Nebraska

The Rise & Fall of the Nebraska Football Dynasty

Published

1 year ago

July 22, 2024

The Rise & Fall of the Nebraska Football Dynasty

First in a series of six articles was written by long time Husker fan Chris Fort. Here is a little background on Chris.

I was born and raised in Illinois and currently reside in Chicago. I have no ties to the university, unless you count an uncle with a degree from Colorado and a hatred for all things Husker. I was initially intrigued after Black 41 Flash Reverse, but after learning about the sellout streak, Brook’s story, Osborne going for two, etc. I was infatuated. My first game as a fan was the 2001 Buffaloes game – clearly, I’m the bad luck charm. Still, I’m a diehard fan who wholeheartedly believes Nebraska is what college football should be.

In late October 2001, the Nebraska Cornhuskers met their old foe Oklahoma on Tom Osborne Field under a clear blue sky. It was their 80th time lining up against one another and this time promised to be a classic for the ages. Oklahoma came in the reigning national champions and winners of twenty straight, a number two ranking in the Associated Press poll. Nebraska, too, came in undefeated, winners of their last nineteen in Memorial Stadium and ranked number three in the country. ESPN’s College Gameday crew set up shop outside an endzone, extolling the virtues of each team to a national TV audience and playing clips from classic OU-NU games. Fans filed into the stadium early in their scarlet and cream with signs that said, “Vote for Crouch,” echoing chants of ‘Go Big Red’ from North Stadium to South. The stage was set.

A defensive struggle ensued, the clacking of pads and the grunts from the trenches being picked up on the ABC broadcast. With the Huskers clinging precariously to a 13-10 lead in the 4th quarter, thoughts turned to “Big Game” Bob Stoops, the hot young coach who presided over a title in just his second year and boasted an 8-0 record against top ten opponents. How would he work his Sooner Magic to break Husker hearts? On the other sideline stood the diminutive Frank Solich, in his fourth year as head coach, with questions hanging over him as to whether he’d ever be a worthy successor to Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne. The coach who once fudged his weight as a player always did struggle measuring up.

Solich bucked his conservative reputation and sent in a trick play. You know the one – Black 41 Flash Reverse. Quicksilver quarterback and Heisman hopeful Eric Crouch hiked the ball from under center and handed it to Thunder Collins, who was motioning from the left side of the field on an end around. Converted wideout Mike Stuntz had rolled from his receiver post to the backfield and took the pitch from Collins. He twisted the ball in his hand to get the laces without breaking step, cocked back his left arm, and lofted a beautiful spiral to Crouch, who had snuck out of the backfield undetected and was now striding down the sideline. The Nebraska bench went wild, players leaping high into the air, shouting themselves hoarse as an elated crowd of 78,000 woke the dead with their deafening cheers. Crouch rumbled to the end zone untouched to secure the victory, the Heisman Trophy, and a berth in the fabled Rose Bowl. To date, it is the last time the Cornhuskers have defeated a Top 5 opponent.

2001 is a demarcation line in Husker annals: there is before and there is after. In the 40 years immediately preceding 2001, Nebraska recorded forty winning seasons and, for thirty-three consecutive years spanning 1969 to 2001, won no fewer than nine games each season—a remarkable feat during an era when eleven-game seasons were the norm. Aside from a combined three weeks of absences (1 in 1977 and 2 in 1981), Nebraska appeared in every AP Top 25 poll released from week 7 of 1969 until week 6 of 2002. They finished in the top 10 of either the AP or Coaches poll in 30 of those 40 years; three quarters of the time, fellow coaches or journalists thought the Huskers among the ten best in the country. During this period, Nebraska won twenty-two conference championships and five national championships (and left several others unclaimed), amassing a total of 398 victories, 44 more than Penn State and 46 more than Alabama, who rank as second and third place, respectively, during the same period.

The Huskers did this despite their inherent recruiting challenges and despite the ground shifting throughout the decades – scholarship limits squeezing tighter and tighter, recruiting scandals at neighboring schools, and changing academic requirements by the NCAA.

How did Nebraska, a state with a small population and limited recruiting base, achieve such dominance in college football? The answer to the big red riddle lay in the very fabric of the state’s origins, whose residents embodied the rugged spirit of their pioneer forebears. Nebraska cultivated excellence on the gridiron much like the early settlers cultivated the state’s tough farmland: with stubborn determination and a daring to do what hadn’t been done before. This mindset, coupled with the strategic brilliance of coaches Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne, created the “Big Red Machine,” a finely tuned enterprise engineered for unparalleled success, designed to demoralize opponents and calibrated to punish.

But the end came as swiftly as the rise. Post-2001, Nebraska’s football program saw a precipitous decline in its play on the field. The signs of decay were visible before 2002, but the Huskers were still cloaked in their aura of invincibility. The fall from grace was marked by the end of their prized streaks and the dismantling of a coaching staff whose roots traced back to the 1960s. Fans who had grown accustomed to dominance were left in shock, their pride replaced with bewilderment and frustration. Reasons for the Big Red breakdown have been bandied about barstools and internet forums for a generation but never definitively stated. Until now.

To get to the end, we must first start at the beginning. Prior to legendary coach Bob Devaney’s ascendance to the head role in 1962, Nebraska was mired in two decades of middling-to-below-average play that yielded just three winning seasons, a slide that started at the onset of World War Two when students went off to war and only programs with robust military training programs were able to assemble competent teams. Things became so bleak that in 1960 beleaguered Husker coach Bill Jennings told an Omaha crowd, “I don’t think this state can ever be great in anything .”

Nebraska was not devoid of traditional excellence prior to Devaney’s arrival and the start of the 40-year dynasty. This was a program that stymied the great Red Grange, that dealt the mythical Four Horsemen of Notre Dame their only collegiate losses, that didn’t incur a defeat for three straight seasons (1913 – 1915), and that, until the forties, averaged better than a sixty-eight-win percentage in every decade. Nebraska had a rich history that was all but forgotten by the time JFK took office.

Devaney instilled belief in the thirty-eight Huskers who suited up in Ann Arbor his first year against the heavily favored Michigan Wolverines. They heard laughs rain down from the Wolverine faithful. And why wouldn’t they? Nebraska had lost 125 games in the last 20 years, second most in the country, and only managed a single finish in the AP Top 25 poll. But a de-cleating hit by Bill ‘Thunder” Thornton let the Wolverine faithful know that this Husker outfit was different. Thunder cracked several more ferocious hits and rolled for two touchdown runs, propelling Nebraska to a lead they’d never relinquish and a victory that registered across the country. “The Cornhuskers of Nebraska chugged along like a well-oiled threshing machine,” read the Detroit News the next day.

And under Devaney and his protégé Tom Osborne, it rarely stopped chugging. In eleven seasons as head coach, Devaney went 101-20-2, winning eight conference titles and two national championships. The sellout streak began later that first year when Missouri visited Memorial Stadium. Nebraska would finish the season winning the Gotham Bowl in frigid Yankee Stadium against the University of Miami, the school’s first ever bowl win and the cap to the first of forty consecutive winning seasons.

But it all started with the ’62 Michigan win, Devaney’s biggest according to the man himself. A spark had been lit in the state of Nebraska. The machine had ignition.

2004 Bill “Thunder” Thornton interview

1962 Nebraska vs. Michigan game page

Next up: Recruiting and Development Rise

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, following HuskerMax on X, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.

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Nebraska

Former Husker Medically Retires from Football, Forgoes NFL Draft

Published

4 hours ago

January 5, 2026

Press Room

Former Husker Medically Retires from Football, Forgoes NFL Draft

Ernest Hausmann is electing to hang it up after a four-year run in college football.

The former Nebraska football and Michigan linebacker announced on social media Saturday that he is medically retiring rather than pursuing a pro football career. Hausmann concludes his college football career with over 250 career tackles in 50 career games. The Columbus, Neb., product finished his final season as Wolverines with 44 tackles, including 5.5 tackles for loss and a sack.

Prior to becoming a national champion with Michigan during his sophomore campaign in 2023, Hausmann was a true freshman standout for Nebraska, playing for his in-state team. The Columbus High School graduate was one of the top prospects in Nebraska during his prep career, becoming an All-Nebraska selection and earning a three-star recruitment rating as the No. 5 player in the state for the Discoverers. Hausmann signed with Nebraska over Arizona State, Iowa, Kansas State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and others.

The linebacker would play in every game of the 2022 season as a true freshman, earning seven starts while finishing with 54 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, a sack, and a fumble recovery in Scott Frost’s final season as head coach. After Frost was fired early in the season, interim coach Mickey Joseph led lead the team as Hausmann’s play improved as the season continued. The linebacker had a 12-tackle performance at Wisconsin in Nebraska’s 15-14 loss in his second-to-last performance as a Cornhusker before ending the year with six solo tackles and a fumble recovery in a Nebraska win at Iowa.

Hausmann entered the transfer portal after his freshman campaign, electing to join the Michigan Wolverines for the 2023 season. He appeared in all 15 games in the Wolverines’ 2023 national championship run, finishing third on the team with 46 total tackles, including two tackles for loss. He also earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors in Michigan’s Big Ten Championship Game win over Iowa, totaling eight tackles against the Hawkeyes.

Hausmann started all 13 games as a junior for Michigan in 2024, leading the team with 89 tackles, seven tackles for loss, two sacks, two pass breakups, and one interception. His performance led to an All-Big Ten honorable mention selection by the media and coaches, as well as earning a ReliaQuest Bowl win over Alabama while being named a captain for the game.

Oct 18, 2025; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines linebacker Cole Sullivan (23) and linebacker Ernest Hausmann (15) celebrates in the first half against the Washington Huskies at Michigan Stadium. | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

During his senior campaign, Hausmann was named a Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year semifinalist while earning an All-Big Ten Third-Team selection. He earned four Defensive Player of the Week honors for the Wolverines, and started in Michigan’s 30-27 win at Nebraska on Sept. 20, totaling nine tackles and a sack.

Hausmann was born in Uganda and was legally adopted when he was two years old, but did not join his Hausmann family until he was five years old in 2008. Prior to his senior campaign at Michigan, Hausmann returned to Africa and later partnered with One Million Wells, a nonprofit that seeks to provide water to impoverished communities.

The Wolverine linebacker began communication with his biological family through social media in the past few years, as Hausmann was able to speak to his mother for the first time in 2024. His return journey to Uganda was featured on ESPN’s College GameDay as a feature story earlier in the college football season.

Hausmann stated in his social media post that it was time to “focus on my true purpose on this earth full time.” He added that he would finish his degree at the University of Michigan.

Apex Receives Exploration Permit for Rift REE Project, Nebraska; Drill Program Preparation Underway

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16 hours ago

January 5, 2026

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Apex Receives Exploration Permit for Rift REE Project, Nebraska; Drill Program Preparation Underway

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / January 5, 2026 /Apex Critical Metals Corp. (CSE:APXC)(OTCQX:APXCF)(FWB:KL9) (“Apex” or the “Company”), a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the identification and development of critical and strategic …

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Nebraska

Challenging Week Ahead in Nebraska Men’s Basketball

Published

1 day ago

January 4, 2026

Press Room

Challenging Week Ahead in Nebraska Men’s Basketball

If this were a football road trip for Nebraska, yikes. The Huskers this week visit Ohio State and Indiana.

But maybe, given Nebraska’s 14-0 basketball start, it’s the Buckeyes and Hoosiers who should be concerned.

The basketball version of the Buckeyes and Hoosiers is difficult enough, as both Nebraska opponents are formidable, both are capable of making the NCAA Tournament and both are capable of pinning that first loss on the Huskers.

Nebraska has played one true road game, a victory at Illinois. The Huskers play Ohio State on Monday and Indiana on Saturday, Jan. 10. The No. 13 Huskers are flying, coming off a 58-56 victory over No. 9 Michigan State on Friday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Defeating the Spartans was the kind of tense victory over a legitimate basketball powerhouse that could define the Huskers’ season.

Back to reality for Huskers

“Everybody that played, I think, made a big contribution,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said at a postgame news conference about the victory over Michigan State.

The victory led to a wild, court-filled celebration at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

But, now, back to the harsh reality of life in the difficult Big Ten. There’s not much turnaround time for Nebraska before the Ohio State game.

“We’ve got to bounce back [Saturday, Jan. 3] with a good mental day [of] prep and get one more day,” Hoiberg said.

Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg has led his team to a 14-0 record with road games this week at Ohio State and Indiana. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

“We’ll practice a little bit, and travel day, but it was a hell of a tough turnaround to play back-to-back 8 o’clock games with two days’ prep, and now you go on the road for two.

“So, it’s a great win for us. I’m not going to discount that. Huge win for our program but we got to get past it and move on to Ohio State.”

The Huskers are tied for first place in the Big Ten with Michigan and Purdue at 3-0. One of these teams is not the like the others, at least based on preseason projections and historical precedent. Purdue and Michigan were expected to be Big Ten contenders. Nebraska was not, but has become one of the best national college basketball success stories so far this season.

‘It’s been a fun ride’

“We’ve done something that hasn’t been done in this program ever … running the table in the non-conference hasn’t been done in almost 100 years,” Hoiberg said. “So, there’s a lot of things these guys can be proud of, but at the same time, the most impressive thing to me about this group is how they’ve handled it. They haven’t gotten big-headed.

“You know, a lot of things have been written and listen, if it flips, it’s going to go the other way and they got to handle that well.

“Hopefully, it doesn’t, but it’s been a fun ride with this team and they’ve seen how much effort and time you’re putting into it to go out and execute game plans, get chewed out at halftime and handle it and respond.

“Again, I’ve talked a lot about this group. They’ve been a joy to be around and they’ve been fun because of their daily approach …

“When you go on the road, you got to be fresh physically and mentally as much as possible. Had guys play a lot. Rienk [Mast] hadn’t played this amount of minutes in awhile. So, it’s going to be important to get him back fresh and go out and hopefully play well on the road.”

Nebraska at Ohio State

When: Monday, 5:30 p.m. CT
Where: Schottenstein Center, Columbus
Records: Nebraska 14-0, 3-0 in Big Ten; Ohio State, 10-3, 2-1 in Big Ten. The Buckeyes are 7-1 at home.
TV: FS1

Rankings updated based on games through Saturday.

Ohio State rankings

* Associated Press Top 25: Not ranked
* NCAA Net Ratings: 46 (dropped two places)
* USA Today Coaches Poll: Not ranked
* Kenpom.com: 39
* ESPN Power Rankings: 36
* Top 25 and 1: Not ranked
* Team Rankings.com: 62

In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections, Ohio State is an 11-seed as one of the “last four in” for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.

Nebraska rankings

* Associated Press Top 25: 13 (new poll is released Monday)
* NCAA Net Ratings: 11 (improved four places)
* USA Today Coaches Poll: 13
* Kenpom.com: 22
* ESPN Power Rankings: 26 (dropped one place)
* Top 25 and 1: 9 (improved four places)
* Team Rankings.com: 7 (improved one place)

In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections, Nebraska is a 4-seed for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.

Nebraska-Ohio State analysis

Something to watch: How Nebraska bounces back from a highly emotional win over Michigan State. The Ohio State crowd will be revved up at the sight of the 14-0 Huskers. The Buckeyes can enhance their NCAA resume with a win over the Huskers. If Hoiberg has his team focused and the players are “business-like” as the coach says they are, Nebraska could be in good position to keep the winning streak going. Last season, the Huskers lost in Columbus, 116-114, in double overtime on March 4, a defeat that likely hurt their NCAA chances.

Nebraska at Indiana

When: Saturday, 11 a.m. CT
Where: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington
Records: Nebraska 14-0, 3-0 in Big Ten; Indiana, 10-3, 1-1 in Big Ten. The Hoosiers are 9-0 at home.
TV: BTN

Indiana rankings

* Associated Press Top 25: Not ranked
* NCAA Net Ratings: 33
* USA Today Coaches Poll: 39
* Kenpom.com: 28
* ESPN Power Rankings: 17 (improved by two places)
* Top 25 and 1: Not ranked
* Team Rankings.com: 68 (dropped three places)

In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections, Indiana is an 11-seed as one of the “last four byes” for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.

Nebraska rankings

In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections, Nebraska is a 4-seed for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.

Indiana guard Lamar Wilkerson is averaging 20.2 points in home games. Nebraska is at Indiana on Saturday. | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

Nebraska-Indiana analysis

Indiana is 9-0 at home and has two games before Nebraska comes to Bloomington — Sunday vs. Washington (the Hoosiers’ first game since Dec. 22), and Wednesday at Maryland.

If the Hoosiers can stay focused and not be distracted by the football team’s run to the College Football Playoff semifinals, IU won’t be easy for Nebraska.

Indiana features balanced scoring. Indiana guard Lamar Wilkerson — no relation to the legendary Hoosier Bobby Wilkerson of the 1976 NCAA championship team — should be the focus of the Huskers’ defense. Wilkerson, a 6-foot-6 senior, can light it up, averaging 20.2 points in home games and 19.0 points overall.