American college football season
1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers football |
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Coaches Poll national champion Big 12 champion Big 12 North Division champion Orange Bowl champion |
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Big 12 Championship Game, W 54–15 vs. Texas A&M |
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Conference | Big 12 Conference |
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Division | North Division |
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Ranking |
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Coaches | No. 1 |
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AP | No. 2 |
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Record | 13–0 (8–0 Big 12) |
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Head coach | - Tom Osborne (25th season)
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Offensive scheme | I formation |
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Defensive coordinator | Charlie McBride (17th season) |
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Base defense | 4–3 |
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Home stadium | Memorial Stadium |
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Seasons |
1997 Big 12 Conference football standings | Conf | | | Overall |
Team | | W | | L | | | | | W | | L | |
North Division |
No. 2 Nebraska † xy$ | | 8 | – | 0 | | | | | 13 | – | 0 | |
No. 8 Kansas State % | | 7 | – | 1 | | | | | 11 | – | 1 | |
No. 23 Missouri | | 5 | – | 3 | | | | | 7 | – | 5 | |
Colorado | | 3 | – | 5 | | | | | 5 | – | 6 | |
Kansas | | 3 | – | 5 | | | | | 5 | – | 6 | |
Iowa State | | 1 | – | 7 | | | | | 1 | – | 10 | |
South Division |
No. 20 Texas A&M xy | | 6 | – | 2 | | | | | 9 | – | 4 | |
No. 24 Oklahoma State | | 5 | – | 3 | | | | | 8 | – | 4 | |
Texas Tech | | 5 | – | 3 | | | | | 6 | – | 5 | |
Texas | | 2 | – | 6 | | | | | 4 | – | 7 | |
Oklahoma | | 2 | – | 6 | | | | | 4 | – | 8 | |
Baylor | | 1 | – | 7 | | | | | 2 | – | 9 | |
Championship: Nebraska 54, Texas A&M 15 |
- x – Division champion/co-champions
- y – Championship game participant
- † – Coaches Poll National Champion
$ – Bowl Alliance representative as champion % – Bowl Alliance at-large representative
Rankings from AP Poll |
The 1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by 25th-year head coach Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Cornhuskers competed as members of the Big 12 Conference in the league's second year of existence.
The Cornhuskers compiled a perfect 13–0 record and claimed their third national championship in four years. Nebraska was ranked first in the final Coaches Poll of the year, but was ranked second behind Michigan (also undefeated, at 12–0) in the final AP Poll. Of the 20 official championship selectors designated by the NCAA, 13 selected Nebraska as national champions, six selected Michigan, and one declared them co-champions.[1] It remains one of the most hotly contested national championship debates in college football history.[2]
Nebraska secured their first Big 12 Conference championship by defeating Texas A&M by a score of 54–15 in the Big 12 Championship Game. Nebraska had been upset by Texas in the inaugural Big 12 Championship Game in 1996. The season ended with a 42–17 victory over No. 3 Tennessee in the 1998 Orange Bowl for their fourth consecutive major bowl victory.
The Nebraska offense, which led the country in scoring, was led by quarterback Scott Frost and running back Ahman Green. Frost became just the tenth player in college football history to both pass and run for 1,000 yards. Green finished second in the country in rushing yards with 1,877 yards, and tied for third in touchdowns with 22.[3] Offensive lineman Aaron Taylor was named a consensus All-American and was the recipient of the Outland Trophy. The Cornhusker defense was anchored by All-American defensive linemen Jason Peter and Grant Wistrom, winner of the Lombardi Award.
Head coach Tom Osborne announced after the regular season that the Orange Bowl would be his final game as head coach. He retired as Nebraska's all-time winningest coach, and was sixth in wins all-time in major college football history at the time of his retirement.[4]
Schedule
[5]
Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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August 30 | 1:00 pm | Akron* | No. 6 | | | W 59–14 | 75,124 |
September 13 | 12:30 pm | UCF* | No. 6 | - Memorial Stadium
- Lincoln, Nebraska
| | W 38–24 | 75,327 |
September 20 | 2:30 pm | at No. 2 Washington* | No. 7 | | ABC | W 27–14 | 74,023 |
October 4 | 6:00 pm | No. 17 Kansas State | No. 3 | - Memorial Stadium
- Lincoln, Nebraska (rivalry)
| FSN | W 56–26 | 75,856 |
October 11 | 6:00 pm | at Baylor | No. 3 | | | W 49–21 | 38,175 |
October 18 | 12:30 pm | Texas Tech | No. 2 | - Memorial Stadium
- Lincoln, Nebraska
| | W 29–0 | 75,764 |
October 25 | 6:00 pm | at Kansas | No. 1 | | FSN | W 35–0 | 42,000 |
November 1 | 2:30 pm | Oklahoma | No. 1 | - Memorial Stadium
- Lincoln, Nebraska (rivalry)
| ABC | W 69–7 | 75,926 |
November 8 | 2:30 pm | at Missouri | No. 1 | | ABC | W 45–38 OT | 66,846 |
November 15 | 11:30 am | Iowa State | No. 3 | - Memorial Stadium
- Lincoln, Nebraska
| FSN | W 77–14 | 75,613 |
November 28 | 1:30 pm | at Colorado | No. 2 | | ABC | W 27–24 | 52,738 |
December 6 | 3:30 pm | vs. No. 14 Texas A&M | No. 2 | | ABC | W 54–15 | 64,824 |
January 2 | 7:00 pm | vs. No. 3 Tennessee* | No. 2 | | CBS | W 42–17 | 72,385 |
- *Non-conference game
- Homecoming
- Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
- All times are in Central time
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Roster and coaching staff
1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team roster |
Players | Coaches |
Offense Pos. | # | Name | Class | FB | 38 | Dan Alexander | Fr | OL | | Steve Altstadt | Fr | OT | 70 | Eric Anderson | Sr | TE | 94 | Travis Antholz | So | WB | 82 | Sean Applegate | So | C | 52 | Matt Baldwin | So | G | 76 | Sasho Becvarovski | Fr | SE | 20 | Tom Beveridge | Fr | WB | 14 | Lance Brown | Jr | IB | 36 | Correll Buckhalter | Fr | TE | 90 | Tim Carpenter | Sr | SE | 6 | Kenny Cheatham | Jr | QB | 9 | Monte Christo | Jr | OT | 68 | Jeff Clausen | So | FB | 42 | Josh Cobb | Jr | WB | | Ben Cornelsen | Fr | WB | | Tyler Cotten | Fr | QB | | Eric Crouch | Fr | SE | 3 | Matt Davison | Fr | TE | 85 | T.J. DeBates | So | SE | | Luke Denney | Fr | OT | 77 | Billy Diekmann | Fr | SE | 2 | J.R. Edwards | So | IB | 4 | DeAngelo Evans | So | WB | 12 | Demond Finister | So | SE | 83 | Craig Fischer | So | SE | | Pat Friesen | Fr | QB | 7 | Scott Frost | Sr | WB | | Paul Fujan | Fr | OT | 74 | Lonnie Fulton | So | SE | 10 | Mike Gentile | Fr | G | 72 | Ben Gessford | Jr | WB | 27 | John Gibson | Fr | IB | | Marcus Giles | Fr | FB | | Nick Gragert | Fr | IB | 30 | Ahman Green | Jr | OL | | Mike Green | Fr | SE | 80 | Billy Haafke | Jr | G | 53 | Aaron Havlovic | So | OT | 51 | Kyle Henson | Jr | C | 59 | Josh Heskew | Jr | G | 55 | Russ Hochstein | Fr | G | 62 | Matt Hoskinson | Sr | TE | 88 | Sheldon Jackson | Jr | TE | 34 | Vershan Jackson | Sr | G | 56 | Marcus Johnson | So | SE | | Nate Johnson | Fr | WB | | Jordan Jones | Fr | OT | 69 | Adam Julch | So | FB | 22 | Ben Kingston | So | TE | 87 | Chad Kobus | So | OL | | Kyle Kollmorgen | Fr | SE | 89 | Jeff (Robert) Lake | Sr | FB | 40 | Billy Legate | Jr | QB | 1 | Frankie London | So | FB | 45 | Joel Makovicka | Jr | TE | 41 | Jake McKee | Fr | FB | 32 | Willie Miller | Fr | TE | 81 | John Murphy | Fr | QB | 12 | Bobby Newcombe | Fr | IB | 37 | Jason Olnes | So | IB | 36 | Hank Piening | Fr | OT | 73 | Fred Pollack | Sr | OT | 57 | Ryan Preister | Fr | C | | Dominic Raiola | Fr | OL | | Buck Rasmussen | Fr | TE | 86 | Dorrick Roy | Jr | QB | 16 | Jay Runty | Fr | G | | Jon Rutherford | Fr | G | 79 | Chris Saalfeld | Fr | FB | 21 | Matt Schoening | Fr | OT | 65 | Jason Schwab | So | C | 54 | Doug Seaman | Sr | G | 63 | James Sherman | So | IB | 31 | James Sims | Sr | IB | 25 | Travis Soucie | Fr | FB | 43 | Jeremy Stanislav | Fr | OT | 95 | Jim Tansey | So | G | 67 | Aaron Taylor | Sr | OT | 71 | Mike Van Cleave | Sr | WB | 26 | Casey Vanderhoef | Fr | OL | | Dave Volk | Fr | G | 61 | Brandt Wade | Jr | RB | | Dan White | Fr | WB | 33 | Sean Wieting | Sr | WB | 5 | Shevin Wiggins | Jr | QB | 3 | Chad Wiles | Fr | FB | 24 | Andy Winkler | So | TE | | Tracey Wistrom | Fr | G | 64 | Jon Zatechka | Sr | | Defense Pos. | # | Name | Class | DT | 95 | Derek Allen | So | DT | 89 | Luis Almanzar | Fr | LCB | 28 | Josh Anderson | Fr | WLB | 40 | Erick Arens | So | WLB | 36 | Rod Baker | Fr | RE | 87 | Chris Bassett | Sr | LCB | 24 | Jason Benes | Sr | DB | | Mic Boettner | Fr | DB | | Dion Booker | Fr | ROV | 21 | Mike Brown | So | RCB | 22 | Ralph Brown | So | MLB | 39 | Ben Buettenback | So | LB | | Grant Bunton | Fr | LB | | Jamie Burrow | Fr | LB | | Jon Coyne | Fr | SLB | 54 | Chris Deitloff | Fr | DB | | Damian Demps | Fr | RCB | 2 | Leslie Dennis | Sr | ROV | 17 | George Dittrick | Fr | DT | 58 | Brandon Drum | Jr | DT | 61 | Jason Dush | Fr | FS | 33 | Mitch Ebke | Fr | FS | | John Eisenberg | So | FS | 20 | Clint Finley | Fr | FS | 5 | Eric Fischer | Fr | MLB | 44 | Jay Foreman | Jr | SLB | 34 | Russell Froehlich | Jr | RCB | 18 | Jay Gates | Sr | DT | 77 | Bobby Gill | So | RE | 75 | Matt Grummert | Fr | RE | 9 | George Guidry | Fr | LB | | Chris Gustafson | Fr | FS | 45 | Brad Hamik | Fr | CB | 2 | Brandon Harrison | Jr | SLB | 49 | Quint Hogrefe | Jr | DB | | Matt Ickes | Fr | WLB | 50 | Julius Jackson | So | WLB | 1 | Eric Johnson | Jr | DT | 88 | Dave Jones | Sr | DT | 91 | Loran Kaiser | Fr | RE | 57 | Chad Kelsay | Jr | WLB | 47 | Josh Kohl | So | RE | 82 | Curt Lenners | Sr | ROV | 29 | Gregg List | So | ROV | 6 | Kalin Makaiwi | Jr | DT | 97 | Glen Matthews | Jr | DT | 85 | Jason McCullough | Jr | WLB | 4 | Octavious McFarlin | Sr | DL | | Matt McGinn | Fr | FS | 25 | Greg McGraw | So | LB | | Levi Mehl | Fr | DT | 78 | Tom Milius | So | RE | 93 | Brandon Mooberry | Fr | SLB | 37 | Tony Ortiz | So | LB | | Jon Penny | Fr | DT | 55 | Jason Peter | Sr | LCB | 11 | Jerome Peterson | So | MLB | 13 | Carlos Polk | Fr | ROV | 14 | Brandon Quindt | Fr | SLB | 23 | Steve Raymond | So | RCB | 10 | Khari Reynolds | Fr | LB | | Brandon Roth | Fr | RE | 84 | Mike Rucker | Jr | RE | 80 | Eric Ryan | So | SLB | 46 | Brian Shaw | So | RE | 76 | Scott Siebenborn | Fr | LB | | Ryan Svoboda | Fr | DB | 16 | Erwin Swiney | Fr | LB | | Nick Terrio | Fr | DT | 79 | Ross Tessendorf | Jr | DB | | Alik Tillery | Fr | RE | 92 | Travis Toline | Jr | DB | | Arion Turner | Fr | MLB | 48 | Chad Tuttle | Fr | MLB | 56 | Noland Urban | Fr | LB | | Simon Van Boening | Fr | RE | 83 | Kyle Vanden Bosch | Fr | LB | | Mark Vedral | Fr | CB | 27 | Joe Walker | Fr | DT | 94 | Brian Walters | Fr | FS | 32 | Eric Walther | Jr | RE | 90 | Brandon Wardyn | Fr | FS | 3 | Eric Warfield | Sr | DT | 96 | Steve Warren | So | ROV | 42 | Troy Watchorn | Fr | LB | | J.P. (John Paul) Wichmann | Fr | RE | 81 | Aaron Wills | So | DT | 99 | Jason Wiltz | Jr | RE | 98 | Grant Wistrom | Sr | DB | | Wes Woodward | Fr | RE | 38 | Brendan Zahl | Sr | | Special teams Pos. | # | Name | Class | PK | 35 | Kris Brown | Jr | PK | 12 | Dan Hadenfeldt | So | P | 19 | Jesse Kosch | Sr | P | 23 | Bill Lafleur | Jr | PK | 28 | Chace Long | Fr | P | 8 | Brian Morro | Jr | PK | 13 | Ted Retzlaff | Sr | P/PK | | Chuck Tack | Fr | | - Head coach
- Coordinators/assistant coaches
- Charlie McBride
17th season as DC/DL coach 21st year at Nebraska Alma mater: Colorado - Turner Gill
6th season as QB coach 6th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Nebraska - Craig Bohl
3rd season as LB coach 6th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Nebraska - Ron Brown
11th season as WR/TE coach 11th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Brown - Dan Young
15th season as OL/K coach 15th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Reed - Milt Tenopir
24th season as OL coach 24th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Sterling - Nelson Barnes
1st season as RE coach 1st year at Nebraska Alma mater: North Texas - George Darlington
DB coach 25th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Rutgers - Frank Solich
15th season as RB coach 19th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Nebraska - Boyd Epley
29th season as S&C coach 29th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Nebraska - Legend
- (C) Team captain
- (S) Suspended
- (I) Ineligible
- Injured
- Redshirt
Roster Last update: 2011-01-17 |
Depth chart
Defense | FS | Eric Warfield | Clint Finley | Eric Walther | | WILL | MIKE | SAM | Octavious McFarlin | Jay Foreman | Brian Shaw | Eric Johnson | Carlos Polk | Tony Ortiz | Juiles Jackson | Ben Buettenback | Quint Hogrefe | | ROVER | Mike Brown | Brandon Quindt | Gregg List | | CB | Erwin Swiney | Joe Walker | Brandon Harrison | | | DE | DT | DT | DE | Grant Wistrom | Jason Peter | Jason Wiltz | Chad Kelsay Mike Rucker | Travis Toline | Brandon Drum | Steve Warren | Kyle Vanden Bosch | Aaron Wills | Loran Kaiser | Derek Allen | Brandon Mooberry | | | CB | Ralph Brown | Jerome Peterson | Khari Reynolds | | Offense | WR | Kenny Cheatham | Jeff Lake Matt Davison | ⋅ | | | LT | LG | C | RG | RT | Fred Pollack | Aaron Taylor | Josh Heskew | Jon Zatechka | Eric Anderson | Adam Julch | James Sherman | Matt Hoskinson | Matt Hoskinson | Jason Schwab | Mike Van Cleave | Brandt Wade | Matt Baldwin | Ben Gessford | Jeff Clausen | | TE | Vershan Jackson Tim Carpenter | Sheldon Jackson | T.J DeBates | | WR | Lance Brown | Bobby Newcombe Shevin Wiggins | ⋅ | | | QB | Scott Frost | Frankie London | Monte Christo | | | | RB | Ahman Green | Correll Buckhalter | James Sims | | | FB | Joel Machovicka | Billy Legate | Willie Miller | | Special teams | PK Kris Brown | P Jesse Kosch | KR Shevin Wiggins Joe Walker | PR Bobby Newcombe | | | | | |
Game summaries
Akron
Akron at Nebraska | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | Akron | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | • Nebraska | 14 | 24 | 14 | 7 | 59 | |
UCF
UCF at Nebraska | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | UCF | 7 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 24 | • Nebraska | 0 | 14 | 17 | 7 | 38 | |
Washington
Nebraska at Washington | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | • Nebraska | 14 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 27 | Washington | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | |
Kansas State
Baylor
Nebraska at Baylor | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | • Nebraska | 14 | 28 | 7 | 0 | 49 | Baylor | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 | |
Texas Tech
Texas Tech at Nebraska | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | Texas Tech | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | • Nebraska | 3 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 29 | |
Kansas
Nebraska at Kansas | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | • Nebraska | 7 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 35 | Kansas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Oklahoma
Oklahoma at Nebraska | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | Oklahoma | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | • Nebraska | 20 | 14 | 21 | 14 | 69 | |
Missouri
Nebraska at Missouri | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total | • Nebraska | 14 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 45 | Missouri | 7 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 38 | |
Iowa State
Iowa State at Nebraska | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | Iowa State | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | • Nebraska | 35 | 28 | 7 | 7 | 77 | |
Colorado
Nebraska at Colorado | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | • Nebraska | 3 | 7 | 17 | 0 | 27 | Colorado | 0 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 24 | |
Texas A&M
Texas A&M vs Nebraska | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | Texas A&M | 0 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 15 | • Nebraska | 16 | 21 | 3 | 14 | 54 | |
Tennessee
Tennessee vs Nebraska | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | Tennessee | 0 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 17 | • Nebraska | 7 | 7 | 21 | 7 | 42 | |
Statistics
- QB Scott Frost: 88/159 (55.3%) for 1,237 yards (7.80) with 5 TD vs. 4 INT (2.52%). 176 carries for 1,095 yards (6.22) and 19 TD.
- RB Ahman Green: 278 carries for 1,877 yards (6.75) with 22 TD. 16 catches for 151 yards and 0 TD.
- FB Joel Makovicka: 105 carries for 685 yards (6.52) and 9 TD.
- RB Correll Buckhalter: 54 carries for 311 yards (5.76) and 6 TD.
- WR Lance Brown: 12 catches for 226 yards (18.83) and 0 TD.
- WR Matt Davison: 10 catches for 219 yards (21.90) and 1 TD.
Rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking | Week |
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Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
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AP | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
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Coaches | 6 | | 6 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
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After the season
Nebraska Head Coach Tom Osborne announced his retirement just prior to the 1998 Orange bowl, capping a remarkable career of success. The #2 Cornhuskers handily defeated the #3 Tennessee Volunteers 42-17, while #1 Michigan defeated #7 Washington State team 21-16. In postgame coverage on the field, Nebraska quarterback Scott Frost openly lobbied Coaches Poll voters for support based on performance comparisons between Nebraska and Michigan.[6] The voters apparently agreed, as Nebraska was ranked #1 in the final Coaches Poll, while Michigan retained their pre-bowl #1 ranking in the AP Poll, creating a split National Championship. The 1997 Huskers set an NCAA record that still stands by scoring an average of 5.5 rushing touchdowns per game (66 rushing touchdowns in twelve games, not including the six scored in the Orange Bowl).[7]
Awards
[8]
Award | Name(s) |
Lombardi Award | Grant Wistrom |
Outland Trophy | Aaron Taylor |
Big 12 Male Athlete of the Year | Grant Wistrom |
All-America 1st team | Jason Peter, Aaron Taylor, Grant Wistrom |
All-America 2nd team | Ahman Green |
All-America 3rd team | Eric Anderson |
All-Big 12 1st team | Eric Anderson, Mike Brown, Ralph Brown, Scott Frost, Ahman Green, Jason Peter, Aaron Taylor, Grant Wistrom |
All-Big 12 2nd team | Jay Foreman |
All-Big 12 3rd team | Josh Heskew, Chad Kelsay, Eric Warfield, Jon Zatechka |
All-Big 12 honorable mention | Kris Brown, Jesse Kosch, Joel Makovicka, Fred Pollack, Mike Rucker, Jason Wiltz |
NFL and pro players
The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1997 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.[9]
References
- ^ 2017 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). Indianapolis: The National Collegiate Athletic Association. July 2017. p. 115. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
- ^ Ogden, Tim (July 30, 2009). "1997 The Great Debate". Bleacher Report.
- ^ "1997 College Football Year Summary". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
- ^ Moran, Malcolm (December 11, 1997). "After 25 seasons, Osborne to retire". The New York Times.
- ^ "Football - 1997 Schedule/Results". University of Nebraska–Lincoln Athletics Department. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Scott Frost Nebraska Head Coach". YouTube.
- ^ "Football Bowl Subdivision Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2010.
- ^ 1997 Husker Honors
- ^ "All Time NFL Huskers". Archived from the original on August 15, 2009. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
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Venues | - Lincoln Park (1890–1895)
- "M" Street Park (1894–1996)
- Antelope Field (1897–1908)
- Nebraska Field (1909–1922)
- Memorial Stadium (1923–present)
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Bowls and rivalries | |
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Culture and lore | |
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People | |
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Seasons | |
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National championship seasons in bold |
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National championships in bold |