Rebuilding a Dynasty Part One: 1990 – Hitting Bottom

1 comment so far April 24, 2006 by Steve Hanway

The first in a four-part series on Nebraska’s climb to the top of college football in the early 1990’s.

They say hindsight is 20/20, but some Husker fans can be pretty myopic when it comes to Tom’s Osborne’s reign as head coach at Nebraska. To listen to some, you might think that Nebraska played for the national championship every season or that people always had faith in Dr. Tom. Of course, that’s not really how things were at all.

The first fifteen of Tom’s 25 years as Nebraska’s head coach were spent mostly with “Sooner envy”. Sure, NU fans could look down on Oklahoma as a dirty program, but that didn’t make the losing to the Sooners any easier. And there was a lot of losing. In Tom’s first fifteen seasons he managed only 4 wins in sixteen meetings against the Sooners (including a 1979 Orange Bowl rematch). From 1981-1983, the Huskers beat OU and took sole possession of the conference crown each year. Not coincidentally, those Husker teams also nearly won national championships, coming up just short each time. The good times didn’t last as the Sooners won the next four meetings between the two schools and Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer captured his third national championship in 12 seasons.

Led by a dominating defense, the 1988 Husker squad got the last laugh over Switzer’s squad and stood alone atop the Big 8. The season ended on a less than happy note when Nebraska lost 23-3 to Miami in the Orange Bowl, the worse offensive performance of an Osborne team in over 10 years.

With Switzer on the way out, it seemed like it was finally time for Nebraska to take hold of the conference. But Colorado was waiting.

Nebraska started strong in 1989. Behind Gerry Gdowski, the Huskers came out of the gate 8-0 and did not let any opponent get closer on the final scoreboard than 12 points (but none of the teams NU faced were ranked either). Facing #2 Colorado in Boulder, Nebraska lost a close one 27-21 but managed to dispatch with its next two opponents (including unranked Oklahoma) with ease. In the Fiesta Bowl, #5 Florida State took Nebraska to the woodshed, soundly beating the Huskers 41-17.

Once again in 1990, the Huskers cruised to 8-0 against a soft schedule heading into the showdown with #9 (and eventual co-national champion) Colorado. After 4 quarters, the Huskers lead by quarterback Mickey Joseph lead 12-0. Undaunted, the CU players held 4 fingers in the air to start the quarter then rolled off 4 touchdowns to win 27-12. Nebraska bounced back enough to beat everyone’s favorite homecoming opponent, Kansas, in Lawrence. Next up was a trip to Norman to face a then unranked Oklahoma team. It turned out to be Nebraska’s worst loss under Tom Osborne, a turnover-filled disaster that the Husker’s lost 45-10. Reeling from that embarrassment, the Huskers closed out the year with a 45-21 spanking at the hands of #2 (and ultimately co-national champion) Georgia Tech, Nebraska’s third double-digit loss in four games.

After the 1990 season, it was common to hear comments like Tom’s offense is “too predictable”, “too conservative”, or “he can’t win the big one”. Nebraska had failed to beat the last 5 ranked teams it faced and many believed that things were only going to get worse. With Bob Devaney still the athletic director, Osborne’s job was safe but the sentiment was the Huskers were no longer capable of competing with the best teams in college football or even the best team in its own conference.

Mostly, under the radar was the arrival of some talented players in early 1990 including “linebacker” Terry Conneally, wingback Corey Dixon, running back Calvin Jones, linebacker Donta Jones, fullback Cory Schlesinger, guard Brendan Stai, “safety” Ed Stewart, walk-on guard Joel Wilks, and offensive tackles Zach Weigert, and Rob Zatechka. After the disappointing season another strong class came in that included quarterback Brook Berringer, linebacker Doug Colman, “safety” Troy Dumas, linebacker Phil Ellis, tight end Mark Gilman, center Aaron Graham, “linebacker” Dwayne Harris, wingback Abdul Muhammad, defensive tackle Christian Peter, and defensive back Tony Veland. The Huskers were reeling, but they were also building the foundation for something special.

Next - Part Two: 1991 – A Pivotal Year

Photo credit: Skyline Pictures

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