1983 Sept 24 - UCLA vs Nebraska

[@joannleichliter4308]

Watching Rathman catch the td pass was a pleasure. He did a lot of receiving for the Forty Niners.

[@jeffreyk5734]

Jeez, Jeff Smith played half this game. Played as much as Rozier did. Smith was a great Back in his own right. It's too bad he had an injury plagued Senior year. His cutting ability was amazing. Mark Schellen trucked through two guys on that Touchdown run.

[@donaldschmidt2990]

Nebraskas legendary Bob Devaney was a man not given to excessive praise. Even he maintained that the 1983 Cornhuskers had the best offense he'd ever seen. Given a better pass defense, they would have won the National Championship like a Carnival Cakewalk. Look at the devastating offensive performance in this game. The Cornhuskers had two early turnovers and still piled up 42 points against the Bruins. A highly respectable UCLA team by the way. Even the Alabama and Georgia powerhouses of today can't overwhelm their opponent like this juggernaut. Their offensive line play was superior to anything in the College game today. Their back four was their undoing. Their offense was completely unmatched to this day.

[@Lukuigi]

It’s too bad it took so long for overtime to be implemented. Osborne had the title in hand but chose to attempt to win outright in the national championship.

[@RandallDenison]

No, 70-71 teams were clearly better. Took a miracle comeback in the orange bowl just to get back in the game.

[@jeffreyk5734]

Rozier's second carry, if the second man wasn't there after he swatted the other defensive back away, Mike was gone on that play. 3rd Carry and Mike has already shown why he won the Heisman Trophy. Two unbelievable runs in a row. Juking people, cutting past guys, breaking tackles, hurdling over another. Just unreal. People forget that there was a big question mark if Mark Traynowicz who had been a tackle in 1982 could pick up the slack for Dave Rimmington at Center. Mark was 6"6". That's odd for a center. Also Harry Grimminger had to replace Mike Mandelko at right guard who was All Conference. Grimminger actually dropped 20 pounds from 285 to 265 to improve his quickness. Most expected 6"3" 290 pound Senior Anthony Thomas to win that job. Thomas was very strong and highly athletic. Harry had to beat him out. John Sherlock also had to replace All American Right Tackle Randy Theiss. Sherlock would end up getting injured after 4 games and massive Jr. Mark Benning took over his spot.

[@jeffreyk5734]

Early on Mike had a great 25 yard touchdown run on that reverse called back. And we didn't score on that drive either because of the subsequent turnover. We were moving down the field like a hot knife though Butter when Tuner Gill fumbled. Wow, Jeff Smith was already in the game at I-Back on that play. So Rozier was taken out after those first three carries two of them he nearly broke and went the distance. Here is what is amazing, Dean Stinekuhler was the only returning starter in that entire offensive line from 1982, and a couple of guys where moved to different positions for the '83 season. The '82 line was largely regarded as the best in School history. Another thing is the field was in horrible shape it was like playing on concrete. The astro-turf was very worn down. That's why we got a new field for the '84 season. It boggles the mind to think what the '83 scoring explosion might have done on a brand -new field.

[@donaldschmidt2990]

@jeffreyk5734 A well researched and written commentary on this juggernaut!! Bob Devaney was from my home state in Saginaw, Michigan, so I feel a powerful connection to the Nebraska program. If you combine the win totals of Devaney, Osborne, and his successor Frank Solich,

[@ThunderPants13]

The Scoring Explosion was great, if their D had been a little better they'd have been national champs.

[@jeffreyk5734]

The entire defense returned in 1984 and actually led the nation in total D. They were not a bad defense in '83, they just had allot of guys playing with nagging injuries. We lost the 84 Orange Bowl because of the painted green dirt field that night. Period. The footing was terrible. The bowl committee allowing Miami the home field advantage was also ridiculous.

[@jeffreyk5734]

So why are there no 1982 or 1983 season Highlight videos on KZbin or anywhere online that I can find? It's always just the same few games. Rozier's finest game of his College career in my opinion was against Oklahoma State as a Junior in 1982. The footage is nowhere to be found on the internet.

[@djamo1969]

1:21:55 THE RUN

[@bconni2]

nice college career, just couldn't equal that same degree of success at the next level...

[@jeffreyk5734]

@@bconni2 If Mike had waited and not went to the USFL right after he Senior season when he was injured things might have been very different. Don't overlook the fact that Rozier had knee surgery after that season with the Pittsburgh Maulers. Mike only had 792 yards, but he missed 5 full games on a horrible team. Mike recovered quickly. The following year, Mike bounced back with the Jacksonville Bulls rushing for 1,364 and 15 Touchdowns. Including a 200 yard game against the Orlando Renegades. He also had 360 receiving yards and 3 more scores. This despite missing 4 full games and 3 quarters of another. He was playing with torn ligaments in both hands. Half that season. Then He tried to move straight from the just finished USFL season to the Houston Oilers. Mike ran wild in the Pre-season in 1985, but by the time the regular season started he was exhausted. Who wouldn't be. He also wasn't the starter. Butch Woolfolk was at least have of that season. Mike made some incredible runs as an Oiler. Twice virtually replicating his famous 2 yard cross country Touchdown run against UCLA. First against the Seahawks in the AFC Playoff's after the NFL strike shortened 87 season. Then against the Bengals the following year. Mike was leading the league in Rushing when the NFL Strike hit after the first two weeks of the season. In his first game back he ran for 144 yards. I remember reading that if Rozier had maintained his average yards per game, over a full NFL season he would have rushed for over 1,400 yards in 1987. As it was, he made Back to back Pro Bowls after both the 87 and 88 seasons and was the leading Rusher in first of those playing out of position at Fullback. Look it up. Mike missed about 4 games in 1988 regular season. Under different circumstances and on better teams Rozier could have had a much bigger NFL career. Stats don't tell the story. He was every bit as good as Emmit Smith. Put a healthy Rozier in that system and he would have had similar production. I also think that Rozier would have had a great career as a Forty Niner in Walsh system.

[@nathaniellathy6559]

Nebraska had trouble stopping Miami passing attack

[@2200Z]

I could have sworn I was watching the UCLA vs Nebraska game, so I put in some new contacts. Yep, you're on the wrong game bud.

[@Solitude47152]

ucla got stomped on by Nebraska. Donahue that fool no match for Osborne.

[@timothyball7502]

A gray field? Where's the green field? Color is a bit off, or this Android is a bit off. Bummer.

[@timothyball7502]

This is the time where all excessive amount of show-off was not present. Each man did his job and no more, 2020 and all future men who play this game learn from the past. You want to be an Entertainer go do movies. A sport is just that, a sport.

[@Sargebri]

UCLA had the worst record of any of the teams that played on New Year's Day 1984 with a 5-4-1 record and wound up killing a very overrated Illinois in the Rose Bowl. Interestingly, a few hours after that game Nebraska, who was on the verge of outshining the 1972 USC "Wild Bunch", was upset by Miami in the Orange Bowl. BTW, Joe Butita, who was doing color in this game, was the former sports anchor at KTLA 5 here in Los Angeles.

[@cavecookie1]

And, if Osborne had kicked the almost guaranteed extra point, and tied, the Huskers would still have gotten the Nattie. But, as we all know, REAL men go for two!

[@Sargebri]

@@cavecookie1 Yep. In fact, Texas was the only other unbeaten and untied team playing that day and had they won we might have had a split title at the very least. However, they were upset by Georgia in the Cotton Bowl. After that the only other team that had a shot was Auburn, but they barely beat Michigan in the Sugar Bowl, which was being played simultaneously with the Orange Bowl.

[@cavecookie1]

@@Sargebri Reading your post got me thinking of those days before the playoffs. A lot of seasons, things were up in the air until the last game was played, and anything could happen. Although I'm fine with the playoffs, I sometimes miss that wide-open, go-for-broke atmosphere in college football!

[@Sargebri]

@@cavecookie1 I know the feeling. I also miss the days before ESPN had a virtual monopoly on broadcasting college football and the big five bowls (Rose, Orange, Cotton, Sugar and Fiesta) were all on New Year's Day.

[@bconni2]

UCLA won 8 consecutive bowl games from 1983 to 1991....i'm pretty sure it's the all time record or it was until very recently...