everyone should read

[Benard]

October 29, 2004

 

Tom Shatel: '94 story was more than title or a score

 

BY TOM SHATEL

 

 

 

WORLD-HERALD COLUMNIST

 

Ten years later, Damon Benning can still see him. He can still hear that voice. He can feel the embers burning in his own belly, still, after all these Autumn Saturdays, like coals that won't ever extinguish.

 

"I remember when it was 17-9," says Benning, his eyes lighting up and voice quickening the way you do when you're telling a good story. "Tommie (Frazier) was on the sidelines. He hadn't gone back in yet.

 

"He had his helmet in his hand. He was pacing. I remember he started yelling at people, 'We are going to win this game. You either believe it or you don't. If you don't, get off the sideline.'

 

"And he was going eyeball to eyeball with everyone, almost like he was checking your temperature. And then everyone started getting animated. Cory Schlesinger started getting hot. Donta Jones almost blew a gasket. It was unbelievable."

 

Ten years later, that 1995 Orange Bowl night lives on for the sportswriter and Benning, the former Nebraska running back, reminiscing in an Omaha restaurant.

 

We are talking about history because that's what we do. The running back makes history. The writer records it. And then we spend the rest of our lives bringing it back to life, old days that get better like wine.

 

There was no better vintage than the 1994 Nebraska football season. No better "team" than that 1994 bunch.

 

For the writer, 1994 was a Dream Season. It had everything. Drama. Tragedy. Colorful characters. Not one, but two underdog heroes. The great coach winning his first title in the stadium and against the team that had haunted him.

 

For the running back, 1994 was the Ultimate Journey. It had everything. Adversity. Challenge. Brotherhood. A locker room full of lifetime friends, laying out their hearts and guts for a man they adored. Lessons for life.

 

Ten years later, those lessons still apply. The program has changed coaches, cultures. The bowl streak is in jeopardy. There's anxiety. The future is uncertain. Where's that 1994 team when you need it?

 

They'll be there on Saturday, during the Missouri-Nebraska game. It's reunion time. Their national championship, Tom Osborne's first, will be celebrated. But so should the lessons they taught in character and teamwork and perseverance. Those should be remembered every season.

 

"You talk about lessons learned," says Benning, backup to Lawrence Phillips in 1994. "That team is so close. Guys still talk all the time, keep in touch. If one of us is up for a job, or needs help, or we have a friend in trouble, we will drop what we're doing to help. That will always be more important."

 

The writer remembers the Kickoff Classic, a 31-0 victory over West Virginia. He remembers the national news media anointing Frazier as the early leader for the Heisman Trophy. He remembers after the 13-3 win at Oklahoma, the end of a crazy regular season, a Chicago writer saying, "Miami is going to kill these guys."

 

Benning recalls: "We were the ugliest best team in the country. Every game was aesthetically poor. It was an ugly season. All we wanted to do was be there when the dust settled at the end.

 

"We lost Tommie early. Brook (Berringer) played hurt. We lost our quarterback on defense, Mike Minter, early in the year. Guys just found ways to keep plugging in pieces. Nothing, and nobody, was bigger than the whole. We didn't care much about style points. We cared a lot about substance."

 

The sportswriter remembers a team of character and characters. Outland Trophy winner Zach Wiegert, after winning ABC Chevrolet Player of the Game for the UCLA game, said, "Where's my car?" Christian Peter, smiling diabolically when asked what exactly he did to K-State quarterback Chad May in the pile.

 

It was rural big boys from Nebraska and urban boys from California and Florida learning to get along and win together. It was a volatile mix.

 

Benning: "There was a lot of tough love. That locker room could be a difficult place to be. If you caught somebody on the wrong day, you could end up getting your head shaved, stuffed in a locker or at the bottom of a dog pile.

 

"But there was a lot of togetherness. We had a few all-out brawls. One of the classics came before the Oklahoma game. (Jared) Tomich and Clinton Childs exchanged words during an inside run drill. They go at it and here comes Christian, throwing Childs off the pile.

 

"Now everyone is going at it. Tom (Osborne) thought long and hard about whether to let it go or not. He could sense that something was happening, guys were sticking up for each other. Afterwards, in the locker room, it was like nothing happened. But there was also a feeling that you could count on your teammate."

 

It was a season of grand theater, broken into parts like a play:

 

• The news that Frazier had blood clots and would miss the season. The writer remembers panic. And wondering, "Who is this Brook Berringer guy?"

 

Benning: "It was devastating. But I'll never forget what Tommie said. I was pretty close to him then, and I was one of the first to talk to him after he found out. All he said was, 'I'll be back.' I kept asking him questions and he didn't have any answers. All he kept saying was, 'I'll be back.'

 

"T.O. addressed the team. He told us we were going to keep going because that's what we do. At the time we knew we would all have to step up. Everyone liked Brook, but nobody knew how he would do under fire. I remember our offensive line. They took it upon themselves to step their games up. It was unreal to watch. They all wanted to be 'the guy."'

 

• The Kansas State game. The writer remembers sophomore walk-on Matt Turman, who looked like the team manager, getting the start at quarterback because Berringer had a collapsed lung. K-State licked its chops. Turman handed off to Phillips, who pounded into the line with a sprained thumb. The myth was that NU won that game, 17-6, using only four plays.

 

Benning: "True story. We ran the iso, a couple of sprint draws and a lot of toss. Turman was funny. He's a guy who could get you to walk to Alaska. He can sell. He's so optimistic. If he jumped off a building, he'd think there would be a feather bed at the bottom. He has that kind of karma. He was calm that game. He just kind of smiled in the huddle.

 

"Christian Peter was a great storyteller on the sidelines. He was down there yelling about how May needed a diaper and a pacifier. Barron Miles shut down Kevin Lockett, who was supposed to be all-world. He ate him up."

 

• Colorado. Third-ranked Nebraska vs. second-ranked Colorado. The writer remembers NU Defensive Coordinator Charlie McBride daring CU quarterback Kordell Stewart to beat him and he couldn't.

 

Benning: "That was the second-loudest crowd I had ever heard in that stadium. We knew if we were even or ahead after the first quarter, it was over, because those guys put too much emotion into that game. Sure enough, we got up and they folded. We owned those guys. They were thoroughly outcoached. Coach (Osborne) knew how to play those guys.

 

"The thing about Brook in that game, he kept teasing me. I was a little flighty, and he would look at me and say, 'Hey, 2-1, you with me?' And clap his hands. He was a cool customer."

 

• Orange Bowl. The game plan. The comeback. The rotating quarterbacks. Warren Sapp sucking air. Osborne being carried off on his players' shoulders. What sticks with Benning the most is what was said in the locker room.

 

"When Coach would give you the game plan, it was like he was telling a story. Do this and this will happen and they'll do this and this is how it will end. At halftime we're down 10-7 and he says, "No problem, keep your head, play with composure, they're going to get a 15-yard penalty, they're going to blow it.

 

"There were so many tears in the locker room after that game. Dwayne Harris and Tyrone Williams were hugging. All of these big linemen were hugging. Christian had tears in his eyes. Then Coach walked in. He was quiet for a long time, longer than I had ever seen him in four years, collecting his thoughts.

 

"He said, 'I want to thank you guys.' What? Thank us? We should be thanking him. But he said, 'Your persistence, your willingness to work, lay it on the line each week and play the season out with courage and character. I will take those components - character, loyalty and work ethic - over talent, over anything in a team. This team couldn't have been a better reflection of those things.'"

 

 

link

[DaveH]

There is no doubt that the 94 team had something special. Probably something that comes around every now and again. It's not something you can coach directly. The players just have it IMO. I agree that this and every future Husker team can look at that team and learn something.

[walksalone]

Yeah, there's no coaching that. It's all about chemistry. You have to have the right group of guys at just the right time...

 

very rare to have that combo at the same time...

[Blackshirt]

Great read, thanks for the art. Wow that brings back alotta great memories. What a season that was! Man I hope every player on our 2004 team reads that thing before tomorrows game...

[AR Husker Fan]

I agree that passion seems to be missing - but as I stated in another thread, I think that comes from the players far more than the coaches. Some athletes simply have a competitive spirit that makes them want to impose their will on the other team. Michael Jordan was one of those types.

 

I still maintain that Incognito had to go, but we need players with the type of competitive drive he had...