Conference Big Eight Conference AP No. 1 | Coaches No. 1 1995 record 12–0 (7–0 Big 8) | |
Head coach Tom Osborne (23rd year) Offensive coordinator Tom Osborne (26th year) | ||
The 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and was the national champion of the 1995 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Cornhuskers scored 638 points (53.2 per game) while only allowing 174 (14.5 per game). Their average margin of victory was 38.6 points, and their lowest margin of victory, against Washington State, was 14 points. They are regarded by many as the greatest college football team of all time.
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Nebraska won the final Big Eight Conference football championship in 1995, as the league expanded to form the Big 12 Conference the following season. The Cornhuskers successfully defended their national championship by beating Florida in the Fiesta Bowl 62–24.
Before the season
Following the success of the 1994 season, in which Tommie Frazier and Brook Berringer led the team to Tom Osborne's first national championship, the 1995 version improved in every facet. With the powerful rushing offense and a dominating defense, Nebraska captured its second consecutive national title. The 1995–1996 season set up a record-breaking three championships in four years, as the 1994 and 1995 seasons were followed by Tom Osborne's third title in 1997.
1 Final Big 8 Conference football game. The Big 8 absorbed four teams from the dissolving Southwest Conference after the 1995 season and became the Big 12 Conference.
Legacy
Due to their performance against Florida as well as beating 4 teams that finished in the top 10 by an average score of 49–18, their consistent dominance (smallest margin of victory was 14 points, trailed only once all season, averaging 400 yards rushing per game while allowing only 78, scoring 51 rushing touchdowns while allowing only 6), their record setting offensive performance, and their statistically impressive defense throughout the season, the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers are widely considered one of the greatest teams in college football history. The team set Division 1-A records by averaging 7.0 yards per rushing attempt and also by allowing zero quarterback sacks on the season. Noted for its strong special teams play, the team also connected on 13 of 16 field goal attempts, and it also tied an NCAA record by allowing only five punt returns (for a total of 12 yards) all season. The 1995 Huskers also averaged a victory margin of more than 38 points, the largest of any Division 1-A team since World War II, despite regularly resting their starters in the second halves of games. Averaging more than 53 points per game (including the bowl win), the team averaged 29.8 points per first half – a higher number than the per-game scoring average of many national champions, even including such modern champions as the 2006 Florida Gators, the 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes, and the 1992 Alabama Crimson Tide. Analysts often make comparisons to other recent highly regarded champions, such as the 2001 Miami Hurricanes and the 2004 USC Trojans. Such comparisons, as noted by the experts themselves, are nearly impossible to make, as rankings vary from evaluation to evaluation. The 1994 and 1995 Nebraska teams, which went a combined 25–0, remain the only undefeated and untied back-to-back national champions since Oklahoma in 1955 and 1956. In 2011, the 1995 Cornhuskers were named by Playboy Magazine as the greatest college football team of the Playboy era (since 1957).
NFL and pro players
The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1995 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.