Big Ten Football: Picking the best season for each program since 2000
By Shane Lunnen
2001. Record: 11-2. Nebraska Cornhuskers. 8. player. Pick Analysis. 810. Scouting Report
For Nebraska, choosing the best season since the turn of the century was tough. The Huskers have four seasons of at least 10 wins and six division championships, five of which occurred while they were members of the Big 12. In between those good years, there were many mediocre and bad seasons.
Ultimately, the 2001 season was chosen as the best but it had its flaws as well.
The Cornhuskers were led that season by senior quarterback Eric Crouch. He saved his best season for last, setting multiple school and NCAA records. Crouch would also take home the Heisman Trophy, Davey O’Brien and Walter Camp awards.
Nebraska would win their first 11 games in the season. This included wins versus Notre Dame and second ranked Oklahoma while the Huskers were ranked third. In mid November, it appeared Nebraska was heading towards a BCS national championship appearance.
The Colorado Buffaloes had different plans. On their traditional day after Thanksgiving date, the 14th ranked Buffaloes took the second ranked Huskers to school, despite Crouch’s career passing day. Colorado would win 62-36, seemingly putting an end to Nebraska’s national title hopes.
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In the early days of the BCS system, it was fairly flawed. Despite having no conference championship or even a division championship, Nebraska finished ahead of Colorado in the final BCS standings, mainly because of Colorado’s two regular season losses and Nebraska’s better strength of schedule.
The Rose Bowl would host that year’s national championship game and for only the third time in its history, it would have neither a Big Ten or Pac-10 representative. Nebraska would face off against top ranked and undefeated Miami. The game would prove to be a real snooze fest, with the Hurricanes overpowering the Huskers and jumping out to a 34-0 halftime lead, ultimately winning 37-14.
This seemed to be the beginning of the end of Nebraska’s decades of being a powerhouse. Perhaps current coach Scott Frost can finally take Nebraska to the heights they once enjoyed.