1994 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team


The 1994 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and was the national champion of the 1994 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Cornhuskers offense scored 459 points while the defense allowed 162 points.

Before the season

There was much anticipation for the 1994 season. The 1993 Nebraska team compiled an 11–0 record in the regular season before narrowly losing to Florida State in the 1994 Orange Bowl on a last-second missed field goal. The 1994 offseason was dubbed "Unfinished Business" by the Huskers, in their quest to secure a national championship for the coming season.
Junior Tommie Frazier returned as the quarterback in Tom Osborne's vaunted triple option offense. Also returning were several key starters on defense that would prove to be a highly rated unit during the 1994 season.

Schedule

Roster and coaching staff

Game summaries

West Virginia

The 1994 season started for the No. 4 Cornhuskers with a 31–0 win over No. 24 West Virginia in the Kickoff Classic. The game pitted two teams that had posted undefeated regular-season records in 1993. Quarterback Tommie Frazier was the game's MVP, rushing for 130 yards on 12 carries, including touchdown runs of 25, 27, and 42 yards. He also completed 8 of 16 passes for 100 yards and another touchdown. I-back Lawrence Phillips also ran 126 yards on 24 carries. In all, Nebraska gained 368 rushing yards and 468 total. The Nebraska defense dominated the Mountaineers, registering eight quarterback sacks and holding West Virginia to 8 yards rushing and 89 total yards. Todd Sauerbrun set a record for West Virginia with a 90-yard punt and averaged 60.1 yards on nine punts. The victory marked Nebraska's first shutout victory in two years. It was also Nebraska's first shutout victory against a ranked non-conference opponent since a 20–0 win over No. 19 Baylor in Lincoln 1939, and the first ever such win in a game played outside of Lincoln. The win vaulted Nebraska to No. 1 in the polls.

Texas Tech

Next up was a road victory that saw the Huskers cruise past the Texas Tech Red Raiders, 42–16, which remarkably saw the Huskers drop to #2 in the polls. Unfortunately, this victory came at a cost, as safety Mike Minter suffered a season-ending knee injury.

UCLA

Pacific

The next two weeks first saw a tough match-up, where the Huskers would dominate #13-ranked UCLA in Memorial Stadium, followed by a blowout against Pacific. Shortly after this victory, the 1994 season got a lot more interesting when Nebraska's field general Tommie Frazier was sidelined by a blood clot in his right knee.

Wyoming

Oklahoma State

Kansas State

With Frazier sidelined, junior Brook Berringer answered the call to run Osborne's offense. Berringer, a pro-style QB from Goodland, Kansas, came off the bench and performed at his best in two straight victories against Wyoming and Oklahoma State, even at times with a partially collapsed lung. When it became too much for Berringer, walk-on QB Matt Turman stepped up to lead the Cornhuskers against Okie State and in a tough road game that pitched the Huskers against conference foe and neighbor Kansas State. This game proved to be a defensive battle, which saw the Huskers walk away with a 17–6 victory against the #16 Wildcats.

Missouri

Colorado

Nebraska's homecoming game and 200th consecutive home sell out.

Kansas

Iowa State

Oklahoma

The final five regular season games saw Nebraska beat #2 Colorado, where the defense shut down eventual Heisman winner Rashaan Salaam. Only Oklahoma provided any resistance for the Huskers, who escaped with a 13–3 victory in Norman, and another Big Eight Conference Championship.

Miami

Nebraska was #1 in the nation, and found themselves pitted against #3 Miami in the Orange Bowl, a setting very familiar to Tom Osborne and his Husker players. Osborne had been in this very stadium on three separate occasions playing for a national championship, and came away empty-handed each time, losing the previous year against Bobby Bowden's Seminoles of Florida State, to the Miami Hurricanes in the legendary 1984 Orange Bowl by the score of 31–30, and to the #1 Clemson Tigers in the 1982 Orange Bowl, a night game in which Nebraska entered #4 where the #2 and #3 teams lost their bowl games earlier in the day.
But it would be much different this year. Frazier had returned from his injury, and Nebraska would not back down, even after trailing 10–7 at halftime and 17–7 with less than two minutes to go in the third quarter. It is important to note that during his halftime speech, Coach Osborne had predicted the eventual meltdown of Miami late in the game. He told his players that if they maintained their composure, that Miami would slip up and earn a costly penalty. Osborne's prediction rang true, and the physically dominant Huskers scored 15 unanswered points in the 4th quarter on two key TD runs by FB Corey Schlesinger to earn Tom Osborne his first national title, by the score of 24–17.

Rankings

PollPreWk 1Wk 2Wk 3Wk 4Wk 5Wk 6Wk 7Wk 8Wk 9Wk 10Wk 11Wk 12Wk 13Wk 14Wk 15Final
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Coaches1

After the season

The successful season saw Nebraska lead the nation in rushing, with talented but troubled sophomore Lawrence Phillips rushing for 1,722 yards and finishing 8th in Heisman voting. The offensive line, which was arguably the best in the country as well, was affectionately known as "The Pipeline" and included Outland Trophy winner and All-American Zach Wiegert at tackle, fellow All-American Brendan Stai at guard, along with Rob Zatechka, Joel Wilks, and Aaron Graham. The vaunted 4–3 defense, led by All-American linebacker Ed Stewart, limited conference opponents to a mere 55 points.
The Huskers were treated to a warm welcome, despite the freezing temperatures, when they returned to Lincoln as National Champions. An estimated 15,000 fans were on hand at the Lincoln Airport to welcome home their Big Red heroes.

Awards

AwardName
Outland TrophyZach Wiegert
UPI Lineman of the YearZach Wiegert
All-America 1st teamTerry Connealy, Donta Jones, Brenden Stai, Ed Stewart, Zach Wiegert, Rob Zatechka
All-America 2nd teamLawrence Phillips
All-America 3rd teamBarron Miles
Big 8 Coach of the YearTom Osborne
Big 8 Defensive Player of the YearEd Stewart
Big 8 Defensive Newcomer of the YearGrant Wistrom
Big 8 Male Athlete of the YearRob Zatechka
All-Big 8 1st teamTroy Dumas, Aaron Graham, Donta Jones, Lawrence Phillips, Barron Miles, Brenden Stai, Ed Stewart, Zach Wiegert, Tyrone Williams
All-Big 8 2nd teamBrook Berringer, Terry Connealy, Dwayne Harris, Kareem Moss, Christian Peter, Rob Zatechka
All-Big 8 honorable mentionEric Alford, Reggie Baul, Darin Erstad, Abdul Muhammad, Cory Schlesinger

NFL and pro players

The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1994 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.
NameTeam
Eric AndersonAmsterdam Admirals
Mike AndersonAmsterdam Admirals
Michael BookerAtlanta Falcons
Doug ColmanNew York Giants
Chris DishmanArizona Cardinals
Troy DumasKansas City Chiefs
Jay ForemanBuffalo Bills
Tommie FrazierMontreal Alouettes
Aaron GrahamArizona Cardinals
Jon HesseGreen Bay Packers
Sheldon JacksonBuffalo Bills
Vershan JacksonKansas City Chiefs
Donta JonesPittsburgh Steelers
Bill LafleurBarcelona Dragons
Joel MakovickaArizona Cardinals
Barron MilesPittsburgh Steelers
Mike MinterCarolina Panthers
Kareem MossBC Lions
Christian PeterNew York Jets
Jason PeterCarolina Panthers
Lawrence PhillipsSt. Louis Rams
Mike RuckerCarolina Panthers
Cory SchlesingerDetroit Lions
Brenden StaiPittsburgh Steelers
Eric StokesSeattle Seahawks
Jared TomichNew Orleans Saints
Larry TownsendBerlin Thunder
Adam TreuOakland Raiders
Tony VelandDenver Broncos
Zach WiegertSt. Louis Rams
Jamel WilliamsWashington Redskins
Tyrone WilliamsGreen Bay Packers
Jason WiltzNew York Jets
Grant WistromSt. Louis Rams
Jon ZatechkaBerlin Thunder
Rob ZatechkaNew York Giants

Additionally, starting junior punter Darin Erstad also played baseball for the University of Nebraska, and was selected as a First Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball. He chose to forego his college career to enter the MLB draft and was selected as the first pick overall in the 1995 Major League Baseball draft. He would go on to have a distinguished career in Major League Baseball. Erstad would later be the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball from 2012 to 2019.