Welcome to installment No. 3 of ‘The Cob’s Archive Dive’, where each week, I’ll share Associated Press headlines and excerpts from past articles printed in the Falls City Journal. Whether you are 20 years old or 80, hopefully you’ll find a piece of Husker football history that takes you back to the sights and sounds of gameday years ago.

On this day in Cornhusker Football History:

September 14, 1970 – Headline: ‘Wake Forest Tilt Is a Warmup for USC’

At 1-0-0, Nebraska started the season at No. 9 after defeating Wake Forest 36-12. The home opener for the 1970 season saw 66,103 fans looking down on the artificial turf of Memorial Stadium as they watched a sometimes-explosive offense. Part of that was sophomore Johhny Rodgers, a shifty 5’10” speedster who lived up to his billing as one of the most exciting backs to hit the Husker scene in years. He electrified with a 61-yard touchdown on a pass from Tagge, returned a punt for 37-yards and averaged 11-yards on three rushes.

Top 10 – 1. Ohio State, 2. Texas, 3. USC, 4. Stanford, 5. Mississippi, 6. Notre Dame, 7. Penn State, 8. Michigan, 9. Nebraska, 10. Missouri

(This was the beginning of a college career that would end up including a 1972 Heisman Trophy finish for Johnny Rodgers. Notable coaches in the 1970 poll, Ohio State-Woody Hayes, Texas-Darrell Royal, USC-John McKay, Notre Dame-Ara Parseghian, Penn State-Joe Paterno, Michigan-Bo Schembechler, Missouri-Dan Devine. Stiff competition if you were Devaney. They were all the best of the best.)

August 18, 1980 – Headline: ‘3,000 NU Faithful Attend Photo Day’

Tom Osborne’s Nebraska Cornhuskers opened their 1980 football season. The team’s annual photo day Sunday marked the beginning of the season, with 123 Nebraska varsity players reporting to have their pictures taken. They were greeted by a record crowd of over 3,000 fans. From Thursday until August 25, the first day of classes, the Huskers will work out twice a day with pads. Nebraska’s first game is September 13 in Lincoln against the University of Utah.

(123 players doesn’t sound like many in the Osborne era but stop and consider it says varsity players. In 1980 Nebraska fielded a freshman team as well. A few of the head coaches in 1980, OSU-Earle Bruce, Alabama-Bear Bryant, Pittsburgh-Jackie Sherrill, USC-John Robinson, Oklahoma-Barry Switzer, Arkansas-Lou Holtz, Houston-Bill Yeoman, Texas-Fred Akers, Notre Dame-Dan Devine, Michigan-Bo Schembechler, Georgia-Vince Dooley, Penn State-Joe Paterno, Auburn-Pat Dye, Washington-Don James. It’s a who’s who of coaches, and as you can see Osborne competed against the very best.)

August 14, 1990 – Headline: ‘Huskers Try New Wingbacks’

With junior wingback Nate Turner injured, Huskers coach Tom Osborne tried out Lamont White and Johnny Mitchell in the position Monday during the third day of practice for the University of Lincoln. “Johnny’s more built like a tight end be he can do some of the things a wingback has to do. He’s a pretty good receiver, a pretty good blocker so he might be able to do it. I don’t know.”  Turner is expected to miss 6-8 weeks of the season with a broken right collarbone.

(The next day Osborne moved Mitchell back to tight end, saying, “We just thought that tight end is where he could make the best contribution. For those of us who remember watching Mitchell, it’s hard to imagine him playing anywhere else. The Huskers have had some great tight ends over the years, but Johnny Mitchell is one of the first to always come to mind.)

August 20, 2000 – Headline: Longtime Titans Appear Poised for Rise to the Top

Big Red is back. That’s Nebraska, for the I-Back impaired. The Cornhusker state slept better when coach Frank Solich went from 9-4 his rookie season (nearly requiring an emergency meeting of the legislature) to 12-1 last year. Nebraska is back to talking national title, with quarterback Eric Crouch leading a superb option game that features a deep, fast backfield, and a veteran, blue ribbon line. Crouch, who threw for 1,269 yards and ran for 889 yards for the Cornhuskers last season, directs the option, which also features I-backs Dan Alexander and Correll Buckhalter. Turnovers must be cut down, too, after 25 lost fumbles in 1999. The defense needs some new faces, but Nebraska always comes up with players like Carlos Polk, who will be a strong leader this fall. We’ll find out what we need to know quickly, as on September 9th when the Cornhuskers go to Notre Dame.

(Matt Rhule hates the term, “winning the offseason national championship.” That’s understandable. But Rhule needs to stop and realize where he’s at and what school he’s coaching at. It’s nothing new. The fans and much of the media have been crowning an offseason champ for as far back as 2000, if not further. It may have died for a while but was resurrected when Rhule arrived. And part of that is his own fault, when talking “year three”.)

Be sure to look for next week’s edition as the ‘Cob’ dives into each week’s headlines of the season 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