longhorns long a thorn to huskers

[hskrfan4life]

an article about the rivalry OWH

 

LINCOLN - Tom Osborne got hooked. Frank Solich, too. Will Bill Callahan be next?

 

 

Vince Young burned Nebraska with a 65-yard touchdown run in 2003. Texas won 31-7 in Austin.

Look back at 10 years of Husker heartache and it's hard to imagine otherwise. Texas has foiled national championship runs, undefeated seasons and home winning streaks. They've even helped get a coach fired.

 

Texas and Nebraska aren't exactly rivals - they don't play every year. That's probably a good thing for NU, which is 1-5 against the Longhorns since 1996 - the only win came in the 1999 Big 12 championship.

 

Big Red's recent series with UT boils down to this: When Texas had better teams, Texas won. When Nebraska had better teams, Texas won.

 

Attribute the inequality to recruiting or coaching or just plain luck if you like. But Texas cast a gridiron spell on Nebraska the day James Brown rolled left on fourth-and-inches. Ricky Williams and Major Applewhite and Roy Williams and Vince Young have just followed tradition.

 

From Sept. 21, 1991, to November 29, 2002, Nebraska played 76 games at Memorial Stadium. It went 74-2. Texas was responsible for both defeats.

 

Bevo's bunch gets another chance to quiet Husker Nation on Saturday.

 

'Horns-Huskers

• When: 11 a.m. Saturday

 

• Where: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln

 

• Records: Texas 6-1, 3-0 Big 12; NU 6-1, 3-0

 

• AP Top 25 rankings: Texas, No. 5; Nebraska, No. 17

 

• TV: ABC

 

• Radio: KFAB, 1110 AM and KHUS, 93.3 FM

 

• Latest line: Longhorns by 6 1/2

 

 

 

Ricky Williams and Texas (top) got a key facemask penalty in the 1998 game NU lost 20-16.

 

In 1996, (center) at the Big 12 Championship Game, quarterback James Brown led the Longhorns to a 37-27 victory in St. Louis.

 

In 1999, Major Applewhite (bottom) guided the Longhorns to a 24-20 win in Austin.

Here's a look at five frustrating losses at the hands of Texas:

 

• 1996: Big 12 Championship Game, Texas 37, Nebraska 27

 

The Huskers' chance at three straight national titles was at stake. A win put No. 3 NU in the Sugar Bowl.

 

Texas came in unranked and 7-4, led by confident quarterback James Brown. The Longhorns stunned the imposing Blackshirts with 503 yards total offense.

 

The death knell: Leading 30-27 with 2 1/2 minutes left, coach John Mackovic went for it on fourth-and-inches from his own 28.

 

"The rest is history," Mackovic said after the game.

 

Brown faked a handoff, rolled left and found Derek Lewis open in the secondary. He lofted it perfectly and Lewis ran all the way to the Nebraska 11, sealing the win.

 

The loss opened the door for Steve Spurrier, who went to New Orleans and rolled top-ranked FSU. No. 2 Arizona State lost to Ohio State in the final minute and Florida took home the title.

 

• 1998: Memorial Stadium, Texas 20, Nebraska 16

 

No. 7 Nebraska hadn't lost at home since 1991, a stretch of 47 games. Unranked Texas had a first-year coach in Mack Brown and had won just four games the prior season.

 

The Huskers already had one loss to Texas A&M, but on Halloween night, Frank Solich's first season turned frightful. He can blame Ricky Williams and Major Applewhite.

 

In a battle of future Heisman Trophy winners, Williams' 150 rushing yards bettered reserve quarterback Eric Crouch's 107. Longhorns freshman quarterback Applewhite scrambled on third-and-goal at the 2 and found Wane McGarity for the winning score with less than three minutes to play.

 

The Huskers lost twice more and finished with four losses for the first time since 1968.

 

Rivalry? What Rivalry?

Nebraska versus Texas in Big 12 play:

Year

Site

Result

1996

St. Louis*

Texas, 37-27

1998

Lincoln

Texas, 20-16

1999

Austin

Texas, 24-20

1999

San Antonio*

Nebraska, 22-6

2002

Lincoln

Texas, 27-24

2003

Austin

Texas, 31-7

• Big 12 championship

 

 

 

• 1999: Austin, Texas 24, Nebraska 20

 

No. 3 Nebraska marched into Texas spewing venom about the two previous UT wins.

 

Led by flamboyant Dominic Raiola, the Huskers vowed not to go down again. But that was before Texas scored two third-quarter touchdowns to erase a 13-3 NU lead, before three fumbles, including Correll Buckhalter's on the goal line early in the fourth quarter that likely would've given Nebraska the lead.

 

Mack Brown assessed the significance of the win afterward: "This game really gets our name back on the national scene and that's key for this state and the Big 12. After the demise of the Southwest Conference, we were put in a position where kids were leaving the state to play football somewhere else."

 

Seven years later, it's clear Brown was prophetic. The Huskers battled slippery fingers the rest of 1999, but a dominating defense kept them unscathed. They beat Texas in December and finished third in the polls.

 

• 2002: Memorial Stadium, Texas 27, Nebraska 24

 

This time Texas clearly had superior talent. The seventh-ranked 'Horns, led by NFL prospects Chris Simms, Cedric Benson and Roy Williams, had their eyes on another Nebraska home winning streak, this time of 26 games.

 

They jumped ahead early - Simms threw for 419 yards - and fought off a furious NU rally. Quarterback Jammal Lord played perhaps his finest game in scarlet and cream. He ran for 234 yards and connected with Matt Herian on a 60-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to cut Texas' lead to 20-17.

 

UT led 27-24 with a minute to play when DeJuan Groce returned a punt to the Texas 16. Moments later, Solich opted to throw to the end zone instead of kicking a game-tying field goal. Lord's pass was intercepted, killing the upset bid and handing NU its fourth loss.

 

Nebraska didn't come close to matching the valiant performance the rest of 2002, finishing with seven losses.

 

• 2003: Austin, Texas 31, Nebraska 7

 

No. 12 Nebraska, ranked ninth in the BCS, came into November brimming with confidence. By the time the month ended, its coach would be fired. Texas contributed to the fall. The 16th-ranked Longhorns totally dominated 7-1 NU.

 

At one point in the first quarter, UT had run 25 plays to Nebraska's three.

 

Solich's offense rushed for just 53 yards and never made a dent in Texas' defensive armor. Meanwhile, redshirt freshman Vince Young's 163 yards on 14 carries demonstrated the potential that two years later made Texas a national champion.

 

Two weeks later, the Huskers suffered even worse embarrassment in a 38-9 loss to Kansas State at home.

[Jadler]

We need to end this losing record with Texas, I say we start saturday!!!

[gamecocks]

We should end any chance that they have at a National title just like they did to us back in 96.

[808Husker in KCMO]

That Halloween game made me sick. Anyone else remember that game? Ricky Williams single-handedly beat the Huskers that night. And it was raining which made it suck worse.

[Licensed to Ill]

That Halloween game made me sick. Anyone else remember that game? Ricky Williams single-handedly beat the Huskers that night. And it was raining which made it suck worse.

 

I can't believe I found this play. At least we won the game, but it just shows how BAD of a tackling team we were back in the late 90s.

 

 

Reminds me of the 01 CU game when our secondary missed about 75 arm tackles against Chris Brown

[Huskrz65]

 

I can't believe I found this play.

I can't believe you posted that. That Pussburger voice made me regurgitate my dinner...THANKS!

[BIGREDIOWAN]

I think this is the year to end some records for some other teams i.e. ISU losses since 2000 at Ames, KSUcks 10 year winning streak in Manhattan, and now UT!!!!