1995 Nebraska Football - A Decade of Dominance

husker vision presents decade of dominance the story of the 1995 nebraska football team decade of dominance is sponsored in part by walgreens [Music] in the long and storied history of nebraska football 1995 was a season unlike any other for it began as the new year was fulfilling the championship promise of the year gone by on a perfect night in miami's orange bowl the huskers the players the coaches and fans capped a perfect season by beating the hometown hurricanes to win the school's third national title it was a victory that poured out pride and emotion from every big red heart in the heartland and throughout america [Applause] from the electricity in the nu locker room to the outpouring of love from the faithful who follow the team what took place under the stars that night touched off a championship celebration that comes only with being a part of nebraska football and being the best unbelievable greatest feeling i could ever dream of crowd everything you know i love these guys i sold my body for them and they did sold it for me and we came out winners that's all for coach alden especially i know you're real disappointed a month ago when you didn't get the hardship this kind of makes up for it yes it makes up for it now i don't care about the hardship i got my national championship from the moon over miami to the next day sunshine of lincoln the whirlwind tour for the nation's newest champions was well underway while more than 20 000 husker fans had turned the orange bull into a sea of red countless thousands more lined the streets of the capital city and packed the bob devaney sports center to welcome their heroes home it was an unforgettable scene that commemorated a national championship for all of nebraska i'd like to uh thank you very much i know you've been here a long time and it's certainly taken a lot of patience on your part about 22 years of it i guess but [Applause] for the 94 huskers the national title was providing experiences for a lifetime it was a celebration to savor each moment one to remember one of the most memorable was a trip to washington dc where the newly crowned kings of college football met the president of the united states i want to thank this team and this coach not only for winning the national championship that's obviously a great honor but for the way that it was won and the character and teamwork and spirit that coach osborne has always displayed and that this team displayed after the white house it was back to our house for the biggest and best party since winning the title there the players received the championship rings in grand style as more than 40 000 adoring big red fans gathered at memorial stadium for one last salute to the 94 huskers with rings in hand and the trophies in place and the memories of 94 never to be forgotten the focus then shifted to becoming the first team in 40 years to put together back-to-back unbeaten national championship seasons and while the huskers spent their summer vacation with set on another national title they also knew all eyes would be on them as the team to be we know that teams are going to be doing their best to knock us off we have like a big bull's eye on us on our backs and people can be shooting for the target i've never seen you know so many guys as focused as they are to get back to that same position being in a 1-2 spot where we can play for a national championship but being the team to beat is nothing unusual for nebraska football in fact it's business as usual and just like they had done in 94 the huskers finished business again nebraska was number one at the beginning of the year and is number one at its end that's what makes the 1995 season so unique it wasn't a season for the huskers to become champions they already were champions 95 was the season to stay at the top to defend their title and to continue nebraska football's decade of dominance the last day of august was one nebraska fans had been waiting for since the start of the year stillwater oklahoma was the site as the huskers kicked off the 1995 season against oklahoma state on a thursday night before a national television audience it's been a long time to wait with just eight returning starters from last year's national championship team there were a lot of new faces on both sides of the ball the offensive and defensive lines faced the biggest rebuilding challenges where seven of nine players were starting their first game but it didn't take long for the new starters to begin making a name for themselves on oklahoma state's second play freshman linebacker jay foreman and junior safety mike minor provided the one-two punch to nail david thompson on a four-yard loss then on third down jared thomas pushed the cowboys back even further tony jones drops to throw under heavy pressure he sacked they got him for a big time loss jarrod thomas all over him that first series was i was pretty nervous the butterflies were really going you know to be up thrown out there you know in the thick of things it was really exciting though and then as the game progressed i i started settling down and everything started going really quick and really good and started having a lot of fun offensively the huskers rebuilt line proved early on that they could indeed clear the way for nu's talented backfield a vintage 12 placed 72-yard drive on nebraska's first possession resulted in nu's first touchdown of the season lawrence phillips did the honors from three yards out as the o-line opened up a huge hole when we were going on that first drive and racking up the yards and and blocking people and clearing holes for the backs we were just having a great time out there and get back to the huddle with a lot of enthusiasm we were just having a blast out there the black shirts continue their domination holding osu to just one yard of offense in the first quarter and then early in the second period junior college transfer tyrell farley showed that he was indeed a prime time player he's intercepted by nebraska terrell farley's got the ball inside the five he's in there touchdown touchdown touchdown [Applause] i guess the quarterback didn't see me because it looked like he threw it dead into my arms you know and just taking it to the end zone felt great you know i felt like dancing but i would have got the flag at some moment following terrell's interception it was the offense's turn for a big play phillips across the 30 35-40 he may go he's inside the 45 the 30. he's gonna go lawrence phillips all the way home 80 yards for the touchdown meanwhile osu quarterback tony jones was having one very long night the defense continued its relentless pressure as charlie mcbride's gang rang up three first half sacks in the season's first 30 minutes of football the second rank huskers showed the nation that they were indeed an explosive group in you went into the locker room at halftime with a 36-7 lead as the second half began air nebraska took off tommy frazier went up top to reggie ball for a 76-yard strike reggie ball's going to go all the way home touchdown reggie ball [Applause] the 66 players who made the trip to osu all saw action scott saltzman made the most of his playing time with a fourth quarter sack while the most anticipated debut was made by freshman oman green the top running back recruit in the country in 1995 green gained 18 yards on his first ever carry then the omaha native exploded into the end zone for his first touchdown as a husker i saw how close i was getting to the end zone my eyes got real big i don't know if y'all saw that but my eyes were real big and i don't care who was in front of me nobody was going to stop me getting that end zone nebraska's 64-21 win was the school's 22nd straight victory over oklahoma state it was a great beginning to the huskers title defense questions were already being answered especially in the offensive line with four starters gone from a year ago including three to the nfl the big red got out of the gate in a big way with more than 500 yards rushing i think we were able to erase some of the people's questions that that they had about the offensive line i know it's only one game that's under our belt yet and we have a lot of games to go on a lot of things to prove but i think that was certainly a starting point for us usually small town kids don't come to play a big division one school like this so this is really like a dream come true for me just to get out there and play for the huskers and it's just it's just great i was on the field for the first time playing college football with nebraska there's been a childhood dream i just couldn't believe it i was out [Music] a there of over 75 000 including many dressed in red and another national television audience were on hand as the huskers travel to big ten country to take on michigan state it's gonna be a good day today got good weather good atmosphere got our fans down here in the end zone we won't disappoint you it's gonna be a good one legendary nebraska coach bob devaney who began his hall of fame career at michigan state spoke to the team in the locker room prior to the game [Applause] devaney was the man who led nebraska to national prominence in the 60s and early 70s and against the spartans the 1995 huskers played and won like the nevani teams of old and like the osborne teams of today by dominating in the trenches on its first two possessions of the game nebraska jumped out to an early 10-0 lead but michigan state countered to make it 10-7 after one period the second quarter began with concern as tommy frazier left the game with a severe leg bruise but just as he had in 1994 brook berringer stepped in and the huskers didn't miss a beat behringer led inu to 10 more points in the second quarter to make it 20-7 at the half the teams traded field goals to open the third quarter freshman chris brown nailed his third three-pointer of the day and then it was time for the huskers to dominate first on offense where lawrence phillips scored twice in the third quarter to put the game out of reach great move 30 the 25 left sideline he's gonna go touchdown touchdown touchdown while phillips was putting the finishing touches on his 200-yard day the black shirts were putting the spartans away with michigan state reeling and trying to play catch-up the huskers relentless defensive pressure then intensified on spartan quarterback tony banks who was hit and hurried and sacked numerous times under the big red waves that crashed through to him [Applause] mike minor led the way defensively with six solo tackles and his first interception having missed almost all of the 94 season with a knee injury it was an especially satisfying game for the junior from oklahoma it's been real fun getting out there and hitting again and playing in a football you know football game my main goal is to get there and playing the next championship game and you know i'm just fortunate that i got players around me that have the same goal and the same hunger i got in the fourth quarter the huskers again showed their depth at ibac first freshman amon green sprinted down the sidelines from 57 yards out james sims then followed with an 80 yard run as nebraska ran away with the win sims run typified in used dominance the huskers cruised to a 50 to 10 win over michigan state by rushing for a whopping 552 yards meanwhile the spartans manage just 37 against the nebraska blackshirts one of our main goals this year is to be the most dominant team in the in the nation and then you know it starts with the two lines offense and defense and knocking people around and knocking people down when we go in and play a big ten school like michigan state we can look back and compare them to how they would rate up against the colorado or oklahoma or even kansas or kansas state and i think it really goes to show how dominant the big eight really has become it was one in the trenches i mean it was fun to go out there and play because michigan state they're known for being like us big and physical and it was just you know who's got you know who's got more guts and you know who's you know who's got the bigger heart and came out that we did there's nothing quite like playing at memorial stadium and the 95 home opener was bound to be something special as the huskers made their first home appearance since winning the national title with the sea of red awaiting them each week the huskers entrance is ranked among the best but with the addition of the husker vision big screens the walk of champions has become an experience unlike any other in college football and this season an animation commemorating the 1994 national championship electrified the crowd even more [Applause] and for freshmen there's nothing quite like the first walk as a husker into memorial stadium i finally got my opportunity to walk out of tunnel and hear that and hear the crowd go crazy and it's unbelievable the first time you do it it's just i mean you just like it's another another you just can't describe it uh um you just get goosebumps on top of goosebumps i mean it's just it's just unreal i mean you're already ready to play and then making that walk just just gets you more ready to play definitely i believe we have the best walk out on your field without any college student nation it makes me feel really good to be here to have the end on my helmet that to me means more than anything right now just to be here to be part of the team to be part of the school part the atmosphere here it means more to me than just about anything other than my family it had been a long week of adversity leading up to the arizona state game for the huskers but the team took to the field unified around their coach and focused on the task at hand there was a lot of emotion in the locker room before that before that game and i think back a christian talking about how coach osborne is more or less a father figure to every single one of us on the team and we really want to go out there and show him that we really appreciate everything that he's done for the program and especially for us with lawrence phillips sideline clinton child started for the first time in his career and from the game's first play the senior from omaha made it known this would be his 30. first day in scrimmage touchdown touchdown touchdown clinton's touchdown came in the first 11 seconds of the game which made it the fastest score in modern husker football history drawing first blood you know in 11 seconds had to have you know their their tails tucked a little bit but if we can do that to every football team and let them know that we're coming out and we mean business every time we come up and that's what we want to do child's run was a hint of things to come in a game that saw the huskers put together a record-setting first half on inu's second possession jeff makavica paved the way for an amman green touchdown then it was tommy frazier's turn as he ran through a pair of sun devils on a 15-yard score later in the first quarter child showed his versatility by throwing a 34-yard pass to clester johnson smiles over the middle he's got cluster it is complete on the next play frazier took to the air and hit a wide open john veterel from 27 yards out jeff makavika found a seam in the asu defense and rumbled 13 yards to paydirt on the final play of the first quarter to make it 35-7 and the huskers weren't about to slow down childs opened the second quarter like he had the first with another long td run tryouts behind the block of makaveka inside the 35 the 30 25 the 20 the 15 to 10 to five touchdowns [Applause] clinton would finish the day with a career-high 143 yards on just 12 carries the blackshirts then turned in a big play of their own as michael booker grabbed his first interception to set up yet another husker touchdown [Applause] two plays later frazier went up top to cluster johnson as soon as i got past the line of scrimmage i was looking back and and tommy was looking right at me so when i caught it and one guy kind of shanked off of me i saw the other guy coming and when he hit me i thought maybe i was going to go down but then i looked up and it was about two or three yards away i was like uh he got to come with me i was getting in there the only time the huskers didn't score in the first half jesse cush unloaded a fantastic 74-yard punt which jared thomas downed on the asu-1 nebraska went on to score two nebraska team pretty much anything that coach osborne called we ran to perfection and that's pretty much what we wanted but we just went out and did what we thought that we could do we ran the ball at them well then we had to throw the ball we passed the ball well first of all it was a little something to help coach osbourne ease all the distractions that we were having throughout that week and we knew that we had a pretty good offense but i mean 63 points is really unheard of in the first half while coach osborne pulled the reins back on his powerful offense in the second half it didn't prevent the defense from adding a touchdown of its own it's intercepted by nebraska and it's terrell farley farley in there for the touchdown [Applause] later in the fourth quarter lance brown made the most of his first career catch by grabbing this 39-yarder from matt german lance capped his feet with an equally impressive flip on the sideline the huskers performance was mind-boggling as they beat a tough pac-10 team 77-28 but was this the nebraska offense at its very best or merely the tip of the iceberg i think it's more of a tip to showing people that this is a powerful offense if we go out and just stay focused and do the things that we know how to do i think it'll be hard for any team to stop us from scoring in nebraska there is nothing quite like a game day in lincoln on a crisp autumn afternoon it's a time when memorial stadium comes to life with thousands of big red fans who have traveled from all parts of the country to be a part of nebraska football but for opponents like pacific a trip to lincoln can often be a long day on the gridiron damon benning who had been hampered by a bad hamstring in the first three games of the season was starting at ibac in place of clinton child who was nursing a sore knee the first five times that damon carried the ball he gained 98 yards and scored three touchdowns snap the fraser option left passes out defending swings it out wide inside the 15 and then the five touchdown again damon benning i think i showed other people and i proved to myself that i was able to deal with adversity and still prepare well and come out and play well benning's three touchdowns all came in the game's first 15 minutes in fact the husker offense rushed for 230 yards in the first quarter alone our lines really come together and it was nice to get some of them first games so everybody could gel and everybody gets more confidence and i think that we we can be as good as we've ever had if everybody keeps putting everything together and we keep improving week by week it's hard to believe that a team playing as well would see a need to improve but it's that attitude of striving to make the best even better which has made nebraska the premier program in college football the black shirts were also striving for improvement and they got it against pacific evidenced by the strong play by guys like jason peter doug coleman and jay foreman the husker offense scored twice more on their first two possessions of the second quarter to build a comfortable 35-nothing lead at the half sims inside the five diving for the goal line touchdown [Music] the first play from scrimmage in the second half was another great indicator why the 95 huskers were far and away the top rushing team in america as benning broke loose on a 62-yard run look who was blocking 50 yards downfield offensive tackle chris dishman you know i'll never forget that play because i wish i would have cut earlier cut the guy and you know maybe we've got a chance to put it in but i tried to run fast as him and there's no way those guys they block downfield all day i mean they want to score you know every couple of times the back touches the ball and that's how they get after and that's a compliment to them and coach tenepro well you look at every play that you want to break a touchdown we just been fortunate the last four games that we broke a lot of them you know every play we go out there and try to execute as perfect as we can nu scored on its first two possessions of the second half first tommy frazier made it 42-0 and then amman completed the scoring with a 13-yard td amman had 112 yards on the day while damon benning registered 173 on just 10 carries a total of 102 huskers saw action as inu beat pacific 49-7 the huskers recorded the fifth best offensive output ever with 730 total yards and equally impressive the big red had at least 660 yards of total offense in each of their first four games of the season the way the line is playing and the way the receivers are blocking downfield the way the tight ends are playing right now our execution is i think phenomenal for this point of the season [Music] washington state came to lincoln on the last day of september with high hopes of upsetting number two nebraska the cougars had lots of confidence after being nationally ranked ucla the previous weekend one of the their defensive ends uh dwayne sanders he said he predicted a victory and it's the first time since i've been here that a team came in you know predicting a victory you know in our stadium i respect what he says and it gave me a little motivation i think gave our whole team a little motivation the huskers drove 76 yards on their opening possession of the game and tommy frazier set the tone with this block on a cluster johnson reverse we expect that you know we expect 11 players every time we expect tommy to do that inu's first drive however was halted because of a fumble and two plays later the cougars shocked the 76 000 husker faithful in memorial stadium when frank madue broke free on an 87-yard touchdown run washington state led seven to nothing amazingly it would be the only time during the 1995 regular season that nebraska would trail in a football game we knew when we came off the sideline we knew it was just a fluke play against us and uh there wasn't anybody down a matter of fact we rallied about that play when you said hey you know it's going to happen to any team and if we're going to be a great football team we got to look past it and go on and just shut them out the rest of the game for the first time all season the huskers failed to score in the first quarter but the black shirts were not giving up any ground either reverse play left side fake the double reversal numbers he's tackled for a big big loss late in the first quarter fullback brian shuster got the offense on track with two straight runs totaling 33 yards then on the first play of the second quarter amon green continued the drive darting around the corner on a 24-yard run that set up tommy frazier who scored the first rushing touchdown of the season against washington state's highly regarded defense and it was only the beginning in fact in you scored on four of its five possessions of the second quarter frazier's running highlighted an 11-play 66-yard drive and just five minutes into the second quarter nebraska went in front to stay tommy takes the snap runs the option to the right side big alley inside the 15. [Applause] the game with a career-high 176 yards rushing on just 13 carries set up score number three with this 36-yard run [Applause] moments later chris brown nailed a 33-yard field goal to make it 17-7 huskers as the first half came to a close another green one set up yet another brown field goal east of the 45 bounces off the tackle 35 strip on three 25 20. cuts back inside the 10. the huskers led it half 20 to seven ahman green scored the only touchdown of the third quarter on this three yard run and then chris brown used his arm not his foot on this conversion but the fake it snapped directly to chris brown the passing of the end zone it's a two-point conversion it's good the game appeared to be well in hand entering the fourth quarter with the huskers ahead 28 to 7. washington state however added a pair of touchdowns in the final period to make things interesting but the huskers put the game away midway through the fourth quarter when frasier connected with mark gilman for a 35 yard touchdown [Applause] late in the game with the huskers running out the clock amon green endeared himself to the fans and his teammates with one of the most memorable runs of the season with eight cougars on his back ammon refused to go down me personally is one of the most fired up moments that i've had here you know just watch him do that and that definitely lit a fire under me and i know it did the crowd and the rest of my teammates the huskers beat washington state 35-21 and despite giving up two fourth quarter touchdowns it was a solid outing for the black shirts in you recorded 11 tackles behind the line resulting in 48 yards and losses the huskers also had eight quarterback hurries sophomore russian grant wistrom led the way with four tackles for losses washington state stepped up to the mike and they kind of you know said that hey we're going to try we're going to play with you and we're going to beat you and you know we accepted that as a challenge personally and as a defense you know they made a few comments that they were going to move the ball and scoring us so we uh we took that as a challenge too senior linebacker doug coleman started in place of phil ellis who broke his foot in practice and coleman responded with a team-high six tackles we needed a game like this where we would play a team that was tough for four quarters the upcoming the games before this we really weren't challenged all that much in i think defensively we really needed somebody to push us for four quarters with the non-conference schedule behind them it was now time for the huskers to set their sights on a fifth straight big eight title [Music] missouri had the unenviable task of taking on a nebraska team whose black shirts were not in a giving mood after yielding 21 points to washington state the nu defense wanted to make a statement in the missouri game they were overdue for one and i think they really wanted to go out and prove to the nation that they could be a great defense if they really buckle down and put their heads together the thing that i remember the most is that we as a defensive unit came together and we put everything together and pretty much set them down the whole day played all four quarters and even though we had some of the younger units in there we still didn't give up too many yards and we didn't go up any points and it was our first shot of the year and uh it was our first big stride towards where we're going to be the nu defense dominated missouri holding the tigers to just 120 yards of total offense mizzou entered nebraska territory only twice the entire game and both possessions ended with husker interceptions midway through the first quarter the blackshirts gave the huskers great field position at the tiger 31-yard line from there it took tommy frazier and company just two plays to score tommy on the keep inside the 25 inside the 20 great move another one inside the 15. the 10 the five touchdown tommy freeze with nebraska leading 7-0 in the second quarter the defense continued to come up with big plays senior co-captain tony vela picked off his first pass of the season i saw the ball go in the air so i ran a little faster and just happened to get in my hands and then i saw this open field is something i haven't saw in a long time so i just ran and did what i could with the ball and on the 43-yard return tony kind of looked like the quarterback he used to be well that tony feeling uh he's gone in the second quarter jared thomas set the huskers up in great shape with a fumble recovery at the mizzou 27-yard line [Applause] four straight carries by iman green put the ball at the one-yard line [Applause] tommy frazier then snuck it in to make the score 14 to nothing the huskers took just five plays to cover 64 yards on their next possession jeff makavika picked up 28 yards on two straight carries frazier followed by hitting mark gilman on a 33-yard strike tommy then kept it on the option from a yard out to make it 21-0 [Applause] on the final play of the first half the huskers proved that it's better to be lucky and good throws it down the middle and it is a touchdown deflected after john federal into the hands of brendan holbein a touchdown in the second half the defense continued to frustrate the tigers terrell farley took the ball right off the foot of the missouri punter for a safety and the huskers led 30 to nothing following the free kick it took the huskers just five plays to get their fifth touchdown of the afternoon frazier and gilman connected again for another big game and minamon green capped his first career start by blasting in from nine yards out to make it 36-0 and you covered 58 yards on its next drive mostly through the air first john federal hauled in a perfect fraser pass for 36 yards then tommy alluded a heavy rush and spotted sheldon jackson in the back of the end zone for the first td catch of his career all told frazier was in on a career-best five touchdowns on the day and in the process broke the nebraska school record for total offense tds with 64. it gives me a lot of pride know that i was able to come up saturday to go out and break a couple of records that some of the group one of the great quarterbacks should have here but that's just something i really never thought about i had no idea going to the game that i was only five touchdowns away this was a game for everyone to get involved in the big reds high scoring act matt turman's one yard run late in the third quarter made it 50 to nothing meanwhile the defensive reserves were not about to give up the shutout that was evident when luther harden opened the fourth quarter with one of the biggest hits of the day oh my i'm still on cloud nine from here i can't even explain how it feels i know i broke my remote control at home rewinding and fast forward trying to see the same play and hit you know over and over again because i'm like that's me and i actually did it and i'm looking forward to doing it again to somebody else missouri quarterback brandon corso was sacked a total of four times in the fourth quarter torso drops makes the gift of the tail back wants to throw and he's knocked down for another stack and this time it's chad kelsey props to throw a three-step drop pressure on they got him again for a tackle for a loss the 57 to nothing shutout was a satisfying win for the entire team and it also proved to be a good tune-up for the huskers who were facing a stretch in which three of their next four games would be against teams ranked in the nation's top ten i think the next couple weeks is time for us to go out and show people that we're still the best team in the country and we're going to go out there and try to prove everyone show everyone that they don't want to be playing us on january 2nd [Music] the nation was tuned in for nu's seventh game of the season as the huskers took the field against the eighth ranked kansas state wildcats it was a game in which something had to give nebraska with its powerful ground game led the nation in total offense while the unbeaten wildcats were the best in the country at stopping the run today baby on the wildcats second play of the game it was the nebraska defense who sent a message grant wistrom let matt miller know that the black shirts meant business and on the ensuing punt mike former and mike rucker sent another message we will rock you coleman 45 40 he's gonna go he is gonna go all the way touchdown touchdown touchdown it made me feel good because uh especially being that i transferred out here you know i'm not on scholarship and i'm out there playing being able to contribute to the team it just it just made me smile all night long it was nebraska's first punt return for a touchdown in seven years and it was all set up by one devastating block [Music] i didn't think i hit him that hard i remember hitting him but i didn't think it was that hard i went down to one knee and one of my contacts was coming out and i shut my eyes real quick and then i just seen his helmet flying and then that's when i got up and then i just heard the crowd and that's when i just got this tingle i was hyped for probably about 20 minutes and it didn't come down kansas state did strike bank with a touchdown pass from matt miller to kevin locke to pull within one at seven to six but then it was time for the huskers to show the nation that the defending national champs were again the team to beat in 1995. cluster johnson took his game to new heights on this impressive 12-yard draft behind the punishing block of fullback jeff mcavika amon green gained 33 of his game-high 109 yards to set up the huskers second score a score that came when the huskers got a break john veterel alertly fell on a loose ball for a touchdown giving the big red a 14-6 lead in the second quarter the huskers exploded for three more touchdowns the first coming on a great throw by tommy frazier to sheldon jackson who made an even better catch throughout the day frazier kept the cats attacking defense on the retreat with his unmatched versatility a 23-yard sideline pass to damon benning opened up the middle for avon green to score on a 10-yard shovel pass to make it 28-6 the final touchdown of the half came courtesy of the nu defense as k-state tried a shovel fast of its own double pass deflected caught by nebraska it's going to be a touchdown touchdown for luther harden it's a touchdown i came off and just tried to play my technique and uh saw no pressure and saw the running back coming up underneath and i just got a hand on the ball and tipped it to lou and luckily he was there and was able to take it in that's the loudest i ever heard that crowd and i was pumped up and i saw my friends and it was unbelievable kansas state did mount a drive near the end of the second quarter but jared thomas's two quarterback sacks and another big stop by john hess brought the wildcats drive to a screeching halt 27 seconds left before halftime snapped the miller and he's rushed and he's knocked down by jared thomas again k-state has a reputation for they like to talk a lot and more than anything that just gets us fired up and so we like to come out and really make sure that they know that they've played nebraska when they go home that night yeah i think miller woke up sunday morning and he knew he knew that he was at nebraska with nebraska leading 35-6 kansas state might have been hoping for a husker letdown in the second half but the black shirts were relentless in the third quarter michael booker abruptly ended k-state's opening drive of the half picked off by nebraska 40-45 booker 50-45 and it is michael booker at the 41-yard line of kansas state and on the wildcats next possession doug coleman came up with back-to-back sacks [Applause] on the day the huskers sacked the kansas state quarterbacks nine times for 60 yards and losses nebraska added another touchdown in the third quarter when tommy frazier's fake froze the wildcats leaving john veterel all alone on a 32-yard td we were on national tv and we had a chance to prove to the nation that we were of course to be reckoned with and coming out and getting on top of 42-6 i thought was a big statement in itself leading 42-6 going into the final period coach osborne called on his reserves but the wildcat showed why they were unbeaten and ranked number eight by scoring three quick touchdowns with the score 42-25 and six minutes still left in the game coach osborne sent the first team back in and they responded with a touchdown to put an end to any thoughts k-state had of a miraculous comeback amon green on yet another shovel pass displayed amazing balance to score the final touchdown of the day to make it 49-25 fittingly the game ended the same way it began with a sack this time by mike rucker on this day there was no doubt as to who had the dominant defense as the huskers held kansas state to a minus 19 yards rushing people thought that kansas state could might win that one a lot of people did and defensively they thought that uh that they were going to come in and dominate and we always wanted to show them that you know we do have a a dominant defense and after throwing four touchdown passes against kansas state tommy frazier had established himself as one of the favorites to win the heisman trophy i don't see why not why not give him the heisman trophy because he deserves it he's done it year in and year out and uh they need to stop looking at so many stats because he might not have all this task but we're winning [Music] right hostile environment colorado nebraska since 1989 it's been the game that has decided the big eight title and the 1995 matchup was no different time to go to work here we are in buff land but we about to take over the buffs took to folsom field ranked seventh in the country looking to knock off the second ranked huskers something they had not been able to do since 1990 in his prey game speech coach osborne talked to his team about the pride of nebraska football and what it means to be a husker in a game like this also remember tradition you know you guys come from a long line of great teams great players let's continue that tradition and make all those guys that are pulling for you that have played on other teams proud of what you what you do today moments later co-captain aaron graham sounded like a prophet in his pregame talk to the team this will decide it we will be number one after this game we will be number one [Applause] meanwhile colorado's rookie head coach rick newhizer had some psychological tactics of his own as he brought his buffs into the stadium through the cu student section right before kickoff we knew they were going to gun for us we knew they were going to come for us with everything they got all their emotions and stuff like that and we weren't about to let us you know be known as the team that lost to him in the last couple years so we put in that extra effort as well [Applause] it didn't take long though for the huskers to send colorado fans on a rocky mountain low after stopping cu on its initial possession nebraska needed just one play to score 45 40 35 30. he goes to the 20-15 he's gonna go for the touchdown touchdown touchdown less than two minutes into the game nebraska led seven nothing but colorado would strike back midway through the first quarter john hessler lofted a perfect pass to phil savoy to tie it up but on cu's next possession the black shirts came through over the middle intercepted by nebraska 45 it's farley 40 35 left sideline 30 25 2015 and out of bounds goes terrell farley at the 13-yard line following the interception green picked up nine yards off a frasier shovel pass then tommy kept it himself and rolled to the one the next play amman took a pair of buffs with him as he pulled his way into the end zone to put in you back up by a touchdown a minute and five seconds later the huskers struck again first the blackshirts forced colorado three and out providing excellent field position the offense then struck quickly with another one play drive tommy throws the ball down the right side cluster johnson it's complete inside the 25 to 20 the 15 to 10 or 5. it's a touchdown touchdown touchdown cluster johnson in the second quarter colorado mounted a 15-play drive that ended with a fumble caused by ryan torwilliger but the ball took a buff bounce into the arms of heath irwin who recovered for the touchdown to make it 21-14 nu answered back on its next possession with a 72-yard scoring march first it was frazier to mark gilman for 26 yards then tommy came up with one of the most spectacular plays of his spectacular career tommy under center on first down spakes the stretch play sets up a throw he is going to throw the ball completely on green inside the 30 25 got a block 25 15 inside the 10 yard line i'm on green the drive ended with a 25 yard field goal by chris brown to boost the husker lead to 10. after a cu pun frazier led the huskers on a classic march down the field in the final moments of the second quarter in all tommy completed four of six passes on the drive and also picked up 11 key yards on a quarterback draw then with 10 seconds left in the hand he fired into the end zone and found john federer who made a great catch for the touchdown [Music] inu led by 17 at the half 31-14 colorado did score on its first possession of the second half to pull within 10 of the huskers but again nebraska responded this time with a time-consuming 69-yard drive and again chris brown applied the finishing touches with a perfect field goal the husker defense then set up yet another score for the offense grant wistrom hit hessler as he released the ball which floated into the hands of doug coleman who was there for the interception that turnover led to brown's third field goal this one from 37 yards out going into an environment like that was such a hostile crowd and going in and kicking some some pretty pressure-packed kicks definitely helped me help my confidence a whole lot i feel like i could go back 55 60 yards and split the up heights even then too trailing 37-21 colorado would get the ball just twice more in the game and each time the blackshirts came up with the big plays to stop the bucks the offense meanwhile put the final touches on a most impressive victory with a 12-play 74-yard drive midway through the final quarter that saw tommy frazier at his best after leading the huskers down the field tommy took it in himself to make the final score nebraska 44 colorado 21. last year i missed that game what i really want to play in but being able to go out go out this year and perform the way i did against against a top 10 team on national tv it was just something that i always dreamed of the following day both the ap and coaches polls rewarded the huskers for their impressive win at colorado by voting nebraska the number one football team in the nation i guess gaming in colorado really showed people the voters that nebraska was the best team because we've gone we went two weeks in a row playing top ten opponents and beat them and beat them soundly and if that didn't impress anyone then i guess it never would [Music] after their weekend in the rockies the defending national champions were back home at the top of the rankings and unfortunately for iowa state back home in lincoln where another sellout crowd was on hand to see a nebraska team that was beginning to make its case as the best in husker history by the time the big red was done blowing away the cycle it would be hard to argue that there was one better the points were driven home early and often as nebraska built a 14 to nothing lead before iowa state even touched the ball first it was tommy frazier scoring on the game's opening drive to give enyu the lead then the big red got a big break that all but broke the cyclo on the ensuing kickoff chris brown's unintentional onside kick was recovered by john veterel putting nu in business and iowa state in trouble the drive that followed marked the return of lawrence phillips to the hospitalino but it was amon green who capped the 11-play march by taking a shovel pass from frasier into the end zone for the touchdown one of the most dominant performances in school history was well underway we came down and just blasted them you know blast them real good and then even their coach was amazed you know like you know that's he couldn't say anything the team was so sound i think offensively and defensively and you know i think we all put it together that day when iowa state finally took possession midway through the first quarter all eyes were fixed on cyclone tailback troy davis among those who had sights set on the nation's leading rusher were the blackshirts who zeroed in the entire day and made it a long one for isu's heisman candidate yeah we took a special special challenge because of uh he just came in here and he said you know he's gonna win the heisman on this and make us forget about tommy so we thought that we show him you know we got a good defense and he wasn't going to run all over us while the black shirts were holding davis well below his average his husker counterpart was stealing the show green would score twice more in the first half first on a hard-fought 17-yard run then on a 26-yard trip through the cyclone defense that made it 28-7 by the end of the day greene had tied his career high with 176 yards rushing on just 12 carries to go with his four touchdowns all while running behind an offensive line that cranked out 624 yards on the ground the second best mark all time at nu it was real important for us to go out and have a good offensive day and keep the ball away from their offense that they run so much so you know the offensive line done a great job and you know we just keep wanting to get get better and better there was no letdown and there was no letting up on the cyclones either be it on offense or defense where the blackshirts continue to contain the clones meanwhile tommy frazier and company kept right on rolling it was late in the second quarter when frazier strengthened his own heisman candidacy with a perfect pass to reggie ball that made it 35-7 goes long you've got reggie in the end zone touchdown [Music] the second half began much like the first a special team's recovery set the huskers up in isu territory while the big red did give up a little ground when jeff makavika's run around left in make that right in [Applause] no left in ended in retreat but nebraska more than rebounded when frazier and greene hooked up on another shovel pass that picked up 16 yards to a 1. frazier hopped in the rest of the way and nebraska led 45-7 after another thunderous stand by the blackshirts the husker offense struck like lightning come on to the 40 to 45 to the 50 left sideline 45 he may go 30 25 20. he's gonna go for the touchdown touchdown touchdown later in the third lawrence phillips ran it in from 13 yards out for a touchdown that produced the 10 000 point of the tom osborne era at nu clinton childs followed that up with a 13-yard run of his own that gave the big red a big 66-7 lead for nebraska it was a day that saw everyone get in on the act everyone that is except husker punter jesse kush who saw his only action of the day in pregame warm-ups well i guess that's good if games haven't been decided by the punting yet but if there comes a time when we need some big puns i hope i'm ready at the end of the day number one nebraska had secured the school's 27th consecutive nine win season with a dominating 73-14 win but even at 9-0 the huskers still had plenty of business to take care of with two games left they were still two wins away from what they wanted most another shot at the national championship we have progressed you know game by game i think we're doing a great job by gelling together but um i said we shouldn't really hit our peak around you know these next few games because this is going to tell the tale for the third time in four weeks nebraska faced a top ten opponent as the big red traveled to lawrence for a border battle with 10th ranked kansas a capacity crowd of over 50 000 was on hand but when the huskers took the field in enemy territory they saw an amazing sight half the crowd was wearing red they don't got no home field advantage look at all the redness stands today now down in kansas it was like uh it was our field you know because it seemed like when we looked up in the stands we had more fans than they did so you know all of our fans going down we kind of claim the field is our own nobody's features in our house baby look at it we're away game and i think we had more nebraska fans than they had kansas fans it was just incredible you look up in the stands and you see red and it really gets excited and the huskers gave the fans who traveled to lawrence plenty to cheer about six minutes into the game the nu special team seized the early momentum on jesse kush's booming punt isaac bird backs up takes it at the 15th fumbles the football nebraska's on top of the ball squirts loose into the end zone nebraska covers the football on top of the football for a touchdown [Applause] if you win the special teams as coach always says it's you know 10 14 points actually a game and i think the kansas game was a big factor and the special teams was a big factor in us winning the husker defense as usual was also a big factor the jayhawks came into the game with one of the nation's top ground attacks but managed a mere 72 yards rushing against the shirts on ku's third possession of the game jared thomas stripped the ball from june henley and tony veland recovered at the 20-yard line it would take the huskers just three plays to score on a drive in which tommy frazier again showed why he was the front runner in the race for the heisman option right tommy on the keep he cuts back inside the 25 inside the 20 great move another one inside the 15 the 10. fraser inside the five to the one-yard line tommy followed his fellow seniors steve ott and aaron graham into the end zone on the next play as nu moved in front 14-0 kansas got on the board early in the second quarter with a field goal and then later in the period the jayhawks were again on the move but tyrone williams snagged an interception which halted the drive and i haven't had many opportunities to get an acceptance but i finally got me one secondary we step up to every challenge you know our florida state miami we've always faced those challenges and done well so i expect our secondary to continue doing that in the future the half ended with nebraska in front 14-3 but the huskers weren't totally satisfied with their play we played good the first half you know but not what we wanted to and we all you know thought to ourselves you know we got to pull together you know let's take control this game and you know that's what happened we came out in the second half nebraska's second half dominance began with the third quarter kickoff as damon benning returned the ball 42 yards to give the team excellent field position from there nu ground out an eight-play 58-yard drive highlighted by amon green's 15-yard run and a pair of nifty catches by cluster johnson that totaled 30 yards the huskers marched to the end zone ended with vershon jackson scoring his first career touchdown [Applause] the husker defense meanwhile was really rocking in the second half senior co-captain phil ellis who missed four games due to a broken foot was back at full speed and showed that he was still one of the league's top backers as he picked off his first career interception getting that interception you know it you know it was real exciting for me as my first one and i never thought i'd be getting one i'll fly back because we're getting them this year except me and i am i think i am back ellis interception triggered yet another touchdown drive tommy frazier who rushed for 99 yards in the game decided against the pass and headed up field for a 28-yard pickup with his offensive line paving the way lawrence phillips took it the rest of the way with consecutive carries that resulted in the huskers fourth touchdown of the game just a minute into the fourth quarter nebraska struck for touchdown number five lawrence phillips was regaining his familiar form while tommy frazier continued his assault on the new record books as he became the huskers all-time leader in total offense breaking the 24 year old record set by jerry tagge the final exclamation point of the game was provided by what was becoming the huskers high scoring picked off by nebraska returned 20 25 30. left sideline mike pullman 50 the 40 the 30. mike coleman may go all the way to the 20 the 15. he's going to go mike fullman touchdown 41-3 nebraska had dominated 10th ranked kansas the huskers stretch against top 10 teams was over and on all three occasions top ranked nebraska won by at least three touchdowns when you play the number 10 team in the country and they don't get in the end zone that's a good accomplishment the kansas game showed why nebraska was the number one team in the country and it also showed why the huskers have the number one fans in the nation as well i always knew that the fans were really important but i never knew how dedicated they were and i really found out this last game against kansas i mean whenever you go to somebody else's home and you see more of your fans there than their fans you know that tell you something of course when it comes to big red football husker fans can't ever get too much of a good thing i went to colorado and you feel like you're at home when you travel away because of all the red that's there that's great the fans follow them everywhere no matter where they go they'll be there and we'll win i think we're kind of outnumbering the kansas fans myself and i think that nebraska has a great following whether on the road or at home nebraska enjoys a loyal following second to none for the past 33 consecutive years husker fans have sold out memorial stadium in lincoln a streak that adds up to an incredible 208 consecutive sellouts an ongoing ncaa record oh i've been coming here forever since 55. it all comes down to one simple fact husker fans are simply the best in my opinion i don't think there's any other program in the nation that has the kind of support and loyalty from the fans that we have here at nebraska and you know in 10 20 years from now i'll still be telling people what it was like to play for nebraska and the experience of being a husker yeah they're there's without a doubt uh no place that has better friend fans in nebraska the support that they give us is so tremendous you know they're the greatest fans in the world with the new big 12 conference waiting on the horizon the end of the 1995 regular season also marked the end of an era as nebraska and oklahoma met for the final time in big eight play after 75 years of excellence in college football the league's two most dominant teams got together for one final shootout as season-ending rivals the game also marked the final appearance at memorial stadium for 21 huskers who made up the most successful senior class in school history introduced one by one they took to the field with their fifth straight conference crown already in place and their goal of a second national title clearly in reach as had been the case so often throughout history oklahoma would be the big reds final battle the huskers went about gaining the upper hand in workmen like fashion on the game's opening drive inu's russian combination of ammon green and lawrence phillips set up the game's first score a 31-yard chris brown field goal that made it three to nothing with four minutes gone by it would be all the points nebraska would need this was a day that belonged to the defense that began its all-out attack on the sooner's first play from scrimmage reverse to the left side and they've got it covered a loss back to the 15-yard line grant wistrom all over pj mills [Applause] four plays later jamelle williams intercepted an eric moore pass and raced 36 yards to the end zone for a touchdown and a 10-0 first quarter lead [Applause] throughout the day it was the spirited play of the shirts that dominated in the style indicative of a number one team punishing tackles by jared thomas and company sent a message that after 10 games this was the kind of defense that wins championships yeah it was a good game to play you know against oklahoma it's always a big rivalry here in nebraska and playing at home in front of the crowd for the last time during the year it was really fun to come out and play as well as we did meanwhile the sooner defense was unable to keep the huskers from scoring again before halftime with under a minute left frazier marched his team on a quick drive through ou territory an old-fashioned lawrence phillips gallop for 26 yards got the huskers close enough for chris brown who gave in you a 13 to nothing halftime lead that lead extended to 20 in quarter number three when the high scoring husker defense that's right the defense put it in the end zone again here comes tony the 40 the 35 tony vegan is going to go all the way touchdown touchdown touchdown thomas got good penetration he punched the ball out ball bounce right to me saw nothing but filled i was just thinking not to get caught to make sure i didn't come to me today oklahoma's offense was simply no match for the husker d not on the scoreboard and certainly not at the line of scrimmage where ou managed just 51 yards rushing on the day meanwhile the nu offense was beginning to flex its muscle and after brown hit his third field goal frazier connected with john federal on a 38-yard scoring strike in the fourth quarter that made it 30 to nothing the finishing touches on the game and the regular season were provided in the final minute by joel mcavika whose never say die 17-yard touchdown run exemplified the heart of the 95 huskers after it was over everybody's saying it was a great run and things like that and after after the fact seeing it on espn and things like that just made it kind of exciting moments later it was over nebraska 37 oklahoma nothing they had done it the final challenge of the 95 regular season had been conquered with a shutout as the huskers headed to the locker room they did so knowing that they were headed to tempe we got to be at the top of our game when we hit that game let's make sure we win it go out 12-0 something hardly anybody's done in the history of football winning that many games in that length of time so congratulations and uh done a great job [Applause] they were unbeaten at 11-0 they were winners of five consecutive big eight titles and now the nebraska cornhuskers were going to the fiesta bowl to play for another national championship tostitos fiesta bowl bar [Music] a job well done it was business as usual the 1995 season of nebraska football was now in the books 11 chapters each one a little different the ending the same all authored by the man who for the past 23 years has rewritten the standards of excellence for his profession standards of consistency of character and of winning that have made tom osborne one of the most respected leaders in college football the win over oklahoma was his 230th career victory as the huskers head coach giving him an incredible average of 10 wins per season an accomplishment unparalleled in the history of the game i've said many times i've never won a game you know you can't win a game stand over on the sideline and we've got an excellent organization here we have great support from the people in the state i've always had a great staff and and then we've always had great great work ethic among the players if football is the ultimate team game then tom osborne could be considered its ultimate team player as a coach he selflessly passes the credit for the program's success to the people around him especially to his players but those who have learned about the sport of football and about the game of life under his tutelage know that it is their coach who stands at the source of nebraska's success coach i was born is like a father figure for everybody down here and you know everyone looks up to him he's good for every word that he says to you you know that's what keeps a lot of the players around here going they just feel that not that they own something but you know just that they appreciate you know the type of things that he'll go out on the limb and do for us and i mean everyone wants to just play hard every game for coach i was born and the rest of the coaching staff because of the way they hold their words with it's been pretty remarkable playing for coach joshua i don't think there's a more honest man i don't think there's a more deserving coach of the success that he's had his past years and it's been a great honor for me just playing for him or getting to know the guy to know that he really cares for his players you know he's like a father to me basically everything he's done for me i mean i love the guy i do anything for him and you know what what he's done for me and what he's done for this program the state that you know the people it's just i mean he's one of the greatest man i know winning a national title is never easy defending one is even tougher the road taken by tom osborne and his huskers through the 1995 regular season was far from smooth but now the huskers are poised to take the final step on this unforgettable journey we're going to remain focused through this month and i'm positive we're not going to have any type of let downs in our work ethic and and what we've been doing to put ourselves in the position we're in we have a goal we set it early in the season and we're going to finish that goal and i don't think anything's going to stop that i think a lot of guys remember last year what we went through and how we prepared for that i think that's going to carry over this year for the nebraska football team this was not a campaign to rest on the laurels of past history no this was a team of players coaches and fans who were determined to make history after all it had been 40 years since a college football team recorded back-to-back undefeated and untied national championship seasons as the sun set on 1995 the huskers found themselves right back where they started the new year right back where they belong with the national title a win away nebraska was unbeaten ranked number one and adding to the legacy of its decade of dominance [Music] you

Channel: bmboldt

Views: 92,727

Keywords: Nebraska, Huskers, Football

Id: XVj7dYI0BNQ

Length: 75min 22sec (4522 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 12 2016