Time to backtrack. Next up for our Hail Varsity Historical series is a game-by-game recap of the 1993 Nebraska football season, which set up Tom Osborne’s remarkable run of three national titles in his final four seasons.
North Texas Coach Dennis Parker described it as a “real nightmare.” Not for Nebraska football fans in the Memorial Stadium crowd of 75,643 on hand to watch the Huskers’ 1993 opener, though.
“If they are asking Coach (Tom) Osborne about not letting the score get run up this bad, that’s our fault,” Parker said. “I take all the blame for us losing the ballgame 76-14.”
That’s right, 76-14, Nebraska’s highest-scoring opener since 1912, when Jumbo Stiehm’s Huskers steamrolled Bellevue 82-0. Nebraska’s highest-scoring game all-time was 84-13 at Minnesota in 1983.
“I apologize to Coach Osborne for us not being a more worthy opponent,” said Parker.
Osborne wasn’t trying to run up the score. He used 116 players, 16 of whom carried the ball at least once, 10 of whom caught passes and 35 of whom made tackles. He also used four quarterbacks, though the first, Tommie Frazier, suffered an ankle sprain on the first play of the game and left the field two plays later.
So Brook Berringer, Tony Veland and Matt Turman stepped in.
Also, I-back Calvin Jones left the game with 9:21 left in the third quarter, helped off the field because of a knee injury. Jones had rushed for 124 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.
Those injuries cast a shadow on the dominating victory against an NCAA Division II opponent. “When you factor in the injuries, maybe it wasn’t so good,” Osborne said.
It was good for back-ups, who had an opportunity to get on the field. Berringer, for example, completed 7-of-7 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown while running for two more touchdowns.
Veland and Turman also passed and ran for touchdowns.
Redshirt freshman I-back Damon Benning carried eight times for 88 yards and a touchdown. Wingback Abdul Muhammad and split ends Corey Dixon and Riley Washington caught the touchdown passes. Rover Toby Wright returned an interception for the other touchdown.
Nebraska had five sacks, one each by: outside linebackers Trev Alberts and Dwayne Harris, defensive tackles Kevin Ramaekers and Billy Wade, and linebacker Ed Stewart. Alberts also recovered a fumble. Cornerback Eric Stokes intercepted a pass as well.
Linebackers Ernie Beler and Daren Williams were the leading tacklers, with five each.
It seemed as if just about everyone got into the act.
The Huskers had switched base defenses, moving from a 50-front to a 4-3. “We were getting to the point where certain defenses were telling our opponents we anticipated the pass,” Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride was quoted. “We were telling them what we were thinking.”
The change to a 4-3 was significant in the Huskers’ national championship run.
The Eagles passed for 255 yards and finished with 294 total yards.
Nebraska led 35-0 before North Texas got on the scoreboard and 63-7 when the Eagles scored again.
Clayton George, who scored the second touchdown on a 71-yard pass reception, complimented the Huskers, who began the season ranked ninth nationally. “I’m sure they’ll be in the Orange Bowl,” he was quoted. “Who’s going to beat them in the Big Eight? “They’ll go unbeaten.”
As it turned out, George was right.
