A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Nebraska Cornhuskers football | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
 | |||
| First season | 1890; 134 years ago | ||
| Athletic director | Troy Dannen | ||
| Head coach | Matt Rhule 2nd season, 5–7 (.417) | ||
| Stadium | Memorial Stadium (capacity: 85,458[1] record: 91,585[2]) | ||
| Field surface | FieldTurf | ||
| Location | Lincoln, Nebraska | ||
| Conference | Big Ten | ||
| Past conferences | WIUFA (1892–1897) Big Eight (1907–1918; 1921–1995) Big 12 (1996–2010) | ||
| All-time record | 917–424–40 (.678) | ||
| Bowl record | 26–27 (.491) | ||
| Claimed national titles | 5 (1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997) | ||
| Unclaimed national titles | 7 (1915, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1993) | ||
| Conference titles | 46 | ||
| Division titles | 10 | ||
| Rivalries | Colorado (rivalry) Iowa (rivalry) Kansas (rivalry) Kansas State (rivalry) Miami (FL) (rivalry) Minnesota (rivalry) Missouri (rivalry) Oklahoma (rivalry) Wisconsin (rivalry) | ||
| Heisman winners | Johnny Rodgers – 1972 Mike Rozier – 1983 Eric Crouch – 2001 | ||
| Consensus All-Americans | 54[3] | ||
| Current uniform | |||
 | |||
| Colors | Scarlet and cream[4] | ||
| Fight song | Hail Varsity | ||
| Mascot | Herbie Husker Lil' Red | ||
| Marching band | Cornhusker Marching Band | ||
| Outfitter | Adidas | ||
| Website | huskers.com | ||
The Nebraska Cornhuskers football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Big Ten Conference. Nebraska has played its home games at Memorial Stadium since 1923 and sold out every game at the venue since 1962.[5]
Nebraska is among the most storied programs in college football history and has the eighth-most all-time victories among FBS teams.[6] NU has won 46 conference championships and five national championships (1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, and 1997), along with seven other national titles the school does not claim. The 1971 and 1995 title-winning teams are considered among the best ever.[7][8] Nebraska's three Heisman Trophy winners – Johnny Rodgers, Mike Rozier, and Eric Crouch – join twenty-two other Cornhuskers in the College Football Hall of Fame.[9]
The program's first extended period of success came just after the turn of the century. Between 1900 and 1916, Nebraska had five undefeated seasons and completed a stretch of thirty-four consecutive games without a loss, still a program record.[10] Despite a span of twenty-one conference championships in thirty-three seasons, the Cornhuskers did not experience major national success until Bob Devaney was hired in 1962. In eleven seasons as head coach, Devaney won two national championships, eight conference titles, and coached twenty-two All-Americans, but perhaps his most lasting achievement was the hiring of Tom Osborne as offensive coordinator in 1969.[11] Osborne was named Devaney's successor in 1973, and over the next twenty-five years established himself as one of the best coaches in college football history with his trademark I-formation offense and revolutionary strength, conditioning, and nutrition programs.[12][13][14] Following Osborne's retirement in 1997, Nebraska cycled through five head coaches before hiring Matt Rhule in 2022.[15]
History
Seasons
Conference affiliations
- Independent (1890–1891; 1898–1906; 1919–1920)
- Western Interstate University Football Association (1892–1897)
- Big Eight (1907–1918; 1921–1995)
- Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1907–1918; 1921–1927)
- Big Six (1928–1947)
- Big Seven (1948–1959)
- Big 12 (1996–2010)
- Big Ten (2011–present)[16]: 2
Head coaches
Nebraska has had thirty-one head coaches in the program's history, with five others coaching at least one game on a non-permanent basis. The program has been coached by Matt Rhule since 2023.
Six past Nebraska head coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame: Edward N. Robinson, Fielding H. Yost, Dana X. Bible, Biff Jones, Bob Devaney, and Tom Osborne. Osborne is the program's all-time leader in most major categories; his 0.836 career winning percentage is fifth-highest in major college football history.[17] Thirteen Nebraska coaches have won a conference championship at the school, and Devaney and Osborne combined to win five national titles.
Championships
National championships
Nebraska has won five consensus national championships.[18] The first of these came in 1970 under the leadership of head coach Bob Devaney and featured a unique quarterback rotation between Van Brownson and Jerry Tagge.[19] Nebraska entered the 1971 Orange Bowl ranked third nationally, but losses by No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Ohio State – along with a late game-winning touchdown rush by Tagge – gave NU its first consensus title. The Cornhuskers repeated as national champion the following season with Tagge as the full-time starter, a team that is often considered one of the best in college football history.[20] Nebraska was challenged just once all season, a 35–31 victory over No. 2 Oklahoma in Norman that was billed the "Game of the Century."[20] Wins over Colorado and Alabama (the latter in the 1972 Orange Bowl) made NU the only national champion to defeat the teams that finished No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 in the final AP poll.[20]
Tom Osborne replaced Devaney in 1973, and despite several near-misses, did not win his first national title until over two decades into his tenure.[a] Nebraska's 1994 title-winning season, nearly derailed when star quarterback Tommie Frazier was sidelined with blood clots in September, was capped by a 24–17 victory over Miami in the Orange Bowl.[21] With Frazier at full strength the following season, NU repeated as national champion; its 62–24 Fiesta Bowl victory over Florida was the largest margin of victory in a national title game until 2023. The team is often considered among the best in college football history.[22][23] Osborne's final title came in 1997, two years later. The most significant moment of the season was a game-tying touchdown against Missouri that became known as the "Flea Kicker."[24] Top-ranked Nebraska won the game in overtime, but was jumped in both major polls by Michigan. Postseason wins over Texas A&M and Tennessee vaulted NU back ahead of the Wolverines in the Coaches Poll.
| Year | Coach | Record | Bowl | Result | Final AP | Final Coaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Bob Devaney | 11–0–1 | Orange | W 17–12 vs. LSU | No. 1 | No. 3[b] |
| 1971 | 13–0 | Orange | W 38–6 vs. Alabama | No. 1 | No. 1 | |
| 1994 | Tom Osborne | 13–0 | Orange | W 24–17 vs. Miami (FL) | No. 1 | No. 1 |
| 1995 | 12–0 | Fiesta | W 62–24 vs. Florida | No. 1 | No. 1 | |
| 1997 | 13–0 | Orange | W 42–17 vs. Tennessee | No. 2 | No. 1 |
Unclaimed national championships
Nebraska has been awarded seven other national championships from NCAA-designated major selectors the school does not claim.[18]
| Year | Coach | Record | Bowl | Result | Selector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 | Ewald O. Stiehm | 8–0 | – | – | BR |
| 1980 | Tom Osborne | 10–2 | Sun | W 31–17 vs. Mississippi State | FACT |
| 1981 | 9–3 | Orange | L 22–15 vs. Clemson | NCF | |
| 1982 | 12–1 | Orange | W 21–20 vs. LSU | Berryman QPRS | |
| 1983 | 12–1 | Orange | L 31–30 vs. Miami (FL) | Berryman QPRS, DeS, FACT, L, MGR, Poling System, Sagarin | |
| 1984 | 10–2 | Sugar | W 28–10 vs. LSU | L | |
| 1993 | 11–1 | Orange | L 18–16 vs. Florida State | NCF |
Conference championships
Nebraska has won forty-six conference championships. The earliest of these came in the short-lived Western Interstate University Football Association, one of college football's first conferences, which NU participated in for six seasons with Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri.[25] The conference dissolved in 1897 and NU spent the next decade as an independent until the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association – which became the Big Eight – was founded in 1907. Nebraska dominated the MVIAA in its early years, winning nine championships in twelve years before leaving the conference in 1919 to again play as an independent. NU rejoined in 1921 and won the conference twelve times before 1940. Following Biff Jones's departure to become the athletic director at Army in 1941, NU went twenty-two seasons without a conference championship.
Devaney was hired in 1962 and quickly turned NU into a powerhouse, winning eight conference titles and two national titles during his eleven years as head coach. Osborne succeeded him in 1973 and won thirteen conference championships; the late-season meeting between Nebraska and Oklahoma often became a de-facto Big Eight championship game, as the two schools combined to win at least a share of the conference title thirty-three times during Devaney and Osborne's combined thirty-six-year tenure.[7] Osborne's final conference championship was a victory in the 1997 Big 12 Championship Game in the second year of its existence. Nebraska won the Big 12 again two years later, its most recent conference championship.