Second-ranked Nebraska used 66 players, eighth-ranked Kansas State 46, when the teams met at Memorial Stadium Oct. 21, 1995.
“We probably backed off a little too early,” Tom Osborne said. “It’s nice to be able to play a football team and take your first team out. But there was probably too much time left on the clock when we started substituting.”
That Osborne took nothing for granted was reflected in the fact he said that even though Nebraska led the Wildcats 42-6 going into the fourth quarter. It also was reflected in the fact he sent quarterback Tommie Frazier and the first-team offense back into the game with 5:56 remaining.
Kansas State had cut the deficit to 42-25, by returning a blocked punt 6 yards for a touchdown (but missing a 2-point conversion attempt). Husker tight end Jon Vedral returned an 11-yard onside kick 2 yards to the Wildcat 44. Frazier went in and directed a seven-play touchdown drive. I-back Ahman Green scored on a 12-yard Frazier shovel pass and Kris Brown added the extra-point kick.
That was it. Final score: Nebraska 49, Kansas State 25.
The Wildcats had allowed 45 points total in six games, all victories.
Kansas State was a worthy opponent. The Wildcats led the nation in total defense going into the game. And they limited Nebraska to season lows in total offense (338 yards) and rushing (190 yards).
Prior to the game, the Husker coaches said special teams needed to make a big play. And they did. Just under 5 minutes into the game, cornerback Mike Fullman, a transfer from Rutgers, returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown. Mike Rucker threw a key block on the play.
The block was with such force the Kansas State player’s helmet flew off. “He didn’t see it coming,” said Rucker, an outside linebacker. The block was replayed on ESPN.
Fullman’s touchdown celebration drew a 15-yard penalty, however, enforced on the kickoff, and a 30-yard return gave Kansas State a first-and-10 at the Husker 49-yard line. Eight plays and 3 minutes later, Wildcat quarterback Matt Miller passed 18 yards to Kevin Lockett for a touchdown.
The extra-point kick failed. Midway through the quarter, Nebraska led 7-6.
The Huskers extended the lead to 35-6 by halftime. Their touchdowns came when Vedral recovered a Clinton Childs fumble in the end zone, Frazier passed 22 yards to tight end Sheldon Jackson and 10 yards to Green, and outside linebacker Luther Hardin returned an interception 3 yards.
Miller attempted a shovel pass which Chad Kelsay deflected into Hardin’s hands.
Nebraska’s other touchdown, in the third quarter, came on a 32-yard Frazier pass to Vedral.
Frazier finished with 10-of-16 pass completions for 148 yards and the four touchdowns, without an interception. The four touchdown passes were a personal best. Green was the game’s leading rusher, with 109 yards on 22 carries. Frazier carried six times for 36 yards.
“Our offense didn’t have the ball very much,” Osborne said of a season-low 63 scrimmage-plays.
The Blackshirts overwhelmed Kansas State until the substitutions began. The Wildcats finished with 256 net yards, including a net of minus-19 rushing. The totals reflected 82 yards in sack losses.
Nebraska sacked Wildcat quarterbacks nine times, two each by Terrell Farley, Grant Wistrom, Jared Tomich and Doug Colman, the other by Rucker. Farley, a junior college transfer who got his first start as a Husker at WILL linebacker, led with 10 tackles, including six unassisted.
The home game was the Huskers’ fifth in a row, all blowouts except the Washington State game (36-21) — though the final score didn’t necessarily reflect that.
