1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

The 1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by 25th-year head coach Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Cornhuskers competed as members of the Big 12 Conference in the league's second year of existence.

1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Coaches Poll national champion Big 12 champion Big 12 North Division champion Orange Bowl champion
Big 12 Championship Game, W 54–15 vs. Texas A&M
Orange Bowl, W 42–17 vs. Tennessee
Conference	Big 12 Conference
	North Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 2
1997 record	13–0 (8–0 Big 12)
Head coach	Tom Osborne (25th season)
Offensive coordinator	Tom Osborne (28th season)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Charlie McBride (17th season)
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

1997 Big 12 Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Northern Division
No. 2 Nebraska † xy$		8	–	0					13	–	0
No. 8 Kansas State %		7	–	1					11	–	1
No. 23 Missouri		5	–	3					7	–	5
Colorado		3	–	5					5	–	6
Kansas		3	–	5					5	–	6
Iowa State		1	–	7					1	–	10
Southern Division
No. 20 Texas A&M xy		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 24 Oklahoma State		5	–	3					8	–	4
Texas Tech		5	–	3					6	–	5
Texas		2	–	6					4	–	7
Oklahoma		2	–	6					4	–	8
Baylor		1	–	7					2	–	9
Championship: Nebraska 54, Texas A&M 15
x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant † – Coaches Poll National Champion $ – Bowl Alliance representative as champion % – Bowl Alliance at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll

The Cornhuskers compiled a perfect 13–0 record and claimed their third national championship in four years. Nebraska was ranked first in the final Coaches Poll of the year, but was ranked second behind Michigan (also undefeated, at 12–0) in the final AP Poll. Of the 20 official championship selectors designated by the NCAA, 13 selected Nebraska as national champions, six selected Michigan, and one declared them co-champions.[1] It remains one of the most hotly contested national championship debates in college football history.[2]

Nebraska secured their first Big 12 Conference championship by defeating Texas A&M by a score of 54–15 in the Big 12 Championship Game. Nebraska had been upset by Texas in the inaugural Big 12 Championship Game in 1996. The season ended with a 42–17 victory over No. 3 Tennessee in the 1998 Orange Bowl for their fourth consecutive major bowl victory.

The Nebraska offense, which led the country in scoring, was led by quarterback Scott Frost and running back Ahman Green. Frost became just the tenth player in college football history to both pass and run for 1,000 yards. Green finished second in the country in rushing yards with 1,877 yards, and tied for third in touchdowns with 22.[3] Offensive lineman Aaron Taylor was named a consensus All-American and was the recipient of the Outland Trophy. The Cornhusker defense was anchored by All-American defensive linemen Jason Peter and Grant Wistrom, winner of the Lombardi Award.

Head coach Tom Osborne announced after the regular season that the Orange Bowl would be his final game as head coach. He retired as Nebraska's all-time winningest coach, and was sixth in wins all-time in major college football history at the time of his retirement.[4]

Schedule

[5]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	1:00 pm	Akron*	No. 6	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska		W 59–14	75,124
September 13	12:30 pm	UCF*	No. 6	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska		W 38–24	75,327
September 20	2:30 pm	at No. 2 Washington*	No. 7	Husky Stadium Seattle	ABC	W 27–14	74,023
October 4	6:00 pm	No. 17 Kansas State	No. 3	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska	FSN	W 56–26	75,856
October 11	6:00 pm	at Baylor	No. 3	Floyd Casey Stadium Waco, Texas		W 49–21	38,175
October 18	12:30 pm	Texas Tech	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska		W 29–0	75,764
October 25	6:00 pm	at Kansas	No. 1	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, Kansas	FSN	W 35–0	42,000
November 1	2:30 pm	Oklahoma	No. 1	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska (rivalry)	ABC	W 69–7	75,926
November 8	2:30 pm	at Missouri	No. 1	Faurot Field Columbia, Missouri (The "Flea Kicker" Game/rivalry)	ABC	W 45–38 ^OT	66,846
November 15	11:30 am	Iowa State	No. 3	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska	FSN	W 77–14	75,613
November 28	1:30 pm	at Colorado	No. 2	Folsom Field Boulder, Colorado (rivalry)	ABC	W 27–24	52,738
December 6	3:30 pm	vs. No. 14 Texas A&M	No. 2	Alamodome San Antonio, Texas (Big 12 Championship Game)	ABC	W 54–15	64,824
January 2	7:00 pm	vs. No. 3 Tennessee*	No. 2	Pro Player Stadium Miami Gardens, Florida (Orange Bowl) (College GameDay)	CBS	W 42–17	72,385
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Roster and coaching staff

1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class FB 38 Dan Alexander Fr OL Steve Altstadt Fr OT 70 Eric Anderson Sr TE 94 Travis Antholz So WB 82 Sean Applegate So C 52 Matt Baldwin So OG 76 Sasho Becvarovski Fr SE 20 Tom Beveridge Fr WB 14 Lance Brown Jr IB 36 Correll Buckhalter Fr TE 90 Tim Carpenter Sr SE 6 Kenny Cheatham Jr QB 9 Monte Christo Jr OT 68 Jeff Clausen So FB 42 Josh Cobb Jr WB Ben Cornelsen Fr WB Tyler Cotten Fr QB Eric Crouch Fr SE 3 Matt Davison Fr TE 85 T.J. DeBates So SE Luke Denney Fr OT 77 Billy Diekmann Fr SE 2 J.R. Edwards So IB 4 DeAngelo Evans So WB 12 Demond Finister So SE 83 Craig Fischer So SE Pat Friesen Fr QB 7 Scott Frost Sr WB Paul Fujan Fr OT 74 Lonnie Fulton So SE 10 Mike Gentile Fr OG 72 Ben Gessford Jr WB 27 John Gibson Fr IB Marcus Giles Fr FB Nick Gragert Fr IB 30 Ahman Green Jr OL Mike Green Fr SE 80 Billy Haafke Jr OG 53 Aaron Havlovic So OT 51 Kyle Henson Jr C 59 Josh Heskew Jr OG 55 Russ Hochstein Fr OG 62 Matt Hoskinson Sr TE 88 Sheldon Jackson Jr TE 34 Vershan Jackson Sr OG 56 Marcus Johnson So SE Nate Johnson Fr WB Jordan Jones Fr OT 69 Adam Julch So FB 22 Ben Kingston So TE 87 Chad Kobus So OL Kyle Kollmorgen Fr SE 89 Jeff (Robert) Lake Sr FB 40 Billy Legate Jr QB 1 Frankie London So FB 45 Joel Makovicka Jr TE 41 Jake McKee Fr FB 32 Willie Miller Fr TE 81 John Murphy Fr QB 12 Bobby Newcombe Fr IB 37 Jason Olnes So IB 36 Hank Piening Fr OT 73 Fred Pollack Sr OT 57 Ryan Preister Fr C Dominic Raiola Fr OL Buck Rasmussen Fr TE 86 Dorrick Roy Jr QB 16 Jay Runty Fr OG Jon Rutherford Fr OG 79 Chris Saalfeld Fr FB 21 Matt Schoening Fr OT 65 Jason Schwab So C 54 Doug Seaman Sr OG 63 James Sherman So IB 31 James Sims Sr IB 25 Travis Soucie Fr FB 43 Jeremy Stanislav Fr OT 95 Jim Tansey So OG 67 Aaron Taylor Sr OT 71 Mike Van Cleave Sr WB 26 Casey Vanderhoef Fr OL Dave Volk Fr OG 61 Brandt Wade Jr RB Dan White Fr WB 33 Sean Wieting Sr WB 5 Shevin Wiggins Jr QB 3 Chad Wiles Fr FB 24 Andy Winkler So TE Tracey Wistrom Fr OG 64 Jon Zatechka Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 95 Derek Allen So DT 89 Luis Almanzar Fr LCB 28 Josh Anderson Fr WLB 40 Erick Arens So WLB 36 Rod Baker Fr RE 87 Chris Bassett Sr LCB 24 Jason Benes Sr DB Mic Boettner Fr DB Dion Booker Fr ROV 21 Mike Brown So RCB 22 Ralph Brown So MLB 39 Ben Buettenback So LB Grant Bunton Fr LB Jamie Burrow Fr LB Jon Coyne Fr SLB 54 Chris Deitloff Fr DB Damian Demps Fr RCB 2 Leslie Dennis Sr ROV 17 George Dittrick Fr DT 58 Brandon Drum Jr DT 61 Jason Dush Fr FS 33 Mitch Ebke Fr FS John Eisenberg So FS 19 Clint Finley Fr FS 5 Eric Fischer Fr MLB 44 Jay Foreman Jr SLB 34 Russell Froehlich Jr RCB 18 Jay Gates Sr DT 77 Bobby Gill So RE 75 Matt Grummert Fr RE 9 George Guidry Fr LB Chris Gustafson Fr FS 45 Brad Hamik Fr CB Brandon Harrison Jr SLB 49 Quint Hogrefe Jr DB Matt Ickes Fr WLB 50 Julius Jackson So WLB 1 Eric Johnson Jr DT 88 Dave Jones Sr DT 91 Loran Kaiser Fr RE 57 Chad Kelsay Jr WLB 47 Josh Kohl So RE 82 Curt Lenners Sr ROV 29 Gregg List So ROV 6 Kalin Makaiwi Jr DT 97 Glen Matthews Jr DT 85 Jason McCullough Jr WLB 4 Octavious McFarlin Sr DL Matt McGinn Fr FS 25 Greg McGraw So LB Levi Mehl Fr DT 78 Tom Milius So RE 93 Brandon Mooberry Fr SLB 37 Tony Ortiz So LB Jon Penny Fr DT 55 Jason Peter Sr LCB 11 Jerome Peterson So MLB 13 Carlos Polk Fr ROV 14 Brandon Quindt Fr SLB 23 Steve Raymond So RCB 10 Khari Reynolds Fr LB Brandon Roth Fr RE 84 Mike Rucker Jr RE 80 Eric Ryan So SLB 46 Brian Shaw So RE 76 Scott Siebenborn Fr LB Ryan Svoboda Fr DB 16 Erwin Swiney Fr LB Nick Terrio Fr DT 79 Ross Tessendorf Jr DB Alik Tillery Fr RE 92 Travis Toline Jr DB Arion Turner Fr MLB 48 Chad Tuttle Fr MLB 56 Noland Urban Fr LB Simon Van Boening Fr RE Kyle Vanden Bosch Fr LB Mark Vedral Fr CB 27 Joe Walker Fr DT 94 Brian Walters Fr FS 32 Eric Walther Jr RE 90 Brandon Wardyn Fr FS 3 Eric Warfield Sr DT 96 Steve Warren So ROV 42 Troy Watchorn Fr LB J.P. (John Paul) Wichmann Fr RE 81 Aaron Wills So DT 99 Jason Wiltz Jr RE 98 Grant Wistrom Sr DB Wes Woodward Fr RE 38 Brendan Zahl Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 35 Kris Brown Jr PK 12 Dan Hadenfeldt So P 19 Jesse Kosch Sr P 23 Bill Lafleur Jr PK 28 Chace Long Fr P 8 Brian Morro Jr PK 13 Ted Retzlaff Sr P/PK Chuck Tack Fr	Head coach Tom Osborne    25th season    34th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Coordinators/assistant coaches Charlie McBride    17th season as DC/LB coach    21st year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Colorado Turner Gill    6th season as QB coach    6th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Craig Bohl    3rd season as LB coach    6th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Ron Brown    11th season as WR/TE coach    11th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Brown Dan Young    15th season as OL/K coach    15th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Reed Milt Tenopir    24th season as OL coach    24th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Sterling Nelson Barnes    1st season as RE coach    1st year at Nebraska    Alma mater: North Texas George Darlington    DB coach    25th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Rutgers Frank Solich    15th season as RB coach    19th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Boyd Epley    29th season as S&C coach    29th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 2011-01-17

Depth chart

Defense FS Eric Warfield Clint Finley ⋅ WEAK MIDDLE STRONG Octavious McFarlin Jay Foreman Brian Shaw ⋅ Carlos Polk Ben Buetteback Tony Ortiz ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ROVER Mike Brown Brandon Quindt ⋅ CB Erwin Swiney Joe Walker ⋅ DE DT DT DE Grant Wistrom Jason Peter Jason Wiltz Chad Kelsay Mike Rukcer Travis Toline Brandon Drum Steve Warren Kyle Vanden Bosch ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ CB Ralph Brown Jerome Peterson ⋅ Offense WR Matt Davison Kenny Cheathman Jeff Lake ⋅ LT LG C RG RT Fred Pollack Aaron Taylor Josh Heskew Jon Zatechka Eric Anderson Jason Schwab James Sherman Matt Hoskinson Matt Hoskinson Mike Van Cleave ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ TE Sheldon Jackson Verhan Jackson Tim Carpenter T.J DeBates WR Lance Brown Bobby Newcombe Shevin Wiggins ⋅ QB Scott Frost Frankie London ⋅ RB Ahman Green Correll Buckhalter James Sims FB Joel Machovicka Billy Legate ⋅ Special Teams PK Kris Brown P Jesse Kosch

Game summaries

Akron

Akron at Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total Akron 0 0 7 7 14 • Nebraska 14 24 14 7 59 Date: 1997-08-30 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 75,126

UCF

UCF at Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total UCF 7 10 0 7 24 • Nebraska 0 14 17 7 38 Date: 1997-09-13 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 75,327

Washington

Nebraska at Washington

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 14 7 0 6 27 Washington 0 7 7 0 14 Date: 1997-09-20 Location: Husky Stadium, Seattle Game attendance: 74,023

Kansas State

Kansas State at Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total Kansas State 6 0 6 14 26 • Nebraska 10 10 21 15 56 Date: 1997-10-04 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 75,856

Baylor

Nebraska at Baylor

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 14 28 7 0 49 Baylor 7 0 0 14 21 Date: 1997-10-11 Location: Floyd Casey Stadium, Waco, Texas Game attendance: 38,175

Texas Tech

Texas Tech at Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total Texas Tech 0 0 0 0 0 • Nebraska 3 10 9 7 29 Date: 1997-10-18 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 75,764

Kansas

Nebraska at Kansas

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 7 14 0 14 35 Kansas 0 0 0 0 0 Date: 1997-10-25 Location: University of Kansas Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, Kansas Game attendance: 75,764

Oklahoma

Oklahoma at Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total Oklahoma 0 0 7 0 7 • Nebraska 20 14 21 14 69 Date: 1997-11-01 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 75,926

Missouri

Nebraska at Missouri

1 2 3 4 OT Total • Nebraska 14 7 7 10 7 45 Missouri 7 17 7 7 0 38 Date: 1997-11-08 Location: Faurot Field, Columbia, Missouri Game attendance: 66,846

Iowa State

Iowa State at Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total Iowa State 7 0 0 7 14 • Nebraska 35 28 7 7 77 Date: 1997-11-15 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 75,613

Colorado

Nebraska at Colorado

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 3 7 17 0 27 Colorado 0 3 7 14 24 Date: 1997-11-28 Location: Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado Game attendance: 52,738

Texas A&M

Texas A&M vs Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total Texas A&M 0 3 0 12 15 • Nebraska 16 21 3 14 54 Date: 1997-12-06 Location: Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas Game attendance: 64,824

Tennessee

Tennessee vs Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total Tennessee 0 3 6 8 17 • Nebraska 7 7 21 7 42 Date: 1998-01-02 Location: Pro Player Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida Game attendance: 72,385

Statistics

• QB Scott Frost: 88/159 (55.3%) for 1,237 yards (7.80) with 5 TD vs. 4 INT (2.52%). 176 carries for 1,095 yards (6.22) and 19 TD.
• RB Ahman Green: 278 carries for 1,877 yards (6.75) with 22 TD. 16 catches for 151 yards and 0 TD.
• FB Joel Makovicka: 105 carries for 685 yards (6.52) and 9 TD.
• RB Correll Buckhalter: 54 carries for 311 yards (5.76) and 6 TD.
• WR Lance Brown: 12 catches for 226 yards (18.83) and 0 TD.
• WR Matt Davison: 10 catches for 219 yards (21.90) and 1 TD.

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	6	6	6	6	7	3	3	3	2	1	1	1	3	3	2	2	2	2
Coaches	6		6	5	6	3	3	3	2	1	1	1	3	3	2	2	2	1

After the season

Nebraska Head Coach Tom Osborne announced his retirement just prior to the 1998 Orange bowl, capping a remarkable career of success. The #2 Cornhuskers handily defeated the #3 Tennessee Volunteers 42-17, while #1 Michigan defeated #7 Washington State team 21-16. In postgame coverage on the field, Nebraska quarterback Scott Frost openly lobbied Coaches Poll voters for support based on performance comparisons between Nebraska and Michigan.[6] The voters apparently agreed, as Nebraska was ranked #1 in the final Coaches Poll, while Michigan retained their pre-bowl #1 ranking in the AP Poll, creating a split National Championship. Following the game, there were fans and sports reporters alike who felt that a #1 team should never drop in the polls after winning, as Michigan did, dropping to #2 behind Nebraska. However, in week 11 of the season, #1 Nebraska dropped after a win, which allowed Michigan to move up to #1. The 1997 Huskers set an NCAA record that still stands by scoring an average of 5.5 rushing touchdowns per game (66 rushing touchdowns in twelve games, not including the six scored in the Orange Bowl).[7]

Awards

[8]

Award	Name(s)
Lombardi Award	Grant Wistrom
Outland Trophy	Aaron Taylor
Big 12 Male Athlete of the Year	Grant Wistrom
All-America 1st team	Jason Peter, Aaron Taylor, Grant Wistrom
All-America 2nd team	Ahman Green
All-America 3rd team	Eric Anderson
All-Big 12 1st team	Eric Anderson, Mike Brown, Ralph Brown, Scott Frost, Ahman Green, Jason Peter, Aaron Taylor, Grant Wistrom
All-Big 12 2nd team	Jay Foreman
All-Big 12 3rd team	Josh Heskew, Chad Kelsay, Eric Warfield, Jon Zatechka
All-Big 12 honorable mention	Kris Brown, Jesse Kosch, Joel Makovicka, Fred Pollack, Mike Rucker, Jason Wiltz

NFL and pro players

The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1997 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.[9]

Name	Team
Dan Alexander	Tennessee Titans
Eric Anderson	Amsterdam Admirals
Kris Brown	Pittsburgh Steelers
Mike Brown	Chicago Bears
Ralph Brown	New York Giants
Correll Buckhalter	Philadelphia Eagles
Eric Crouch	St. Louis Rams
Clint Finley	Kansas City Chiefs
Jay Foreman	Buffalo Bills
Scott Frost	New York Jets
Ahman Green	Seattle Seahawks
Russ Hochstein	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sheldon Jackson	Buffalo Bills
Vershan Jackson	Kansas City Chiefs
Eric Johnson	Oakland Raiders
Chad Kelsay	Pittsburgh Steelers
Bill Lafleur	Barcelona Dragons
Joel Makovicka	Arizona Cardinals
Bobby Newcombe	Montreal Alouettes
Tony Ortiz	Scottish Claymores
Jason Peter	Carolina Panthers
Carlos Polk	San Diego Chargers
Dominic Raiola	Detroit Lions
Mike Rucker	Carolina Panthers
Erwin Swiney	Green Bay Packers
Larry Townsend	Berlin Thunder
Kyle Vanden Bosch	Arizona Cardinals
Joe Walker	Tennessee Titans
Eric Warfield	Kansas City Chiefs
Steve Warren	Green Bay Packers
Jason Wiltz	New York Jets
Grant Wistrom	St. Louis Rams
Jon Zatechka	Berlin Thunder

References

1. 2017 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). Indianapolis: The National Collegiate Athletic Association. July 2017. p. 115. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
2. Ogden, Tim (July 30, 2009). "1997 The Great Debate". Bleacher Report.
3. "1997 College Football Year Summary". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
4. Moran, Malcolm (December 11, 1997). "After 25 seasons, Osborne to retire". The New York Times.
5. "Football - 1997 Schedule/Results". University of Nebraska–Lincoln Athletics Department. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy1M0kncB1I
7. http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/football_records/DI/2010/2010FBS.pdf
8. 1997 Husker Honors
9. "All Time NFL Huskers". Archived from the original on 2009-05-27. Retrieved 2009-05-21.