It shouldn’t have come down to this. Nebraska football was second-ranked and 10-0, Colorado 5-5. The Huskers led 27-10 late in the fourth quarter at Folsom Field in Boulder, the day after Thanksgiving 1997, and they were driving to what would’ve been a game-sealing touchdown.
On second-and-5 at the Colorado 25-yard line, however, Husker I-back Ahman Green fumbled. The Buffaloes recovered at the 23-yard line, and two John Hessler passes later scored a touchdown with 3:16 remaining. Still, Nebraska seemed to be comfortably ahead.
Until Colorado recovered an on-side kick. Four plays and 55 yards later, Hessler passed for another touchdown. The score was 27-24 with 2:37 remaining.
Though another on-side kick failed, the Husker possession was a four-and-out, Tom Osborne opting to punt rather go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Colorado 40. The Buffaloes got the ball back, first-and-10 at their 20-yard line, after a Jesse Kosch punt into the end zone, with 52 seconds remaining.
“This is the whole season,” said All-America rush end Grant Wistrom. “It all came down to whether or not we could stop them on one series.”
Nebraska’s hopes of a national championship were at stake.
“We got in the soup in a hurry,” Osborne said.
But the defense stepped up, aided by an offensive pass interference penalty. Colorado reached its own 36-yard line, only to face fourth-and-25 at its 21-yard line. A Hessler pass came up 3 yards short and the Huskers took over with 12 seconds remaining. A Scott Frost kneel-down ended it.
Nebraska took a 10-3 lead into the second half, which began with a scoring explosion, sort of. On the first play from scrimmage, Green ran 64 yards and followed with a 16-yard touchdown run.
Colorado responded with a two-play, 80-yard touchdown drive of its own, both Hessler passes.
The Huskers took the ball and drove 77 yards on eight plays, the eighth an 11-yard Green touchdown run. Less than 5 minutes into the second half, Nebraska led 24-10. With 20 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Kris Brown kicked a 46-yard field goal to end the Husker scoring.
Brown’s 25-yard field goal and Frost’s 19-yard run accounted for Nebraska’s first-half points.
Colorado out-yarded the Huskers, 455 yards on 61 plays to Nebraska’s 442 yards on 72 plays. But, except for the fumble, the Buffs couldn’t stop Green, who rushed for 202 yards and the two touchdowns on 29 carries. It was his second-consecutive game with 200 yards rushing.
Green ran for 209 yards and three touchdowns against Iowa State.
Frost rushed for 76 yards and the touchdown and completed 7-of-14 passes for 92 yards, without an interception, reaching 1,016 yards rushing and 1,036 yards passing for the season. Only 11 other collegiate quarterbacks had rushed and passed for 1,000 yards in a season.
Hessler was 19-for-35 passing for 362 yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions, by free safety Eric Warfield and cornerback Erwin Swiney.
Middle linebacker Jay Foreman led the Blackshirts with 12 tackles. Rush end Mike Rucker had two sacks, Wistrom and tackle Jason Peter a sack each.
With the sack, Wistrom came within three of Trev Alberts’ Husker career record, 29.5.
“We think the score should’ve been more lopsided than it was,” Wistrom said.
A win’s a win, but quality of wins mattered in the era of national championship voting.
