Novembers to Remember for Cornhusker faithful
By Brent Craig
Novembers to Remember
In the seven years with the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Bo Pelini has compiled a 20-7 record in November (average of 1 loss per year). With two more November games left on the Husker’s schedule, this number could end up being 22-7. The Huskers under Bo have also had a couple of great November victories such as November 7, 2009 when the unranked Huskers defeated #20 Oklahoma in Lincoln 10-3, or on November 12, 2011 when the #19 Huskers defeated #12 Penn State in Beaver Stadium. I’m not listing some rough November losses under Bo because it is depressing.
So why pick November as the focus of this article? Because November is the month that decides conference championships. So in the spirit of November clashes, I have compiled a list of the Top 5 All-Time November wins for the Nebraska Cornhuskers:
Number 5: November 23, 1963
#10 Nebraska would face #6 Oklahoma in Lincoln to Decide the Big 8 Championship. At the end of the third quarter the Huskers led 10-0, but in the fourth quarter there was a scoring explosion by both teams to finish the day with a Husker victory 29-20. This would be Bob Devaney’s first ever victory over Oklahoma. Nebraska would finish 10-1 that season after an Orange Bowl victory over #5 Auburn. The final rankings had the Huskers in AP poll #5, and in the Coaches Poll #6.
Number 4: November 29, 1996
#4 Nebraska would face #5 Colorado in Lincoln to decide the first ever Big 12 North Divisional Champion, sending the winner to the Championship game. It ended up being a tight one in which the Huskers did not score any second half points but prevailed 17-12 over the Buffs. The following week the Huskers lost to unranked Texas in the Championship game but defeated Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl to finish the season 11-2 ranked 6th in both polls.
Number 3: November 11, 1978
#6 Nebraska would face #1 Oklahoma in Lincoln. The winner would be on track to win the Big 8 with one more conference game each after this game. Sooner Magic would not help Oklahoma on this day as Tom Osborne gets his first victory over Oklahoma 17-14. Unfortunately the Huskers would lose the following week to unranked Missouri, so they shared the Big 8 Title with its nemesis Oklahoma. And to the dismay of the Huskers, Nebraska would face Oklahoma again in the Orange Bowl to end the season with a loss. The Huskers finished 9-3 with a final ranking of #8 in both polls.
Number 2: November 30, 1922/ November 10, 1923
On November 30, 1922 and November 10, 1923, the Huskers faced the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame under their legendary coach, Knute Rockne. During those years they quartet, consisting of, QB-Stuhldreher, Left HB-Crowley, Right HB-Miller, and FB-Layden, were sophomores in 1922 and juniors in 1923. The 1922 Huskers won 14-6 and the 1923 Huskers won 14-7. Both games were in Lincoln. In 1924, Notre Dame and the Four Horsemen defeated the Huskers. During their three year run, Notre Dame only lost two games; both losses to Nebraska. The 1922 Huskers finished the season 7-1 and the 1923 Huskers finished the season 4-2-2. Had the Huskers defeated Notre Dame in 1924, now that would have been something!
Number 1: November 25, 1971
#1 Nebraska would face #2 Oklahoma in Norman in what would go down as the Game of the Century, and arguably the best college football game ever played by any two teams. This game was fought on Thanksgiving Day to a sold out stadium and a nationally televised audience. Who can forget the 72-yard punt return by Johnny Rogers that gave Nebraska the first score in the game? The game battled on for four quarters and Oklahoma led at the half, but down by 3 and with 1:38 left in the game, Husker I-Back Jeff Kinney scored his 4th touchdown of the day giving the Huskers the victory and the Big 8 Title. Nebraska went on to play #2 Alabama in the Orange Bowl with a 38 to 6 victory claiming the Huskers second National Championship.