With 5 seconds remaining and the ball inside the Huskers’ 1-yard line, the No. 2 Nebraska football led Oklahoma State 24-17 in the 1998 Big 12 opener at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium.
The Cowboys had the ball.
“When the ball’s on the 1-inch line, you’ve got to get it in, and we failed to do that,” Oklahoma State Coach Bob Simmons said.
Credit Huskers Mike Rucker and Erwin Swiney for that. They stopped Cowboy running back Nathan Simmons just short of the end zone as time ran out.
The carry was Nathan Simmons’ 26th of the game, for 114 yards. Nebraska, which had rushed for 434 yards the week before in a 55-7 victory over ninth-ranked Washington, finished with 73 yards on 36 carries, its lowest total since a 35-10 loss at Oklahoma (70) in 1975.
The Huskers had a net of 4 yards rushing at halftime against 2-1 Oklahoma State.
The score was 3-3 at halftime. Nebraska scored touchdowns on its first two possessions of the second half, one each from quarterback Bobby Newcombe and I-back DeAngelo Evans. But credit Joe Walker with the game-winner, returning a punt 73 yards for a touchdown with 7:29 remaining.
Oklahoma State had tied the score with a second touchdown 2:52 into the fourth quarter.
Coach Frank Solich credited the Cowboys’ offense as well as their defense for shutting down the Husker attack. Nebraska averaged 466.75 yards of offense, including 303.25 rushing, in the first four games. The Huskers averaged 74.5 plays; they ran 52 against Oklahoma State.
Against the Cowboys “you don’t get many chances, and when you don’t get many chances, you have to make the most of them,” said Solich. Nebraska did to start the second half.
Oklahoma State ran 79 plays, 55 of them rushing for 175 yards. The Cowboys’ time of possession was 35:10, with 19 first downs, Nebraska’s 24:50 and 12 first downs.
Evans was the Huskers’ leading rusher, with 41 yards on 15 carries and the touchdown. Newcombe was 13 for 22 and the 6-yard touchdown. His rushing total included four sacks for 33 yards in losses. He completed 9-of-15 passes for 112 yards. Back-up Eric Crouch was 1-of-1 for 30 yards to tight end Sheldon Jackson. That pass set up Evans’ touchdown from a yard out.
Kris Brown kicked the extra points and a 48-yard field goal for Nebraska’s first points with 1:06 remaining in the first half. The Cowboys had taken the lead on Tom Sydnes’ 37-yard field goal.
Credit Nebraska’s defense for Solich’s fifth victory, and not just the final play. Six Huskers had 10 or more tackles: Swiney and Tony Ortiz 14 each, Jay Foreman 12, Mike Brown 12, Rucker 11 and Chad Kelsay 10. Swiney had the Huskers’ only sack.
The victory increased Nebraska’s winning streak to 19. But what Oklahoma State had done to the Husker offense called into question, for some, Nebraska’s second-place ranking nationally.
For the record, the Cowboys would finish 5-6, including 3-5 in the Big 12.
When Oklahoma State quarterback Tony Lindsey spiked the ball to stop the clock with 5 seconds remaining, the teams huddled up to prepare for the final play. “Basically, what we were telling each other was, this is the whole season. It boils down to 5 seconds,” said Rucker.
And so it did, for the time being.
The Huskers would remain second nationally as they prepared for Texas A&M, next up, in College Station.
