Welcome to installment No. 20 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 21, 1970 – Headline; ‘Huskers Extend Unbeaten String to 18 Straight’
Nebraska’s 1970 Cornhuskers, probably the finest team coach Bob Devaney has assembled, were left Monday with one world to conquer. The Huskers put it all together with a 28-21 conquest of an inspired Oklahoma team Saturday. That leaves Nebraska only an Orange Bowl victory away from the first undefeated season since 1915 when coach Jumbo Stein steered his team through an 8-0-0 season. “It’s great to have an unbeaten season and we still have the right to be No. 1 because Oklahoma will beat most teams,” Davaney said after the game. It was QB Jerry Tagge’s fourth quarter pass to Dan Schneis on fourth and eleven for twenty-four yards that put the Cornhuskers at the Oklahoma 3-yard line. Running back Joe Orduna then plunged over for the winning touchdown. The Huskers had to overcome Oklahoma leads twice in the game, causing Devaney to say, “Those are the real lessons of football. You never give up in life or anything else no matter how tough the odds, and those kids have shown that all year.”
(Devaney was more than a coach, he was a builder of men.)
November 15, 1980 – Headline: Nebraska Defense Smothers Cyclones
Nebraska’s defense made life a little easier for its offense in the 4th rated Cornhuskers 35-0 victory Saturday over Iowa State. The Cornhuskers defense set up three touchdowns by recovering three fumbles in Iowa State territory and the Cornhuskers got another score by pouncing on a fumbled punt in the endzone. It was the third shutout of the season for the Blackshirt defense. The Cornhuskers pounded the Cyclone interior into submission. It was sheer power against power: Nebraska fullback Andra Franklin vs. ISU tailback Dwayne Crutchfield. Nebraska held Crutchfield to 69 yards on 20 carries. Franklin meanwhile rushed for 104 yards. Osborne expressed no surprise. “I felt we’d have to run the ball up the middle. Some of our option plays weren’t good because we couldn’t get outside. The way they played their linebackers, we figured it would be good for the fullbacks and inside plays.” With its Big Eight record unscarred, Nebraska advanced to the conference championship bout against Oklahoma. “It’ll be for all the marbles next week, just like it usually is,” Cornhusker Coach Tom Osborne said.
(As Cornhusker fans, Nebraska versus Oklahoma for the Big Eight Championship became the standard. If the Huskers lost that game, the season would be a disappointment.)
October 29, 1990 – Headline: Huskers Polish Off Cyclones
Nebraska planned to finish Iowa State off quickly, then start thinking about Colorado. But the Cornhuskers had to wait two quarters. On the third play of the third quarter Nebraska’s Leodis Flowers zipped 70-yards for a touchdown, and the fourth-ranked Cornhuskers were on their way. They scored two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter and won 45-13 Saturday to remain unbeaten, untied, and practically untouched. “The thing we wanted to do was take Iowa State out of the game early and we didn’t do that,” said Nebraska coach Tom Osborne whose team has won its eight games by an average margin of 35.5 points. Nebraska rushed for 557 yards, the seventh highest figure in school history. Leodis Flowers led the Nebraska rushing game with 208 yards in 25 carries and three touchdowns.
The Cornhuskers will entertain 10th ranked Colorado next Saturday, a game that probably will decide the Big Eight conference championship and a berth in the Orange Bowl. “Maybe if we defeat Colorado, it will get us a little respect,” NU linebacker Pat Tyrance said.
November 7, 2000 – Headline: Cornhuskers Still Stinging over ’98 Loss
As Saturday’s showdown in Manhattan nears, the Husker’s loss two years ago at K-State burns in the memory of the Big Red. “It was one of the toughest losses, if not the toughest loss, I ever had,” Nebraska’s Matt Davidson said. K-State won 40-30 that day, and Husker memories focus on failure rather than on the Wildcat’s comeback. “I remember their fans stormed the field and ripped down the goalpost. That sticks with you,” senior Carlos Polk said. Eric Crouch, then a freshman making his fourth career start, was involved in the game’s key moment. Trailing 34-30 and facing fourth and 8 from the Husker’s 32, Crouch dropped back to pass. K-State’s Travis Ochs appeared to grab Crouch’s helmet and spin it a quarter-turn on Crouch’s head. There was no call made on the play. “That was then, this is now,” Solich said. “There’s no sense looking back at what happened in 1998.” But players understand history, and if a few of them want to use the 1998 game for inspiration, Solich probably won’t stop them. “Our seniors went out on a losing note to K-State,” Carlos Polk said. “It really hurt me to see them go out that way, and that’s something our guys won’t let happen again.”
(Solich took over as head coach at a time when Bill Snyder had his teams at the top of the rankings. Solich’s had his hands full anytime he faced the older and wiser Snyder.)
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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