Welcome to installment No. 11 of ‘The Cob’s Archive Dive’, where each week, I’ll share headlines and excerpts from past articles printed in the Falls City Journal. Hopefully you’ll find a piece of Husker football history that makes you feel the sights and sounds of gameday.

On this day in Cornhusker Football History:

October 19, 1970 – Headline: Huskers in Lead but Devaney Still Worries

Nebraska has struck down Kansas and Missouri and leads the Big Eight conference standings with a 2-0 record, but coach Bob Devaney still wasn’t ready Monday to accept congratulations or even accept the fact that the Cornhuskers are in a rosy position. “Every game you win helps some,” Devaney admitted. “You can’t say one game is the key until the season over.” Nebraska jumped what had to be one major hurdle Saturday by bombing Kansas 41-20. Kansas has caused the Cornhuskers nothing but grief in recent years and at one point had them down 20-10 Saturday. Quarterback Van Brownson turned the tide in Nebraska’s favor, passing for two touchdowns and scored twice himself. He connected with Guy Ingles on a 80-yard pass play and heaved 5-yards to Johnny Rodgers. Brownson touchdowns came on runs of 15-yards and 2-yards. His 15-yarder put Nebraska ahead to stay.

(I remember as a kid people talking each week who the starting quarterback would be for Nebraska. Both Jerry Tagge and Van Brownson alternated throughout the season. Mostly due to injuries. But it was a good thing Nebraska had both guys as I’m not sure they would have won the national championship without them. It’s why quarterback competition is so important.)

October 14, 1980 – Headline: Notes and Quotes from Big Eight Coach’s Briefing

Nebraska coach Tom Osborne says people who questioned his decision to go for a two-point conversion against Kansas with a 33-0 first-half lead just weren’t paying attention. Osborne said against Penn State and Florida State, Nebraska built early leads before relaxing and letting their opponent back in the game. He said he wanted to make sure Kansas didn’t have a chance to do the same.

Turnovers, that’s what continues to cause nightmares for Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer in wake of OU’s 20-13 loss to Texas in their annual grudge match in Dallas. OU, 2-2, lost the ball eight times against the Longhorns on four fumbles and four interceptions.

(The two-point conversion was something Osborne felt was important. As Husker fans we remember being a two-point conversion away from a national championship a couple of years after this. Turnovers played a big role in the Nebraska-Oklahoma games over the years. Switzer was right for being concerned.)

September 29, 1990 – Headline: NU Huge Favorite

“They beat Minnesota 56-0 last Saturday and led 42-0 at the half,” Oregon State coach Dave Kragthorpe said. “That tells you right there just what kind of football team Nebraska has.”  Nebraska (3-0) is eighth-ranked and favored by 51½ points over the Beavers (0-4). “I think that’s an awful load put on anybody, or on any team because an awful lot of things have to go right to make that happen,” Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said. To Osborne’s point, Nebraska has had seven turnovers in three games this fall. On paper Nebraska looks like a 51½ point favorite. The Cornhuskers are second nationally in rushing offense (368 ypg), twelfth in total yards (482), eighth in scoring (43 ppg), first in scoring defense (4.7), second in yards allowed (188), and tops nationally in kickoff returns (35 ypr). Oregon State on the other hand is statistically in the bottom of the Pac-Ten Conference, ranking tenth in total offense (247 yards), scoring (12.5 points), net punting (32 yards), ninth in rushing defense (231), seventh giving up 421 yards per game.

 (Through the 80’s and 90’s Nebraska was always one of the better rushing teams statistically. However, when scoring an average of 43 points per game and only allowing 4.7 points per game, kickoff and punt yardage can sometime be misleading.)

September 30, 2000 – Headline: NU Not Abandoning Ground Attack

Although Nebraska’s passing success against Iowa was phenomenal, the Huskers are not going to change identity overnight, at least not tonight when they play host to Missouri. Eric Crouch didn’t run for a touchdown, nor did any other Husker last week. Before you get the wrong impression, Nebraska is not leaving the ground for the air anytime soon. Nebraska tried 13 passes against Iowa and 18 against Notre Dame. They average almost 14 passes and 118 yards per game, which is on par with Nebraska’s National Championship teams. The ground game is still the soil, fertilizer, and the seed for a national championship drive. And remember, Missouri is ranked 99th in total defense and 90th in scoring defense. Going into the game Crouch is an early Heisman hopeful, “I’d have to say right now he is No. 1 on my list,” ESPN college football analyst Beano Cook said. Players Crouch is up against, Drew Brees-Purdue, LaDainian Tomlinson-TCU, Micheal Vick-Virgina Tech.

(Husker fans felt early on that 2000 would be another National Championship season. Especially with the hype surrounding Crouch and the Heisman. With every Husker win and Crouch making headlines that feeling grew stronger.)

Be sure to look for next week’s edition as the ‘Cob’ dives into each week’s headlines as they once appeared in the Falls City Journal.

GO BIG RED!! SIMPLE, FAST VIOLENT!!

All headlines and excerpts were gathered from Associated Press articles, and most but not all were published in the Falls City Journal. Home - Falls City Journal - Falls City, NE

Photographs were gathered from multiple sources.

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