1983 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team The 1983 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska – Lincoln ] in the 1983 NCAA Division I - A football season . The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln , Nebraska . Nicknamed " The Scoring Explosion , " the team was noted for its prolific offense , which is still widely considered one of the greatest in college football history . The team and some of its individual players set several NCAA statistical records , some of which still stand . Game notes . Penn State . Nebraska overcame nine fumbles ( one lost ) to avenge their only loss from the previous year , destroying the defending national championship Penn State team 44 - 6 in the first ever Kickoff Classic . The Nittany Lions narrowly avoided their first shutout since 1972 when they scored a touchdown against Nebraska reserves with 20 seconds left to play . The margin of defeat tied the worst loss ever by a Joe Paterno Penn State team to date . Wyoming . It was a record - setting day as Nebraska IB Mike Rozier became Nebraska ' s all - time rushing leader , breaking the previous record set by IB I . M . Hipp four years prior , while Nebraska QB Turner Gill extended his interception - free pass completions streak to a record 99 , surpassing QB Jerry Tagge ' s record of 88 set in 1969 . Nebraska rolled despite Wyoming owning over 37 minutes of the time of possession . Minnesota . Another record outing for the Cornhuskers on the road in Minneapolis , as the Minnesota Golden Gophers were absolutely smashed in their worst - ever defeat , as Nebraska scored their most points since a 100 - 0 smearing of in 1917 , and their most points ever against a Division 1 - A team . Irving Fryar set a new wingback reception record of 138 yards on two catches , both tosses the longest of his and QB Turner Gill ' s careers , and the entire 60 - man Cornhusker travel squad had obtained playing time before the start of the 4th quarter . UCLA . UCLA put a brief fear into Nebraska in Lincoln , coming in with no wins and jumping out to a 10 - 0 lead . UCLA QB Rick Neuheisel was sacked in the 2nd half , forcing a fumble which Nebraska recovered , and the momentum then stayed with the Cornhuskers as UCLA was shut down while Nebraska rolled off 42 straight points . This victory was the 100th of Coach Osborne ' s career . The game was also notable for one of the most famous plays in Nebraska history , a 2 - yard touchdown run in which Rozier started left , reversed his field , ran backward to about the 17 - yard line while sweeping to the right , and then avoided several more defenders before entering the end zone . Syracuse . Nebraska QB Turner Gill was 17 interception - free pass completions from the Big 8 all - time record when his streak of 125 was broken by Syracuse S Rob Hobby . No other setbacks could stand in the way of a relatively easy 63 - 7 Cornhusker domination of the Orangemen . Oklahoma State . Nebraska was struggling to pull away from Oklahoma State , holding on to a tenuous 4 point lead , and watched three drives into Cowboy territory come up empty due to turnovers . Nebraska S Bret Clark made an end zone interception on the last play of the game to preserve the Cornhusker victory , and Nebraska left Stillwater and the scare behind them as Oklahoma State ' s decades - long futility against Nebraska continued . Missouri . Emboldened by the near - success of Oklahoma State the week prior , Missouri was firing on all cylinders and twice held the lead , trailed Nebraska by just a touchdown at halftime , and prevented Nebraska from pulling away through to the beginning of the 4th quarter . The Blackshirts held strong to prevent any 2nd half scoring by the Tigers , who themselves contributed to the effort by offering up a key fumble turnover , and the Cornhuskers came out of Columbia with the win . Colorado . Colorado ' s game plan allowed them to keep up with Nebraska for the 1st half , but halftime adjustments resulted in the Cornhuskers exploding for a Big 8 record 48 points in the 3rd quarter alone , which was also just 1 point short of the NCAA record for points in a quarter . Buffalo CB Victor Scott later stated " It was like someone dropped the atom bomb on us " , in regards to the three touchdowns Nebraska put up in the first 2 : 24 of the 2nd half . During one stretch of the third quarter , the Huskers set an NCAA record by scoring 41 points in 2 : 41 time of possession . Kansas State . This game was closer than the score suggests . Despite trailing 38 - 5 at the beginning of the 4th quarter , Kansas State scored on the next play , recovered an onside kick and promptly scored again , and then recovered a Nebraska fumble and were marching again , trailing 25 - 38 with 8 : 57 to play . Although the Cornhuskers were outscored 13 - 20 in the 4th quarter , their two touchdowns were more than enough to preserve the win , as Nebraska IB Mike Rozier moved into 2nd place on the Big 8 career rushing chart . Iowa State . Nebraska IB Mike Rozier set a new Big 8 season touchdown record of 24 , supplanting the mark set by Oklahoma ' s Heisman - winning QB Steve Owens , and also set a new Nebraska career touchdown record of 47 , unseating Johnny Rodgers - also a Heisman winner - from his 1972 record . Unsurprisingly at this point , Rozier would go on to win his own Heisman at the end of this season . Nebraska ' s 72 points were the highest ever scored against a Big 8 team , the most ever scored against any team at Memorial Stadium , and the combined 101 points also the most scored in any game at Memorial Stadium . Kansas . Nebraska IB Mike Rozier again made history for the second week in a row , increasing his season touchdown record to 28 , breaking the NCAA record of 26 held by Lydell Mitchell of Penn State since 1971 . In addition , Rozier set new Big 8 and Nebraska records for single season rushing yards , also knocking off the single - season 2 , 011 all - purpose yardage record set by Nebraska ' s Johnny Rodgers in 1972 , by rolling up a total of 2 , 219 . Rozier set a Nebraska record by rushing for 285 yards , including 230 in the first half ( the school individual record for rushings yards in a game was broken by Calvin Jones , who rushed for 294 yards against Kansas in 1991 ) . Oklahoma . After the Cornhuskers came from behind twice , the Blackshirts made an epic stand at the end of the game , taking advantage of a motion penalty that moved Oklahoma back from Nebraska ' s 1 yard line before sacking Sooner QB Danny Bradley and then knocking down two of his subsequent pass attempts with just 32 seconds left to play , which preserved the Cornhusker 7 point lead , the victory , and gave Nebraska its third straight Big 8 Title . Miami . Nebraska Head Coach Tom Osborne decided to forgo an almost - certain national title from settling for a tie game , and boldly went for a 2 point conversion in the final minute in order to get the win . The attempt failed , Miami won the National Championship , and Coach Osborne ' s legendary decision was forever embedded in Nebraska lore . The Cornhuskers had battled back from a 17 - 31 deficit at the start of the fourth quarter without Heisman winning HB Mike Rozier who left due to injury . And despite the loss , Coach Osborne ' s was selected National Coach of the Year , and his decision came to define his career and the Nebraska program as championship - caliber competitors for years to come . After the season . Nebraska ' s high - octane offense was often unstoppable , averaging 52 points and over 400 rushing yards per game . Mike Rozier finished with a national best 2 , 486 total yards with 2 , 148 of those coming on the ground and twenty - nine touchdowns scored . Against Kansas , Rozier rushed for a staggering 230 yards in the first half and finished with 285 rushing yards total , at that time a school record . Rozier went over 200 yards in each of his last four regular season games of the 1983 season . His magical senior season was capped when he was awarded the Heisman Trophy , given to the best individual player in college football . During his senior season , Turner Gill called the signals for one of the most prolific offenses in college football history . Gill finished fourth in the voting for the 1983 Heisman Trophy which was won by teammate Mike Rozier . The Huskers came within a whisker of a national championship , falling just one point short following a failed two - point conversion attempt in the 1984 Orange Bowl . Overall , Gill finished with a 28 - 2 record in his three years as a starter , winning three consecutive outright Big Eight championships with a perfect 20 - 0 mark in conference play . Despite this , he was unable to lead the Huskers to a national title , falling agonizingly short in each of his three seasons . Awards . < br > NFL and Pro Players . The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1983 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi - pro team as draftees or free agents . < br >