Nebraska wasted no time making its point against Iowa State in mid-November 1993.
By 2 minutes, 54 seconds into the game at Memorial Stadium, the fourth-ranked Huskers were already up 14-0 on their way to a 49-17 win that pushed them to 10-0. The opening burst came fast and ugly for the Cyclones: Mike Minter forced a fumble on the kickoff, Tyrone Williams recovered at the Iowa State 27-yard line, and three plays later Tommie Frazier punched in a 1-yard touchdown. Then, on the first play of Iowa State’s next possession, Mike Anderson forced another fumble, Williams scooped it up at the Cyclone 20, and four plays later Calvin Jones scored from a yard out.
Nebraska wasn’t done piling on in the first quarter. Frazier hit Gerald Armstrong on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 8:23 left in the period to make it 21-0.
Iowa State answered with a touchdown before the quarter ended and added a second-quarter field goal, trimming the margin to 21-10 at halftime. But the Huskers kept stretching away, scoring 14 in the third and 14 more in the fourth.
One of the biggest blows came on special teams. Barron Miles blocked a punt, recovered it at the Iowa State 23 and returned it 2 yards.
Three plays later, Clinton Childs scored from a yard out. Damon Benning, another backup I-back like Childs, also got in on the scoring with a 1-yard run.
The ground game was the story all afternoon. Nebraska rushed for 438 yards, and 61 of its 71 plays from scrimmage were runs.
Jones led the way with 208 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, continuing a season that put him in rare company. He became the third Husker to reach 3,000 career rushing yards and moved into second on Nebraska’s all-time list, behind 1983 Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier.
Jones’ day came with a little extra difficulty, too. The junior from Omaha Central High had to leave the game three times to catch his breath because of asthma, and still piled up those numbers.
Frazier was just as sharp in his own way. He ran for 125 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries, and he completed 4 of 10 passes for 68 yards, including the touchdown to Armstrong, with no interceptions.
On defense, Ed Stewart led the Blackshirts with 14 tackles, 10 of them unassisted. Trev Alberts added 10 tackles, a sack and three tackles for loss, and in the process broke Nebraska’s career record. His sack, the 15th of his career, also tied the school single-season mark held by Jim Skow from 1985.
The win landed in the middle of a strange national picture, one that Coach Tom Osborne didn’t seem eager to take too seriously. Nebraska was fourth in the AP poll and third in the coaches’ poll, but the rankings were in flux around them. “The polls, to me, have about become a humorous thing,” Osborne said.
He had a point. Top-ranked Florida State fell to second-ranked Notre Dame, 31-24.
That left Notre Dame, Nebraska, Ohio State and Auburn as the only unbeaten teams. Auburn, though, was on NCAA probation and not included in the coaches’ poll, while Ohio State had tied Wisconsin the week before and slipped from third to fifth.
Miami, with one loss to Florida State, was third in the AP poll and fourth in the coaches’ poll, and the Hurricanes beat unranked Rutgers.
Even after Florida State’s loss and Nebraska’s win, the AP poll kept the Seminoles ahead of the Huskers at No. 2, with Notre Dame No. 1. Nebraska did move past Miami to No. 3 in the AP rankings and to No. 2 in the coaches’ poll, ahead of Florida State.
The AP poll may have been the one everyone was watching, but in Lincoln that day, nobody was in the mood to laugh.
In Other News...
Jamarques Lawrence Return Hopes Just Got New Life At Nebraska
An Ohio judges injunction against the NCAA has added a fresh wrinkle to the eligibility picture for players trying to squeeze out one more season, including former Nebraska guard Jamarques Lawrence. The ruling gives 24 players a path to five seasons of competition and adds another legal precedent to a growing set of challenges around how the NCAA plans to handle its new five-year framework.
For Nebraska, the timing is notable because the NCAA is still working through how it will codify the rule and which players it intends to leave out. Lawrence does not automatically get another year out of the Ohio decision, but the case gives his side something to point to, much like the recent Douglas County District Court ruling that granted Omahas Isaac Ondekane an extra year after his own injury-related argument. [Read more 🡒]
Matt Rhule Has Nebraska Back In A Conversation Fans Missed
The old Big Eight and SEC powers that ruled the 1990s have spent much of the last decade-plus trying to reclaim that place in the national conversation, and Nebraska is once again at least part of that discussion. Tennessee has already shown under Josh Heupel that a once-proud brand can climb back into the playoff picture, while Nebraska and Virginia Tech have been working through coaching changes and the longer grind of rebuilding. For Cornhuskers fans, just hearing their program mentioned alongside those names again is a reminder of how far the conversation has shifted.
A recent prediction on a college football show pushed the idea even further, imagining Nebraska, Virginia Tech and Tennessee all reaching the College Football Playoff in the same season. It is the kind of thought experiment that says as much about where those programs have been as where they might be headed, and for Nebraska it lands in a season where Matt Rhule has at least restored some stability after years of losing. The Big Ten path is still a steep one, but the fact that the Huskers are being discussed in a playoff context at all feels like a sign of progress. [Read more 🡒]
Matt Rhule Just Got A Telling Big Ten Reality Check
Matt Rhules standing in the Big Ten took a noticeable hit in USA TODAY Sports latest coach rankings, where the Nebraska head coach dropped to No. 9 after sitting at No. 5 a year ago. The slide comes after a season that still had plenty for Nebraska to hang its hat on, including a 6-2 start and a second straight bowl appearance, but the finish left a different impression as the Huskers again spent too much time trying to patch holes up front.
USA TODAYs evaluation points straight at the trenches, where Nebraskas line play on both sides of the ball remains the clearest test of whether Rhule can push the program higher. The offense and defense both had stretches that undercut the bigger picture, even with Emmett Johnson producing a standout rushing season, and the late-season issues gave the ranking a harsher edge. Nebraska now turns the page toward Sept. 5, when it opens 2026 at Memorial Stadium against Ohio on FS1. [Read more 🡒]