# 1998 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

The 1998 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Frank Solich and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 29 | 3:00 pm | Louisiana Tech* | No. 4 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE (Eddie Robinson Classic) | FSN | W 56–27 | 76,021 |
| September 5 | 12:30 pm | UAB* | No. 4 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE | | W 38–7 | 75,921 |
| September 12 | 6:00 pm | at California* | No. 4 | California Memorial StadiumBerkeley, CA | FSN | W 24–3 | 67,000 |
| September 26 | 2:30 pm | No. 9 Washington* | No. 2 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE (College GameDay) | ABC | W 55–7 | 76,372 |
| October 3 | 6:00 pm | vs. Oklahoma State | No. 2 | Arrowhead StadiumKansas City, MO | FSN | W 24–17 | 79,555 |
| October 10 | 2:30 pm | at No. 18 Texas A&M | No. 2 | Kyle FieldCollege Station, TX | ABC | L 21–28 | 60,798 |
| October 17 | 6:00 pm | Kansas | No. 8 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE (rivalry) | FSN | W 41–0 | 76,174 |
| October 24 | 11:30 am | No. 19 Missouri | No. 7 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE (rivalry) | FSN | W 20–13 | 76,425 |
| October 31 | 2:30 pm | Texas | No. 7 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE | ABC | L 16–20 | 76,434 |
| November 7 | 1:00 pm | at Iowa State | No. 14 | Jack Trice StadiumAmes, IA | | W 42–7 | 45,817 |
| November 14 | 2:30 pm | at No. 2 Kansas State | No. 11 | KSU StadiumManhattan, KS (College GameDay) (rivalry) | ABC | L 30–40 | 44,298 |
| November 27 | 1:30 pm | Colorado | No. 14 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE (rivalry) | ABC | W 16–14 | 75,958 |
| December 30 | 7:30 pm | vs. No. 5 Arizona* | No. 14 | Qualcomm StadiumSan Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl) | ESPN | L 20–23 | 65,354 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||||

## Roster and coaching staff
### Depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* Mike Brown
* Clint Finley
* Dion Booker Greg McGraw
| WILL | MIKE | SAM |
| Eric Johnson | Jay Foreman | Tony Ortiz |
| Julies Jackson | Carlos Polk | Brian Shaw |
| Josh Kohl | Jamie Burrow | Rod Baker |
* ROVER
* Joe Walker Mike Brown
* Gregg List
* Troy Watchorn
* CB
* Erwin Swiney
* Keyuo Craver
* Jeff Hemje
| DE | DT | DT | DE |
| Mike Rucker | Jason Wiltz Steve Warren | Loran Kaiser | Chad Kelsay |
| Aaron Wills | Jason Lohr | Jeremy Slechta | Kyle Vanden Bosch |
| Travis Toline | Bobby Gill | Luis Almanzar | J.P. Wichmann |
* CB
* Ralph Brown
* Khari Reynolds
* Jerome Peterson
Offense :
* WR
* Matt Davison
* Kenny Cheathman
* Billy Haafke
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Adam Julch | James Sherman | Josh Heskew | Ben Gessford | Jason Schwab |
| Kyle Kollmorgan | Dominic Raiola | Dominic Raiola | Russ Hochstein | Dave Volk |
| Ben Gessford | Jon Rutherford | Matt Baldwin | Brandt Wade. | Billy Diekmann |
* TE
* Sheldon Jackson
* Tracey Wistrom T.J DeBates
* Damien Bauman
* WR
* Shevin Wiggins
* Lance Brown
* Sean Applegate Frankie London
* QB
* Eric Crouch Bobby Newcombe
* Monte Christo
* RB
* Correll Buckhalter
* Dan Alexander
* DeAngelo Evans Dan White
* FB
* Joel Makovicka
* Billy Legate
* Willie Miller
* Special teams
* PK Kris Brown
* P Bill Lafleur
* KR Shevin Wiggins
* PR Joe Walker

## Game summaries
### Louisiana Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Louisiana Tech | 0 | 6 | 15 | 6 | 27 |
| • Nebraska | 14 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 56 |

### UAB

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| UAB | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| • Nebraska | 7 | 14 | 0 | 17 | 38 |

### California

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Nebraska | 7 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 24 |
| California | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |

### Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Washington | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| • Nebraska | 21 | 14 | 20 | 0 | 55 |

### Oklahoma State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Nebraska | 0 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 24 |
| Oklahoma State | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |

### Texas A&M

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Nebraska | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| • Texas A&M | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |

### Kansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Kansas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Nebraska | 10 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 41 |

### Missouri

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Missouri | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| • Nebraska | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 20 |

### Texas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Texas | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
| Nebraska | 0 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 16 |

### Iowa State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Nebraska | 7 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 42 |
| Iowa State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |

### Kansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Nebraska | 7 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 30 |
| • Kansas State | 7 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 40 |

### Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colorado | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| • Nebraska | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 16 |

### Arizona

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Nebraska | 0 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
| • Arizona | 6 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 23 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | 4 (4) | 4 (2) | 3 (1) | 2 (1) | 2 (7) | 2 (1) | 8 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 19 |
| Coaches Poll | 3 (12) | 3 (8) | 3 (7) | 2 (7) | 2 (15) | 2 (6) | 8 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 11 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 20 |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 6 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 11 | Not released |

## After the season

First-year Head Coach Solich was new to the job title but still in his element, after having served as an assistant in varying capacities with Nebraska since 1975. Solich completed his inaugural season with a final record of 9–4 (5–3), after having lost much of the 1997 national championship team's talent to graduation. Nonetheless, Nebraska finished tied for 2nd place in the Big 12 North Division, and tied for 4th conference-wide.
The season was concluded by #14 Nebraska falling to #5 Arizona 20–23 at the Holiday Bowl.

### Awards

| Award | Name(s) |
| All-American 2nd Team | Sheldon Jackson |
| All-American 3rd Team | Ralph Brown |
| All-Big 12 1st team | Ralph Brown, Josh Heskew, Sheldon Jackson, Jay Foreman, Mike Brown, Chad Kelsay |
| All-Big 12 2nd team | Kris Brown, Mike Rucker, Joe Walker, Bill Lafleur |
| All-Big 12 3rd team | Shevin Wiggins |
| All-Big 12 honorable mention | Kenny Cheatham, Matt Davison, Russ Hochstein, Joel Makovicka, Jason Schwab |

### NFL and pro players

The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1998 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.
| Name | Team |
| Demoine Adams | Edmonton Eskimos |
| Dan Alexander | Tennessee Titans |
| Josh Brown | Seattle Seahawks |
| Kris Brown | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Mike Brown | Chicago Bears |
| Ralph Brown | New York Giants |
| Correll Buckhalter | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Keyuo Craver | New Orleans Saints |
| Eric Crouch | St. Louis Rams |
| Clint Finley | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Jay Foreman | Buffalo Bills |
| Aaron Golliday | Scottish Claymores |
| DeJuan Groce | St. Louis Rams |
| Russ Hochstein | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Sheldon Jackson | Buffalo Bills |
| Eric Johnson | Oakland Raiders |
| Chad Kelsay | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Chris Kelsay | Buffalo Bills |
| Bill Lafleur | Barcelona Dragons |
| Joel Makovicka | Arizona Cardinals |
| Bobby Newcombe | Montreal Alouettes |
| Tony Ortiz | Scottish Claymores |
| Carlos Polk | San Diego Chargers |
| Dominic Raiola | Detroit Lions |
| Mike Rucker | Carolina Panthers |
| Scott Shanle | St. Louis Rams |
| Jeremy Slechta | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Erwin Swiney | Green Bay Packers |
| Kyle Vanden Bosch | Arizona Cardinals |
| Joe Walker | Tennessee Titans |
| Steve Warren | Green Bay Packers |
| Jason Wiltz | New York Jets |