Nebraska had been close to the national championship in 1993, but in the end, they lost to the Seminoles of Florida State who took home the title. Nebraska had had enough and they were pushing for a national championship in 1994.
But, standing between them and a title were fellow Big 8 members Kansas State and Colorado. Both the Wildcats and the Buffaloes were really good in these years, but the biggest problem the Cornhuskers had back then was the Florida schools. The Miami Hurricanes were monsters, and so were their bitter rivals, Florida State.
The Cornhuskers finally were able to recruit the perfect quarterback for their offense in Florida’s Tommie Frazier. But, in the 1994 season, Frazier was out due to a blood clot in his leg. Frazier’s back up was a good one, Brook Berringer. While not the perfect runner like Frazier, Berringer was a much better passer. The only other quarterback on the roster was walk-on Matt Turman who hailed from the tiny Nebraska town of Wahoo. Back in these days, every kid from the state of Nebraska wanted to play for the Cornhuskers and if not offered a scholarship they mostly walked on. Turman didn’t even play quarterback in high school, he was a defensive back. But, talents like Tommie Frazier can be
both good and bad. The bad is that most every quarterback that the Huskers had previously on the roster had transferred out because they knew they wouldn’t play with Frazier around.
So, now, with Frazier out, the Huskers were down to two available quarterbacks and a long season with the quarterbacks being asked to run the ball in Tom Osborne’s system.
Nebraska was ranked 2nd in the country in the Associated Press poll. They rolled over 24th ranked West Virginia in the Kickoff Classic, 31-0. They destroyed Texas Tech, in Lubbock, Texas, 42-16. 13th ranked UCLA also proved to be no problem with a 49-21 thrashing. They put up 70 against lowly Pacific, and then had a surprisingly tough time with Wyoming but won by 10 points, 42-32. They beat up a really bad Oklahoma State team, 32-3. But, next up was 16th ranked Kansas State.
Kansas State had long been one of the worst teams in the country, but along came a man by the name of Bill Snyder who changed everything. He took over as head coach at Kansas State after coaching under Hayden Fry at Iowa. In 1994, he was still in the process of building a good program and there were ups and downs. But, this 1994 team was really good. Snyder had his own set of problems at Kansas State and that was Nebraska and Colorado.
Berringer suffered a collapsed lung against Wyoming and Matt Turman had to finish the game. He also played some the following week against Oklahoma State. Going into the Kansas State game, Brook Berringer was not going to be able to play. They were down to 3rd team quarterback Matt
Turman and no real back up.
With, or without, their top two quarterbacks, this Nebraska team was loaded. Their offensive line was the best in the nation with Brandon Stai, Aaron Graham, Zach Wiegert, Joel Wilks and Rob Zatecha. These guys were huge, and they were maulers in the run game. At I-back, the Huskers had the infamous Lawrence Phillips who was probably the most talented and most troubled running back in the nation. Ahead of him was really good fullback Cory Schlesinger who split time with equally good fullback Jeff Makovicka.
The Huskers were all about running the ball and they did it very well.
The defense was almost equally loaded and led by Christian Peter, Terry Connealy, Ed Stewart, Tony Veland and others. Cornerback Barron Miles may have even been the best of the bunch, he was a real shut down corner.
What Nebraska didn’t know while this game was going on was that the number one team in the country, Florida, was about to be upset by the Auburn Tigers. All Nebraska had to do was win, and they would be the new number one team. But, without Tommie Frazier, or Brook Berringer, that might be a tall order.
All Matt Turman had to do was to come in and run the offense. He would have to hand the ball off to Lawrence Phillips, or one of his fullbacks and occasionally run the option. He wouldn’t have to throw for 300 yards because that was not the Husker offense of Tom Osborne.
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Led by NFL prospect Chad May at quarterback, this Kansas State team was 4-0 coming in and ranked 16th in the country. They would definitely be a challenge for the Huskers and especially with their third team walk-on quarterback.
Things started off well for the Huskers although they were stopped on their first drive. They stopped Kansas State and then drove for their first touchdown to take an early 7-0 lead behind the huge offensive line and the running of super I-back Lawrence Phillips.
Kansas State fired back on the first play of the 2nd quarter with Chad May hitting wide receiver Mitch Running for a score. A bad snap caused a low kick and a blocked extra point and the Huskers still led, 7-6.
The weather was a little nasty which slowed the passing game down for Kansas State.
Kansas State got another drive going and on a quarterback sneak, quarterback Chad May got his right eye gouged. It cost the Wildcats a time out as it’s not a good idea to have your quarterback with impaired vision. Why not? The refs are usually visually impaired, why not the quarterback as well?
The Husker defense mostly led by Christian Peter began to take over. Peter and his teammates were all about intimidation, but they also brought it on every play and they were a fun unit to watch. The Huskers held and the Wildcats’ great kicker Martin Gramatica missed a somewhat easy kick.
Nebraska started a drive and Turman ran the wrong way on one play and he fumbled the snap on another. Brook Berringer began warming up on the sideline in spite of his physical problems.
Nebraska went into halftime with a 1 point led hoping to get some things going offensively in the 2nd half. But, star running back Lawrence Phillips was injured late in the 2nd quarter which could be a big problem. Brook Berringer also got some playing time in the 2nd quarter, too, and he got the start in the 3rd quarter, and Clinton Childs got the start at I-back in place of Phillips.
Berringer didn’t play much before Turman was back in. The 3rd quarter was uneventful with both
defenses dominating and the Huskers’ slim one point lead continued to hold. The Husker run game had been held in check and it was the end of the 3rd quarter before they even topped the 100 yard barrier. When they were used to 430 yards rushing per game, the Husker offense had to have been getting pretty frustrated.
Finally, in the 4th quarter, the Huskers got a drive going and it was all on the ground with Phillips doing most of the work. Fullback Jeff Makovicka finished the drive off from the 16 yard line to put Nebraska up 14-6. Then, after stopping Kansas State once again, the Huskers almost completely ran down the clock on a long drive that resulted in a field goal.
Berringer played the entire 4th quarter.
They called Matt Turman the Turmanator. He didn’t actually do a lot in this game, but he came through for the Huskers when Berringer needed some rest. The Turmanator helped an outstanding Nebraska team remain unbeaten and win the first of Tom Osborne’s national championships.