Nebraska’s 1998 season ended with a bitter little number: 23-20.
That was the final in the Culligan Holiday Bowl, where fifth-ranked Arizona slipped past the Huskers and handed Frank Solich a loss in his first bowl game as Nebraska’s head coach. It was Nebraska’s fourth defeat of the year, and the aftermath showed up quickly in the rankings, with the Huskers falling from No. 14 to No. 19 in the final AP poll. That was their lowest finish since 1968, when they weren’t ranked at all.
Solich didn’t sugarcoat what went wrong the next day. “I thought we played hard, played well at times, but apparently not consistently enough throughout the game,” he said.
The biggest issue, he said, was the ground game. “We were not able to establish an inside running game, and that eventually hurt us in terms of being able to control the ball a little bit more, pick up third-down conversions, and those type of things.”
The numbers back that up. Nebraska managed just 87 rushing yards and finished with 280 total yards of offense.
Still, the Huskers gave themselves a late chance. Down 16-13, they put together an eight-play, 88-yard drive that ended with 10:44 left when Eric Crouch hit tight end Tracey Wistrom on a 4-yard touchdown pass. The march featured a 33-yard completion to Wistrom, a 22-yard pass to fullback Joel Makovicka and a 12-yard run by Crouch.
“I thought we made some big plays when we needed to give ourselves a chance at the end, which was good to see,” Solich said.
But Arizona answered with a nine-play, 69-yard touchdown drive to retake the lead, and Nebraska’s next possession unraveled. A fumbled pitch stalled the drive, then Crouch threw an interception. From there, the Wildcats were able to drain the clock and force Nebraska into using its final two timeouts.
The Huskers got one last crack at it with 34 seconds left, starting at their own 27-yard line. An 8-yard pass to Billy Haafke was followed by three incompletions, and the final one hit the turf as the last 4 seconds disappeared.
Nebraska’s defense did its part to keep the game tight. The Blackshirts held Arizona to 265 yards and forced four fumbles, recovering three. Rush end Mike Rucker earned Defensive Player of the Game honors after posting seven tackles, six solo stops, five tackles for loss and two pass breakups.
Rucker wasn’t alone in getting after Arizona. Jason Wiltz and Aaron Wills each had sacks, Mike Brown led Nebraska with 13 tackles, and Ralph Brown broke up three passes.
Crouch finished as Nebraska’s leading rusher with 28 yards. Through the air, he went 12-of-28 for 193 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. His first scoring throw came late in the first half, a 45-yard strike to wingback Shevin Wiggins that put Nebraska ahead 10-9 with 1:53 left before halftime.
That lead grew when Loran Kaiser recovered a fumble on Arizona’s next possession, setting up Kris Brown’s 23-yard field goal as time expired in the half for a 13-10 advantage. Brown had already connected on a 25-yard field goal five minutes earlier.
Arizona’s other touchdown came on a 15-yard pass just 4 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Solich said the season was a demanding one after Nebraska had to follow Tom Osborne’s run of three national championships in his final four seasons. “This was not an easy year for this football team, and we knew that would be the case,” he said. “But I thought they did measure up in terms of shouldering all of that and coming back game after game and coming back and playing as hard as they could.”
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Nebraska Just Got A Huge Break In A Game Matt Rhule Needs
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For Nebraska, the timing matters. Matt Rhules team needs every edge it can find in a game that could shape the conversation around the Huskers, and facing Rutgers without one of its top playmakers is a meaningful break. The Scarlet Knights still have enough talent to make things interesting, but losing a receiver with Duffs production and upside removes a layer of danger Nebraska would have had to account for. [Read more 🡒]