TOP 25
APTOP 25
Rank School Record Pvs
1 Michigan (51.5) 12-0 1
2 Nebraska (18 5) 13-0 2
3 Florida St. 11-1 4
4 Florida 10-2 6
5 UCLA 10-2 5
6 North Carolina 11-1 7
f Tennessee 11-2 3
8 Kansas St. 11-1 10
9 Washington St. 10-2 8
10 Georgia 10-2 12
11 Auburn 10-3 13
12 Ohio St. 10-3 9
13 LSI' 9-3 15
x 14 Ariz.naSt. 8-3 16
15 Puri je 9-3 17
16 Penn Si. 9-3 11
17 Colorado St. 11-2 18
13 Washington 8-4 21
19 Southern Miss. 9-3 22
20 Texas A&M 9-4 20
21 Syracuse 9-4 14
22 Mississippi 8-4 -
23 Missouri 7-5 19
24 Oklahoma St. 8-4 24
25 Georgia Tech 7-5 -
USATODAY/Coaches
TOP 25
1 Nebraska (32) 13-0 2
2 Michigan (30) 12-0 1
3 Florida St. 11-1 4
4 North Carolina 11-1 5
5 UCLA 10-2 6
6 Florida 10-2 8
7 Kansas St. 11-1 9
8 Tennessee 11-2 3
9 Washington St. 10-2 7
10 Georgia 10-2 11
11 Auburn 10-3 13
12 Ohio St. 10-3 10
13 LSU 9-3 15
14 Arizona St. 9-3 18
15 Purdue 9-3 16
16 Colorado St. 11-2 17
17 Penn St. 9-3 12
18 Washington 8-4 23
19 Southern Miss. 9-3 22
20 Syracuse 9-4 14
21 Texas A&M 9-4 19
22 Mississippi 8-4 -
23 Missouri 7-5 20
24 Oklahoma St. 8-4 24
25 Air Force10-321
Jon Frank/DN
Nebraska 49, Baylor 21
There had been prettier games for No. 3
Nebraska, but it was a victory just the same as NU
ran out to a 42-7 halftime lead and eventually won
49-21 in front of 38,175 fans at Floyd Casey
Stadium in Waco, Texas.
Nebraska was outscored 14-7 in the second
half, however, prompting Osborne to raise con
cerns about his second and third teams.
“When we don’t execute like I think we can,
I’m not happy,” Osborne said. “I’m just kind of
upset at the fact that we didn’t finish the game off
playing well.”
NU’s first team did execute well, with Green
rushing for 158 yards and Frost tallying 174 total
yards.
Baylor, on the other hand, had only 203 total
yards, 80 of which came on one touchdown run
from Jerod Douglas.
That same Oct. 11 evening, Florida lost the
top ranking with a 28-21 loss to LSU. Now at No.
2 in the nation, Nebraska was focused on another
national championship.
Nebraska 29, Texas Tech 0
If there’s such a thing as a defensiv e gem, then
Ryan Soderijn/DN
NEBRASKA QUARTERBACK SCOTT FROST tries to break free from Texas A&M linebacker Warrick Holdman during the Big
12 Championship game in San Antonio, Texas. Frost finished the game with 79 yards rushing on 15 carries and two touch
downs. He also threw for 201 yards.
No. 2 Nebraska had one against Texas Tech, win
ning 29-0 in front 75,764 fans at Memorial
Stadium
The Buskers’ defense limited the Red
Raiders’ offense to 127 total yards and six first
downs. Texas Tech had won two games in a row
before losing to NU.
“It was definitely nice to get the goose egg,”
senior defensive tackle Jason Peter said. “We’ve
been hoping for a shutout all season.”
Nebraska racked up 446 total yards in the
game, getting 178 yards from Ahman Green and
picking up 400 yards overall on the ground. Texas
Tech had only 17 yards rushing.
The next day, Nebraska was made the No. 1
team in nation by the voters as Penn State barely
beat Minnesota.
Texas Tech was only the beginning of the
defensive dominance. Another goose egg was yet
to come in Lawrence, Kan.
Nebraska 35, Kansas 0
The lights went out in the stadium, but not on
the Nebraska defense.
The Buskers gave up only 48 total yards and
got their second straight shutout in a 35-0 win
over Kansas in front of 42,000 fans in a wet, cold
Memorial Stadium in Lawrence.
Nebraska jumped out to a 21 -0 lead in the first
half, which included a power outage in the stadi
um's lights, and shut down KU’s offense all night,
surrendering only four first downs the entire
game.
“Everything they came out with, we were just
shoving down their throats,” Peter said.
NU kept its No. 1 spot in the polls, and would
continue to do so through the next week.
Nebraska 69, Oklahoma 7
One the greatest rivalries in college football
history just might have come to an end in a debil
itating fashion.
No. 1 Nebraska moved to 8-0 thrashing the
Sooners 69-7 in the 69th and last straight game
between the two teams in front of 75,296 fans at
Memorial Stadium.
The Huskers jumped out to a 34-0 lead at half
time and never looked back, handing the Sooners
the worst defeat in their history.
“We wanted to attack them a little because
they were a threat,” senior defensive end Grant
Wistrom said.
Oklahoma dropped to 3-6 on the season.
Nebraska’s defense had performed valiantly
for three weeks. But in its next game, the defense
wouldn’t save the Huskers until late in the game.
In fact, NU’s national championship season
would come down to a simple kick of the ball.
Nebraska 45, Missouri 38 OT
It has been called “the immaculate reception,”
“the catch” and the “miracle in Missouri.”
Every Nebraska football fan has seen it, and
very few will forget it. It is, simply, the play that
saved a national championship for Nebraska and
one of the most bizarre plays in football history.
With seven seconds remaining and Nebraska
trailing 38-31 to Missouri, Frost threw a pass into
the endzone to intended receiver Shevin Wiggins.
Wiggins dropped it when he was hit.
As Wiggins fell to the ground his right foot
booted the ball into the air.
Freshman split end Matt Davison caught the
ball off the deflection about 3 inches before it
would have hit the ground. After Kris Brown’s
extra point, Nebraska and Missouri went into
overtime tied at 38.
“I dove and had both hands out firmly, but the
ball was just a couple inches from the ground,”
Davison said. “It was a couple inches from no
national championship.”
In overtime, Frost scored from 12 yards out to
make the score 45-38. Then, as Missouri fans at
Faurot Field stood stunned, Nebraska celebrated
after sacking MU quarterback Corby Jones, stop
ping the Tigers’ drive.
“It was kind of one of those days where some
body was going to win at the end,” Osborne said,
“and we’re very fortunate to have won it.”
the close win had its price. Nebraska had
been ranked No. 1, but as Florida State and
Michigan both won. the Huskers fell to No. 3.
But polls would make more of a difference
down the line. At the time, NU was lucky to get
out of Columbia, Mo., in contention for the
national championship.
Nebraska 77, Iowa State 14
On Senior Day in Lincoln, NU beat Iowa State
by 63 points, the Huskers' largest win of the sea
son.
And it wasn’t even that close.
Third-ranked NU took a 63-7 lead at halftime,
extended it to 70-7, and then put in the reserves en
route to a 77-14 win over the Cyclones in front of
75, 613 fans at Memorial Stadium.
NU qualified itself for the Big 12
Championship with the win, and Green rushed
for a season-high 209 yards.
“You’re not trying to run the score up,”
Osborne said, “you’re trying to get players in.”
Nebraska moved to 10-0, one game away
from a perfect season.
Nebraska 27, Colorado 24
Colorado was wounded. At 5-5 going into the
Nebraska game, CU’s pride had been beaten
around and kicked in the dirt.
Despite that, the Buffaloes were likely a pass
interference penalty away from upsetting the No.
3 Huskers.
But NU survived 27-24 in front of 52, 378
fans at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo.
After erasing a 27-10 deficit in the fourth
quarter, CU again had the ball at its own 36 with
under two minutes remaining. On third-and-10,
Colorado quarterback John Hessler hit wide
receiver Phil Savoy at midfield, but the play was
called back because of offensive pass interfer
ence.
“They almost beat us,” Osborne said.
Still, the Huskers were undefeated. And ironi
cally, the Colorado game would be the last time
NU would be challenged by any team.
Nebraska 54, Texas A&M 15
There was no Texas two-step in the Big 12
Championship.
No. 2 Nebraska had lost to Texas the year
before in St. Louis, 37-27. but pounded Texas
A&M 54-15 behind the force of a 37-3 halftime
lead.
A crowd of 64,824 at the Alamodome in San
Antonio watched NU shackle the Aggies Ruining
game, as A&M scampered for only 13 yards. NU
finished with 335 rushing yards.
“When we play like that, we’re one of the best
defenses in the country,” Wistrom said.
Nebraska moved on to play the No. 3 team in
the country, Tennessee, in the Orange Bowl.
Nebraska 42, Tennessee 17
At about 2 a.m. CST Jan. 3. Nebraska won its
third national title in four years.
It took a 42-17 pasting of Tennessee to get it.
After an unimpressive first half, NU pounded
the Volunteers with the ground game and
outscored UT 28-14 in the second half, laying
claim to the national title in the USAToday/ESPN
Coaches Poll after gamering a 13-0 record.
Michigan recei\ ed the title in the Associated
Press Poll after finishing 12-0 and beating
Washington State 21 -16 in the Rose Bowl.
A crowd of 72,385 fans at Pro Player Stadium
in Miami watched Osborne, who announced his
retirement just weeks before, end his 25-year
career at NU with his third national title.
Green led all rushers with an Orange Bowl
record 206 yards, which earned him the MVP
award.
“We pounded them drive in, drive out,” Green
said, “driving the ball on them, passing the ball on
them.”
Frost, who at the beginning of the season was
booed by NU fans, was now one of their heroes,
outplaying Heisman Trophy runner-up Peyton
Manning, who threw for only 126 yards.
In the end. it was one of the Buskers’ best per
formances of the season on a night when they
needed it most. When the coaches poll votes came
in, some said it was a sympathy vote for the retir
ing Osborne. While it can’t be proven either way,
the numbers showed the Buskers to be worthy of
a title.
NU had defeated two teams that finished in
the top 10 by an average of 27.5 points. The
Huskers had a decisive win on the road against
Washington.
Beyond that were all the individual awards the
Huskers garnered this season. Wistrom won the
Lombardi Award as the nation’s top lineman.
Senior guard Aaron Taylor won the Outland
Trophy, awarded to the nation’s best interior line
man. Both were consensus All-Americans, and
Wistrom was Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.
Peter also was an All-American by many publica
tions
Green was named a second-team All
American by The Associated Press and was a first
team All Big 12 selection. Wistrom, Taylor, Peter,
comerback Ralph Brown and offensive lineman
Eric Anderson also were named to the team.
And once again, Nebraska led the nation in
rushing, averaging 392.6 yards per game
And so ended a another year of Nebraska
football, one of the most exciting and unpre
dictable seasons ever in Lincoln. NU won another
national title, continuing a dynasty that has been
unparalleled in college football since the
Oklahoma Sooners in the 1950s.
In 1998, NU will look toward a new coach,
Frank Solich, and a new team with new chal
lenges. The Huskers won’t likely be favored to
win another national championship, but then
again, not many thought they could do it in 1997.