1998 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

1998 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
1998 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Holiday Bowl, L 20–23 vs. Arizona
Conference	Big 12 Conference
	North Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 20
AP	No. 19
Record	9–4 (5–3 Big 12)
Head coach	Frank Solich (1st season);
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Charlie McBride (18th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
	Seasons ← 1997 1999 →

1998 Big 12 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
North Division
No. 10 Kansas State x	8	–	0	11	–	2
No. 19 Nebraska	5	–	3	9	–	4
No. 21 Missouri	5	–	3	8	–	4
Colorado	4	–	4	8	–	4
Kansas	1	–	7	4	–	7
Iowa State	1	–	7	3	–	8
South Division
No. 11 Texas A&M x$	7	–	1	11	–	3
No. 15 Texas	6	–	2	9	–	3
Texas Tech	4	–	4	7	–	5
Oklahoma State	3	–	5	5	–	6
Oklahoma	3	–	5	5	–	6
Baylor	1	–	7	2	–	9
Championship: Texas A&M 36, Kansas State 33
$ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

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

Roster and coaching staff

1998 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
SE	`17`	Scott Aguglia	Fr
IB	`38`	Dan Alexander	So
G	`64`	Steve Altstadt	Fr
WB	`82`	Sean Applegate	Jr
C	`51`	Matt Baldwin	Jr
TE	`94`	Damien Bauman	Jr
TE	`33`	Sasho Becvarovski	So
SE	`20`	Tom Beveridge	So
TE		Jon Bowling	Fr
WB	`14`	Lance Brown	Sr
IB	`36`	Correll Buckhalter	So
IB		Chris Butler	Fr
SE	`6`	Kenny Cheatham	Sr
QB		Joe Chrisman	Fr
QB	`9`	Monte Christo	Sr
FB	`31`	Chris Cielocha	Fr
OT	`68`	Jeff Clausen	Jr
OL		Wes Cody	Fr
SE		Danny Cork	Fr
WB	`81`	Ben Cornelsen	Fr
QB	`7`	Eric Crouch	Fr
TE		Will Dabbert	Fr
SE	`3`	Matt Davison	So
TE	`85`	T.J. DeBates	Jr
IB	`31`	Dahrran Diedrick	Fr
OT	`76`	Billy Diekmann	So
SE		Chad Duryea	Fr
OL		Kyle Eisenhauer	Fr
IB	`4`	DeAngelo Evans	So
WB	`2`	Demond Finister	Jr
SE	`83`	Craig Fischer	Jr
WB		Austin Forster	Fr
OL		Joe Freeman	Fr
SE	`29`	Pat Friesen	Fr
WB	`30`	Paul Fujan	Fr
OT	`74`	Lonnie Fulton	Jr
G	`72`	Ben Gessford	Sr
WB	`8`	John Gibson	So
TE		Aaron Golliday	Fr
FB	`46`	Nick Gragert	Fr
OT	`74`	Mike Green	Fr
RB		DeAntae Grixby	Fr
QB		Sam Gutz	Fr
SE		Seth Gutz	Jr
OL		Andy Gwennap	Fr
SE	`80`	Billy Haafke	Sr
SE		Troy Hassebroek	Fr
C	`78`	Aaron Havlovic	Jr
C	`78`	Aaron Havolovic	Jr
WB		Dan Hennings	Fr
C	`59`	Josh Heskew	Sr
G	`55`	Russ Hochstein	So
FB		Casey Hughes	Fr
TE	`88`	Sheldon Jackson	Sr
OT	`69`	Adam Julch	Jr
FB		Paul Kastl	Fr
FB	`33`	Ben Kingston	Jr
SE		John Klem	Fr
OL		Scott Koethe	Fr
OT	`75`	Kyle Kollmorgen	Fr
OL		David Kolowski	Fr
OL		Nate Kolterman	Fr
FB	`40`	Billy Legate	Sr
QB	`1`	Frankie London	Jr
SE		Josh Lyman	Fr
FB	`45`	Joel Makovicka	Sr
WB		Shawn McGann	Fr
TE	`87`	Jake McKee	So
FB	`15`	Willie Miller	So
TE	`43`	John Murphy	So
QB	`12`	Bobby Newcombe	So
FB	`37`	Hank Piening	So
C	`54`	Dominic Raiola	Fr
IB		Tyler Rauenzahn	Fr
QB	`16`	Jay Runty	So
G	`66`	Jon Rutherford	RFr
G	`79`	Chris Saalfeld	So
OT	`65`	Jason Schwab	Jr
G	`63`	James Sherman	Jr
OL		Matt Shook	Fr
OL		Leif Sidwell	Fr
IB	`32`	Travis Soucie	So
FB	`48`	Jeremy Stanislav	So
OT	`73`	Jim Tansey	Jr
SE		Wilson Thomas	Fr
IB	`24`	Alik Tillery	Fr
FB		Tyrone Uhlir	Fr
OL		Justin Valencia	Fr
WB	`26`	Casey Vanderhoef	So
OT	`58`	Dave Volk	Fr
G	`61`	Brandt Wade	Sr
IB	`34`	Dan White	Fr
WB	`5`	Shevin Wiggins	Sr
OL		Mike Wilford	Fr
TE	`90`	Tracey Wistrom	Fr
OL		Steve Ziemba	Fr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RE		Demoine Adams	Fr
NT	`89`	Luis Almanzar	So
RCB	`28`	Josh Anderson	So
WLB	`41`	Rod Baker	So
ROV	`4`	Mic Boettner	Fr
FS	`14`	Dion Booker	Fr
ROV	`21`	Mike Brown	Jr
RCB	`22`	Ralph Brown	Jr
MLB	`39`	Ben Buettenback	Jr
MLB	`48`	Jamie Burrow	Fr
DL		Jon Clanton	Fr
MLB	`52`	Jon Coyne	Fr
CB	`3`	Keyuo Craver	Fr
DB		Mike Demps	Fr
LB		Mason Dutton	Fr
FS	`33`	Mitch Ebke	So
ROV		John Eisenberg	So
FS	`19`	Clint Finley	So
ROV	`38`	Eric Fischer	So
MLB	`44`	Jay Foreman	Sr
LB		Gabe Fries	Fr
SLB	`43`	Russell Froehlich	Sr
NT	`77`	Bobby Gill	So
RE	`97`	Matt Grummert	So
SLB	`53`	Chris Gustafson	Fr
FS	`45`	Brad Hamik	So
LCB	`18`	Jeff Hemje	Fr
SLB	`49`	Quint Hogrefe	Sr
DL		Richard Hughes	Fr
RCB	`24`	Matt Ickes	Fr
WLB	`50`	Julius Jackson	Jr
WLB	`1`	Eric Johnson	Sr
DT	`91`	Loran Kaiser	So
RE	`57`	Chad Kelsay	Sr
RE		Chris Kelsay	Fr
WLB	`47`	Josh Kohl	Jr
DB		Paul Kosch	Fr
DB		Adam Lechtenberg	Fr
ROV	`29`	Gregg List	Jr
DL		Jason Lohr	Fr
RE		Jeremy Lyman	Fr
DL		Stephen Manning	Fr
DT	`70`	Matt McGinn	Fr
FS	`27`	Greg McGraw	Jr
SLB	`32`	Levi Mehl	Fr
RE	`93`	Brandon Mooberry	So
DB		Christopher Moran	Jr
DT	`90`	Casey Nelson	Fr
DL		Jeff Nelson	Fr
DL		Andrew Offner	Fr
SLB	`37`	Tony Ortiz	Jr
MLB	`42`	Jon Penny	Fr
RCB	`11`	Jerome Peterson	Jr
MLB	`13`	Carlos Polk	So
ROV	`10`	Brandon Quindt	So
SLB	`23`	Steve Raymond	Jr
LCB	`9`	Khari Reynolds	So
RE		Kyle Ringenberg	Fr
MLB	`34`	Brandon Roth	Fr
RE	`84`	Mike Rucker	Sr
RE	`80`	Eric Ryan	Jr
LB		Scott Shanle	Fr
SLB	`46`	Brian Shaw	Jr
RE	`98`	Scott Siebenborn	So
DT		Jeremy Slechta	Fr
WLB		Jemond Smith	Fr
RE		Justin Smith	Fr
LB		Luke Smith	Fr
LB		Randy Stella	Fr
LCB	`16`	Erwin Swiney	So
LB		Tony Tata	Fr
DB		Aaron Terpening	Fr
RE	`92`	Travis Toline	Sr
RCB	`12`	Arion Turner	Fr
MLB	`48`	Chad Tuttle	So
RE	`83`	Kyle Vanden Bosch	So
WLB	`26`	Mark Vedral	Fr
ROV	`25`	Joe Walker	So
RE	`94`	Brandon Wardyn	So
NT	`96`	Steve Warren	Jr
FS	`42`	Troy Watchorn	So
RE	`95`	J.P. (John Paul) Wichmann	Fr
RE	`81`	Aaron Wills	Jr
RE		Colin Wills	Fr
DT	`99`	Jason Wiltz	Sr
LCB	`20`	Wes Woodward	Fr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
PK		Josh Brown	Fr
PK	`35`	Kris Brown	Sr
PK	`17`	Dan Hadenfeldt	Jr
P	`23`	Bill Lafleur	Sr
PK	`28`	Chace Long	So
P	`8`	Brian Morro	Sr
P/PK	`17`	Chuck Tack	Fr

Head coach

Frank Solich
   1st season
   20th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Charlie McBride
   18th season as DC/DL coach
   22nd year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Colorado
Turner Gill
   7th season as QB coach
   7th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska
Craig Bohl
   4th season as LB coach
   7th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska
Ron Brown
   12th season as WR/TE coach
   12th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Brown
Dan Young
   16th season as OL/K coach
   16th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Reed
Milt Tenopir
   25th season as OL coach
   25th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Sterling
Nelson Barnes
   2nd season as RE coach
   2nd year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: North Texas
George Darlington
   DB coach
   26th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Rutgers
Dave Gillespie
   1st season as RB coach
   10th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska-Omaha
Boyd Epley
   30th season as S&C coach
   30th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: January 17, 2011

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

Louisiana Tech at Nebraska [box score]

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

Date: August 29
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 76,021
TV announcers (FSN): Ron Thulin, Artie Gigantino and Eric Clemons

UAB

UAB at Nebraska [box score]

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

Date: September 5
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 75,921

California

Nebraska at California [box score]

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

Date: September 12
Location: California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California
Game attendance: 67,000

Washington

Washington at Nebraska [box score]

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

Date: September 26
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 76,372

Oklahoma State

Nebraska vs Oklahoma State [box score]

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

Date: October 3
Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Game attendance: 79,555

Texas A&M

Nebraska at Texas A&M [box score]

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

Date: October 10
Location: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas
Game attendance: 60,798

Kansas

Kansas at Nebraska [box score]

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

Date: October 17
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 76,174

Missouri

Missouri at Nebraska [box score]

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

Date: October 24
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 76,425

Texas

Texas at Nebraska [box score]

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

Date: October 31
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 76,434

Iowa State

Nebraska at Iowa State [box score]

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

Date: November 7
Location: Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, Iowa
Game attendance: 45,817

Kansas State

Nebraska at Kansas State [box score]

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

Date: November 14
Location: KSU Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas
Game attendance: 44,298

Colorado

Colorado at Nebraska [box score]

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

Date: November 27
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 75,958

Arizona

Nebraska vs Arizona [box score]

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

Date: December 30
Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
Game attendance: 65,354

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
	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								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

^[3]

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.^[4]

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

References

^ "NU passes still test". Lincoln Journal Star. August 30, 1998. Retrieved July 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Rough start turns into rout". Lincoln Journal Star. September 6, 1998. Retrieved December 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ 1998 Husker Honors
^ "All Time NFL Huskers". Archived from the original on August 15, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.

[1] "NU passes still test". Lincoln Journal Star. August 30, 1998. Retrieved July 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] "Rough start turns into rout". Lincoln Journal Star. September 6, 1998. Retrieved December 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] 1998 Husker Honors

[4] "All Time NFL Huskers". Archived from the original on August 15, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Venues	Lincoln Park (1891–1893) Antelope Field (1894–1908) Nebraska Field (1909–1922) Memorial Stadium (1923–present)
Bowls and rivalries	Bowl games Colorado (Buffalo Head) Iowa (Heroes Trophy) Kansas Kansas State Miami (FL) Minnesota ($5 Bits of Broken Chair) Missouri (Victory Bell) Oklahoma Wisconsin (Freedom Trophy)
Culture and lore	History Herbie Husker Lil' Red "Dear Old Nebraska U" "Hail Varsity" Cornhusker Marching Band Blackshirts Origin of "Cornhuskers" nickname 1939 Kansas State game Game of the Century (1971 Oklahoma game) Fumblerooski 1982 Penn State game Flea Kicker Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass 2009 Big 12 Championship Game Yes Man
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National championship seasons in bold