State, complete his officer training and play football for the Buckeyes. An 18-year-old from Columbus, Nebraska, would enlist and be sent off to boot camp.

As a result, the majority of Cornhusker teams in the 1940s consisted of players who were either not physically able to serve, or young, able-bodied young men who had not yet been drafted. From 1942 to 1945, Nebraska went 11-24 (.314).

After the war, there is some hope. Bernie Masterson – a native son, former star player and successful coach – was hired. He was viewed as a savior for the program. Sadly, Masterson went 5-13 (.278) in two seasons. He holds the dubious honor of being the first Nebraska coach to have his contract bought out by unhappy boosters.


Bill Glassford took over in 1949. He was the first Husker coach to offer athletic scholarships to players. His winning percentage of .471 across seven seasons makes him the winningest coach between the 1940 Rose Bowl team and the arrival of Bob Devaney. The 1950 team went 6-2-1 and ended the season ranked No. 17. In the remainder of the decade, NU spent only two more weeks in the AP rankings.


Jerry Minnick, a freshman from Cambridge, Nebraska, was on the 1950 team but did not play. He began his career as a fullback but moved to tackle.

Minnick started as a sophomore in 1951. Against Iowa State he caught a fumble in midair and ran it back for a touchdown, helping to ensure one of the two Husker victories in 1951. He earned first-team All-Big Seven recognition.


1952 – Jerry Minnick’s junior campaign – was his finest season. He repeated as an All-Big Seven pick and was named a first-team All-American. Minnick was just the second Husker All-American since 1940. Nebraska would not have another All-American until 1963. The Huskers went 5-4-1.


In Minnick’s senior season (1953), he was a team captain and earned all-conference honors for the third time. Unfortunately, Minnick’s strong play was not enough. The 1953 Huskers finished 3-6-1. During Jerry Minnick’s playing career, they were 10-18-2 (.367).

Jerry Minnick was not on the team in 1954. He had graduated from NU. He turned down opportunities to play in the NFL and joined the Air Force to become a pilot. He would go onto fly reconnaissance missions in F4 Phantom jets.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 13, 2025, 09:45:34 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/rLQrgNk.png)
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on June 13, 2025, 10:57:54 AM
Quote from: FearlessF on June 13, 2025, 09:45:34 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/rLQrgNk.png)
This is not accurate.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: utee94 on June 13, 2025, 11:12:08 AM
Elaborate?
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on June 13, 2025, 11:20:01 AM
The revenue sharing is not NIL. These are two different things.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: utee94 on June 13, 2025, 11:22:12 AM
Well sure.  I see the caption at the top says NIL, but I didn't interpret the line about revenue sharing, to be included in NIL.

I suppose that's because I already know that the revenue sharing is not NIL.

Speaking of which, the House revenue sharing plan is now being challenged by Title IX proponents.  Which was totally expected by me and anyone else who pays attention.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 13, 2025, 01:05:08 PM
Source was nebraska public television 
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on June 13, 2025, 03:13:29 PM
Quote from: FearlessF on June 13, 2025, 01:05:08 PM
Source was nebraska public television
Defund it.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 14, 2025, 08:31:32 AM
Greatest Huskers to wear 75: Larry Jacobson, Defensive Tackle, 1969 – 1971 & Will Shields, Offensive Guard, 1989 – 1992

The Outland Trophy is presented annually to the best interior lineman in college football, as voted on by the Football Writers Association of America. The trophy’s namesake (Dr. John Outland) believed that guards, tackles and centers deserved more recognition. First awarded in 1946, the Outland is one of the most prestigious college football awards.

The Outland has been presented in Omaha for over a quarter century. Although the award didn’t originate in Nebraska, it makes sense that it lives here now. Nebraska boasts more Outland Trophy awards (nine) and winners (eight) than any other school. We’re going to celebrate two of them today.

In theory, I should choose a single “best” between Larry Jacobson and Will Shields. But, honestly, how would one even do that?

Do you pick the man who won the first of Nebraska’s Outland Trophies – making him the first Cornhusker to win a major award?  Or do you go with the second Husker to ever start on the offensive line as a true freshman, and one of six linemen to be all-conference three straight years? Both were dominating players who cast a big, big shadow over their position.  In the end, I’m choosing to celebrate two Husker legends, who both happened to wear the same number. We’ll go alphabetically and chronologically.

Larry Jacobson came to Nebraska from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. His size and athleticism made him an attractive recruit to several different schools. His decision came to Nebraska and Iowa. When he told Iowa no, well … let’s just say the Hawkeyes didn’t take it well.

Iowa sent an assistant coach to Sioux Falls to essentially stalk Jacobson in the days before he could sign with Nebraska. Bob Devaney responded by sending Monte Kiffin up to run interference. In an interview with HuskerMax, Jacobson described the Iowa coach waiting outside his high school, tailing Kiffin and Jacobson through the streets of Sioux Falls and – after Kiffin lost him – parking outside the Jacobson house for over an hour.

Jacobson finally agreed to meet one more time with the Iowa coach at his home … while Kiffin played croquet with Larry’s sisters in the backyard. After Jacobson reconfirmed his commitment to Nebraska, Kiffin breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Devaney told me I can’t come back if I don’t get your name on the paper!”

At 6-foot-6, he was one of the tallest players in school history at that point. He used that size and strength to overpower offensive linemen. In 1970 – his junior season and first as a starter – Jake had 49 tackles with nine tackles for loss and a team-high three fumble recoveries. In the 1971 Orange Bowl, he forced a fumble that led to a Nebraska touchdown. Nebraska’s 17-12 win gave the Cornhuskers their first national championship. His backup in 1970 was a guy named Rich Glover, who would win the Outland the year after Jacobson.

1971 was Larry Jacobson’s best season. Arguably the best defensive player on one of the greatest college football teams of all time, Jake was an unstoppable force. He had 73 tackles, with 12 for loss and an interception. The 1971 Blackshirts finished in the top 5 in rushing defense, total defense and scoring defense. Jacobson was first-team All-Big Eight, a first-team All-American, won the Outland,* and was a finalist for the Lombardi Award. He was also an Academic All-American.

*Jacobson found out he won the Outland prior to the Oklahoma game, aka the Game of the Century. As Jacobson told HuskerMax, “(Monte Kiffin) called me at night at my apartment and told me that I won the Outland Trophy and we didn’t have any idea what the hell the Outland Trophy was,” Jacobson said. “I said, ‘Spell it for me. What the hell is it?’ Because we had never won it, so nobody knew what it was.”

Jacobson stood out in the Game of the Century. On OU’s final possession, he had a sack on third down and nearly had a sack on fourth down. The Huskers would crush Alabama in the Orange Bowl to win their second straight championship.

A month later, the Cornhuskers were at the White House being honored by President Richard Nixon. That’s where Jacobson learned that he had been drafted in the first round by the New York Giants.

Surprisingly, Larry Jacobson has not been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

***
On the other side of the line of scrimmage is another legendary #75: Will Shields.

It’s crazy to think that Shields was Nebraska football's first scholarship player from the state of Oklahoma,* ever. He was the first letterman from the Sooner state in almost 70 years (Richard Tripplett in 1920 – 1921).

*Shields, notably, did not receive a scholarship offer from Oklahoma.

Shields was just the second Husker offensive lineman to play as a true freshman, but that isn’t as surprising when you know the backstory.

Before his senior year of high school, Shields attended a Nebraska football camp where the coaches taught some of the plays and blocking schemes Nebraska used. After committing to NU, Shields spent time studying those plays. How much, I don’t know, but when he arrived on campus, he knew the correct calls better than the rest of the freshmen. That work ethic, combined with his excellent size (6-foot-1, 305 pounds) and strength, made it possible for him to play in nine games as a true freshman and forgo a redshirt season.

As a sophomore, Shields earned All-Big Eight honors – the first for an NU sophomore since Dave Rimington. Before his career was done, Shields would be first-team All-Big Eight three times, making him one of just six offensive linemen to do it.

In his junior year, Shields was a second-team All-American. In 1992, his senior season, Shields had one of the greatest seasons by a Cornhusker guard. First-team All-American. He received votes for the Big Eight Offensive Player of the Year – an award that almost always went to quarterbacks and running backs. Shields won the 1992 Outland Trophy, the fifth in Nebraska’s storied history.

Shields also led the 1992 Huskers in yards per carry. He picked up 16 yards on a fumblerooski against Colorado on Halloween night. Tom Osborne called Will’s number on 3rd & 4 in 17-7 game. The NCAA banned the fumblerooski after the 1992 season, so I feel confident in saying Will Shields ran the final one.

In addition to his athletic achievements, Shields was a decorated student, earning Academic All-America honors in 1992. It was important to him that he graduated before going to the NFL – a task made harder by not redshirting. Shields earned his degree before being a third-round draft pick* of the Kansas City Chiefs.

*A random factoid: Will Shields’ first agent was Kevin Warren, who would later become the commissioner of the Big Ten Conference.

In Kansas City, Shields had one of the greatest NFL careers by a Nebraska Cornhusker. Among his many accomplishments: 231 straight starts, 12 Pro Bowls and the prestigious Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year in 2003 for his work in the community.

Will Shields was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011. In 2015, he was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame along with former Husker offensive lineman Mick Tingelhoff. Shields is just one of three Huskers (along with Bob Brown and Guy Chamberlin) to be honored in both Halls of Fame.

Shields was named to the Walter Camp All-Century team in 1999 and has been named to the all-time Nebraska team. His son Shavon was a standout player for the Nebraska basketball team from 2012 – 2016. Recently, Will Shields completed a three-year term on the College Football Playoff selection committee.

The #75 jerseys worn by Larry Jacobson and Will Shields were retired at the same time in 1994, and their names are on the north stadium façade.
Title: Re: 2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on June 15, 2025, 09:13:29 AM
Greatest Husker to wear 74: Bob Newton, Offensive Tackle, 1969 – 1970

When we look back on Bob Devaney’s tenure, we see the bowl game in Year 1. The start of the sellout streak. Big Eight titles in four of his first five seasons. The national championships in 1970 and 1971. The waves of all-time great players.

We tend to overlook – or forget – the 1967 and 1968 seasons. Back-to-back years finishing 6-4, third place in the conference and no bowl game. Husker fans – not always the most patient of people – were circulating petitions for Devaney to be fired.

Heading into the 1969 season, let’s just say Bob Devaney was open to new ideas.


Meanwhile, Nebraska’s record-setting pole vaulter had a back injury. The team wouldn’t let him jump anymore. But they worked out an arrangement to allow him to keep his scholarship for his senior year: he would supervise the university’s tiny weight room in the Schulte Field House. A few football players – often recovering from injury – would trickle into the weight room from time to time and worked with our retired pole vaulter. They seemed to be getting back to practice quicker than their peers. Others who had been working out on the side seemed faster than they did the year before.

That weight room supervisor – a college student named Boyd Epley – received a phone call from assistant coach Tom Osborne. Come to my office. Epley assumed he was in trouble. But he went to talk to Nebraska’s newly promoted offensive coordinator.

Osborne had noticed that the injured players working out with Epley were coming back faster and stronger. Osborne asked if Epley could do that for the entire team. Epley knew he could, but he also knew his small 416-square-foot space wouldn’t hold the whole team. Osborne said, “How about we knock that wall down?” Epley said that would work, but they’d need more equipment than the sparse setup they had. Osborne said, “Well, can you help us with that?” Epley offered to bring a list of desired equipment the next day.


As promised, Epley brought a one-page list of equipment. Osborne, without reading it, handed it to his secretary and said, “Order this.” Epley then said, “Coach, I forgot the second page.” Osborne smiled, took the second page of equipment and said “All right, Boyd, we need to see Bob Devaney and get permission to do all of this.”

In Devaney’s office, Epley was put on the spot to defend why thought the football team should be lifting weights. Remember – this was an era where almost nobody lifted. The prevailing wisdom of the late 1960s was lifting weights might make you strong, but muscle-bound players would be slow and stiff. Less Iron Man and more Wizard of Oz Tin Man. Epley knew the conventional wisdom was wrong.

Satisfied with Epley’s response, Devaney said, “Well, if Tom thinks this is important, we’ll give it a try.” Devaney then pointed squarely at Epley and said, “But if anybody gets slower, you’re fired.”

And with that, the first full-time strength coach in college football history – the man who eventually would be named the “Godfather of Strength and Conditioning” – was hired.

The initial results came quickly. The 1969 team – having started working out and using Osborne’s I-formation offense – went 9-2 and tied for first place in the Big Eight. NU beat Oklahoma 44-14. The year before, the Huskers lost 47-0.

It’s easy to look back 55+ years later and think “Boyd came in, they started to lift, and the rest is history.” But it wasn’t that simple. It took time to overcome the “lifting makes you slower” mentality. Getting participation and buy-in from the full roster was hard. And the guy in charge was essentially the same age as the players he was leading.

To boost participation, regularity and personal accountability, Epley convinced the university to make strength training a class. This allowed players to earn credit for working out. Taking attendance and handing out grades helped establish the routine of lifting. Epley figured out early on that tapping into the competitive nature of athletes was important. Players wanted to the be the best at … everything. Regular testing – with records posted in the weight room – gave motivated athletes something to shoot for. The program – a mix of Olympic lifts, power lifting and some body building elements - became known as “Husker Power.”


Bob Newton, a 6-foot-4, 248-pound offensive tackle, didn’t need to be talked into strength training. He had previously lifted at his junior college in California. But he unintentionally helped Epley go from peer to coach. Newton, nicknamed “Big Fig,” had a bad habit of spitting during his workouts. Epley asked him not to do it in the weight room. When Newton spit on the floor a few days later, Epley kicked him out for two weeks. Even though Epley was just two years older (and considerably smaller) than Newton, standing up to him got the message across to the team: Boyd meant business.

Great teams have great offensive lines, and the 1970 national champions were no exception. Newton played next to guard Dick Rupert, and they teamed to help the Huskers accumulate over 400 yards of total offense per game. All they had to do was create a hole and the offensive talent (Johnny Rodgers, Jeff Kinney, Joe Orduna, Jerry Tagge and others) would do the rest.

The Big Eight used to award a “Lineman of the Week” honor, which Newton won a record four times during the 1970 season.  Those performances helped him become a unanimous All-Big Eight pick as well as a first-team All-American, the first of the Husker Power era.

As players saw the gains of their peers, and how those translated to wins and individual success on the field, Husker Power started to (figuratively and literally) gain speed. Boyd Epley continued to gain knowledge, refine his approach and innovate.

Nebraska won 356 games during the 35 years of Epley’s tenure as head strength coach. After retiring in 2006, he has served in numerous other roles across the athletic department.

***
Over the years, Nebraska has found several difference-making players in the junior college (or JUCO) ranks. Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier leads the list, but there are numerous other All-Americans (like Bob Newton), all-conference players and other contributors.

There are many reasons players might end up at a JUCO out of high school. Often, they lacked the academic requirements needed to get into college. Graduating from a two-year junior college could be a pathway to major college football. Other JUCO players were underrecruited, developed later, or were injured during their senior season. They used their JUCO time to improve as players and increase their stock.

From a coaching standpoint, junior college players served many purposes. Coaches would often mine the junior colleges looking for starters or depth to supplement the talent in a position group, replace an injured player, or get a starter if the developmental pipeline was thin. Nebraska’s usage of junior college players has ebbed and flowed depending on the coach and the landscape of college football at the time. Nebraska took a fair amount of JUCO players before Prop 48 was introduced. When the Big 12 voted to limit the number of partial and non-qualifiers a school could take, JUCO use rose. Some coaches and/or administrations (such as when Mike Riley was head coach) shied away from junior college players. Today, the transfer portal fills a lot of the same needs that JUCOs once did.