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PROGRAM
OF THE DECADE
Nebraska
Cornhuskers
All of
college football was the decade of Big Red, as the
Cornhuskers won 108 games, three national
championships and eight conference or divisional
titles.
The 108
victories in a decade rates as the best all-time --
better even than the Huskers' previous
NCAA-record-tying 103 victories in the decade of
the 1980s.
TEAM
OF THE DECADE
Nebraska,
1995
The
Cornhuskers were coming off the 1994 national
championship, and entered the season with a 13-game
winning streak. They scored 64 points in the season
opener at Oklahoma State, and never slowed down
… eventually obliterating previously
undefeated Florida in the winner-take-all Fiesta
Bowl, 62-24.
Only two
teams stayed within two touchdowns of the Huskers
(Washington State and Colorado), as Nebraska
outscored its 13 opponents by an average of
53-14.
The team
was so dominant -- led by quarterback Tommie
Frazier, lineman Aaron Taylor and defensive stars
Jared Tomich, Grant Wistrom and Terrell Farley --
that the '95 Huskers have been compared favorably
to the legendary 1971 squad, which had been widely
recognized as college football's greatest team of
the century.
BIG
12 CHAMPIONS OF THE '90s
The Big
12 Conference was born in 1996, melding the best
four programs from the Southwest Conference into
the Big Eight. Here is a glance at league and
division champions from the combined three
leagues:
- Nebraska
- *1991, 1992-93-94-95, *1996, 1997,
1999
- Texas
1990 - *1994, 1995, 1996, *1999
- Texas
A&M - 1991, 1992, 1993, *1997, 1998,
- Colorado
- 1990, *1991
- Baylor
- *1994
- Texas
Tech - *1994
- Kansas
State - *1998
*shared
league title or won division title only
DEFENSIVE
PLAYER OF THE DECADE
Dat
Nguyen, LB, Texas A&M
Considered
one of the great "motor guys" of all time, the
Aggies' middle 'backer was a smart, big hitter, who
seemed to make all the tackles.
He was
the ultimate defensive leader, who led the team to
the 1998 Big 12 championship and trip to the Sugar
Bowl.
In his
four seasons as an Aggie, the son of Vietnamese
refugees amassed 517 tackles, breaking the school
record.
OFFENSIVE
PLAYER OF THE DECADE
Tommie
Frazier, QB, Nebraska
He
arrived at Nebraska as an option quarterback, and
left as an All-American leader who could run and
throw with the best of them … leading the
Cornhuskers to two national
championships.
Frazier
shared the 1994 starting job with senior Brook
Berringer (who later died in a plane crash), and
then led them to the 1995 title. He was 33-3 as the
Nebraska starting quarterback.
Tough to
pick over Texas tailback Ricky Williams -- the
Heisman Trophy winner who broke the NCAA career
rushing record -- but Frazier's two national
championships is something that cannot be
discounted by statistics.
ALL-DECADE
TEAM
|
OFFENSE
-- First Team
|
DEFENSE
-- First Team
|
- QB Tommie
Frazier, Nebraska
- RB Ricky
Williams, Texas
- RB Troy Davis,
Iowa State
- WR Charles
Johnson, Colorado
- WR Rae Carruth,
Colorado
- TE Alonzo Mayes,
Oklahoma State
- C Jay
Leeuwenburg, Colorado
- OL Will Shields,
Nebraska
- OL Zach Weigert,
Nebraska
- OL Kendyl Jacox,
Kansas State
- OL Aaron Taylor,
Nebraska
- K Martin
Gramatica, Kansas State
- AP David Allen,
Kansas State
|
- DL Montae
Reagor, Texas Tech
- DL Grant
Wistrom, Nebraska
- DL Sam Adams,
Texas A&M
- DL Tony
Brackens, Texas
- LB Trev Alberts,
Nebraska
- LB Dat Nguyen,
Texas A&M
- LB Zach Thomas,
Texas Tech
- DB Chris Canty,
Kansas State
- DB Chris Hudson,
Colorado
- DB Mike Brown,
Nebraska
- DB Deon Figures,
Colorado
- P Shane Lechler,
Texas A&M
|
|
OFFENSE
-- Second Team
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DEFENSE
-- Second Team
|
- Kordell Stewart,
Colorado
- Rashaan Salaam,
Colorado
- Byron Hanspard,
Texas Tech
- Lloyd Hill,
Texas Tech
- Michael
Westbrook, Colorado
- Pat Fitzgerald,
Texas
- Quentin Neujahr,
Kansas State
- Blake
Brockermeyer, Texas
- Ryan Young,
Kansas State
- Brendan Stai,
Nebraska
- Dan Neil,
Texas
- Phil Dawson,
Texas
- Ben Kelly,
Colorado
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- Shane Dronett,
Texas
- Joel Steed,
Colorado
- Tim Colston,
Kansas State
- Dana
Stubblefield, Kansas
- Jeff Kelly,
Kansas State
- Ed Stewart,
Nebraska
- Greg Biekert,
Colorado
- Thomas Randolph,
Kansas State
- Ray Mickens,
Texas A&M
- Tracy Saul,
Texas Tech
- Aaron Glenn,
Texas A&M
- Dan Eichloff,
Kansas
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BOWLS
IN THE '90s
As with
all things Big 12/Big Eight in the 1990s, it's the
color of Big Red. Nebraska's 10 bowls
include eight appearances in the current four BCS
bowls.
Otherwise,
Texas A&M and Colorado (eight
apiece) and Kansas State (seven) were
almost-annual postseason participants. Only six
teams in the country have bowl streaks longer than
the Wildcats' current streak of seven.
COACH
OF THE DECADE
Tom
Osborne, Nebraska
Tom
Osborne, who had been so close in the past, broke
through to win not one, not two, but three national
titles with Nebraska in a four-year span (1994-97).
He then retired with a stunning decade record of
87-11-1, good for a winning percentage of
.883.
DECADE
STANDINGS
|
Team
|
W
|
L
|
T
|
Pct.
|
B
|
M
|
|
Nebraska
|
108
|
16
|
1
|
.864
|
10
|
8
|
|
Texas
A&M
|
94
|
28
|
1
|
.764
|
8
|
0
|
|
Kansas
State
|
87
|
30
|
1
|
.737
|
7
|
1
|
|
Colorado
|
87
|
29
|
4
|
.725
|
8
|
2
|
|
Texas
|
74
|
43
|
2
|
.621
|
6
|
1
|
|
Texas
Tech
|
62
|
53
|
0
|
.539
|
5
|
0
|
|
Oklahoma
|
61
|
51
|
3
|
.530
|
4
|
0
|
|
Kansas
|
56
|
57
|
1
|
.491
|
2
|
0
|
|
Baylor
|
49
|
63
|
1
|
.433
|
3
|
0
|
|
Missouri
|
43
|
67
|
2
|
.383
|
2
|
0
|
|
Oklahoma
State
|
41
|
68
|
2
|
.369
|
1
|
0
|
|
Iowa
State
|
27
|
80
|
2
|
.247
|
0
|
0
|
B=Bowls. M=Major bowls (Rose, Orange, Sugar, Fiesta
only)
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