Welcome to installment No. 21 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:

December 1, 1970 – Headline: ‘Big 8 Coaches Pay Tribute to Devaney’

Big Eight conference football coaches have paid tribute to coach Bob Devaney of Nebraska. Third ranked nationally, Nebraska went through the regular season with 10 victories and a tie, won the Big Eight title with a 7-0 record, and will play in the Orange Bowl at Miami Jan. 1. Coach Eddie Crowder of Colorado said Devany should be the national coach of the year for the job he did with the Cornhuskers. Similar sentiment was expressed by other Big Eight coaches at a testimonial luncheon in Kansas City for Devaney, attended by sportswriters and sportscasters. Devaney’s reaction to the praise, “I’m not going to argue with you.”

(Devaney was a character, which always made him and Osborne an odd pairing.)

November 17, 1980 – Headline: Osborne: Just Another Game

It is not the nature of Tom Osborne to lose composure or hint of excitement in preparing for a football game – even the annual Big Eight bash with Oklahoma. The winner on Saturday will head to the Orange Bowl in Miami, the loser to is off to El Paso, Texas and the Sun Bowl. A Nebraska win Saturday would mean the Huskers would have a shot at a national title and a chance to redeem their 18-14 loss to the Florida state in Lincoln. The third ranked Seminoles are the only team to top the Huskers this season. “I can’t say it’s any more important a game than any other on our schedule. It is a very important game to win but then a loss to Kansas State wouldn’t sit very well with fans here either,” Osborne said. Osborne may be playing it cool, but then again, it’s Oklahoma week.

(Osborne may have tried to play down the Oklahoma game, but it was very different from Kansas State. And while the fans expected to beat Kansas State, Oklahoma just meant more.)

November 5, 1990 – Headline: Buffaloes Prove Their Point

The Buffaloes lived up to their billing as a team that belongs with the Big Reds of the Big Eight. Colorado running back Eric Bieniemy scored four touchdowns in the final fifteen minutes to lead a 27-12 come-from-behind win and give Colorado the inside track to a second league championship after downing Oklahoma 32-23 the week before. Nebraska failed its first test of the season against a ranked opponent. “They were just a better football team than we were up front,” said defensive coordinator Charlie McBride. The Buffaloes limited Nebraska to 232 yards, 254 below its season average. NU managed just 163 yards on the ground, well short of its national leading 387 average.

Down 6-0 at halftime and only gaining 38 total yards of offense, the Buffaloes sprung loose with the nations rushing leader Bieniemy and quarterback Darin Hagen in the final two quarters. Bieniemy, who fumbled five times before catching fire, said his lack of attention to detail and the cold and rainy conditions had more to do with hanging onto the ball than the Blackshirt defense.

Colorado entered Saturday’s game having played five highly regarded opponents while Nebraska hadn’t played any. “Our schedule prepared us for this kind of situation,” said coach Bill McCarney. It was Colorado’s first win in Lincoln since 1967. It was also the first time the Buffs had taken two straight wins over Nebraska since 1960-61.

(Bill McCartney made a concentrated effort to make Nebraska a rival, highlighting Nebraska in red on their schedule and banning anyone from wearing red. His teams gave Osborne problems during the early 90’s.)

November 11, 2000 – Headline: Morgan’s Monster Effort Lifts Wildcats

On a cold and snowy night, the Kansas State Wildcats got everything they were wishing for. The Wildcats not only edged a Nebraska team that had beaten them 31 times in the last 32 years but also put themselves in a strong position for a second shot at No. 1 Oklahoma. Overcoming sleet and snow and a late Nebraska charge, the Wildcats beat the Huskers 29-28 on a frightful Saturday night, giving themselves a clear path to the Big Twelve North title. Nebraska took the loss of their national title hopes hard. “This is very difficult for a team to take,” Frank Solich said. “They worked tremendously hard to put themselves into position…but they’re not going to reach their goals.” Quincey Morgan caught seven passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns, including the game winner with 2:52 to play when he took Jonathan Beasley’s pass over the middle and turned it into a 12-yard TD play. “Quincey made some tremendous plays,” Snyder said, who is now 2-11 against Nebraska. With 50 seconds left and heavy snow falling, Eric Crouch’s pass bounced off the hands of Matt Davison on fourth-and-5 to end Nebraska’s hopes. K-State held Crouch to 2-of-13 passing for 39 yards and 1 interception while rushing 42-yards and 1 touchdown on 17 carries.

(Solich went 2-4 in his six seasons of facing Bill Snyder and the Wildcats. Snyder is probably more responsible for Solich’s firing than anyone realizes.)

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.

Stay on top of Husker football at CarrikerChronicles.com