The Nebraska Cornhuskers 68-0 win over Akron Saturday night was the largest margin of victory since an identical 68-0 defeat of the New Mexico State Aggies on September 18th, 1982. Like the Akron victory, it happened in the second game of the season.
And I was there for both of them.
The NMSU win was as much of blow-out as it reads. The Huskers roared to a then NCAA 883 total yards with 677 yards on the ground and 206 through the air. As awful as that sounds, Head Coach Tom Osborne emptied the benches
early and liberally. There were no eye-popping individual performances – Mike Rozier notched 149 yards on 14 carries and back-up Jeff Smith blazed for 126 yards on only 7 totes with a 68-yard touchdown run.
Turner Gill working mostly short completed 10 of 13 for 93 yards. Ricky Simmons’ lone grab from third-stringer Bruce Mathison, which went 61 yards for another TD, was enough to lead all receivers. All solid numbers but nothing career-defining.
The 2025 Huskers left the starters in a bit longer while netting 728 total yards, the eight highest total in school history, but they were done by the middle of the third quarter with with Dylan Raiola throwing for 364, Emmett Johnson rushing for 140 and Jacory Barney netting 132 receiving yards.
The 1982 contest against the Aggies was the first Huskers football I had ever attended and it was my freshman year in Lincoln. The student tickets cost something like $20 each and our Phi Delta freshman class all sat together, which was probably a horrible idea. However, they sat us near other students, far away from the preferred older patrons of West Stadium who were allowed to bring in their unsearched mini-coolers. Meanwhile, we were constantly ringed by state patrolmen which cut down some on the profanity and illegal (on our side anyway) drinking.
As the score rose, the attendance dwindled, so those of us still there spread out and became determined to watch the entire game. That is, until an inebriated brother awoke suddenly from his nearly hour-long slumber and, much to our dismay, decided to hurl his empty small bottle of schnapps a good distance across the north bleachers. Luckily, the stadium being almost empty, it shattered harmlessly. As luck would have it, the troopers had wandered off a while ago. However, with very minimal discussion, we decided our day at Memorial Stadium had come to an end and got the hell out of there.
Shockingly, I have many memories of that day.
Saturday night’s game found me much older, cold sober and with much better seats in the Memorial Stadium press box. It’s a much quieter experience than the bar or the stadium, and you will be reminded of it prior to each half – and that reminder comes with warnings of expulsion and suspension should you fail to keep the peace of a working press box.
As those who know me are likely aware, this presents a weekly challenge. I’m more of a clapper than a shouter, so I do have to watch those hands when things go well – I confess to blasting a couple claps when Colorado came to visit last season. Keeping a lid on it when things go south is more difficult – I’m currently working on a brown belt in cussin’ under my breath.
The upsides are many though. The meals are generally fantastic and there’s halftime snacks and post-game pizza to nosh on while typing. There’s stat sheets for both teams and watching with a laptop is great for getting right to the info you need as well as having a constantly updated stat service keeping your numbers at hand. And, also, you’re watching the game with a bunch of other people who love sports.
The view is much higher up, for sure, but the top down look shows you holes and open receivers and ball flight better than lower (and CRAMPED) seats and television.
With 234 yards rushing and 494 yards passing, that view afforded huge holes and plenty of open receivers. Raiola threw with touch and power and the dart to Dane Key for their starters’ final touchdown was probably his best pass of the day. I could see lanes open up for Jacory Barney whose 87 yards on 4 punt returns exceeded the team’s 2024 total. We saw Emmett Johnson almost break free a few times against Cincinnati, and Saturday he took the “almost” out of it with breakaways of 47 and 36 yards.
Back in 1982, the somewhat addled memories are mostly of long Husker runs and more long Husker runs. 16 different players got at least one carry and their 883 yards were netted on 104 plays compared to 51 and 182 for NMSU. This may have actually been Osborne’s best team, but they would be derailed a week later after Happy Valley Screw Job gave them the one loss which would generally end title hopes the pre-BCS/CFP era.
In the years in between from 1982-1993, the Huskers were the kings of “can’t win the big one” with the big one generally being a trip to play Miami or another Florida team in the Orange Bowl. Osborne privately said as soon as soon as that Big 8 contract with that bowl was broken, Nebraska would never go back and they didn’t.
After that, came 3 titles in four years and Osborne’s retirement. Frank Solich’s record and Eric Crouch’s presence belied the fact that a slide had begun, and most of college football seemed to agree when the strength of a 52-19 record could only net him an offer from then-MAC doormat, Ohio U. The Bill Callahan era was next and I still believe he might have been here a long time had he not refused to replace Kevin Cosgrove, who was simply a walking apocalypse as a defensive coordinator.
Bo Pelini had a record of 67-27 which many would have killed for in the following years. But his own temper coupled with an undisputed and utter fool of an athletic director led to his ouster. Shaun Eichorst then proved the label by hiring the largest disaster in Nebraska football history in Mike Riley and Eichorst was let go early in 2017 with Riley getting the boot following the season.
Then came Scott Frost which seemed like a home run at the time, but with hindsight was not a good match and probably should have been recognized as such from the jump. He brought some physicality back, but couldn’t win one-score games to save his life. Rumors of negative off-field behavior and a horrid start to the 2023 season earned him the gate. Mickey Joseph came in and they improved, but a domestic incident ended his shot at the full-time job.
Which brings us to where we are now with head Coach Matt Rhule. After a rocky 1st season, the 2024 Huskers went to their first bowl game in a decade and had their first winning record in 8 years. And following the 68-0 victory over Akron, almost 44 years after the New Mexico State thrashing?
Matt Rhule is now 13-12 which makes him Nebraska’s first coach since Pelini with a winning record.
It’s been a beautiful 44 years – see ya’ Saturday, y’all.
