Beating Hurricanes tops Big Red all-time list

Monday, April 13, 2020

Gazette scribbler R.B. (Really Bald) Headley was losing track of his Best Big Red football moments featured on huskers.com where fans can vote this month.

He had narrowed 64 moments in four regionals to four or five finalists.

With tournament-style brackets now an ancient memory in 2020, R.B. decided it was time to wrap up his top five final spots.

5. Big Red stopping Oklahoma’s 73-game Big Eight Conference winning streak in 1959.

A great win but recall Nebraska still finished below .500 overall that season despite star Bobby Reynolds.

4. Nebraska lining up without punter to honor the late Sam Foltz.

A wonderful, beautiful story that should be forgotten about this great Husker punter and friend who died in that tragic car accident.

But soap opera sentimental stories are seen enough in sports. Let’s get back to the games...

3. Nebraska stomping the mouthy Gators of Florida, 62-24, in January 1996.

The Huskers repeated as national champs with an awesome resounding victory while showing they were among college football’s all-time great teams.

Yet some off-field troubles involving Lawrence Phillips and other players will forever remain a footnote to that historic team. Plus it was a national title game basically decided before halftime...

2. “Game of The Century” in 1971 where Nebraska fought past Oklahoma, 35-31, to decide another No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown.

A classic contest in so many aspects but it was a “repeat” title. Nothing can beat the first...

1. Nebraska rallying past mighty Miami, 24-17, for the 1994 national title and FINALLY coach Tom Osborne’s first.

So many great ingredients team to bake up the finest Big Red VICTORY ever.

All those Orange Bowl defeats going back 20 years stressing Osborne could never win “the big one”.

All that changed in one quarter of one game where Big Red finally took all windy from those long-time nemesis Hurricanes like Sapp and Ray Lewis.

It wasn’t a blowout like the Florida game or repeating titles like that awesome 1971 team.

This was something Nebraska could do until facing a 10-point, second-half deficit in the toughest environment imaginable.

An even bigger comeback as Frazier had battled blood clots almost all season when he was supposed to win the Heisman.

Even cooler how backup/late great Brook Berringer guided Nebraska through most of a 12-0 season, yet never lost his positive impact when Frazier returned to take over again.

A fantastic moment where any Husker fans old enough to witness will always smile about no matter what this turbulent future brings.

GO BIG RED!!!

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