Rozier Hall of Fame Induction Well Deserved

2 comments so far December 8, 2006 by Steve Hanway

For a two-time All-American and Heisman trophy winner, you’d think that Mike Rozier’s name would come up ad nauseaum with Husker fans. But you don’t hear, “We need another Rozier” the way you hear “we need another Mike Brown”. So is it possible that a Heisman-winning running back could be underrated by Husker fans?

Look at the NCAA all-time statistics and you will see that none other than Mike Rozier holds the record for yards per carry in a season (with a minimum of 214 rushes ) at 7.8 with 275 rushes for 2,148 in his Heisman season of 1983. Think about that for a minute. Every single time Dr. Tom called a running play to Rozier, the Huskers gained nearly 8 yards. No wonder that team was labeled the Scoring Explosion.

But it’s not just one season either. Rozier also holds the NCAA career record for yards per carry (with a minimum of 414 rushes) at 7.2 with 668 rushes for 4,780 yards from 1981-1983. Again, imagine as a head coach being able to call his number and know you’d get an average of 7.2 yards each time he touched the ball. No wonder the Huskers won the Big 8 outright in each of the three years he played. That included three of Tom Osborne’s five career wins against Barry Switzer.

Rozier, of course, holds a fair number of Husker records as well, including the most career touchdowns by a running back (49, second only to Eric Crouch’s 59), most career yards (4,780), most career 100-yard games (26), best season for rushing yards and touchdowns (2,148 and 29, respectively), and the most 200-yard games (7).

Still, his achievements tend to be discounted because the Huskers didn’t win a national championship (though they played for one in 1981 and 1983, and were deserving in 1982) and he had a lot of talent around him (including Turner Gill, Irving Fryar, Dean Steinkuhler, and Dave Rimington).

Offense was never where the Huskers came up short. And while Rozier benefited from the talent surrounding him, players like Ahman Green and Lawrence Phillips also benefited from the richness of talent surrounding them (on both sides of the ball). The fact is, Rozier was the most productive back Nebraska has ever had (and likely will ever have). At a school that’s won rushing titles in bunches, that’s saying an awful lot. So Rozier is extremely deserving of going into the college football Hall of Fame, but also deserves more respect from Husker fans than he probably gets. If he’d come along in the era of Sportscenter, where every highlight was replayed, he might well get his due.

But instead, his numbers will just have to do the talking, because in terms of yards per carry in the history of college football – no one has ever been better.

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