1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Bowl Alliance / 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 year)
Offensive coordinator	Tom Osborne (28th year)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Charlie McBride (17th year)
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

1997 Big 12 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Northern Division
#2 Nebraska xy$		8	–	0					13	–	0
#8 Kansas State %		7	–	1					11	–	1
#23 Missouri		5	–	3					7	–	5
Colorado		3	–	5					5	–	6
Kansas		3	–	5					6	–	5
Iowa State		1	–	7					1	–	10
Southern Division
#20 Texas A&M xy		6	–	2					9	–	4
#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
† – Bowl Alliance representative as champion ‡ – Bowl Alliance at-large representative x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Schedule

^[1]

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	Central Florida*	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)	CBS	W 42–17	72,385
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to 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 Alexander, DanDan Alexander Fr OL Altstadt, SteveSteve Altstadt Fr OT 70 Anderson, EricEric Anderson Sr TE 94 Antholz, TravisTravis Antholz So WB 82 Applegate, SeanSean Applegate So C 52 Baldwin, MattMatt Baldwin So OG 76 Becvarovski, SashoSasho Becvarovski Fr SE 20 Beveridge, TomTom Beveridge Fr WB 14 Brown, LanceLance Brown Jr IB 36 Buckhalter, CorrellCorrell Buckhalter Fr TE 90 Carpenter, TimTim Carpenter Sr SE 6 Cheatham, KennyKenny Cheatham Jr QB 9 Christo, MonteMonte Christo Jr OT 68 Clausen, JeffJeff Clausen So FB 42 Cobb, JoshJosh Cobb Jr WB Cornelsen, BenBen Cornelsen Fr WB Cotten, TylerTyler Cotten Fr QB Crouch, EricEric Crouch Fr SE 3 Davison, MattMatt Davison Fr TE 85 DeBates, T.J.T.J. DeBates So SE Denney, LukeLuke Denney Fr OT 77 Diekmann, BillyBilly Diekmann Fr SE 2 Edwards, J.R.J.R. Edwards So IB 4 Evans, DeAngeloDeAngelo Evans So WB 12 Finister, DemondDemond Finister So SE 83 Fischer, CraigCraig Fischer So SE Friesen, PatPat Friesen Fr QB 7 Frost, ScottScott Frost Sr WB Fujan, PaulPaul Fujan Fr OT 74 Fulton, LonnieLonnie Fulton So SE 10 Gentile, MikeMike Gentile Fr OG 72 Gessford, BenBen Gessford Jr WB 27 Gibson, JohnJohn Gibson Fr IB Giles, MarcusMarcus Giles Fr FB Gragert, NickNick Gragert Fr IB 30 Green, AhmanAhman Green Jr OL Green, MikeMike Green Fr SE 80 Haafke, BillyBilly Haafke Jr OG 53 Havlovic, AaronAaron Havlovic So OT 51 Henson, KyleKyle Henson Jr C 59 Heskew, JoshJosh Heskew Jr OG 55 Hochstein, RussRuss Hochstein Fr OG 62 Hoskinson, MattMatt Hoskinson Sr TE 88 Jackson, SheldonSheldon Jackson Jr TE 34 Jackson, VershanVershan Jackson Sr OG 56 Johnson, MarcusMarcus Johnson So SE Johnson, NateNate Johnson Fr WB Jones, JordanJordan Jones Fr OT 69 Julch, AdamAdam Julch So FB 22 Kingston, BenBen Kingston So TE 87 Kobus, ChadChad Kobus So OL Kollmorgen, KyleKyle Kollmorgen Fr SE 89 Lake, Jeff (Robert)Jeff (Robert) Lake Sr FB 40 Legate, BillyBilly Legate Jr QB 1 London, FrankieFrankie London So FB 45 Makovicka, JoelJoel Makovicka Jr TE 41 McKee, JakeJake McKee Fr FB 32 Miller, WillieWillie Miller Fr TE 81 Murphy, JohnJohn Murphy Fr QB 12 Newcombe, BobbyBobby Newcombe Fr IB 37 Olnes, JasonJason Olnes So IB 36 Piening, HankHank Piening Fr OT 73 Pollack, FredFred Pollack Sr OT 57 Preister, RyanRyan Preister Fr C Raiola, DominicDominic Raiola Fr OL Rasmussen, BuckBuck Rasmussen Fr TE 86 Roy, DorrickDorrick Roy Jr QB 16 Runty, JayJay Runty Fr OG Rutherford, JonJon Rutherford Fr OG 79 Saalfeld, ChrisChris Saalfeld Fr FB 21 Schoening, MattMatt Schoening Fr OT 65 Schwab, JasonJason Schwab So C 54 Seaman, DougDoug Seaman Sr OG 63 Sherman, JamesJames Sherman So IB 31 Sims, JamesJames Sims Sr IB 25 Soucie, TravisTravis Soucie Fr FB 43 Stanislav, JeremyJeremy Stanislav Fr OT 95 Tansey, JimJim Tansey So OG 67 Taylor, AaronAaron Taylor Sr OT 71 Van Cleave, MikeMike Van Cleave Sr WB 26 Vanderhoef, CaseyCasey Vanderhoef Fr OL Volk, DaveDave Volk Fr OG 61 Wade, BrandtBrandt Wade Jr RB White, DanDan White Fr WB 33 Wieting, SeanSean Wieting Sr WB 5 Wiggins, ShevinShevin Wiggins Jr QB 3 Wiles, ChadChad Wiles Fr FB 24 Winkler, AndyAndy Winkler So TE Wistrom, TraceyTracey Wistrom Fr OG 64 Zatechka, JonJon Zatechka Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 95 Allen, DerekDerek Allen So DT 89 Almanzar, LuisLuis Almanzar Fr LCB 28 Anderson, JoshJosh Anderson Fr WLB 40 Arens, ErickErick Arens So WLB 36 Baker, RodRod Baker Fr RE 87 Bassett, ChrisChris Bassett Sr LCB 24 Benes, JasonJason Benes Sr DB Boettner, MicMic Boettner Fr DB Booker, DionDion Booker Fr ROV 21 Brown, MikeMike Brown So RCB 22 Brown, RalphRalph Brown So MLB 39 Buettenback, BenBen Buettenback So LB Bunton, GrantGrant Bunton Fr LB Burrow, JamieJamie Burrow Fr LB Coyne, JonJon Coyne Fr SLB 54 Deitloff, ChrisChris Deitloff Fr DB Demps, DamianDamian Demps Fr RCB 2 Dennis, LeslieLeslie Dennis Sr ROV 17 Dittrick, GeorgeGeorge Dittrick Fr DT 58 Drum, BrandonBrandon Drum Jr DT 61 Dush, JasonJason Dush Fr FS 33 Ebke, MitchMitch Ebke Fr FS 19 Finley, ClintClint Finley Fr FS 5 Fischer, EricEric Fischer Fr MLB 44 Foreman, JayJay Foreman Jr SLB 34 Froehlich, RussellRussell Froehlich Jr RCB 18 Gates, JayJay Gates Sr DT 77 Gill, BobbyBobby Gill So RE 75 Grummert, MattMatt Grummert Fr RE 9 Guidry, GeorgeGeorge Guidry Fr LB Gustafson, ChrisChris Gustafson Fr FS 45 Hamik, BradBrad Hamik Fr CB Harrison, BrandonBrandon Harrison Jr SLB 49 Hogrefe, QuintQuint Hogrefe Jr DB Ickes, MattMatt Ickes Fr WLB 50 Jackson, JuliusJulius Jackson So WLB 1 Johnson, EricEric Johnson Jr DT 88 Jones, DaveDave Jones Sr DT 91 Kaiser, LoranLoran Kaiser Fr RE 57 Kelsay, ChadChad Kelsay Jr WLB 47 Kohl, JoshJosh Kohl So RE 82 Lenners, CurtCurt Lenners Sr ROV 29 List, GreggGregg List So ROV 6 Makaiwi, KalinKalin Makaiwi Jr DT 97 Matthews, GlenGlen Matthews Jr DT 85 McCullough, JasonJason McCullough Jr WLB 4 McFarlin, OctaviousOctavious McFarlin Sr DL McGinn, MattMatt McGinn Fr FS 25 McGraw, GregGreg McGraw So LB Mehl, LeviLevi Mehl Fr DT 78 Milius, TomTom Milius So RE 93 Mooberry, BrandonBrandon Mooberry Fr SLB 37 Ortiz, TonyTony Ortiz So LB Penny, JonJon Penny Fr DT 55 Peter, JasonJason Peter Sr LCB 11 Peterson, JeromeJerome Peterson So MLB 13 Polk, CarlosCarlos Polk Fr ROV 14 Quindt, BrandonBrandon Quindt Fr SLB 23 Raymond, SteveSteve Raymond So RCB 10 Reynolds, KhariKhari Reynolds Fr LB Roth, BrandonBrandon Roth Fr RE 84 Rucker, MikeMike Rucker Jr RE 80 Ryan, EricEric Ryan So SLB 46 Shaw, BrianBrian Shaw So RE 76 Siebenborn, ScottScott Siebenborn Fr LB Svoboda, RyanRyan Svoboda Fr DB 16 Swiney, ErwinErwin Swiney Fr LB Terrio, NickNick Terrio Fr DT 79 Tessendorf, RossRoss Tessendorf Jr DB Tillery, AlikAlik Tillery Fr RE 92 Toline, TravisTravis Toline Jr DB Turner, ArionArion Turner Fr MLB 48 Tuttle, ChadChad Tuttle Fr MLB 56 Urban, NolandNoland Urban Fr LB Van Boening, SimonSimon Van Boening Fr RE Vanden Bosch, KyleKyle Vanden Bosch Fr LB Vedral, MarkMark Vedral Fr CB 27 Walker, JoeJoe Walker Fr DT 94 Walters, BrianBrian Walters Fr FS 32 Walther, EricEric Walther Jr RE 90 Wardyn, BrandonBrandon Wardyn Fr FS 3 Warfield, EricEric Warfield Sr DT 96 Warren, SteveSteve Warren So ROV 42 Watchorn, TroyTroy Watchorn Fr LB Wichmann, J.P. (John Paul)J.P. (John Paul) Wichmann Fr RE 81 Wills, AaronAaron Wills So DT 99 Wiltz, JasonJason Wiltz Jr RE 98 Wistrom, GrantGrant Wistrom Sr DB Woodward, WesWes Woodward Fr RE 38 Zahl, BrendanBrendan Zahl Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 35 Brown, KrisKris Brown Jr PK 12 Hadenfeldt, DanDan Hadenfeldt So P 19 Kosch, JesseJesse Kosch Sr P 23 Lafleur, BillBill Lafleur Jr PK 28 Long, ChaceChace Long Fr P 8 Morro, BrianBrian Morro Jr PK 13 Retzlaff, TedTed Retzlaff Sr P/PK Tack, ChuckChuck 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

Game notes

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

Central Florida

Central Florida at Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total Central Florida 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 Movement

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Final
AP	6	6	6	6	7	3	3	3	2	1	1	1	3	3	2	2	2	2
Coaches																		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, also mentioning Osborne's retirement. 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. 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).^[2]

Awards

^[3]

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.^[4]

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. "Football - 1997 Schedule/Results". University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletics Department. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
2. http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/football_records/DI/2010/2010FBS.pdf
3. 1997 Husker Honors
4. "All Time NFL Huskers". Archived from the original on 2009-05-27. Retrieved 2009-05-21.