Nebraska football had a bit of a letdown when it played Pacific at Memorial Stadium following its 77-28 victory against Arizona State the week before in the third game of the 1995 season.
That was the case according to quarterback Tommie Frazier.
“That’s probably typical going into a game that you know you’re going to win,” he said. “I think our passing game was off because of the wind. But overall, I think we could have done a lot better than we did.”
The wind was listed at 20 mph out of the south when the game began. The Huskers were a combined 16-for-36 for 162 yards, with two interceptions.
Even so, there was always the running game, which overwhelmed Pacific. Nebraska had 569 yards on 70 carries, including 343 on 32 carries during the first half.
The Huskers also rushed for seven touchdowns, five during the first half, three by Damon Benning, who was less than 100%. He had missed the previous two games because of a pulled hamstring. “I didn’t really let loose at all today,” said Benning. “The offensive line did a good job of protecting me. I’m sure on paper the numbers look pretty good. But you probably only saw about 80%.”
Look pretty good? He carried 10 times for 173 yards and the three touchdowns.
With Lawrence Phillips suspended indefinitely and Clinton Childs sidelined with an injury, Benning started at I-back. And left the game with a sprained ankle early in the third quarter.
Freshman I-back Ahman Green carried 15 times for 112 yards and two touchdowns. And walk-on I-back James Sims carried nine times for 55 yards and a touchdown. Frazier scored the other touchdown. Oh yes, it took this long, but the final score was 49-7. Pacific scored on a 12-yard pass with 5:24 remaining in the third quarter. That was after Nebraska’s seven touchdowns.
“Other than maybe a little bit of our offensive execution, I was real pleased with the game,” Coach Tom Osborne said. “Obviously, we had two interceptions that we’d rather not have, and a couple of times, we didn’t get done what we needed to get done. But part of it was not being into it quite as much as the players should have been.”
Consider those comments in context. Nebraska finished with 731 yards of offense, on 106 plays, and 36 first downs. The Huskers punted only once. Every Husker suited up and healthy played, 102. The defense allowed only 197 yards, including 60 rushing, and seven first downs.
“I think they’ve taken their kind of offensive football to another level,” Pacific Coach Chuck Shelton said. “They’ve improved it to a point where it’s very difficult to deal with. Even if you could match up physically, it’s difficult to deal with, and certainly we couldn’t match up physically.”
Pacific running back Joe Abdullah, who managed only 25 yards on 13 carries, summed it up best. Who could beat Nebraska? “A professional offensive line and a professional defensive line,” he said. “I don’t know if there’s such a thing as a perfect college football team.
“But they’re about as close as you can come.”
Even so, the Huskers were still ranked second, behind Florida State — which defeated Central Florida, a non-high-major like Pacific at the time, 46-14. Pacific dropped football after the season.
Next up, 2-1 Washington State, also in Lincoln. “I think we’re really due for a real challenge,” said Frazier. “Since the start, all we’ve really been asking for is for someone to come in a give us a challenge.”
