The 1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Universit ...

in the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by 25th-year head coach

Tom Osborne Thomas William Osborne (born February 23, 1937) is a former American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and politician from Nebraska. He served as head football coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 1973 to 1997 (25 season ...

and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

. The Cornhuskers competed as members of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

in the league's second year of existence. The Cornhuskers compiled a perfect 13–0 record and claimed their third

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

in four years. Nebraska was ranked first in the final

Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...

of the year, but was ranked second behind

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

(also undefeated, at 12–0) in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

. Of the 20 official championship selectors designated by the NCAA, 13 selected Nebraska as national champions, six selected Michigan, and one declared them co-champions. It remains one of the most hotly contested national championship debates in college football history. Nebraska secured their first

championship by defeating

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

by a score of 54–15 in the Big 12 Championship Game. Nebraska had been upset by

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in the inaugural Big 12 Championship Game in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. The season ended with a 42–17 victory over No. 3

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

in the 1998 Orange Bowl for their fourth consecutive major bowl victory. The Nebraska offense, which led the country in scoring, was led by quarterback

Scott Frost Scott Andrew Frost (born January 4, 1975) is a former American football coach and player. He was the head football coach at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from 2018 to 2022. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Frost played college football as a qu ...

and running back

Ahman Green Ahman Rashad Green (; born February 16, 1977) is a former American football running back who played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Green played college football at Nebraska and was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the 3rd ro ...

. Frost became just the tenth player in college football history to both pass and run for 1,000 yards. Green finished second in the country in rushing yards with 1,877 yards, and tied for third in touchdowns with 22. Offensive lineman Aaron Taylor was named a consensus All-American and was the recipient of the

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Ame ...

. The Cornhusker defense was anchored by All-American defensive linemen

Jason Peter Jason Michael Peter (born September 13, 1974) is a former American college and professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. Peter was a college football All-American at the Unive ...

and

Grant Wistrom Grant Alden Wistrom (born July 3, 1976) is a former American college and professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. Wistrom played college football for the University of Nebras ...

, winner of the

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lomba ...

. Head coach

announced after the regular season that the Orange Bowl would be his final game as head coach. He retired as Nebraska's all-time winningest coach, and was sixth in wins all-time in major college football history at the time of his retirement.

Schedule

Roster and coaching staff

Depth chart

Game summaries

Akron

UCF

Washington

Kansas State

Baylor

Texas Tech

Kansas

Oklahoma

Missouri

Iowa State

Colorado

Texas A&M

Tennessee

Statistics

* QB

: 88/159 (55.3%) for 1,237 yards (7.80) with 5 TD vs. 4 INT (2.52%). 176 carries for 1,095 yards (6.22) and 19 TD. * RB

: 278 carries for 1,877 yards (6.75) with 22 TD. 16 catches for 151 yards and 0 TD. * FB Joel Makovicka: 105 carries for 685 yards (6.52) and 9 TD. * RB

Correll Buckhalter Correll Buckhalter (; born October 6, 1978) is a former American football running back who played for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for Nebraska, he was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in th ...

: 54 carries for 311 yards (5.76) and 6 TD. * WR Lance Brown: 12 catches for 226 yards (18.83) and 0 TD. * WR Matt Davison: 10 catches for 219 yards (21.90) and 1 TD.

Rankings

After the season

Nebraska Head Coach

announced his retirement just prior to the 1998 Orange bowl, capping a remarkable career of success. The #2 Cornhuskers handily defeated the #3 Tennessee Volunteers 42-17, while #1

defeated #7

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

team 21-16. In postgame coverage on the field, Nebraska quarterback

openly lobbied

voters for support based on performance comparisons between Nebraska and Michigan. The voters apparently agreed, as Nebraska was ranked #1 in the final Coaches Poll, while Michigan retained their pre-bowl #1 ranking in the

, creating a split

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. The 1997 Huskers set an NCAA record that still stands by scoring an average of 5.5 rushing touchdowns per game (66 rushing touchdowns in twelve games, not including the six scored in the Orange Bowl).

Awards

NFL and pro players

The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1997 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.

References

{{Big 12 Conference football champions

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

Nebraska Cornhuskers football seasons College football national champions Big 12 Conference football champion seasons Orange Bowl champion seasons College football undefeated seasons

Nebraska Cornhuskers football The Nebraska Cornhuskers football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the West Division of the Big Ten. Nebraska plays its home games at Memorial Stadium ...