Nebraska Cornhuskers football under Tom Osborne covers the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's football program during Tom Osborne's twenty-five-year tenure as head coach.
Osborne joined Bob Devaney's coaching staff in 1962 and was named offensive coordinator in 1969. Osborne's I formation offense led Nebraska to back-to-back national championships and he succeeded Devaney as head coach in 1973. Osborne won at least nine games in each of his twenty-five seasons but struggled against rival Oklahoma early in his tenure. He introduced option concepts to his offense, culminating in record-setting rushing attacks nicknamed "The Scoring Explosion." Nebraska dominated the Big Eight and national scene in the early 1980s, but by the decade's end had been surpassed by southeast opposition. After seven consecutive bowl losses, Osborne broke through in 1994 and won his first national title from a major selector; Nebraska repeated as champion in 1995, a team that is considered among the best ever. Osborne retired in 1997, winning a third national title in his final season.
Osborne is regarded as one of the best coaches in college football history and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999. In addition to the I formation and option, his Nebraska teams are remembered for strong line play, the product of groundbreaking strength and conditioning programs developed under Devaney and Osborne.
Prelude Bob Devaney was hired at Nebraska in 1962 and led the program to unprecedented national success. By 1967, however, frequent losses to quality opposition raised concerns his teams couldn't regularly compete at the highest level. After consecutive 6–4 seasons, Devaney gave offensive control to thirty-one-year-old I formation disciple Tom Osborne, a move Devaney said "saved his career."
Osborne's later teams were famous for their prolific use of the run-heavy I-form option, but his first offenses relied on a more balanced attack with similarities to modern spread formations. Osborne's I-form design included a wingback, a position made famous at Nebraska by versatile offensive and special teams weapon Johnny Rodgers. Devaney and Osborne hired Boyd Epley, who founded one of the country's first football-focused weightlifting programs and is sometimes considered the "father of modern strength and conditioning." Epley served on Nebraska's football staff until 2006.
Nebraska started 2–2 in Osborne's first year leading the offense but won its final seven games and went undefeated in 1970, winning its first national championship after a chaotic bowl season. Nebraska repeated as champion in a dominant 1971 season highlighted by a 35–31 win over No. 2 Oklahoma in "The Game of the Century." NU's 1971 team is considered among the best in college football history.
Devaney planned to retire but was convinced to return in 1972 to try for an unprecedented third straight title. He named Osborne his successor prior to the season and players later suggested the "murky" chain of command may have hindered the team, which saw its thirty-two-game unbeaten streak end in week one. NU beat Notre Dame 40–6 in the Orange Bowl in Devaney's final game as head coach. Devaney remained at the school and worked with Osborne as athletic director until 1993.
Osborne's head coaching tenure Succeeding a legend (1973–1979)
Once the job was his, Osborne promoted Monte Kiffin to defensive coordinator (a position he had unofficially held for several years) and hired Jerry Moore from SMU as his wide receivers coach and primary offensive assistant. Osborne's first game was a 40–13 victory over UCLA in a top-ten matchup on September 8, 1973. Nebraska spent much of the season ranked second nationally but was upset by Missouri in October, Osborne's first head coaching loss. After a loss in Norman to end the regular season (the first meeting between Osborne and Barry Switzer, who succeeded Chuck Fairbanks the same year Osborne replaced Devaney), NU was invited to play in the Cotton Bowl against Southwest champion Texas. The Cornhuskers beat the Longhorns 19–3 on a frigid day in Dallas, Nebraska's fifth consecutive bowl victory.
Quarterback David Humm was Nebraska's most prolific passer of the era; his 5,035 passing yards were a program record for over thirty years. He suffered a concussion during NU's 1974 game against Missouri, Nebraska's second straight loss to the Tigers. Humm recovered to lead the team through the remainder of the season, including a sixth consecutive bowl victory, and finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting. When Humm graduated, Osborne turned to California transfer Vince Ferragamo to lead his offense. The Cornhuskers began 1976 as the country's top-ranked team but dropped after a week-one tie at LSU. Despite upset losses to Missouri and Iowa State, Nebraska had a chance to win the Big Eight championship against Oklahoma – instead, OU used a pair of fourth-quarter trick plays to complete a ten-point comeback, prompting Switzer to coin the term "Sooner Magic." NU went 4–3 in the Big Eight, the worst conference finish in any of Osborne's twenty-five seasons, and he came to believe he would have been fired if Nebraska lost to Texas Tech in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl.
NU opened 1977 with an upset loss to Washington State and head coach Warren Powers, a former defensive assistant under Devaney and Osborne. Nebraska fell out of the AP poll for the first time since 1969, but seven days later gave Alabama its only loss of the season behind 128 rushing yards from Rick Berns and two interceptions from future state governor Jim Pillen. The Cornhuskers again limped to the finish of the regular season, but a late comeback in the Liberty Bowl against North Carolina gave Osborne his fourth bowl victory in five seasons. Nebraska lost a season-opening rematch with Alabama in 1978 but won nine straight games before hosting top-ranked Oklahoma, a team Osborne had yet to defeat. Nebraska sealed a 17–14 victory when Pillen recovered a Billy Sims fumble at NU's three-yard line with 3:28 remaining, the last of ten OU fumbles. The following week, Nebraska – one win away from a likely meeting with Penn State to determine a national champion – was upset by Missouri and new head coach Warren Powers despite a school-record 255 rushing yards from Berns.
Osborne interviewed with Colorado following the 1979 Orange Bowl, later saying "I thought there was enough unhappiness here that maybe I ought to look for a job." CU offered a considerable salary increase and Osborne even traveled to Boulder to meet the team, but he ultimately declined the offer, not wanting the coach against the players he had recruited to Nebraska.
The Scoring Explosion (1980–1983) The early years of Osborne's tenure were defined by struggles against Oklahoma and its run-heavy wishbone offense – from 1973 through 1979 OU went 7–1 in the series despite averaging less than five pass attempts per game. Osborne had always used some option concepts but they were limited given the skillsets of pass-first quarterbacks Tagge, Humm, and Ferragamo. By the late 1970s, Osborne was primarily recruiting option-style quarterbacks, beginning with Jeff Quinn, who became Nebraska's starter late in 1979. NU led the country in rushing yards in 1980, the first of eleven times under Osborne. Nebraska was one of four 1980 national champions retroactively selected by David Rothman's FACT but does not claim the title.
Osborne's offensive transformation was complete in 1981 when he turned to dual-threat sophomore Turner Gill after a 1–2 start dropped NU out of the national top twenty-five. In Gill's first start, Nebraska set an NCAA record with forty-two first downs in a 59–0 win over Colorado. NU regained its national ranking the following week and did not fall out of the AP poll again until 2002. The Cornhuskers finished 9–2 with Gill and Mark Mauer rotating at quarterback and earned an Orange Bowl bid against undefeated Clemson. The Tigers won 22–15; Nebraska was still selected as co-champion by the National Championship Foundation but does not claim it. Second-ranked Nebraska traveled to Penn State early in 1982 – trailing by three with fourteen seconds remaining, a fifteen-yard Todd Blackledge pass to Mike McCloskey was ruled complete at the NU two-yard line despite McCloskey landing out of bounds. Without replay review to overturn the call, the Nittany Lions scored on the next play to win 27–24. It was Nebraska's only loss – though the Cornhuskers were named national champion by mathematical selector Berryman QPRS, 11–1 Penn State was awarded the title by the AP and coaches.
Nebraska started 1983 ranked No. 1 and won a rematch with Penn State 44–6 in the first Kickoff Classic. Osborne's option attack – led by Gill, Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier, and future No. 1 NFL draft pick Irving Fryar – averaged 57.8 points across its five non-conference games and earned the nickname "The Scoring Explosion." Nebraska survived a conference-opening scare against Oklahoma State and marched through the rest of its schedule, finishing 12–0 with an NCAA-record 624 points scored. NU fell behind Miami in the Orange Bowl; trailing 17–0 early in the second quarter, the Cornhuskers converted a fumblerooski, a trick play which had Gill set the ball on the ground to be picked up by All-American guard Dean Steinkuhler, who ran nineteen yards for a touchdown. Nebraska trailed most of the game until Jeff Smith scored with less than a minute remaining to make the score 31–30. Instead of kicking an extra point to tie the game (likely resulting in Nebraska being voted national champion), Osborne elected to go for two and the outright win; Gill's conversion pass fell incomplete. Osborne's 1983 team is considered among the best to not win a major championship.
Late-80s regression (1984–1989) Nebraska replaced nine offensive starters in 1984 but the country's top scoring defense kept NU in championship contention. The unit was led by Charlie McBride, who joined Osborne's staff when Monte Kiffin departed in 1976 and was promoted to defensive coordinator in 1982. McBride's 5–2 defense held No. 8 UCLA and No. 9 Oklahoma State to three points each in dominating victories, but Nebraska was denied a national title opportunity when Oklahoma beat the top-ranked Cornhuskers in the season's final week. Nebraska beat LSU in the Sugar Bowl to finish 10–2 and was named national champion by the Litkenhous ranking, the last of five consecutive seasons NU was awarded a title it does not claim. In 1986, sophomore quarterback Steve Taylor accounted for four touchdowns in a week-one win over Florida State in the first night game at Memorial Stadium. Taylor led the country's top scoring offense until an October 25 trip to Boulder; Colorado's 20–10 win was its first over the Cornhuskers in nineteen years. NU beat LSU in the 1987 Sugar Bowl, its last bowl victory until 1994.
After three consecutive victories over Oklahoma early in the 1980s, Nebraska again struggled against the Sooners as the decade progressed – season-finale losses to OU in 1985 and 1986 cost the Cornhuskers any shot at a Big Eight championship. The teams alternated the top spots in the AP poll throughout 1987 and met in November in what was billed as "The Game of the Century II." Oklahoma dominated the second half to upset No. 1 Nebraska and claim the Big Eight outright for the third straight season. NU fell to Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl, the first of seven consecutive bowl losses to southeastern opposition.