Top 10 Husker losses of all time - #8

Top 10 Husker Losses of All-Time #8 -





November 14th, 1992

Nebraska (7-1) 3 7 0 0 10
Iowa State (3-6) 3 9 0 7 19
@ Ames, IA


There are have been many Husker losses over the years that are so blatantly easy to call in advance, that to the non-brainwashed they defy comprehension. For example, who in the hell didn't see Miami sodomizing Nebraska in the Rose Bowl in 2002? Who couldn't see an overrated Husker team falling to eventual Champ Georgia Tech in the Citrus Bowl back in 91? But very few times over the years has the result of a Husker game made you say, "what the fuck was that?"

Rewind nearly 14 years to a cold and breezy November afternoon in Ames, Iowa where a downtrodden Big 8 cellar-dweller took on the Huskers and their army of red-clad, Howdy Doody-esque fans. Nebraska's only stumble prior to the disaster in Ames was a respectable loss to then Number 2 Washington in Seattle in week #2. (Who if I'm not mistaken, won the National Title the year before) In the two weeks prior to the game, NU had beaten #8 Colorado 52-7 and #13 Kansas (that looks strange doesn't it?) 49-7. In those two games, the Hicksters outrushed the Buffs and Jaychickens 724 - 136. The Clones on the other hand were 3-6 on the season, and sitting in 7th place. The week before, they lost to a soon to be upstart Kansas State team 22-13. To make things worse, ISU coach Jim Walden couldn't decide which sacrificial lamb to throw out at QB against a top 10 defense in NU. Regular QB Bobby Utter suffered a concussion against OU earlier in the month, so Walden went on a QB rotation in late October..starting Donnie Smith and 3rd string QB, Marv Seiler. Because it was senior day, Walden gave the 5'11, 190lb Seiler the start for the first time in his career, and the march to history was on.

I'm quite sure that what happened next was the wrath of God, paying the Huskers back for all of those 63-6 wins over Big 12 rivals. Or perhaps it was a huge point shaving scandal that was never uncovered by the Feds? Either way, the Nebraska running game (you guys remember that don't you? It was actually pretty good at one time) was held to 42 yards in the second half and less than 200 for the game. A Herculean effort in 2006, but completely mind-boggling back in 1992.

With 11:08 remaining, and the Clones clinging to a 12-10 lead, a 3rd string kid from Chicago jabbed a #2 pencil into the eyes of the Big Hick nation with the single greatest running play in college football history. OK, so it wasn't dazzling or flashy, but watching a short, white QB waddle down the sidelines 78 yards before finally as 8 future NFL defenders chase him is to this day one of the most comical moments in college football history. Seiler suffered a Cardiac Arrest at the 2 yard line, but were vindicated when RB Chris Ulrich scored one play later.

Seriously...Marv Seiler? What the fuck were you guys thinking? I know what most of you were thinking...."NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" or "FOR CHRIST'S SAKE...STOP HIM!!!!!" Meanwhile, Iowa State fan loses his mind, and the Cyclones go on to win 19-10. The game, which Sports Illustrated at the time called it the "Upset of the century" is even more disturbing when you look back on it today. The Huskers started the greatest football player since Pele, Tommie Frazier at quarterback and had the 1-2 punch (pun..get it?) in Calvin Jones and Derrick Brown in the backfield. At one point, former Husker coach William "Bobby" Devaney called the 1992 team "the most talented NU team he'd seen since 1984 and even better than the 71 title team." The Big Hick machine would not lose another regular season game in 4 years, going on to the Orange Bowl that year (Where they...shock...lost to Florida State). Iowa State ended the season at 4-7, not reaching a bowl game until later in the century.

I've spent the better part of three hours trying to figure out what in the hell happened on that day, even though I vividly remember listening to it on the radio, as soon as I heard the mighty Hicksters were losing to one of the worst teams in college football. To this day, I can still feel the soreness in my oblique as I nearly lost consciousness rolling on the floor with laughter. Hell, as I am writing this blog today, I've had to stop no less than five times just to keep from chuckling out loud.

Sure there are other losses that stung. Sure there are other losses that were more humiliating and more devastating to Joe Husker fan. However, for pure shock value and for pure "What the fuck?"....the shocking defeat to Iowa State will live forever as the most shocking blunder Nebraska football has ever seen.

So for Marv Seiler...who is still running down the sidelines at Jack Trice to this day, the Iowa State Cyclones upset over #7 Nebraska is our #8 Husker loss of all time.


Tomorrow - "You fucking cheaters"