Welcome to installment No. 17 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:

November 14, 1970 – Headline: Huskers Blitz Cats

Yesterday’s game between Kansas State and Nebraska was only a little more than two minutes old when Jerry Murtaugh intercepted a pass thrown by Lynn Dickey and returned it 25 yards to the Wildcat 30. Johnny Rodgers ran an inside reverse on the first play from scrimmage and scored. Thus began an afternoon of unrelenting horror for the Wildcats, who were routed 51-13. Dickey was intercepted seven times and the Cats fumbled once. Nebraska led, 21-7, at the half and put the decision completely out of reach with a 16-point third quarter. Joe Orduna scored four times and was the game’s leading rusher with 105 yards on 27 carries. A crowd of 67,894 jammed Memorial Stadium for the game despite numbing winds and temperatures in the 30’s. The combination of Kansas State’s mistakes and the versatile Husker’s offense resulted in the astonishing rout. The victory put the Huskers in position for bids from the Orange and Cotton Bowls. “Coach Devaney says he will let his players vote on the bowl bids today and will announce his decision late this afternoon,” an Orange Bowl spokesman said.

(At this point the defense was well known as the Blackshirts. Games like this when they took the ball away 8 times added to their reputation of being a violent hard-hitting crew).

November 4, 1980 – Headline: MU Coach Calls Osborne a ‘Fanatic’

It all started Monday during the Big Eight coaches briefing. In last year’s game Missouri was accused of deliberately going for Jarvis Redwine’s knees. Afterwards the star running back never gained full effectiveness for the rest of the year. “I thought after last year’s incident it was maybe a little bit of paranoia on our part looking for things,” Osborne said. “But Jarvis did get kneed in the ribs on the last play of the half.” Powers, who played at Nebraska and was a Husker assistant under Osborne until 1977, said of Osborne’s remarks, “You’re going to try to hit somebody, sure. You’re going to have a little more emphasis on Redwine. None of our players were trying to hurt anybody. I think it’s just totally ridiculous.” said Powers. “Tom is becoming a fanatic about these things.” Powers reacted even more vehemently later when he was sked about the controversy following Missouri’s practice, in referring to Redwine a senior, “That prima-donna can say those things because he doesn’t have to play us anymore.”

(Back and forth comments created some great rivalries over the years. When Nebraska was in the Big Eight, it was Oklahoma and Missouri. As the years went by and Colorado and Kansas State became more successful those games also became heated.)  

October 17, 1990 – Headline: Tom Doesn’t Miss Attention of Top Ranking

Nebraska coach Tom Osborne doesn’t miss the attention that is afforded by a No.1-ranked college football team. “I’m not saying we wouldn’t like being rated No. 1, but I really do think there is way too much obsession in our country to No. 1-itis. You listen to all these sports shows and they’re forever talking about who is going to be playing for the national championship and who is the best team. There’s a lot of good teams. Even if you had a national playoff, you wouldn’t necessarily end up with THE best team in the end, because somebody might get upset.”

(Osborne was always ahead of his time. We do now have a playoff, and with expanding to 12 teams it has made things even more competitive. If the playoffs were to expand further, say 24 teams, then schedules would become even more meaningful.)   

October 28, 2000 – Headline: Huskers not Undefeated, but not out of Big Picture

Nebraska's hope for an undefeated season is history, as is the Cornhuskers' No. 1 ranking. But their 31-14 loss to No. 3 Oklahoma on Saturday didn't knock the Cornhuskers out of the running for a conference title or even a national championship. If the Cornhuskers (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) win their remaining games, they will win the North Division and play in the Big 12 championship game. The Cornhuskers scored on their first two possessions, driving 76 and 91 yards to take a 14-0 lead. After gaining 169 yards on those first two drives, the Cornhuskers finished with 328. The Sooners were particularly effective against the run, holding Nebraska to 195 yards on 43 carries. Part of Nebraska's problem was that Crouch didn't get enough help. He had 53 more rushing yards than any teammate, and only one receiver had a catch for more than 12 yards. Oklahoma's Josh Heupel, on the other hand, benefited from several big plays by his receivers. Nine players caught passes for Oklahoma, and each had at least one that went 16 yards or longer. "We probably need to do a few things better as a football team and do a few things better as coaches," Solich said.

(Once Nebraska and OU joined the Big XII and stopped playing every season the rivalry changed and the competitiveness was never the same.)

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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