Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium: The Ninth Decade, 2003-12

There was no return to dominance despite 10 years of trying

© Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

Twelfth in a series marking the 100th season of Nebraska football in Memorial Stadium. Pictured above: Ndamukong Suh sacks Texas Tech quarterback Steven Sheffield in 2009.

Coaching tenures that don’t last long. Bowl seasons that might find the Huskers staying home. Blowout losses that are no longer such an anomaly. A new conference and a new set of rivals.

Those are some of the things Husker fans had to start growing accustomed to during Nebraska football’s ninth decade in Memorial Stadium, 2003 to 2012.

The program remained nationally relevant, but dominance was just a memory despite determined efforts to bring it back. There were four appearances in conference championship games but nary a win. There were six top-25 finishes but none in the top 10.

Fans continued to fill the stadium, and why not? There was plenty to like along the way, with the wins still far outnumbering the losses. All-America honors became more of a rarity, yet one of the most highly decorated defensive players in college football history wreaked his havoc while wearing the Scarlet and Cream.

As the final season in this decade unfolded, change was brewing once again. Tom Osborne announced in late September that he would retire at the end of 2012 after five years as as athletic director, and Shawn Eichorst was quickly named his successor.

The coach was getting a new boss. The last two times that had happened at Nebraska, it didn’t end well for the coach.

Scroll past the facts box for a sampling of Memorial Stadium games from this eventful 10-year stretch.

Just the facts: 2003-2012
• Home record: 55-15 (.786) • Overall record: 85-45-0 (.654) • Conference titles: None • All-Americans: Kyle Larson, Josh Bullocks, Ndamukong Suh, Prince Amukamara, Lavonte David. • Major trophies: Ndamukong Suh (5) • Head coaches: Frank Solich 1998-2003, Bill Callahan 2004-07, Bo Pelini 2008-14.

Good start for revamped staff

2003: Nebraska 17, Oklahoma State 7. Opening the season under a revamped staff after a 7-7 year in 2002, the Huskers used a stifling, ball-hawking defense to shut down the Cowboys’ veteran-rich offense. Early in the third quarter, linebacker Barrett Ruud’s 15-yard fumble return — one of three OSU turnovers in a four-possession stretch — gave the Huskers the lead for good. New defensive coordinator Bo Pelini’s Blackshirts forced five turnovers in all and held the 24th-ranked Cowboys to 183 yards of total offense.

It was an excellent start, but lopsided losses to Missouri, Texas and Kansas State later in the year sealed head coach Frank Solich’s fate. Defending the decision to fire Solich after a 9-3 regular season, athletic director Steve Pederson famously declared, “I refuse to let the program gravitate into mediocrity.” | HuskerMax game page 

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Winning day in a losing year

2004: Nebraska 24, Missouri 3. The Husker offense generated a mere eight first downs and quarterback Joe Dailey completed just four of 18 passes. Defense and special teams, however, more than made up for that.

Despite being on the field for 91 plays, the Blackshirts kept the Tigers and their dynamic quarterback, Brad Smith, out of the end zone all day. Mizzou did drive inside the NU 5-yard line and threaten to make it a 17-10 game with about four minutes left, but the Tigers turned the ball over on downs when Smith overthrew an open receiver in the end zone. Two plays later, I-back Cory Ross found running room into the Mizzou secondary, broke a tackle near midfield and scooted the rest of the way for an 86-yard touchdown to ice the victory.

The win sent coach Bill Callahan’s Huskers into November with a 5-3 record, but a three-game skid to end the season meant Nebraska would miss bowl season for the first time since 1968. | HuskerMax game page

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Resuscitating a season

Cory Ross scores Nebraska’s first touchdown on a 1-yard plunge. During KSU’s comeback from 12 points down in the second half, Ross twice was tackled in the end zone for safeties / Nebraska Athletics photo

2005: Nebraska 27, Kansas State 25. With quarterback Zac Taylor knocked out of the game and true freshman Harrison Beck struggling in his place, KSU led by a point going into the final four minutes. A fourth consecutive loss for the 2005 Huskers seemed imminent.

Instead, Beck chose a good time for his one and only pass completion as a Husker, a 21-yarder to Nate Swift to the Kansas State 46. A roughing-the-passer flag added 15 yards to the gain. With 1:05 left, Jordan Congdon kicked a 40-yard field goal for a win that guaranteed this would not be a second straight no-bowl season for Nebraska. Upset wins over Colorado and Michigan came next, along with a No. 24 ranking in the final polls, and things suddenly were looking up at the end of Bill Callahan’s second season as head coach. | HuskerMax game page

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Woulda, coulda, shoulda

Terrence Nunn loses the ball late in the game / © Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

2006: Texas 22, Nebraska 20. Snowflakes filled the air in newly expanded Memorial Stadium, and so did hopes for a signature Husker win.

With under 2½ minutes left, Nebraska had the ball and a 20-19 lead over the fifth-ranked Longhorns, who were out of timeouts. It was third down and three yards to go at the NU 36. A first down would essentially end the game.

Zac Taylor’s pass to Terrence Nunn was good for five yards. Mission accomplished? Not quite. A jarring hit by defensive back Aaron Ross knocked the ball loose. Texas recovered the ball at the NU 45 for one last chance to avoid an upset. Seizing the opportunity, the Longhorns used seven plays to drive to the Nebraska 5. With 23 seconds left, backup placekicker Ryan Bailey nailed the 22-yard game-winner — the first field goal attempt of his career.

It was a crushing way to lose, but it didn’t keep the Huskers from winning the Big 12 North and appearing in their first conference championship game since 1999. A loss to Oklahoma in that contest and then a narrow defeat to Auburn in the Cotton Bowl took some of the luster off a nine-win season and bounced the Huskers out of the top 25 in the final polls. | HuskerMax game page 

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Writing is on the wall

Seth Newton dives into the end zone for one of the Cowboys’ five touchdowns during the 38-0 first half / © Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

2007: Oklahoma State 45, Nebraska 14. Fans were hitting the exits before halftime. A 38-0 deficit can have that effect.

On a day when the 1997 national championship team was on hand for a 10th-anniversary salute, an unrecognizable product showed up on the field. The Cowboys made it look easy on both sides of the ball, scoring on their first six possessions en route to halftime advantages of 357-101 in yardage, 17-5 in first downs and 38-0 on the scoreboard. Even after letting its foot off the gas in the second half, OSU handed Nebraska its worst home defeat in 49 years.

Coming on the heels of lopsided losses to Missouri and USC and narrow escapes against Wake Forest and Ball State, the defeat heightened the sense that Bill Callahan’s days were numbered at Nebraska. Athletic Director Steve Pederson was fired two days after this game, and Callahan got his pink slip at the end of the 5-6 season. | HuskerMax game page

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Memories are made of this

2008: Nebraska 40, Colorado 31. A tenuous situation in the waning minutes turned into a boisterous celebration at Memorial Stadium, thanks to unforgettable plays by a pair of future All-Americans.

A 15-yard sack of quarterback Joe Ganz seemed to have taken the Huskers out of field goal range with the clock ticking down under three minutes and Nebraska trailing by a point. Facing fourth down and 25 yards to go at the CU 40, coach Bo Pelini spent a timeout weighing his options, then sent in sophomore placekicker Alex Henery to try a field goal from 57 yards out.

No Husker in history had ever made one from that far. Was this really the right move?

Indeed it was. The snap from T.J. O’Leary, the hold by Jake Wesch and the kick by Henery went like clockwork, and the kick cleared the crossbar in the north end zone with a yard or so to spare. The crowd roared in joyous amazement.

After the ensuing kickoff, Colorado had 97 seconds to pull off its own miracle. That possibility was snuffed out when defensive end Zach Potter deflected a Cody Hawkins pass into the waiting arms of junior defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who rumbled 30 yards for the clinching touchdown, stiff-arming Hawkins to the turf along the way. The Black Friday victory was part of a 6-1 finish after a 3-3 start, and it helped get Pelini to nine wins in his first season as head coach. | HuskerMax game page 

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Sooners get stymied

2009: Nebraska 10, Oklahoma 3. The Sooners enjoyed huge advantages in yardage (325-180) and first downs (23-7), but five interceptions by Nebraska’s defense proved to be OU’s undoing on a crisp November night in Lincoln.

The Huskers’ first interception — by cornerback Prince Amukamara with a 22-yard return — set up Nebraska at the OU 1-yard line early in the second quarter for the game’s only touchdown. Safety Matt O’Hanlon had the game of his life, registering nine solo tackles and picking off the Sooners’ Landry Jones three times. O’Hanlon’s final interception came in the last half-minute when Jones, desperately trying to rally the Sooners to at least an overtime opportunity, hurled a long bomb from midfield. O’Hanlon hauled it in at the NU 6 to seal the win.

The victory helped Nebraska earn a berth in the Big 12 championship game, where the Huskers again leaned heavily on their defense while taking Texas down to the wire in a controversial 13-12 loss. A 33-0 bowl win over Arizona gave Nebraska a 10-4 record, a No. 14 finish in the polls and high hopes for the 2010 season. | HuskerMax game page 

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Helu shows ’em

Roy Helu Jr. runs between Missouri defenders Jarrell Harrison, left, and Aldon Smith during the second half / Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

2010: Nebraska 31, Missouri 17. It was the Roy Helu Jr. Show as the senior I-back torched the Tigers’ defense for a school-record 307 rushing yards.

Helu sent the crowd into a frenzy with a 66-yard touchdown sprint on Nebraska’s first play from scrimmage, and he broke loose 11 minutes later for 73 yards to give the Huskers a 24-0 lead against seventh-ranked Mizzou. Helu added a 53-yard TD run in the third quarter while carrying the offensive load in the absence of freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez, who left the game after coming up gimpy on a hit late in the first half.

The win was Nebraska’s second in a row over a ranked team after a baffling home loss to a Texas team that wouldn’t even earn bowl eligibility. In their final Big 12 season, the Huskers would win the Big 12 North but lose three of their final four games to finish 10-4 and ranked 19th and 20th in the polls. | HuskerMax game page 

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Record-setting rally

Rex Burkhead dives for the go-head touchdown on a 17-yard run. The TD came 2½ minutes after his 30-yard catch and run had tied the score / © Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

2011: Nebraska 34, Ohio State 27. The Huskers’ inaugural Big Ten game had been an embarrassing 48-17 loss at Wisconsin, and it was looking like more of the same a week later in Lincoln. After a touchdown early in the second half, the Buckeyes were cruising, 27-6.

Everything changed, however, with linebacker Lavonte David’s tackle and strip of OSU quarterback Braxton Miller midway into the third quarter. Two plays later, quarterback Taylor Martinez scored the first of four unanswered Nebraska touchdowns for the largest comeback win in program history.

The crowd went home happy, but coach Bo Pelini wasn’t pleased with the fans who had left when the chips were down. A recording of his abrasive comments would surface two years later.

The victory was part of an up-and-down season that saw the Huskers knock off ninth-ranked Michigan State only to stumble the following week against a middling Northwestern squad. The 9-4 Huskers finished 24th in both major polls. | HuskerMax game page 

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The year of the comeback

2012: Nebraska 32, Penn State 23. A 14-point halftime deficit? No problem. For the fourth and final time in 2012, Nebraska dug itself out of a double-digit hole in the final 30 minutes to win.

Trailing 20-6 entering the third quarter, the Huskers charged out of the gate to tie the score with two touchdowns in 5½ minutes, one of them set up by Damion Stafford’s interception and return to the PSU 4. The Nittany Lions retook the lead on a field goal before Taylor Martinez’s five-yard strike to Jamal Turner with 11 minutes left in the game put the Huskers ahead, 27-23. A safety and field goal rounded out the scoring for Nebraska after Penn State missed a touchdown opportunity on a controversial fumble into the end zone. Martinez and I-back Ameer Abdullah both finished with 100-plus yards rushing.

All those comebacks helped the Huskers win the Big Ten Legends Division, but the defense looked hapless in a 70-31 loss to Wisconsin in the conference title game. After a bowl loss to Georgia, the 10-4 Huskers finished 23rd and 25th in the polls. | HuskerMax game page 

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