1976 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team The 1976 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska in the 1976 college football season . The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln , Nebraska . Game notes . LSU . Top - ranked Nebraska quickly found the scoreboard with a touchdown just four minutes into the game , but a failed extra point attempt was the first sign of trouble to come , as the Cornhuskers failed to score again against a fierce LSU defense . The Tigers also struggled to make headway against the tenacious Blackshirts , managing just one field goal in each of the final two quarters , which resulted in a less than stellar beginning of the season for Nebraska as they were forced to settle for a 6 - 6 tie . Indiana . Nebraska pushed Indiana around all day to make up for the previous week ' s disappointing tie game , running out ahead 38 - 0 before Indiana managed to score . Indiana had the slight edge in the air , but without enough points to back it up , the 248 - 89 Cornhusker domination on the ground told the story of the game . TCU . TCU proposed to make it a game by scoring first , and was still in it with a slight 10 - 14 lag at the end of the 1st quarter , but the Horned Frogs proceeded to fall apart as the Cornhuskers quickly rolled off 50 unanswered points to steamroll their way to a 64 - 10 romp in the Lincoln home opener . Nebraska QB Vince Ferragamo tied the Nebraska record of four touchdowns in a game ( by halftime ) , while ground responsibilities were widely shared as 5th - string IB Byron Stewart ended up with the day ' s rushing lead at 64 yards . Miami . A hard - hitting game saw several players leaving the field with injuries as Nebraska fought from behind for the second week in a row , after having to start the 2nd half down 0 - 6 . The Cornhuskers eventually wore the Hurricanes down in the end , putting up 10 more points while Miami was only able to add a field goal in their failed attempt to hold the lead . Colorado . Colorado never did find the end zone , but Buffalo PK Mark Zetterberg split the uprights four times to account for all of Colorado ' s scores to put Nebraska behind 7 - 12 at the half . Those 12 points were not nearly enough to overcome the Nebraska 2nd half effort which ran off an additional 17 unanswered points to pull away from Colorado for the win . Kansas State . Nebraska smashed Kansas State to celebrate homecoming , holding the Wildcats to a painful - 45 yards of negative progress on the ground , as the Cornhuskers did not even have to defend their side of the field until late in the 3rd quarter when Nebraska gave up an interception . Still missing several players from injuries sustained in the previous two games , the Cornhusker machine rolled on anyway , as Nebraska QB Vince Ferragamo tied the school single - game touchdown record for the second time this season while the Blackshirts put up their only shutout of 1976 . Missouri . Missouri arrived in Lincoln on the way to owning an impressive upset thanks to a record - setting play . Nebraska was behind 18 - 23 at the half , but had obtained two field goals to pull ahead 24 - 23 at the start of the 4th quarter . The Tigers than scored on a spectacular 98 - yard pass play and successful 2 - point conversion to take the momentum back just two minutes later , and iced the win with 1 : 19 remaining on the game clock when they added 3 more on a field goal , handing the Cornhuskers their first loss of the season . Kansas . Kansas took the brunt of Nebraska ' s frustration following their loss to Missouri the week prior , as the Blackshirts only allowed the Jayhawks to cross midfield twice all day , while the Cornhusker offense accumulated 483 yards of total offense in the one - sided game . The lone Kansas score was a field goal against Nebraska reserves in the 4th quarter . Oklahoma State . Both teams struggled to make progress against each other at the start as both defenses protected their end zones , and by the half only Oklahoma State had managed to put any points up , with a field goal midway through the 2nd quarter . The defensive battle continued after haltfime , but the Cornhuskers were finally able to secure a 3rd quarter touchdown , only to have the Cowboys answer it four minutes later and retake the lead 10 - 7 . Nebraska was uncharacteristically losing the ground war , as Oklahoma State piled up a 291 - 121 edge in yards , and so turned to the air and found results as they amassed a 235 - 34 passing yardage lead , which included the game - winning touchdown pass with almost 12 minutes still remaining in the 4th quarter . The Blackshirts held from there on out to secure the victory . Iowa State . Turnovers took a brutal toll on Nebraska , as the Cornhuskers fumbled eight times and gave up an interception in Ames . For the second week in a row , Nebraska was forced to go to the air for results as the Cyclones held them to just 77 rushing yards , but it was not enough , as Nebraska fell behind 0 - 10 early on and never recovered the lead in a heartbreaking road loss to an unranked team following their thrilling finish against # 13 Oklahoma State the week before . Oklahoma . Nebraska was outrushed on the day , lagging Oklahoma 185 - 357 on the ground and once again resorting to an air attack to stay in the game , yet the Cornhuskers were in the lead 17 - 13 when Oklahoma resorted to an unexpected air attack of their own to win . The Sooners had only thrown two passes in the last two games combined , but used two pass plays in the final minutes to pull out the surprise win . One pass , a 47 - yarder from reserve Oklahoma HB Woodie Shepherd , was the first of his career , while the other was tossed by backup Oklahoma QB Dean Blevins 10 yards and then lateraled for an additional 22 yard gain . The Cornhuskers , felled by passes from a ground - based team they had not defeated since 1971 , was knocked out of the Orange Bowl . Hawaii . In a lightly attended Honolulu game with more Cornhusker fans in attendance than locals , Nebraska punished Hawaii with a 47 - 0 lead before allowing the Rainbows to obtain their lone points of the day on a field goal near the end of the 3rd quarter , which was answered by an additional 21 straight Cornhusker points to close the game . Nebraska ' s 655 yards of total offense was a new all - time school record , as was the 211 single game yards accumulated by IB Rick Berns , which succeeded the mark of 204 set by Frank Solich in 1965 . Nebraska SE Chuck Malito ' s 166 receiving yards also set a new single game school record , and Nebraska QB Vince Ferragamo broke David Humm ' s 1972 season touchdown record of 18 when he pushed his season total to 20 . Texas Tech . Nebraska was behind 17 - 14 at the half , and Texas Tech increased their lead shortly after the start of the 3rd when they posted another touchdown , and things were looking bleak for the Cornhuskers as the Red Raiders seemed to have an answer for everything Nebraska came up with . Then , two minutes later , Nebraska found the end zone to pull within 4 points , and after managing to force Texas Tech into a punt that was partially blocked , the Cornhuskers scored again two minutes later to take the lead , and held on for the win . Rankings . Awards . < br > NFL and Pro Players . The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1976 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi - pro team as draftees or free agents . < br >