Welcome to installment No. 15 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 9, 1970 – Headline: ‘Reliever’ Tagge Hurls NU to Victory
Bob Devaney went to the bullpen for Jerry Tagge Saturday, and the strike-throwing reliever pitched Nebraska another step closer to the Big Eight football championship and a post-season bowl bid. Tagge directed an awesome attack which buried Iowa State 54-29 as Van Brownson was limited to holding the ball for the kicker. The Cornhuskers unleashed all the bombs in their scoring arsenal and outclassed the Cyclones. Tagge riddled the league leading Iowa pass defense with 18 completions in 27 attempts for 223 yards and sent Jeff Kinney and Joe Orduna around and through the baffled Cyclones for 342 yards on the ground.
Afterwards Devaney turned to Kansas State. “The next two weeks could be our toughest games,” Devaney pointed out. “Kansas State is coming on strong and both they and Oklahoma still have a chance to win or tie for the Big Eight Championship.” One of the things in Nebraska’s favor is both those games will be in Memorial Stadium.
(The Huskers were lucky to have two quarterbacks talented enough to start. I love the idea of Anthony Colandrea playing quarterback for the Huskers, but competition is a must. We saw that with Dylan Railoa.)
October 30, 1980 – Headline: Jeff Quinn Keys Husker Offense
The quarterback is the field general. When he does the job well, the team also does well. That being the case, the Missouri-Nebraska matchup has all the makings for a great Big Eight Conference clash. Sixteenth ranked Missouri, 6-1, is led by quarterback Phil Bradley, a two-time all-Big Eight signal caller. Ninth ranked Nebraska, also 6-1, is headed by quarterback Jeff Quinn, the No. 2 passer in the NCAA’s proficiency ratings.
No doubt Jarvis Redwine, Craig Johnson, and Roger Craig will have something to say in the outcome. Running back James Wilder will be on hand for the Tigers. For those of you who don’t remember, Wilder rushed for 181 yards and 4 touchdowns against the Blackshirts two years ago.
But the real decisions will be in the hands of the quarterbacks and generally the best man wins. “The better the quarterback, the more problems he can create for a defense,” said Lance Van Zandt, defense coordinator for the Cornhuskers.
(I had to also add this nugget. Nebraska Monster back Sammy Sims jammed his wrist Wednesday in practice, but x-rays revealed nothing. I played Sammy in Texas when we were in high school. I was a center and he played middle linebacker. Man, he could fly, it’s questionable if I made a block on him all night. Rest in Peace Sammy.)
October 10, 1990 – Headline: Osborne Sympathizes
Nebraska coach Tom Osborne says he can sympathize with Colorado, Missouri, and the Big Eight Conference officiating crew that worked the controversial Colorado win at Missouri last Saturday. Colorado won 33-31 in the final seconds on what game films and records showed to be a fifth down. The Big Eight suspended the entire seven-man crew for its mistake. Osborne made light of the situation when asked if he was put in Colorado’s place and was asked to forfeit the game because of the illegal play. “What I’d probably do is I’d say, ‘Yea we’d be right to forfeit the game,’ knowing the rules wouldn’t allow us to do that. But you’d look like a good guy and yet you’d still have the win. That would be the best way to handle that one.” Colorado said it would not forfeit under any circumstances.
(Colorado went on to win a portion of the 1990 National Championship due to what happened at Missouri. Colorado won the Associated Press poll, while Georgia Tech won the UPI Coaches Poll.)
October 21, 2000 – Headline: NU Tunes Up Attack for OU Showdown
If No. 1 Nebraska was looking past Baylor to next week’s game against third-ranked Oklahoma, it didn’t show. The Cornhuskers scored on their first nine possessions and went on to a 59-0 victory. The Huskers outgained the Bears 189 yards to 1 in the opening quarter and didn’t start a possession in their own territory. Nebraska’s 38 points in the quarter topped the school record of 35, set three times. With a 52-0 halftime lead, coach Frank Solich was able to rest most of his starters. Baylor finished with just 84 total yards, 5 rushing. The loss spoiled the return of Baylor coach Kevin Steele and assistant Tommie Frazier. Steele coached Nebraska’s linebackers in the early 1990s and Frazier, Baylor’s running backs coach, was the Huskers’ quarterback when they won national titles in 1994 and ’95. It was Nebraska’s most one-sided win since a 69-7 victory over Oklahoma in 1997. The No. 3 Sooners get their first rematch since that blowout. “We look at every game the same, but this one — Oklahoma — is one of those with something extra,” center Dominic Raiola said.
(Until I ran across this, I had forgotten Kevin Steele was the head coach at Baylor and had hired Frazier. The pair made a big contribution to some great Husker teams.)
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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