# 1986 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

The 1986 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 6 | 7:00 pm | No. 11 Florida State* | No. 8 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE | ABC | W 34–17 | 75,865 |
| September 20 | 6:00 pm | at Illinois* | No. 6 | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | WTBS | W 59–14 | 75,869 |
| September 27 | 1:30 pm | Oregon* | No. 4 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE | | W 48–14 | 76,185 |
| October 4 | 12:30 pm | at South Carolina* | No. 3 | Williams–Brice StadiumColumbia, SC | | W 27–24 | 73,109 |
| October 11 | 6:45 pm | Oklahoma State | No. 3 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE | ESPN | W 30–10 | 76,041 |
| October 18 | 1:30 pm | Missouri | No. 3 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE (rivalry) | | W 48–17 | 76,005 |
| October 25 | 2:30 pm | at Colorado | No. 3 | Folsom FieldBoulder, CO (rivalry) | | L 10–20 | 52,440 |
| November 1 | 1:30 pm | Kansas State | No. 9 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE (rivalry) | | W 38–0 | 75,893 |
| November 8 | 11:30 am | at Iowa State | No. 7 | Cyclone StadiumAmes, IA | Raycom | W 35–14 | 48,007 |
| November 15 | 1:30 pm | at Kansas | No. 6 | Memorial StadiumLawrence, KS (rivalry) | | W 70–0 | 48,800 |
| November 22 | 2:30 pm | No. 3 Oklahoma | No. 5 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE (rivalry) | ABC | L 17–20 | 76,198 |
| January 1, 1987 | 2:30 pm | vs. No. 5 LSU* | No. 6 | Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl) | ABC | W 30–15 | 76,234 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||||

## Roster and coaching staff
### Depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* Bryan Siebler
* Mark Blazek
* Chris Carr
| INSDIE | INSDIE |
| Marc Munford | Kevin Parsons |
| LeRoy Etienne | Blake Henning |
| Doug Welniak | Dante Wiley |
* MONSTER
* Jeff Tomjack
* Brian Washingtion
* Gary Schneider
* CB
* Charles Fryar
* Cleo Miller
* Jon Custard
| DE | DT | NT | DT | DE |
| Tony Holloway | Neil Smith | Danny Noonan | Chris Spachman | Broderick Thomas |
| Brad Tyrer | Lee Jones | Lawrence Pete | Tim Rother | Jeff Jamrog |
| Jon Marco | ⋅ | Sean Putnam | Danny Groskurth | Steve Stanard |
* CB
* Brian Davis
* Lorenzo Hicks
* Marvin Sanders
Offense :
* WR
* Robb Schnitzler
* Rod Smith
* Jason Gamble
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Rob Maggard | Stan Parker | Mark Cooper | John McCormick | Tom Welter |
| Keven Lightner | Mike Hoefler | John Nichols | Andy Keeler | Brad Johnson |
| Bob Sledge | Jake Young | Jeff Anderson | Ron Galois | Corey B Hudson |
* TE
* Todd Millikan
* Tom Banderas
* Willie Griffin Mark Diaz
* WR
* Dana Brinson
* Von Sheppard
* Pernell Gatson
* QB
* Steve Taylor
* Clete Blakeman
* McCathorn Clayton
* RB
* Keith Jones
* Tyreese Knox
* Terry Rodgers
* FB
* Ken Kaelin
* Micah Heibel
* Doug Dalton
* Special teams
* PK Dale Klein
* P John Kroeker

## Game summaries
### Florida State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Florida State | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
| • Nebraska | 0 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 34 |
This was the first ever night game at Memorial Stadium. Nebraska's loss to FSU in Lincoln the previous year was avenged when the Cornhuskers came back from a halftime deficit, outscoring FSU 24-3 and holding the Seminoles to -2 yards in the second half.

### Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Nebraska | 28 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 59 |
| Illinois | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
The outcome of this game was more or less sealed from the very first play, as Illinois QB Chris Lamb threw an interception that Cornhusker CB Brian Davis returned for a touchdown, and Nebraska never looked back.

### Oregon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oregon | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • Nebraska | 14 | 21 | 13 | 0 | 48 |
Oregon made the first strike, but Nebraska then ran away from the Ducks, scoring 48 unanswered points, though the Cornhuskers suffered the loss of WB Von Sheppard to injury and saw PK Dale Klein's consecutive PATs streak ended at 60.

### South Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Nebraska | 10 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 27 |
| South Carolina | 0 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 24 |
Nebraska survived a scare in Columbia, escaping with a victory due to recovering a Gamecock fumble with two minutes left to play to set up the go-ahead touchdown, and then intercepting a throw by South Carolina QB Todd Ellis at NU's 10 yard line with just 10 seconds remaining.

### Oklahoma State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oklahoma State | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| • Nebraska | 14 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 30 |
Nebraska continued their string of domination over Oklahoma State in the second ever night game at Memorial Stadium, extending their win streak over the Cowboys to 25.

### Missouri

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Missouri | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 17 |
| • Nebraska | 0 | 20 | 21 | 7 | 48 |
Missouri scored first on a 29-yard field goal, but Nebraska owned the show for the rest of the game, scoring six straight touchdowns on their way to the win. Nebraska PK Dave Klein beat the Cornhusker career FG record of 22 when he extended his total to 24 in this game.

### Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Nebraska | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 10 |
| • Colorado | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
Unranked Colorado stunned the #3 Cornhuskers, holding Nebraska to its lowest rushing yard total in eight years and ending Nebraska's 18-year winning streak against the Buffaloes.

### Kansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Kansas State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Nebraska | 17 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 38 |
The hapless Wildcats suffered Nebraska's wrath following their loss to unranked Colorado the week prior, as the Cornhuskers romped in the snow at Memorial Stadium and shut out Kansas State while allowing them just 106 total yards of offense.

### Iowa State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Nebraska | 7 | 0 | 14 | 14 | 35 |
| Iowa State | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
Nebraska struck first but then seemed to flame out, as Iowa State sent the Cornhuskers to the locker room behind 14-7 at halftime. After a rousing pep talk from Coach Osborne, the Cornhuskers stormed back in the 2nd half for the win.

### Kansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Nebraska | 21 | 14 | 21 | 14 | 70 |
| Kansas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Nebraska absolutely crushed Kansas in Lawrence, handing the Jayhawks their worst-ever loss and posting the biggest Cornhusker shutout since a 100-0 smashing of Nebraska Wesleyan in 1917.

### Oklahoma

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Oklahoma | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 20 |
| Nebraska | 7 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
The #5 Cornhuskers, flying high after their 70-0 shutout against Kansas the previous week, looked ready to upset the #3 Sooners, but it was not to be. Oklahoma found the end zone twice in the 4th quarter to tie the game, and forced a Nebraska punt with 1:22 remaining. After grinding back down the field, and with just 9 seconds remaining, Oklahoma PK Tim Lashar made a 31-yard kick to split the uprights for the win, handing the Sooners their 2nd consecutive Big 8 Championship title.

### LSU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Nebraska | 0 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 30 |
| LSU | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 15 |
Nebraska's 25th bowl appearance saw the Blackshirts setting two new bowl-game records by holding LSU to just 32 net rushing yards and 10 first downs as the #6 Cornhuskers rolled up the win over the #5 Tigers.

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | 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 | Final |
| AP | 8 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Coaches | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 |

## Awards

| Award | Name(s) |
| All-America 1st team | Danny Noonan |
| All-America 3rd team | Tom Welter |
| All-America honorable mention | Broderick Thomas, Keith Jones, Rob Maggard, John McCormick, Marc Munford, Stan Parker, Chris Spachman |
| Sophomore All-America 1st team | Broderick Thomas |
| Sophomore All-America honorable mention | LeRoy Etienne |
| Big 8 Athlete of the Year | Danny Noonan |
| All-Big 8 1st team | Keith Jones, Danny Noonan, Broderick Thomas, Tom Welter, Marc Munford |
| All-Big 8 2nd team | John McCormick, Brian Davis, Rob Maggard, Todd Millikan, Stan Parker, Rod Smith |

## NFL and pro players

The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1986 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.
| Name | Team |
| Richard Bell | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Dana Brinson | San Diego Chargers |
| Brian Davis | Washington Redskins |
| Doug DuBose | San Francisco 49ers |
| LeRoy Etienne | San Francisco 49ers |
| Keith Jones | Cleveland Browns |
| Marc Munford | Denver Broncos |
| Danny Noonan | Dallas Cowboys |
| Lawrence Pete | Detroit Lions |
| Tim Rother | Los Angeles Raiders |
| Von Sheppard | Coventry Jets |
| Neil Smith | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Steve Taylor | Edmonton Eskimos |
| Broderick Thomas | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Brian Washington | Cleveland Browns |
| Tom Welter | St. Louis Cardinals |