Oklahoma, under first-(and only)-year head coach Howard Schnellenberger, came to Memorial Stadium to face Nebraska football the day after Thanksgiving 1995 with a 5-4-1 record. The Sooners had lost three of their last four, including a 12-0 loss at home to rival Oklahoma State two weeks before.
Even so, “I was more apprehensive about this game than any game we’ve played in a long time, and that includes Colorado, Kansas State and Kansas, just because I felt they had good athletes and because I thought the Oklahoma State game would really focus them,” Tom Osborne said afterward.
The final score indicated he need not have been concerned: Nebraska 37, Oklahoma 0, the Huskers’ second shutout and eighth-consecutive quarter without allowing a touchdown.
“The kids played as good on defense as they have since I’ve been here,” said Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride, in his 19th season on Osborne’s staff. “You know what makes for champions? Defense, defense, defense. These kids did everything you can ask for. This was an inspired, incredible performance by a lot of different (defensive) people.”
Linebacker Jamel Williams scored Nebraska’s first touchdown in the first quarter on a 36-yard interception return and safety Tony Veland scored the second on a 57-yard fumble recovery in the third quarter. Kris Brown kicked a field goal before each of the touchdowns, the first to open the scoring, the second accounting for the Huskers’ only points in the second quarter, with 1 second remaining.
Brown kicked a third with 28 seconds remaining in the third quarter before the first offensive touchdown on a 38-yard pass from Tommie Frazier to wingback Jon Vedral in the fourth quarter.
Jeff Makovicka scored the final touchdown on a 17-yard run with 44 seconds remaining.
“They shut down our running game, our option game, and yet, we still got 407 yards (of offense), three field goals and two (offensive) touchdowns,” said Vedral, who led the team on the with five touchdown catches. “Sounds like a No. 1 team to me.”
And so Nebraska was, with the chance to win a second-consecutive national championship.
With the victory — the last Big Eight game with the Big 12 beginning in 1996 — the Huskers earned a spot in the Jan. 2, 1996, Fiesta Bowl, where it would play for a national title.
Osborne wore a Fiesta Bowl sticker to his post-game news conference. Fiesta Bowl executive director John Junker wore a red Husker sweatshirt beneath his yellow “Tostitos” Fiesta Bowl sport coat. Osborne indicated the need to include “Tostitos” when referring to the bowl. Because of the sponsorship agreement, participating schools would receive a reported $13 million each.
Oklahoma’s defense stopped Nebraska’s running game, sort of.
“We felt the strongest part of Oklahoma’s team was defense,” said Osborne. “It was a real struggle offensively. We felt if we could keep plugging away, we could wear them down. But it wasn’t easy. I don’t think the difference between the two teams was 37 points.”
Nebraska finished with 271 yards rushing, the most against Oklahoma all season. The Sooners held Ahman Green, Nebraska’s starting I-back, to 44 yards on 13 carries. Lawrence Phillips gained 73 yards on 15 carries.
Frazier carried 10 times for 35 yards and completed 12 of his 25 passes for 128 yards and the Vedral touchdown, with one interception, just his fourth of the season compared to 17 touchdowns.
The Huskers broke the 1983 “Scoring Explosion” school records for points-per-game, 52.4, and total-offense-per-game, 556.3. The “Scoring Explosion” averaged 52.0 points and 546.7 yards.
Nebraska limited Oklahoma to 51 yards rushing on 30 carries and 241 total yards.
Veland was the Blackshirts’ leading tackler, with seven. Terrell Farley, who would be named Big Eight Defensive Newcomer of the Year, had six and finished the season with a team-high 67 tackles, including five sacks and two interceptions. Jared Tomich had two sacks against the Sooners and led Nebraska on the season with 10.
Brown’s three field goals and four extra points gave him a team-high 97 points for the season, a Husker freshman record.
Schnellenberger coached the Miami team that handed the “Scoring Explosion” team its only loss in the 1984 Orange Bowl, but he couldn’t get it done against Nebraska on this afternoon.
Despite Osborne’s admitted apprehension.
