December 4, 1999

Curious. You guys that were in grade school in the late 90's . . .

Do you have any solid memories of the mid-90's at all? Or were you too young to understand or appreciate what was happening at NU?

I graduated high school in 88, so was just about perfectly set for the 90's run. I was old enough buy beer, had launched a very successful business (which meant more money than most people could spend), and was able to travel to games. I went to as many as my schedule allowed. I was there for much of that huge run from 92 onward. It was a blast, and it seemed it would never end.

For a few years, the sun shone on Lincoln, and almost nowhere else. I was young, already felt immortal, and the team's wins became so common, I think it truly elevated the state's mood by palpable, measurable degrees. It was something I have never experienced before or after, and it was so great to be there.

 
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It seemed, at those times, there was no debate about "winning".

The only debate I recall was "how much will we win by?"

The answer usually seemed to be many touchdowns. It was a disappointment, most games, if we won by less than 14 or 17. Sometimes, after those games, we debated what "went wrong" lol, and worried about whether this coach or that, was losing it. I guess this explains why we frustrate fans of some other teams.

 
Flood said:
It seemed, at those times, there was no debate about "winning".

The only debate I recall was "how much will we win by?"

The answer usually seemed to be many touchdowns. It was a disappointment, most games, if we won by less than 14 or 17. Sometimes, after those games, we debated what "went wrong" lol, and worried about whether this coach or that, was losing it. I guess this explains why we frustrate fans of some other teams.
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This is what I remember. I was eight and my parents wouldn't let me stay up to watch the 9:30 kickoff of the 96 Arizona State game, and when I got up the next morning and they told me we got shut out I literally did not believe them. I had never seen Nebraska lose.

 
I don't remember a whole lot from the mid 90's. The things I do remember are the Florida and Tennessee games as well as the homecoming they received at the Devaney. I was to busy playing outside. I also remember asking who the "Blackshirts" were...

 
Flood said:
Curious. You guys that were in grade school in the late 90's . . .

Do you have any solid memories of the mid-90's at all? Or were you too young to understand or appreciate what was happening at NU?

I graduated high school in 88, so was just about perfectly set for the 90's run. I was old enough buy beer, had launched a very successful business (which meant more money than most people could spend), and was able to travel to games. I went to as many as my schedule allowed. I was there for much of that huge run from 92 onward. It was a blast, and it seemed it would never end.

For a few years, the sun shone on Lincoln, and almost nowhere else. I was young, already felt immortal, and the team's wins became so common, I think it truly elevated the state's mood by palpable, measurable degrees. It was something I have never experienced before or after, and it was so great to be there.
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The earliest games I remember that I actually cared about was Colorado and Miami in '01. 2003 was when I really started watching consistantly. I watch old videos of games all the time and enjoy it but, I don't have unreasonable expectations every year because of the '90s. For me Alabama is that team that just never loses. We really had something special and it's good to remember and respect that but, it's not fair to expect that year in and year out.

 
Flood said:
Curious. You guys that were in grade school in the late 90's . . .

Do you have any solid memories of the mid-90's at all? Or were you too young to understand or appreciate what was happening at NU?

I graduated high school in 88, so was just about perfectly set for the 90's run. I was old enough buy beer, had launched a very successful business (which meant more money than most people could spend), and was able to travel to games. I went to as many as my schedule allowed. I was there for much of that huge run from 92 onward. It was a blast, and it seemed it would never end.

For a few years, the sun shone on Lincoln, and almost nowhere else. I was young, already felt immortal, and the team's wins became so common, I think it truly elevated the state's mood by palpable, measurable degrees. It was something I have never experienced before or after, and it was so great to be there.
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I am 29 years old. I was 6-7 in 1990 when I really started to pay close attention to Husker football and got taken to my first game in '99. So when 2002 came around I was so shellshocked an depressed because I just didnt know how to handle what was going on. This last decade has made appreciate the 90's even moreso than I did at the time. At the time, each blowout win over a top 10 team was like business as usual. I remember crying when we lost to ASU in '96, waking up the next morning thinking it was Saturday and that it was all a dream until I turned the tv on to see the national media rejoicing that the wicked witch was dead-for now. 90's were great. But the last decade has taught me simple that it was an anomoly and that it will never happen again. Yes, teams like Bama now will have their runs and win their titles, but it will NEVER be in that dominant and consistent of fashion.

 
I'm 35. My first live game was New Mexico St in 1982 and it was a joke. 68-0. Turner Gill was my whole world then, and I still haven't loved a single player more. I got a good dose of Oklahoma heartbreak during the Bosworth-Keith Jackson era and the beginning of the Buffs thing.

The title run coincides perfectly with high school and college... they were invincible and to some extent, I felt like I was too. I enrolled at UNL in the fall of '95 and got season tickets to watch the best team ever. And I went to the Tostitos massacre with my old man, which is the still the only bowl trip I've ever made. I've had it very good.

During the Clownahan era, I lived in Australia. I had to get up in the middle of the night to listen to radio broadcasts of Warren Swain and Jim Rose describing Texas Tech and Kansas scoring 70+ points on us.

My loyalties were definitely tested then.

The next NC we win will be the sweetest of all, no doubt.

 
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Flood said:
Curious. You guys that were in grade school in the late 90's . . .

Do you have any solid memories of the mid-90's at all? Or were you too young to understand or appreciate what was happening at NU?

I graduated high school in 88, so was just about perfectly set for the 90's run. I was old enough buy beer, had launched a very successful business (which meant more money than most people could spend), and was able to travel to games. I went to as many as my schedule allowed. I was there for much of that huge run from 92 onward. It was a blast, and it seemed it would never end.

For a few years, the sun shone on Lincoln, and almost nowhere else. I was young, already felt immortal, and the team's wins became so common, I think it truly elevated the state's mood by palpable, measurable degrees. It was something I have never experienced before or after, and it was so great to be there.
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Born in 1991. My earliest memories of NU Football was the 1997 season. I remember watching the Mizzou game and just being happy that my dad was happy. The first game I actually wanted to sit down and watch, though, was the 1998 Orange Bowl. Went to my first game in 1999 and was hooked from then on out so I have some memories of the tail end of that run but really NU was dominant up until 2001 so it's not like our generation of Husker fans have lived with all of the doom and gloom of 2004 and 2007 with no memory of what being a truly great team feels like.

 
The 98 Orange Bowl was incredible.

I had a lot of friends from Knoxville, who were living in Omaha at the time. Their feeling, and they said it was virtually universal across Tennessee, was a sense of utter dread at what they knew was coming. They were certain, and they were right, that they were about to be humbled severely.

That game was never close, I don't think, or not as close as the score looked. The Huskers owned the field until half, but the score stayed somewhat even. That third quarter was phenomenal.

Tennessee bounced back the next year, to win their own MNC, if memory serves.

 
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Flood said:
The 98 Orange Bowl was incredible.

I had a lot of friends from Knoxville, who were living in Omaha at the time. Their feeling, and they said it was virtually universal across Tennessee, was a sense of utter dread at what they knew was coming. They were certain, and they were right, that they were about to be humbled severely.

That game was never close, I don't think, or not as close as the score looked. The Huskers owned the field until half, but the score stayed somewhat even. That third quarter was phenomenal.

Tennessee bounced back the next year, to win their own MNC, if memory serves.
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With a different quarterback. If memory serves, the quarterback we humiliated in '98 was named Peyton Manning.

 
Flood said:
The 98 Orange Bowl was incredible.

I had a lot of friends from Knoxville, who were living in Omaha at the time. Their feeling, and they said it was virtually universal across Tennessee, was a sense of utter dread at what they knew was coming. They were certain, and they were right, that they were about to be humbled severely.

That game was never close, I don't think, or not as close as the score looked. The Huskers owned the field until half, but the score stayed somewhat even. That third quarter was phenomenal.

Tennessee bounced back the next year, to win their own MNC, if memory serves.
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Yeah, then we got 'em again in the 2000 Fiesta Bowl ;)

 
You're right, I had forgotten it was Peyton. Was that a Heisman year for him as well? Cannot recall that.

Either way, it was awesome to see the Huskers shred one of the best QB's in CFB history. I now remember a huge number of sacks, too. It seemed like Peyton spent more time on his face than on his feet in that game. What a hoot!

For many years, I kept a copy of the Knoxville newspaper, which a friend had sent me after the game. Their editorial included a line like this, paraphrased: "It was Big, it Was Red, it was Hungry. And it left an Orange smudge at midfield. That was all that remained of the Volunteers after four quarters in a massacre that staked Nebraska's claim to another championship."

Close to that, I think. Maybe I can find it online.

I never did drugs in my life, but I swear I felt high through almost all of the 90's.

 
Here's one article from that game:

Still looking for the one I paraphrased:

MIAMI (Scripps Howard News Service) -- Tennessee's first taste of Nebraska football should be enough to last another hundred years or so.

The No. 2 Cornhuskers stated an impressive case for national championship consideration Friday night, thrashing UT 42-17 in the FedEx Orange Bowl.

The Vols, finishing the Peyton Manning Era at 11-2, began the evening ranked No. 3 and will have to wait until today to see how far they drop in the final vote.

Tennessee hung close for a half in its first-ever meeting with Nebraska and first Orange Bowl in three decades. But the Huskers (13-0) put the game away with 10 ruthless minutes to open the third quarter, expanding a 14-3 halftime lead to 28-3 with an awesome display of power football.



http://web.archive.org/web/19990429212137/espn.go.com/ncf/1997/980102/recap/ttdnnd.html

 
Nebraska is 1-1 against the Manning Bros. Beat Peyton (Tennessee) in the 1998 Orange Bowl 42-17. Lost to Eli (Ole Miss) in the 2002 Independence Bowl 27-23.

 
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