Husker Losses since 1973

[Jaybird]

I had been hearing about how in recent years Nebraska had been blown out more often than before so I wanted to look into the losses Nebraska has suffered since Tom Osborne took over as head coach in 1973. I really only started following Husker football more closely in the early 1990's and got into it even more in depth once I got to college in 1996 so I really didn't recall how things were before the championship run in the 90's. I am not trying to start anything but I was curious how we fared in terms of losses in the recent past and thought I would share what I found. Here is what I found, maybe someone smarter than myself can use the information for some kind of comparison. Forgive any math or other errors as I can correct anything you may find. These statistics I took from the huskermax database. http://www.huskermax.com/allthegames.html

1973: 9-2-1 (2 losses by total of 28 points, 14 point average loss)

@ #12 Missouri 12-13

@ #3 Oklahoma 0-27

1974: 9-3 (3 losses by total of 26 points, 8.67 point average loss)

@ UR Wisconsin 20-21

UR Missouri 10-21

#1 Oklahoma 14-28

1975: 10-2 (2 losses by total of 28 points, 14 points average loss)

@ #7 Oklahoma 10-35

Bowl #7 Arizona St 14-17

1976: 9-3-1 (3 losses by total of 22 points, 7.33 points average loss)

#17 Missouri 24-34

@ UR Iowa St 28-37

#8 Oklahoma 17-20

1977: 9-3 (3 losses by total of 43 points, 14.33 points average loss)

UR Washington St 10-19

UR Iowa St 21-24

@ #3 Oklahoma 7-38

1978: 9-3 (3 losses by total of 28 points, 9.33 points average loss)

@ #1 Alabama 3-20

UR Missouri 31-35

Bowl #4 Oklahoma 24-31

1979: 10-2 (2 losses by total of 6 points, 3 points average loss)

@ #2 Oklahoma 14-17

Bowl #8 Houston 14-17

1980: 10-2 (2 losses by total of 8 points, 4 points average loss)

#16 Florida St 14-18

#9 Oklahoma 17-21

1981: 9-3 (3 losses by total of 16 points, 5.33 points average loss)

@ UR Iowa 7-10

#3 Penn St 24-30

Bowl #1 Clemson 15-22

1982: 12-1 (1 loss by total of 3 points, 3 points average loss)

@ #8 Penn St 24-27

1983: 12-1 (1 loss by total of 1 point, 1 point average loss)

Bowl #5 Miami 30-31

1984: 10-2 (2 losses by total of 18 points, 9 points average loss)

@ UR Syracuse 9-17

#4 Oklahoma 7-17

1985: 9-3 (3 losses by total of 28 points, 9.33 points average loss)

#17 Florida St 13-17

@ #5 Oklahoma 7-27

Bowl #5 Michigan 23-27

1986: 10-2 (2 losses by total of 13 points, 6.5 points average loss)

@ UR Colorado 10-20

#3 Oklahoma 17-20

1987: 10-2 (2 losses by total of 13 points, 6.5 points average loss)

#2 Oklahoma 7-17

Bowl #3 Florida St 28-31

1988: 11-2 (2 losses by total of 33 points, 16.5 points average loss)

@ #5 UCLA 28-41

Bowl #2 Miami 3-23

1989: 10-2 (2 losses by total of 30 points, 15 points average loss)

@ #2 Colorado 21-27

Bowl #5 Florida St 17-41

1990: 9-3 (3 losses by total of 74 points, 24.67 points average loss)

#9 Colorado 12-27

@ UR Oklahoma 10-45

Bowl #2 Georgia Tech 21-45

1991: 9-2-1 (2 losses by total of 37 points, 18.5 points average loss)

#4 Washington 21-36

Bowl #1 Miami 0-22

1992: 9-3 (3 losses by total of 37 points, 12.33 points average loss)

@ #2 Washington 14-29

@ UR Iowa St 10-19

Bowl #3 Florida St 14-27

1993: 11-1 (1 loss by total of 2 points, 2 points average loss)

Bowl #1 Florida St 16-18

1994: 13-0

1995: 12-0

1996: 11-2 (2 losses by total of 19 points, 9.5 points average loss)

@ #17 Arizona St 0-19

CCG UR Texas 27-37

1997: 13-0

1998: 9-4 (4 losses by total of 24 points, 6 points average loss)

@ #18 Texas A&M 21-28

UR Texas 16-20

@ #2 Kansas St 30-40

Bowl #5 Arizona 20-23

1999: 12-1 (1 loss by total of 4 points, 4 points average loss)

@ #18 Texas 20-24

2000: 10-2 (2 losses by total of 18 points, 9 points average loss)

@ #3 Oklahoma 14-31

@ #16 Kansas St 28-29

2001: 11-2 (2 losses by total of 49 points, 24.5 average loss)

@ #14 Colorado 36-62

Bowl #1 Miami 14-37

2002: 7-7 (7 losses by total of 116 points, 16.57 average loss)

@ UR Penn St 7-40

@ #19 Iowa St 14-36

@ UR Oklahoma St 21-24

#7 Texas 24-27

@ #11 Kansas St 13-49

#13 Colorado 13-28

Bowl UR Mississippi 23-27

2003: 10-3 (3 losses by total of 70 points, 23.33 average loss)

@ UR Missouri 24-41

@#16 Texas 7-31

UR Kansas St 9-38

2004: 5-6 (6 losses by total of 127 points, 21.17 average loss)

UR Southern Miss 31-34

@ UR Texas Tech 10-70

@ UR Kansas St 21-45

@ UR Iowa St 27-34

@ #2 Oklahoma 3-30

UR Colorado 20-26

2005: 8-4 (4 losses by total of 52 points, 13 average loss)

#15 Texas Tech 31-34

@ UR Missouri 24-41

UR Oklahoma 24-31

@ UR Kansas 15-40

2006: 9-5 (5 losses by total of 49 points, 9.8 average loss)

@ #4 USC 10-28

#5 Texas 20-22

@ UR Oklahoma St 29-41

CCG #8 Oklahoma 7-21

Bowl #10 Auburn 14-17

2007: 5-7 (7 losses by total of 160 points, 22.86 average loss)

#1 USC 31-49

@ #17 Missouri 6-41

UR Oklahoma St 14-45

UR Texas A&M 14-36

@ #17 Texas 25-28

@ #8 Kansas 39-76

@ UR Colorado 51-65

2008: 9-4 (4 losses by total of 80 points, 20 average loss)

UR Virginia Tech 30-35

#4 Missouri 17-52

@ #7 Texas Tech 31-37

@ #4 Oklahoma 28-62

2009: 10-4 (4 losses by total of 25 points, 6.25 average loss)

@ #13 Virginia Tech 15-16

UR Texas Tech 10-31

UR Iowa St 7-9

CCG #3 Texas 12-13

2010: 10-4 (4 losses by total of 25 points, 6.25 average loss)

UR Texas 13-20

@ #18 Texas A&M 6-9

CCG #10 Oklahoma 20-23

Bowl UR Washington 7-19

2011: 9-4 (4 losses by total of 79 points, 19.75 average loss)

@ #7 Wisconsin 17-48

UR Northwestern 25-28

@ #20 Michigan 17-45

Bowl South Carolina 13-30

Have at it. What does this tell you?

[Hedley Lamarr]

helps the average when you lose 4 games a year

[irafreak]

Also keep in mind that teams regularly score 60+ now but back then they actually played defense....

[Hedley Lamarr]

Also keep in mind that teams regularly score 60+ now but back then they actually played defense....

 

Defense?

[Polarhusker]

Also keep in mind that teams regularly score 60+ now but back then they actually played defense....

 

Defense?

did you not understand what he said?

[Hedley Lamarr]

Also keep in mind that teams regularly score 60+ now but back then they actually played defense....

 

Defense?

did you not understand what he said?

 

was adding to his point of defense not being played across the board in college football these days.

[Polarhusker]

Also keep in mind that teams regularly score 60+ now but back then they actually played defense....

 

Defense?

did you not understand what he said?

 

was adding to his point of defense not being played across the board in college football these days.

I did not pick that up. i got it now.

[Hedley Lamarr]

Also keep in mind that teams regularly score 60+ now but back then they actually played defense....

 

Defense?

did you not understand what he said?

 

was adding to his point of defense not being played across the board in college football these days.

I did not pick that up. i got it now.

 

[Jeremy]

I could be wrong, but even since the 90's, things have been stacked more and more against defense in general. A lot more touchy in the secondary, putting a red jersey on the QB at times, and that absolute lack of flags on BLATANT holding, play after play. Not to mention the screen and dunk teams have benefited from very few flags for illegal man downfield infractions, so that really helped them.

 

Added to that is that a lot of programs are selling out on offensive talent instead of trying to keep things equal on both sides of the ball, and there is always so much speed on the field at any given time.

 

Osborne and McBride worked really hard to make sure most of the Blackshirts were incredible athletes, and you could defintely see that in '94, not to mention a bunch of replacement guys in '95. Here's hoping Pelini is putting a focus on building the Blackshirts now first and foremost.

[Huskerlambs]

Wow, reading that post was like getting hammered in the nuts over and over again, as I relived all of those close losses.

[I am I]

It tells me after only 5 years as a head coach Bo is getting better and his team is getting better.

9-10 wins a year is fantastic, especially after that RAPID decline starting in 2002. I forget how bad the vibe, temperament, and culture had become during callahans tenure.

While 30 point losses are no fun, in the last 5 yrs USC/OU/Mich/Miami/etc

suffer blowout losses as well.

We're this close to getting over the hump, and I think we will. But even then I wouldn't be surprised to see an occasional lose by 25-35 points. It just happens more now

[HuskerShark]

Also keep in mind that teams regularly score 60+ now but back then they actually played defense....

 

Defense?

did you not understand what he said?

 

was adding to his point of defense not being played across the board in college football these days.

 

That's a generalization that I agree with for the most part, but you have to factor in a few variables that have caused this:

 

1) Offenses are better and more diverse now than they have ever been.

2) Almost every rule that has been introduced in the past 15 years has been a benefit to the offense.

3) Scholarship limits were put into place (for everybody except the $EC) and only allow 85 players on a roster. In order to be good on both sides of the ball, it takes great roster management, great recruiting, great player development, and a fair amount of luck. So most teams in college football choose to have an offensive mindset when it comes to recruiting.

[HuskerShark]

I also think if you go back and look at those old Husker teams, there were plenty of sub-par defenses. The two that come to mind were the Husker defenses in 1990 and 1983. In 83, Gill, Rozier, and Fryar just out-scored everybody. That offense was revolutionary in the game of football at that time. And I've watched a couple of games from 1990, and that defense was nothing special either.

[Eric the Red]

Also keep in mind that teams regularly score 60+ now but back then they actually played defense....

 

Defense?

did you not understand what he said?

 

was adding to his point of defense not being played across the board in college football these days.

 

That's a generalization that I agree with for the most part, but you have to factor in a few variables that have caused this:

 

1) Offenses are better and more diverse now than they have ever been.

2) Almost every rule that has been introduced in the past 15 years has been a benefit to the offense.

3) Scholarship limits were put into place (for everybody except the $EC) and only allow 85 players on a roster. In order to be good on both sides of the ball, it takes great roster management, great recruiting, great player development, and a fair amount of luck. So most teams in college football choose to have an offensive mindset when it comes to recruiting.

 

 

HuskerShark, Couldn't have said it better. Considering TO was able to give out 100+ scholly's a year (I think) and the Old Big 8 only having 2 teams competing with the occasional OK St, or Missouri showing life, Years were much easier to win games.

 

After viewing this list i'm even more impresssed with what Pelini has done ... especially considering where things were and what he was given. TO was given back to back National Title teams. Pelini was given you know what. People may not agree with how Pelini handles himself sometimes, but really can't argue with where we are at.

 

1. winning again

2. players are graduating

3. high team GPA's

4. family culture returned

5. alumni returning

6. Players playing hard (yes they are playing as hard as they can - doesn't mean they still don't miss a block or a tackle once in a while)

[Eric the Red]

Also keep in mind that teams regularly score 60+ now but back then they actually played defense....

 

Defense?

did you not understand what he said?

 

was adding to his point of defense not being played across the board in college football these days.

Yes...sarcasm....the downfall of Huskerboard