Frank Solich’s five-game winning streak to open his first season as Husker head coach ended, as did Nebraska football’s 19-game winning streak, as did its 40-game regular-season conference winning streak on Oct. 10, 1998.
Texas A&M snapped the streaks, 28-21, in College Station. The Aggies had lost to Nebraska in the 1997 Big 12 Championship game in San Antonio, Texas, 54-15.
Revenge, you might say, was sweet.
“It’s tough. They’re hurt,” Solich said of his players. “They haven’t been accustomed to taking a loss. A lot of those players have been on teams that they haven’t had to accept this very often. Some haven’t had to accept it, so it’s tough on them right now.”
That included sophomores such as quarterback Bobby Newcombe and wide receiver Matt Davison. They deserve mention because Newcombe almost led a fourth-quarter comeback that ended with an interception, and Davison caught 10 passes for a school-record 167 yards.
Half of the receptions came in the fourth quarter, for 115 yards.
A&M, ranked 18th nationally (Nebraska was still second), scored a touchdown in each quarter, the first, on an 81-yard touchdown pass midway through the first quarter. The Huskers responded with an eight-play, 48-yard touchdown drive, set up by an 11-yard A&M punt. Back-up I-back Correll Buckhalter scored on a 7-yard run with 8:35 remaining in the half. He had only one other carry, for no yards.
The Aggies regained the lead on a four-play, 80-yard touchdown “drive” that included a 71-yard run by Ja’Mar Toombs to the Nebraska 1-yard line with 1:36 left in the half.
A&M extended the lead to 21-7 on the Huskers’ first possession of the third quarter. Yes, the Huskers’ possession. The Aggies sacked Newcombe on the first three plays, and he fumbled the ball in the end zone on the last one.
Newcombe took one additional sack, for a combined 26 yards in losses. He “rushed” for a team-high 56 yards on 23 carries and one touchdown. Take away the sacks, 19 for 82 yards.
Three seconds into the fourth quarter the Aggies extended their lead to 28-7, on a 13-play, 86-yard drive, which ate up the final 6:12 of the third quarter. Game over, right?
Not exactly. Nebraska, which had 90 yards of total offense in the first half, took the ensuing kickoff and drove to the Aggie 22-yard line but couldn’t convert on fourth-and-4. Three plays and a punt later, the Huskers had the ball back at their 24-yard line, with 9:19 remaining.
They needed six plays to cover 76 yards, the sixth an 11-yard Newcombe touchdown run. Kris Brown’s extra-point kick made the score 28-14 with 8:08 remaining.
The Blackshirts stepped up again. A&M went three plays and punt. Nebraska had the ball at its 34-yard line with 6:08 remaining. This time the Huskers needed 10 plays to cover 66 yards, the 10th fullback Joel Makovicka’s 9-yard touchdown run, with 4:49 remaining.
A&M managed four plays and a punt this time, with the Huskers beginning at their own 20-yard line. On third-and-15 at their 40-yard line, Newcombe threw an interception—51 seconds remained.
Newcombe finished 15-of-27 passing for 204 yards. Nebraska had 345 yards of offense, including 141 rushing. The Huskers ran six more plays than A&M. The Aggies had 352 yards of offense.
Chad Kelsay led Nebraska with 11 tackles, Jay Foreman had nine, Loran Kaiser eight. Julius Jackson and Erwin Swiney were credited with sacks.
For the record, A&M climbed to 10th. The Aggies would finish the season 11-3, be Big 12 champions and rank 11th in the Associated Press poll. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
“I believe they will bounce back,” Solich said of the Huskers, who dropped to eighth in the rankings. “I think they will continue to be an excellent team.”
