List of Nebraska Cornhuskers bowl games
This list of Nebraska Cornhuskers bowl games shows the bowl games the Nebraska Cornhuskers football program has participated in since the inception of college football's bowl system in 1902. Nebraska has played in fifty-four bowl games, including a record thirty-five straight from 1969 to 2003, with a record of 27–27.[1]
History
[edit]In 1915, Nebraska was invited to face Northwest Conference champion Washington State in the second bowl game ever played, but university officials balked at the cost of sending the team to Pasadena and declined.[2] NU played its first bowl game in the 1941 Rose Bowl, losing to eventual national champion Stanford. Nebraska was invited to the 1955 Orange Bowl despite its 6–4 record (conference rules prevented champion Oklahoma from appearing in consecutive seasons), falling to Duke 34–7 at Burdine Stadium (later the Miami Orange Bowl) in its first of seventeen Orange Bowl appearances.[3]
Bob Devaney's inaugural season ended with the first bowl victory in program history, a 36–34 win over Miami in the 1962 Gotham Bowl.[1] Three years later, he took Nebraska to its first national championship game (though it was not yet an official designation) against Alabama in the 1966 Orange Bowl; Bear Bryant's Crimson Tide won 39–28 in the first of three bowl meetings between the coaches.[4] Nebraska did not appear in a bowl game in 1967 or 1968, but returned to postseason play in 1969 and began an NCAA-record streak of thirty-five consecutive seasons with a bowl appearance.[a] NU won eight of its first nine games in this stretch under Devaney and Osborne, including two national championships. Nebraska regularly featured in the Orange Bowl due to the Big Eight's bowl affiliations; its 1983 defeat to Miami is considered one of college football's greatest games.[6]
NU lost seven straight bowl games two decades into Osborne's tenure, many of them uncompetitive defeats to southeastern opposition. After a controversial championship game loss in 1993, he won his first major-poll national championship in 1994, avenging three previous Orange Bowl losses to Miami.[7] Osborne retired after taking Nebraska to seven straight New Year's Six bowl games. NU's lengthy bowl streak continued through Frank Solich’s tenure but ended in 2004.
Nebraska missed a bowl game in 2017 for the first time in ten years, beginning a seven-year stretch without postseason play that covered Scott Frost's entire tenure as head coach. Nebraska returned to a bowl game in 2024.[8]
List of bowl games
[edit]| National championship game[b] | Nebraska win | Nebraska loss |
Record breakdown
[edit]Opponent
[edit]| No. | Opponent | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Miami (FL) | 2–4 |
| 4 | LSU | 4–0 |
| Florida State | 0–4 | |
| 3 | Georgia | 2–1 |
| Tennessee | ||
| Alabama | 1–2 | |
| 2 | Florida | 2–0 |
| Arizona | 1–1 | |
| Auburn | ||
| Clemson | ||
| Michigan | ||
| 1 | Boston College | 1–0 |
| Michigan State | ||
| Mississippi State | ||
| North Carolina | ||
| Northwestern | ||
| Texas | ||
| Texas Tech | ||
| UCLA | ||
| Virginia Tech | ||
| Arizona State | 0–1 | |
| Arkansas | ||
| Georgia Tech | ||
| Houston | ||
| Oklahoma | ||
| Ole Miss | ||
| South Carolina | ||
| USC | ||
| Washington |
Bowl
[edit]| App. | Bowl | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | Orange | 8–9 |
| 6 | Fiesta | 2–4 |
| 4 | Sugar | 3–1 |
| Cotton | 1–3 | |
| Holiday | ||
| 3 | Alamo | 3–0 |
| Citrus | 0–3 | |
| 2 | Gator | 2–0 |
| Sun | ||
| Rose | 0–2 | |
| 1 | Bluebonnet | 1–0 |
| Gotham | ||
| Liberty | ||
| Pinstripe | ||
| San Francisco | ||
| Independence | 0–1 | |
| Music City |
Coach
[edit]| No. | Coach | Tenure | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Tom Osborne | 1973–1997 | 12–13 (.480) |
| 9 | Bob Devaney | 1962–1972 | 6–3 (.667) |
| 7 | Bo Pelini[c] | 2003, 2008–2014 | 4–3 (.571) |
| 5 | Frank Solich | 1998–2003 | 2–3 (.400) |
| 2 | Bill Callahan | 2004–2007 | 1–1 (.500) |
| Mike Riley | 2015–2017 | ||
| 1 | Matt Rhule | 2023–present | 1–0 (1.000) |
| Biff Jones | 1937–1941 | 0–1 (.000) | |
| Bill Glassford | 1949–1955 | ||
| Barney Cotton[d] | 2014 |
Notes
[edit]- ^ Florida State reached a bowl game in thirty-six consecutive seasons from 1982 to 2017, but its 2006 Emerald Bowl appearance was vacated by the NCAA, which recognizes Nebraska as the record holder.[5]
- ^ Prior to 1992, if the eventual AP or Coaches champion appeared in the game. After 1992, the designated national championship game from the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, Bowl Championship Series, or College Football Playoff.
- ^ Bo Pelini served as interim head coach for the 2003 Alamo Bowl.
- ^ Barney Cotton served as interim coach for the 2014 Holiday Bowl.
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Nebraska football bowl history". HuskerMax. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
- ^ Mike Babcock (21 February 2012). "How It Was: The first great coach". 247Sports. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
- ^ "Duke Drubs Huskers 34–7 in Orange Bowl". The Register-Guard. Associated Press. 1 January 1955. p. 1C.
- ^ Land, Charles (2 January 1966). "Stakes were high, so was Tide". The Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
- ^ "FSU extends long bowl streak; NM St. ends longest drought". ESPN. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
- ^ "The 150 greatest games in college football's 150-year history". ESPN. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ Larry Dorman (3 January 1994). "Huskers Left With Yellow Flags and Teardrops". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
- ^ Khalil Thomas (28 December 2024). "Nebraska holds off Boston College to win 2024 Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 28 January 2025.