FIESTA BOWL / Nebraska 62, Florida 24 : Nebraska Far Superior : Frazier, Phillips Lead All-Time Great Victory

As they began carting Florida players off the field, and counting the cleat marks on quarterback Danny Wuerffel’s chest, and zooming in on Steve Spurrier’s crestfallen face, it was time to consider Nebraska’s place in college football history.

It was the second quarter.

The most hyped game of its time, the clash of undefeated titans, the game everyone waited to see, was over.

Color it red. Nebraska’s swarming sea and Florida’s face.

Spotting the opponents a rare first-quarter lead, perhaps needing to work up an anger, Nebraska scored 29 unanswered second-quarter points in a 62-24 victory over Florida in the Fiesta Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium before 79,864.

The victory secured for the 12-0 Cornhuskers their second consecutive undefeated season and national championship.

Any questions concerning Nebraska’s all-time worthiness were answered early and resoundingly.

Tommie Frazier proved he has no peer as a collegiate option quarterback in riddling the Gator defense for 199 rushing yards in 16 carries and completing six of 14 passes for 105 yards.

Frazier, the game’s most valuable player, passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two, the second being one of the most spectacular scrambles in memory, a third-quarter quarterback draw in which he broke at least six tackles en route to a Fiesta Bowl-record 75-yard run.

“Frazier is a great football player,” Coach Tom Osborne said. “It does point to the fact there is a place in college football for a running quarterback. I think the option still has a place.”

Yeah, maybe. Nebraska finished with 629 yards, 524 rushing, and averaged 7.6 yards per play.

“When you look at a defense for a month, you can look at weaknesses,” Frazier said.

It was sweet redemption for Frazier, who grew up in Bradenton, Fla.

“I always wanted to leave the state, come back and beat each Florida team in the championship game,” he said. “I beat two of them [Miami and Florida].

Tailback Lawrence Phillips also starred after being reinstated as a starter last week, finishing with 165 yards in 25 carries, 105 of his yards coming in the first half.

The Nebraska defense, unsung by comparison, ransacked Florida’s fabled Fun ‘N Gun offense, sacking Wuerffel seven times, five in the first half, and limiting Florida to minus-28 yards net rushing.

The Cornhuskers’ blitz strategy wrecked the timing of Florida’s precision pass offense.

“A couple of times we didn’t have enough blockers,” Wuerffel explained. “Other times were mistakes in schemes. They were coming from the right time from the right places. You have to give them credit.”

It was close for a few minutes. Florida took early leads of 3-0 and 10-6 in the first quarter, only the second time Nebraska had trailed this season.

Then came the onslaught: Phillips’ 42-yard touchdown run on the second play of the second quarter gave the Cornhuskers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

The real turning point came when Jamel Williams sacked Wuerffel for a safety on a blitz with 12:42 left in the half.

After getting the ball back at their 49, the Cornhuskers drove 51 yards in seven plays, freshman Ahman Green scoring on a one-yard run.

Nebraska made it 25-10 on Kris Brown’s 26-yard field goal, then broke the game open when Michael Booker intercepted a Wuerffel pass and returned it 42 yards for a score.

Spurrier, who has been criticized for running up scores on his opponents, found himself on the other end.

“We got clobbered,” said Spurrier, whose team finished 12-1. “I’m embarrassed we couldn’t make a game out of it for so many people that were watching early, I guess. I don’t know how many guys really played their hearts out. I don’t know who shouldn’t have.”

Spurrier said the loss will set the tone for next season.

“Obviously, spring practice will be a little more intense, instead of everybody patting themselves on the back,” he said.

“We’ve been on the good end of some of these scores. Now we’re on the bad end, and we deserved it tonight.”

It will be left to the pundits to weigh the off-the-field taint of Nebraska’s season against the dominance of its performance.

On the field, the Cornhuskers merit ranking with the all-time greats: USC of 1972, Nebraska in ‘71, Army in 1944 and ‘45, UCLA in 1954.

Nebraska’s 36 victories in the last three seasons are a Division I record.

The Cornhuskers’ lone defeat in that span--an 18-16 loss to Florida State in the 1994 Orange Bowl--is all that prevented Nebraska from three consecutive unbeaten seasons.

“To go three years and lose one game, that one almost a controversial one, one we should have won, I don’t know how you describe that,” Nebraska center Aaron Graham said.

It will be up to the social historians to weigh Osborne’s decision to start Phillips, who pleaded no-contest to misdemeanor assault on an ex-girlfriend, against the magnificence of Phillips as a player.

Osborne said he started Phillips because he was deserving after a six-game suspension.

‘I’m glad the season is over,” Osborne said. “I hope all you guys will concentrate on basketball now. I’m ready for a vacation.”