Oklahoma's Brent Venables 'Grew Up on Nebraska Football' and Now Must Beat Them

The Cornhuskers have a proud past in which Venables grew up in the middle of, but recently they've hit hard times and last week fired coach Scott Frost.

NORMAN — The first time Brent Venables went to a college football game, he revealed Monday night during his coach’s show, the Oklahoma Sooners were playing a critical game at Nebraska.

The year was 1987. Venables, then 16 years old, was smitten.

“Nebraska, I grew up on Nebraska football,” Venables said Saturday night after OU’s win over Kent State. “Along with Oklahoma, a few others, those were the programs that were always on TV. The programs that everybody strived to be like.”

Now Venables is 51, and as the Sooners’ head coach, he takes his team back to Lincoln on Saturday. The scene — the stadium, the crowd, the energy — will remind Venables and the rest of the OU coaching staff of what the Cornhuskers used to be.

But the Cornhuskers themselves aren’t that team any more. Today’s players might not even recognize those bygone teams.

Just 1-2 this year and coming off five straight losing seasons, head coach Scott Frost was fired on Sunday morning. Since leaving the Big 12 — Nebraska played OU in the Big 12 championship game in 2010, then bolted for the Big Ten — the Cornhuskers are 44-50 in conference play.

Tom Osborne in 1992, Brent Venables' final season as a Kansas State player / RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports

After long-time Tom Osborne assistant Frank Solich was fired after the 2003 season (he won at least 10 games in four of his six seasons), the Huskers have cycled through mostly mediocrity under Bill Callahan (27-22 in four years), Bo Pelini (66-28 in seven years, never less than nine wins), Mike Riley (19-19 in three years) and Frost (16-31 in four-plus years).

Nebraska may never be Nebraska again. There are endless suggestions for which direction athletic director Trev Alberts goes next, but this is easily now the most important hire of his tenure. Another bad hire and his job likely will be on the line as well.

The prevailing thought this week is that the 2022 Cornhuskers will get a boost from the change in leadership as former Huskers QB Mickey Joseph has been elevated to interim head coach. Maybe that plays out this season, maybe it doesn’t.

From Oklahoma’s perspective, the Sooners are focused on themselves, first and foremost, and then on the Nebraska players and schemes. History — ancient or recent — means nothing to the players.

But the OU coaching staff fielded questions this week on their thoughts about what Nebraska used to be.

“An incredible rivalry,” said offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby. “Fanfare. Pageantry. What college football is all about. Oklahoma, Nebraska, two storied programs built on toughness and edge and physicality. I look forward to that on Saturday morning.”

“Well, here’s what I remember — since you brought it up, OK?” said defensive coordinator Ted Roof. “When I was a kid, there were about two or three college football games on per weekend, and that’s all. And every time OU and Nebraska played, that was one of those games on that weekend. And the national implications that it had, the prominence that it had, the importance that it had on college football — like I said, that was a game that I watched every year when I was a kid because it always impacted the national rankings.”

Venables’ memories of Nebraska are a little more personal.

In addition to that ’87 classic — won 17-7 by No. 2-ranked Oklahoma over No. 1 Nebraska — Venables played against the Huskers twice as a Kansas State player, coached against them six times as a Wildcats assistant, and then matched wits with them eight times as an OU assistant.

“I grew up as a player in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s,” Venables said. “That was one of the best eras in Nebraska football history.”

Venables’ junior year, K-State lost 38-31 at Nebraska. When he was a senior in 1992, they met in a regular-season spectacle — the Coca-Cola Bowl in Tokyo, Japan.

“Rode over on the airplane with Nebraska, which was weird,” he said. “They beat up on us pretty good (38-24). We had to ride back with them. But coach Snyder, on the way there and way back, we had the side of the plane the sun wasn’t exposed to. He didn’t want guys to get hot. Be a little bit cooler on the opposite side of the sun. That’s the kind of stuff he would always think about.

“I remember (All-America offensive guard and College Football Hall of Famer) Will Shields, I was taking the run-through on an isolation play. I can’t remember the running back. I run through the A-gap, and Will Shields — remember Will Shields? He was an All-Pro for like 50 years. He hits me, and I’m probably 210 pounds. A big, thick 210. He hits me, and I just helicopter. He spun me crazy, really. He knocked me silly.”

Venables’ memories of Nebraska aren’t that much more pleasant as an assistant coach as K-State lost five straight to the Huskers before breaking through with a 40-30 victory in 1998.

Tommie Frazier and Tom Osborne / RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports

“I remember at Kansas State that we would spend every single day working on Nebraska,” Venables said. “Every day. Bob Stoops, Jim Leavitt, Bill Snyder, that staff would be working on Nebraska every day.”

Venables’ OU teams from 2000-2010 were 6-2 against the Huskers, including two Big 12 Championship Game victories.

After losing seven straight in the series from 1991-1997, OU has now won seven of the last nine meetings — including last year’s 23-16 victory in Norman.

The Huskers won three national championships in four years in the ‘90s, then played for one in 2001 (losing to Miami) before the Big Red milk and honey eventually dried up.

Venables suggests that some things, however, may never change.

“Well, their fans are first class,” he said. “Every patch of grass in that stadium is going to be full. Some of the most loyal, intelligent fans in all of college football. They’re going to arrive early and stay late. No matter what, they’re going to be there for their team. A lot of pride in that community. One of the cleanest stadiums you’ll find anywhere. Whenever there’s concrete, there’s nothing. No debris, nothing. That has always stood out to me.”