Nebraska football: 5 best seasons in program history
By John Buhler
Scouting Report. National Champions/Big 12 Champions. 1997 (13-0). 4. player. 810. Pick Analysis. No. 1 Coaches/No. 2 AP
Nebraska goes splits the national championship with Michigan in 1997.
1997 was the Cornhuskers’ third national championship in four years under coach Osborne. It was also the program’s most recent. Nebraska went 13-0 overall and 8-0 in Big 12 play. This was only the second year of the Big 12’s existence to include the four new Texas member institutions. It didn’t matter, as dominated conference play en route to a championship.
Nebraska beat four ranked teams that year. They upset the No. 2 Washington Huskies in Seattle in late September when they were the No. 7 team in the land. They backed that up with a 30-point rout of the No. 17 Kansas State Wildcats the following week. Nebraska rattled off seven more wins in Big 12 play to face Big 12 South division winner Texas A&M in the Alamodome.
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No. 14 Texas A&M was no match for No. 2 Texas, as the Cornhuskers slaughtered the Aggies 54-15 to clinch an Orange Bowl date with the No. 3 Tennessee Volunteers in Miami. As expected, it was more of the same for Big Red, as they crushed Tennessee 42-17 to cap off a perfect season. Nebraska finished No. 1 in the Coaches Poll, but second to the Michigan Wolverines in the AP.
1997 was also a significant year for the program because it was Osborne’s last as head coach before retiring. With star players like quarterback Scott Frost and running back Ahman Green, they were able to send the hall of fame coach out on top. They only knock on this season is that the Cornhuskers weren’t unanimous national champions.