This Streak Is Enough to Bowl Everyone Over

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are in a bowl game. So what else is new?

Nebraska has played in bowl games of every stature, from the majors to the fringe games.

On Thursday in the Rose Bowl, in the bowl championship series title game against Miami, Nebraska will play in its 33rd consecutive bowl game, an NCAA record. It will be Nebraska’s 40th bowl appearance overall, which dates to the 1941 Rose Bowl, a 21-13 loss to Stanford in it’s only other appearance in the Pasadena bowl game.

The last time the Cornhuskers stayed home for the holidays was in 1968, after a second consecutive 6-4 season.

But coach Bob Devaney’s 1969 Husker squad went 9-2, including a 45-6 victory over Georgia in the Sun Bowl, and Nebraska has played in the postseason since. In the team meeting room, there’s a large emblem that bears a notation or artifact from all the bowl games in that streak.

“Subtle, huh,” said Nebraska Coach Frank Solich, laughing.

The streak is a powerful recruiting tool.

“You don’t get to 33 bowls in a row by accident. A lot of good things have to happen,” Solich said. “You have to have a lot of great players over the years. Located in the middle of the country as we are, and only 1.5 million people in the state, you have to get out of the state to recruit and find players.

“The thing that’s interesting, no matter where you go in this country people know about the program, what our teams have accomplished over the years and the tradition. That always gets you a foot in the door.”

It had an impression on a local athlete who left Southern California for the heartland.

“Back in high school I was used to winning games. I don’t like to lose,” said sophomore offensive tackle Dan Waldrop, who graduated from Wilmington Banning High. “And a couple of days before the signing date, [defensive back] coach [George] Darlington said if I wanted to win games, I needed to come here and be part of a great history. I really didn’t know much about the bowls, but they told me when I was here on my visit. And it ultimately made me want to come here.”

And once a recruit becomes a Cornhusker, he learns quickly that bowl games are more than a source of pride at Nebraska. They are a way of life.

“We pay attention to [the streak],” junior running back Dahrran Diedrick said. “It’s not an option to think we’re not going to a bowl. If that happened, it would be weird in Lincoln. And it will take a miracle for it not to happen.”

From 1982-98 Nebraska played in 17 consecutive Jan. 1 or Jan. 2 bowl games (Orange, Sugar, Citrus and Fiesta), all under coach Tom Osborne. The Cornhuskers went 7-10 in this stretch, but lost seven consecutive bowl games from 1988-94. That streak ended when Nebraska defeated Miami in the 1995 Orange Bowl. The Cornhuskers have won six of their last seven bowl games, the lone loss to Arizona in the 1998 Holiday Bowl.

All three of Nebraska’s Heisman Trophy winners have played during the streak.

Johnny Rodgers, the 1972 winner, was a one-man show in the 1973 Orange Bowl, scoring four touchdowns and passing for another in the 40-6 rout of Notre Dame. Mike Rozier, the 1983 recipient, rushed for 147 yards in the 1984 Orange Bowl against Miami.

Eric Crouch, this season’s winner, gets a final chance to win a national title. The only postseason game he did not appear in was the 1998 Fiesta Bowl, after missing the 1997 season as a medical redshirt because of an ankle injury.

“Being here five years and being in five bowl games really means a lot to me,” Crouch said. “It’s made my college career more enjoyable to be able to do something like that, whereas a lot of teams don’t get that opportunity to do it year after year.”

Nebraska or its opponent has played for the national championship in 13 bowl games during the streak. Bowl victories gave the Cornhuskers outright or shared titles for the 1970, ‘71, ‘94, ’95 and ’97 seasons.

Miami has a 3-2 edge over Nebraska in bowl games and has defeated the Cornhuskers twice with the national championship at stake. The most memorable was the 1984 Orange Bowl game when Miami prevailed, 31-30, after Nebraska failed late on a two-point conversion.

But once Thursday’s game is over, Nebraska will go home and make another notation on the emblem in the team room.

And make space for No. 34.

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The Streak

Nebraska will play in its 33rd consecutive bowl game Thursday. Here are results during streak:

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Season Bowl Result 1969 Sun d. Georgia, 45-6 1970 Orange d. LSU, 17-12 1971 Orange d. Alabama, 38-6 1972 Orange d. Notre Dame, 40-6 1973 Cotton d. Texas, 19-3 1974 Sugar d. Florida, 13-10 1975 Fiesta l. to Arizona St., 17-14 1976 Bluebonnet d. Texas Tech 27-24 1977 Liberty d.N. Carolina, 21-17 1978 Orange l. to Oklahoma, 31-24 1979 Cotton l. to Houston, 17-14 1980 Sun d. Miss. State, 31-17 1981 Orange l. to Clemson, 22-15 1982 Orange d. LSU, 21-20 1983 Orange l. to Miami, 31-30 1984 Sugar d. LSU, 28-10 1985 Fiesta l. to Michigan, 27-23 1986 Sugar d. LSU, 30-15 1987 Fiesta l. to Florida St., 31-28 1988 Orange l. to Miami, 23-3 1989 Fiesta l. to Florida St., 45-21 1990 Citrrus l. to Ga. Tech, 45-21 1991 Orange l. to Miami, 22-0 1992 Orange l. to Florida St., 27-14 1993 Orange l. to Florida St., 18-16 1994 Orange d. Miami, 24-17 1995 Fiesta d. Florida, 62-24 1996 Orange d. Virginia Tech, 41-21 1997 Orange d. Tennessee, 42-17 1998 Holiday l. to Arizona, 23-20 1999 Fiesta d. Tennessee, 31-21 2000 Alamo d. Northwestern, 66-17

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