COLLEGE FOOTBALL / BOWL REPORT : ORANGE : Nebraska Trying to End Slump at Five

For Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne, the worst day of the year is the first one.

Jan. 1 usually leaves the Big Red feeling blue. They have lost five bowl games in a row--the past four by at least 20 points apiece--and the streak could well continue in the Orange Bowl Friday night against explosive Florida State.

The heavily favored Seminoles (10-1) are ranked third, the Cornhuskers (9-2) 11th.

“The only comparison between me and Bear Bryant right now,” Osborne said Sunday in Miami, “is that Bear Bryant lost eight straight bowl games, and I’ve lost five straight. That may be my claim to fame.”

Actually, Bryant never lost more than four in a row.

“I’m not very proud of it,” Osborne said. “I could go through a whole lot of reasons for it; all I can say is we haven’t gotten the job done.

“I’ve been somewhat embarrassed by it. We’ve played some awfully good teams in difficult situations, but excuses don’t go very far in athletics.”