Welcome to installment No. 2 of ‘The Cob’s Archive Dive’, where each week, I share Associated Press headlines and excerpts from past articles published by the Falls City Journal. Whether you are 20 years old or 80, hopefully you’ll find a piece of Husker football history that takes you back to the sights and sounds of gameday years ago.
On this day in Cornhusker Football History:
August 28, 1970 – Headline: ‘Black Shirts to Lack Experience’
They’ve come to be known as Black Shirts. They draw the assignment of shackling the offenses of Nebraska football opponents. Each year sees more turnover in personnel in this Husker defensive unit. But each year the Black Shirts seem to wind up as a prideful aggregation who hate passionately to give up yardage. “We made great progress with our defense in the spring,” said Devaney. “The Black Shirt tradition has become a big pride factor on our team, and I don’t think you can count our defense out-even though it lacks experience.”
(Rhule needs to restore the pride involved in wearing a Black Shirt. It seems to have lost it’s meaning under him. Notable names from the 1970 Black Shirts, Jerry Martaugh, Adrian Fiala, Larry Jacobson, Willie Harper, and Joe Blahak.)
August 13, 1980 – Headline: ‘Preseason View, NU has Potential’
Talented running backs and a host of All-American candidates on defense have Nebraska coach Tom Osborne thinking his 1980 Cornhuskers, “have potential.” In his eighth year as head coach, Osborne has a wait and see attitude toward many of his new faces, but he is also aware of the talent he returns. “Redwine is the biggest breakaway threat we’ve had since Johnny Rodgers,” Osborne said. Behind Redwine is sophomore Roger Craig, who Osborne thinks could develop into the best back ever at Nebraska. Both I-backs will receive lead blocks from fullback Andre Franklin, “He’s the best fullback I’ve ever coached, definitely an All-American candidate,” Osborne said. As far as the 1980 schedule is concerned, “It’s as tough as we’ve faced in a long, long time,” Osborne said. Nebraska faces Utah, Iowa, Penn State, Florida State, and the usual Big Eight punishment.
(People want to talk about how tough Nebraska’s schedule is in 2026, but it isn’t even one of the top five toughest schedules in the Big Ten this season. Rhule would be moaning the blues if he had Utah and Florida State as part of his non-conference schedule this season.)
August 7, 1990 – Headline: ‘Osborne Turns Down Pay Raise and Tenure’
Osborne tried to turn down his recent $8,500 raise that will boost his salary for the 1990-91 fiscal year to $114,000. “I’m not trying to be a martyr turning down money. I just feel we’re going to have to bite the bullet in some areas. And this is a way to show football is a part of this too,” Osborne said. Should Osborne ever seek a “lifetime” pact similar to Florida State’s Bobby Bowden, 60, signed in January, NU Athletic Director Bob Davaney is ready to help. “Tom is as deserving of a lifetime contract as any coach in the country,” Davaney said, “I’d recommend him for any length of contract he’d want. I think he’s the best football coach in the country and one of the finest people in the game.” Osborne finished with saying, “At Nebraska if you ever got complacent and your teams weren’t performing on the field, life would become so miserable that it wouldn’t be worth staying even if you had a lifetime contract”
(Oh, how times have changed. The first two headlines of August 1990 talk about television and what coaches are being paid. Today the Big Ten has a billion-dollar television deal and Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule makes $7 million a year. I’m not sure you could get Rhule to leave no matter how miserable he was, especially with a lifetime contract.)
August 13, 2000 – Headline: Defense Seeks Identity
Unfortunately for the Huskers, inseparable partners on NU’s defense last season, Ralph Brown and Mike Brown aren’t coming back. “Before I ever came to Nebraska,” junior cornerback Keyo Craver said, “people told me we don’t rebuild. We reload. I know it’s an old saying, and everyone has heard it, but we’re not into rebuilding. We also don’t replace old players. We create new ones.” An era of Nebraska football ended in January when Mike Brown and Ralph Brown played their final NU game. First-team All-Americans in 1999, Mike Brown as a rover and Ralph Brown as a right cornerback, the unrelated defensive co-captains started 91 games the past four seasons. Their departure leaves a gap in leadership for the defense of 2000 to reconstruct. With Mike Brown ranking as the no.2 tackler in NU history, that won’t be easy.
(With having so much success through the mid to late 90’s, it got harder and harder to replace guys like Ralph and Mike Brown. Having played for four full years there weren’t a lot of opportunities for players behind them to get playing time, and they are just two examples of that.)
Be sure to look for next week’s edition as the ‘Cob’ dives into each week’s headlines of the season as they once appeared in the Falls City Journal.
GO BIG RED!! SIMPLE, FAST VIOLENT!!
All headlines and excerpts were gathered from Associated Press articles, and most but not all were published in the Falls City Journal. Home – Falls City Journal – Falls City, NE
Photographs were gathered from multiple sources.
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