Seven seconds into fifth-ranked Nebraska football’s sixth game in 1996, in Lubbock, Texas, Husker weak side linebacker Terrell Farley picked up a Byron Hanspard fumble and ran 21 yards for a touchdown.
Seven seconds. The first play from scrimmage.
Such a play right away might demoralize an opponent, in this case Texas Tech, like “air going out of a balloon,” Tom Osborne said. “But I don’t think that happened today.”
As it turned out, Osborne was pointing out the obvious.
Late in the first quarter, the Red Raiders tied the score with a touchdown by linebacker Robert Johnson, who intercepted a Scott Frost pass and returned it 9 yards.
Then, 47 seconds into the second quarter, Nebraska’s Kris Brown kicked a 39-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead. But late in the quarter, Texas Tech responded with a 29-yard field goal, tying the score at halftime.
The Huskers had 143 yards on 33 plays, including 89 on 24 carries, in the first half. The Red Raiders had 96 yards on 32 plays, including 63 rushing on 23 carries. Hanspard, a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate, had 60 of the yards on 15 carries. He would finish with 107 rushing yards on 31 carries, well below his average in Texas Tech’s first six games—217.7.
The second half belonged to Nebraska, at least as far as the score. Frost ran 3 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, and I-back Damon Benning ran 3 yards for a touchdown in the fourth.
Final score: Nebraska 24, Red Raiders 10.
It wasn’t what Husker fans had come to expect, however. In addition to the Frost interception, Nebraska lost four of its seven fumbles and committed 11 penalties for 99 yards. The Huskers hadn’t had as many as 11 penalties in a game in five seasons. Texas Tech was penalized only four times, but the Red Raiders did lose two fumbles besides the Farley-touchdown opener.
Husker defensive coordinator Charlie McBride wasn’t concerned with the penalties charged to the Blackshirts. “I’m not taking that aggressiveness away from these guys,” he said.
Nebraska limited Texas Tech to 214 yards on 76 plays, an average of 2.8 yards per play.
“I want them aggressive coming off the ball,” McBride said.
Linebacker Jon Hesse was the leading tackler, with 11. Farley had nine. The Huskers sacked quarterback Zebbie Lethridge seven times, four by Mike Rucker, two by Grant Wistrom and one by Jared Tomich, all rush ends. Lethridge was 11-for-30 passing for 112 yards.
The Husker defense extended a streak of 14 quarters without allowing a touchdown.
The defense had prepared for the Red Raider offense to “just go on the sound,” said Osborne. “When they don’t, you tend to jump off. We worked on it all week.”
Offensively, Osborne was “really disappointed with our execution. I’d feel better about it if we had executed.” The Huskers finished with 238 yards on 61 plays, including 76 yards on 19 carries by I-back Ahman Green. Benning carried four times for 32 yards and the touchdown.
Nebraska’s kicking game was a positive. In addition to Brown’s field goal and three extra-point kicks, Jesse Kosch averaged 48 yards on five punts.
It “wasn’t pretty,” Kosch said.
But it was a victory, the Huskers’ fifth.
