1972 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team The 1972 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska in the 1972 college football season . The team was coached by Bob Devaney and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln . Game notes . UCLA . Unranked UCLA , sporting their new wishbone offense led by Mark Harmon , handed # 1 Nebraska its first loss in 33 games , and broke Nebraska ' s 23 - game winning streak , both at that time active NCAA records . The Cornhuskers were upset in Los Angeles after suffering four fumbles and giving up two interceptions , though the game was not decided until UCLA ' s Efren Herrera kicked a field goal with just 22 seconds remaining in the game . Texas A & M . Nebraska owned the game and had little difficulty with Texas A & M , whose sole touchdown came late in the 4th quarter against Cornhusker reserves . Army . Nebraska entirely stomped Army , with the Cornhusker reserves taking over in the 3rd quarter behind a very comfortable lead , and the Black Knights ' lone score to prevent the shutout came on a 10 yard pass reception with just 35 seconds left to play . Minnesota . For the third straight week , Nebraska dominated the game in every way , shutting out Minnesota while piling up 542 yards of offense . Missouri . Nebraska was not affected by the week off , and thoroughly pounded Missouri 62 - 0 . Although the scoreboard and statistics might suggest Missouri was out of their league against Nebraska , the Tigers went on after this painful shutout to upset Notre Dame and Colorado in their next two games . Kansas . The shutouts and domination continued , as Nebraska scored at will against Kansas in Lawrence , and held the Jayhawks to just 63 total yards of offense and only 4 1st downs . Oklahoma State . Nebraska tied a 1937 NCAA record of 4 straight shutouts , and although Oklahoma State was not as easy to push around as the previous three opponents , the Cornhuskers still had little trouble getting the win . Colorado . Colorado attempted to put some more challenge into the event than Nebraska had been seeing in recent games , and was even able to draw back from a 0 - 19 deficit to get within 9 by halftime and end Nebraska ' s shutout streak , but it was all Cornhusker points the rest of the way . Still , the Blackshirts mourned the end of their touchdown - free stretch at 17 quarters . Iowa State . Iowa State pretty much ended any Nebraska hopes for another national title , as the Cornhuskers gave up two interceptions and six fumbles to help the Cyclones stay in the game . Nebraska came back from behind to pull ahead 20 - 17 in the 4th , and padded the lead with a field goal when the clock was down to just 1 : 03 , but Iowa State stormed back down the field to score again with 0 : 23 remaining , and would have won the game outright if the subsequent PAT had not failed and ended the game tied at 23 . Kansas State . Nebraska put up Coach Devaney ' s 100th career win as the Cornhuskers easily trampled Kansas State in Lincoln and had reserves in the game for playing time while cruising behind a comfortable 38 - 0 lead even prior to the half . The Wildcats finally put up a touchdown with just over 6 minutes remaining to play . Oklahoma . It looked like Nebraska ' s day , as the Cornhuskers led at the half and were up 14 - 0 in the 3rd , but Oklahoma came back to score 17 points straight for the lead and the win , ending Nebraska ' s home winning streak dating to 1969 . Notre Dame . Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers was shifted from WB to IB for the 1973 Orange Bowl , and flashed brilliance as he ran for three touchdowns , caught a touchdown pass , and also threw a fifth touchdown . The Cornhuskers scored with ease and often against the stunned Fighting Irish , who were unable to put any points up of their own until the 4th quarter . This was head coach Bob Devaney ' s final game , a third straight Orange Bowl victory , and second straight Orange Bowl rout . Rankings . Awards . < br > 1972 Team Players in the NFL . The 1972 Nebraska Cornhuskers seniors selected in the 1973 NFL Draft : The 1972 Nebraska Cornhuskers juniors selected in the following year ' s 1974 NFL Draft : The 1972 Nebraska Cornhuskers sophomores selected in the 1975 NFL Draft : NFL and Pro Players . The following is a list of 1972 Nebraska players < br > who joined a professional team as draftees or free agents . < br >