Welcome to installment No. 9 of ‘The Cob’s Archive Dive’, where each week, I’ll share Associated Press headlines and excerpts from past articles printed in the Falls City Journal. No matter what your age, hopefully you’ll find a piece of Husker football history that makes you feel the sights and sounds of gameday.

On this day in Cornhusker Football History:

October 12, 1970 – Headline: Huskers have a Score to Settle

Nebraska football coach Bob Deveney figures the No.6 Cornhuskers have a score to settle with Missouri when the two tangle Saturday in their annual renewal of their ancient football rivalry. Missouri, ranked 16th, has beaten Nebraska the past three years and Devaney says, “It’s been so long since we’ve beaten them, I don’t remember it.” The last Nebraska win was a 35-0 victory in 1966. Although Nebraska has a 32-28-2 lead in the series which began in 1892, the Tigers have won nine of the past thirteen games.

“This may be the best team Devaney has had. They seem to have everything. I hope our defense can keep it close enough so our Offense can win it,” Missouri head coach Dan Devine said. Devaney said he will alternate Jeff Kinney, Big Eight sophomore of the year last season, and Joe Orduna at I-back. The pair has combined for 575 yards this season. The Husker coach says his players, “are ready to play.”

(While Rhule can’t get over the hump against Minnesota and Iowa and Osborne struggled with Oklahoma and occasionally Bill McCartney’s Buffaloes, Devany had his own menace in Missouri. But competition is what pushes you to get better, and Rhule should feel pushed.)

October 4, 1980 – Headline: Seminoles Silence NU Attack, 18-14

Never before have so many ballons floated skyward as when Nebraska scored its first touchdown Saturday against Florida State at Memorial Stadium. But not long after the Huskers tallied that TD – and then padded the lead at 14-0 – Nebraska went p-s-s-s-t, like a ballon losing its air. FSU burst the bubble by staging a come from behind 18-14 victory that left the stadium’s 118th consecutive sellout crowd of 76,152 stunned. Pass interceptions. Fumbles. Penalties. Mental mistakes. They all added to the defeat. The Huskers led 14-3 at the half but couldn’t overcome giving the ball away four times. The Seminoles managed 166 total yards of offense and a net of only 12 on the ground against the unyielding Blackshirts. But it was Seminoles kicker Bill Capece’s field goals of 32, 27,40, and 41 yards that kept them in the game until Sam Platt’s 6-yard run in the fourth quarter gave Florida State the lead. A dramatic drive that began at the Nebraska 20 with 2 minutes, 37 seconds left to play ended with a fumble after the Huskers had reached the FSU 3. The Seminoles recovered with 10 seconds remaining to run-out the clock. “In my mind it is unquestionably the biggest win Florida State has ever had, to beat a No.3 team like Nebraska, and beat them here,” said head coach Bobby Bowden.

(Nebraska and Florida State was a great rivalry. Part of the reason for that was the mutual respect between the two head coaches in Osborne and Bowden. Something that seems lost in today’s game.)

September 21, 1990 – Headline: NU’s Memories are Gopher Nightmares

Eighth ranked Nebraska fondly remembers what happened in the Metrodome a year ago. Minnesota remembers too, although Gopher memories are closer to nightmares. Then third-ranked Nebraska did everything right that day in pounding Minnesota 48-0. Nebraska coach Tom Osborne doesn’t believe things will be that easy this year. Gopher coach John Gutekunst believes Minnesota has the potential to play with Nebraska even after its opening loss to Utah (35-29) and come-from-behind victory over Iowa State (20-16). “I don’t know if we are going to be ready to play against them,” Gutekunst said. “I know one thing: You take two equal teams, and you give them a turnover edge, you give a team a bad kicking game, you give them foolish penalties and the other team is going to win. Now, you take a team where they’re recognized as being better than you and you do those same things, you’re gonna have a blowout.”

(Nebraska dominated over Minnesota through the eighties and nineties, that’s why it’s so upsetting to see the Huskers lose to PJ Fleck and Minnesota over the last six games.)

September 27, 2000 – Headline: Coverage Concerns

Husker fans wince at the recollection of those two Notre Dame return men sprinting virtually untouched for touchdowns, the first after a kickoff, the second following a punt. Until Saturday at South Bend, Nebraska had never been rocked by such a double-hiccup in a single game – not at least in the 55 years school officials have been keeping complete game records. The Irish pulled it off during a nine-minute span of the second half. The players and coaches understand such dangerous living can’t continue. “We’ve spent extra time on it in meetings this week, and on the field,” head coach Frank Solich said. “It will show.” The Huskers face Iowa Saturday.

(Nebraska special teams will be under a microscope with the departure of Mike Ekeler. He fixed an atrocious special teams unit and then left. Brett Maher and Nick Humphrey must prove they can match or improve on Ekeler’s 2025 results.)

Be sure to look for next week’s edition as the ‘Cob’ dives into each week’s headlines 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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