Rebuilding a Dynasty Part Two: 1991 - A Pivotal Year
This is the second in a four-part series on Nebraska’s climb to the top of college football in the early 1990’s.
The 1991 team is one that has never really gotten it's due. Still smarting from the 1-3 finish to 1990, this is the group that had the mental toughness to change the direction of the team. Instead of being a team that couldn't get to the Orange Bowl, Nebraska went to its first Orange Bowl since 1988 and for only the second time since 1983. No small feat. Nebraska also had lost its last 5 games to ranked teams. The 1991 squad beat two and tied a third (on the road).
The team didn't begin the season with a sure starter at quarterback. Mickey Joseph started the first game of the season as the #1 QB (more because of his number of previous starts than his ability to distance himself from the other QB's) and it became Joseph's last start for Nebraska. At home versus Utah State in the opener, Mickey Joseph gave way to Keithen McCant in the second quarter who threw a touchdown pass to Johnny Mitchell. I-back Calvin Jones had two touchdowns in his Husker debut (a sign of things to come) as Nebraska broke their own NCAA record with 44 first downs.
A week later McCant got his first start and didn't disappoint in leading NU to a 71-14 victory over Colorado State in week two. "We-backs" Derek Brown and Calvin Jones each scored a pair of touchdowns in the rout.
Week 3 was a big test for the Huskers when they hosted #4 Washington and for 3 quarters they seemed up to the challenge. Nebraska took a 14-6 halftime lead and a 21-9 lead in the third quarter after Derek Brown scored his second TD of the day which narrowed to 21-16 entering the fourth. The floodgates opened for what would become a national championship Huskies squad when they scored 20 fourth quarter points and held Nebraska without a single first down in the final period to win 36-21. Nebraska was now 0-6 in its last six against ranked teams and had to head to #24 Arizona State the following week.
In this turning point game, Keithen McCant ran for a score and threw for another to lead Nebraska to its first win over a ranked team since 1988. Nebraska beat ASU 18-9 in a nationally televised game after falling behind 9-8. It didn't change Nebraska's image as a team that can't score versus good teams. It did prove to the nation - and more importantly proved to the team - that they could beat a ranked team.
Nebraska next cruised to an easy 49-15 win over Oklahoma State on the road, but played a surprisingly close game at home versus Kansas State (a sign of things to come). Linebacker Travis Hill tipped away a pass at the goal line that would have given the Wildcats a chance to tie or win the game with a conversion in the 38-31 NU win. NU easily dispatched Missouri in Lincoln 63-6 in its next conference game. Then sitting on the schedule was Colorado, a team Nebraska hadn't beaten since 1988.
The Huskers got on the board first in this cold weather slugfest with a Byron Bennett field goal. The Buffs scored the next ten points before Nebraska scored what could have been a tying touchdown on a pass to Jon Bostick. Instead, CU blocked the PAT and returned it 85 yards to take a 12-9 lead. Nebraska tied the game at 12 before CU scored a 3rd quarter touchdown to take a 19-12 lead entering the final quarter. This time it was the Huskers who threw four fingers in the air, determined to turn the tables on the Buffs. The blackshirts did their job holding CU to 24 yards in the final period. Derek Brown tied the game with 6:41 remaining on a 7-yard run. Nebraska had one last chance at victory, but Bennett's 40-yard field goal attempt was blocked as time expired (and as he was pelted by snowballs from the stands). Yes, the tie robbed the Huskers of a chance to get revenge on the Buffs, but it was also clear the Buffs were the team that was lucky to come away with a tie. The Buffs were no longer in the NU players' heads and this time the Huskers were the team making the late surge. The course of history in the Big 8 had changed.
A week later, with the Huskers playing the Jayhawks in Kansas, something else was about to change. So far that year, Derek Brown had been the star I-back. He put together a string of seven consecutive games over 100 yards to open the season. This time he left in the second quarter with an injury and NU trailing 17-0. Calvin Jones entered the game and made Husker fans quickly forget Brown's injury. Jones rushed for 294 yards and six touchdowns despite missing the first quarter, totals that will likely remain Husker records for decades. While Kansas was not a ranked team they did enter the game with the nation's 14th ranked total defense. The final score was NU 59 KU23, with NU rolling for nearly 600 total yards.
After a more pedestrian 38-13 win over Iowa State in Lincoln, Nebraska finished at home with #19 Oklahoma on Thanksgiving weekend. A loss would send Colorado to the Orange Bowl and give the Buffs their third straight outright Big 8 title. A Husker win would mean the Huskers and Buffs would share the conference title and Nebraska would go to the Orange Bowl by virtue of its better win-loss record. The Sooners came in with a chance to win ten games (including the bowl) for the first time since 1987. The Sooners started quickly and lead 14-3, but again the resilience and mental toughness of this NU squad emerged as the blackshirts stiffened up. NU scored to open the second half on a five-yard McCant run and added a Bennett field goal early in the fourth quarter. With just over 7 minutes remaining the Huskers drove 80 yards in ten plays (feeding the ball to Calvin Jones on nine of them, including his 15-yard touchdown run to win the game 19-14). The goalposts came down and the Huskers were Big 8 champs again for the first time since 1988.
The season ended with a whimper for the Huskers as they were embarrassed 22-0 by co-national champion Miami and held to 82 rushing yards. The national media (and many of the fans) still believed that Nebraska needed to change its offense to have any hope of competing with the national powerhouses. But Nebraska had taken a major step forward. They'd beaten ranked teams, they won their conference. They were 15 minutes from beating the co-National Champion, they tied the defending national champion on its home field. The bad news was that Keithen McCant was graduating and big-play tight end Johnny Mitchell was leaving early for the pros. It was very possible that they could take a step or two backwards without these standouts. Mickey Joseph would also be leaving, making Mike Grant the only returning quarterback with any experience.
Still the "we-backs" were returning along with linebacker Travis Hill. That year's recruiting class included one Tommie Frazier, the top option quarterback in the country. He was joined by offensive linemen Chris Dishman and walk-on Adam Treu, defensive backs Mike Minter, Tyrone Williams, Kareem Moss, and Toby Wright, running backs Damon Benning and Clinton Childs, and linebacker Jon Hesse (among others).
Not everyone believed in Nebraska after the 1991 season, but that year the Huskers proved enough to make believers of themselves.
Next - Part Three: 1992 – Making Strides
Photo credit: Husker J
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