CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

The 1994 season

Nebraska finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 13–⁠0 under Tom Osborne, after it beat Miami 24–⁠17 in the Orange Bowl. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 1 Nebraska 24, No. 3 Miami 17 (Jan 1, 1995). Three Division I-A teams finished unbeaten. 58 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Rashaan Salaam, RB, Colorado, who also won the Walter Camp and Doak Walker.

The Heisman vote: Rashaan Salaam 1,743 points, Ki-Jana Carter 901
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Rashaan Salaam RB, Colorado1,74340022985
Ki-Jana Carter RB, Penn State901115205146
Steve McNair QB, Alcorn State65511185152
Kerry Collins QB, Penn State639101117102
Jay Barker QB, Alabama295365871
Warren Sapp DT, Miami (FL)192173767
Eric Zeier QB, Georgia8371532
Lawrence Phillips RB, Nebraska401821
Napoleon Kaufman RB, Washington273312
Zach Wiegert OT, Nebraska271710

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1NebraskaBig Eight
2Penn StateBig Ten
3ColoradoBig Eight
4Florida StateAtlantic Coast Conference
5AlabamaSoutheastern Conference
6MiamiBig East
7FloridaSoutheastern Conference
8Texas A&MSouthwest Conference
9AuburnSoutheastern Conference
10UtahWestern Athletic Conference
11OregonPac-10
12MichiganBig Ten
13USCPac-10
14Ohio StateBig Ten
15VirginiaAtlantic Coast Conference
16Colorado StateWestern Athletic Conference
17NC StateAtlantic Coast Conference
18BYUWestern Athletic Conference
19Kansas StateBig Eight
20ArizonaPac-10
21Washington StatePac-10
22TennesseeSoutheastern Conference
23Boston CollegeBig East
24Mississippi StateSoutheastern Conference
25TexasSouthwest Conference

Biggest upsets

Oct 8, 1994Boston College 30, 8Notre Dame 11
Oct 8, 199423Colorado State 21, 6Arizona 16
Oct 22, 1994Oregon 31, 9Washington 20
Nov 5, 1994New Mexico 23, 9Utah 21
Oct 29, 1994Wisconsin 31, 10Michigan 19
Oct 29, 1994Oregon 10, 11Arizona 9
Dec 25, 1994Boston College 12, 11Kansas State 7
Oct 16, 1994Rice 19, 12Texas 17
Nov 5, 1994Stanford 46, 12Washington 28
Nov 12, 1994Air Force 40, 12Utah 33
Nov 19, 1994UCLA 31, 13USC 19
Nov 25, 1994NC State 30, 13Virginia 27

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 1994, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 3Wk 5Wk 7Wk 9Wk 11Wk 13Wk 15FinalUtah: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 No. 25, Wk 8 No. 21, Wk 9 No. 18, Wk 10 No. 12, Wk 11 No. 9, Wk 12 No. 12, Wk 13 No. 21, Wk 14 No. 15, Wk 15 No. 14, Wk 16 No. 14, Final No. 1010 UtahAuburn: Wk 1 No. 11, Wk 2 No. 12, Wk 3 No. 12, Wk 4 No. 11, Wk 5 No. 10, Wk 6 No. 9, Wk 7 No. 9, Wk 8 No. 6, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 4, Wk 11 No. 3, Wk 12 No. 3, Wk 13 No. 6, Wk 14 No. 9, Wk 15 No. 9, Wk 16 No. 9, Final No. 99 AuburnTexas A&M: Wk 1 No. 15, Wk 2 No. 15, Wk 3 No. 16, Wk 4 No. 14, Wk 5 No. 12, Wk 6 No. 10, Wk 7 No. 10, Wk 8 No. 7, Wk 9 No. 6, Wk 10 No. 7, Wk 11 No. 11, Wk 12 No. 9, Wk 13 No. 9, Wk 14 No. 8, Wk 15 No. 8, Wk 16 No. 8, Final No. 88 Texas A&MFlorida: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 5, Wk 11 No. 4, Wk 12 No. 4, Wk 13 No. 3, Wk 14 No. 4, Wk 15 No. 6, Wk 16 No. 5, Final No. 77 FloridaMiami: Wk 1 No. 6, Wk 2 No. 6, Wk 3 No. 5, Wk 4 No. 5, Wk 5 No. 6, Wk 6 No. 13, Wk 7 No. 13, Wk 8 No. 8, Wk 9 No. 7, Wk 10 No. 6, Wk 11 No. 5, Wk 12 No. 5, Wk 13 No. 5, Wk 14 No. 5, Wk 15 No. 4, Wk 16 No. 3, Final No. 66 MiamiAlabama: Wk 1 No. 12, Wk 2 No. 11, Wk 3 No. 11, Wk 4 No. 12, Wk 5 No. 11, Wk 6 No. 11, Wk 7 No. 11, Wk 8 No. 10, Wk 9 No. 8, Wk 10 No. 8, Wk 11 No. 6, Wk 12 No. 6, Wk 13 No. 4, Wk 14 No. 3, Wk 15 No. 3, Wk 16 No. 6, Final No. 55 AlabamaFlorida State: Wk 1 No. 3, Wk 2 No. 4, Wk 3 No. 4, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 3, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 11, Wk 9 No. 10, Wk 10 No. 9, Wk 11 No. 8, Wk 12 No. 8, Wk 13 No. 8, Wk 14 No. 7, Wk 15 No. 7, Wk 16 No. 7, Final No. 44 Florida StateColorado: Wk 1 No. 8, Wk 2 No. 8, Wk 3 No. 7, Wk 4 No. 7, Wk 5 No. 7, Wk 6 No. 5, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 2, Wk 11 No. 7, Wk 12 No. 7, Wk 13 No. 7, Wk 14 No. 6, Wk 15 No. 5, Wk 16 No. 4, Final No. 33 ColoradoPenn State: Wk 1 No. 9, Wk 2 No. 9, Wk 3 No. 8, Wk 4 No. 6, Wk 5 No. 5, Wk 6 No. 4, Wk 7 No. 4, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 2, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 2, Wk 15 No. 2, Wk 16 No. 2, Final No. 22 Penn StateNebraska: Wk 1 No. 4, Wk 2 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 2, Wk 8 No. 2, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 1, Wk 15 No. 1, Wk 16 No. 1, Final No. 11 Nebraska
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. Utahunranked → No. 10
  2. Oregonunranked → No. 11
  3. Virginiaunranked → No. 15
  4. Colorado Stateunranked → No. 16
  5. NC Stateunranked → No. 17

Fell

  1. Notre DameNo. 2 → unranked
  2. WisconsinNo. 10 → unranked
  3. ArizonaNo. 7 → No. 20
  4. UCLANo. 14 → unranked
  5. OklahomaNo. 16 → unranked

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

National leaders

Passing yardsJohn Walsh (BYU)3,712 yds
Passing touchdownsMike Maxwell (BYU)29 TD
Passer ratingKerry Collins (Penn State)172.9
Rushing yardsRashaan Salaam (Colorado)2,055 yds
Rushing touchdownsRashaan Salaam (Colorado)24 TD
Yards per carryKi-Jana Carter (Penn State)7.8
ReceptionsAlex Van Dyke (Nevada)98 catches
Receiving yardsMarcus Harris (Wyoming)1,431 yds
Yards per catchJimmy Oliver (TCU)23.8
Receiving touchdownsJack Jackson (Florida)15 TD
PointsRashaan Salaam (Colorado)144 pts
Points per gameRashaan Salaam (Colorado)13.1
Total offenseStoney Case (New Mexico)3,649 yds
Total offense per gameMike Maxwell (Nevada)318.0
Punt return averageSteve Clay (Eastern Michigan)19.9
Kickoff return averageEric Moulds (Mississippi State)32.8

The NCAA’s official leaders. From Wikipedia’s yearly NCAA leader lists for passing, rushing, receiving, scoring, total offense and returns.

Conference champions

Division I-A

Atlantic Coast Conference
Florida State
Big East
Miami
Big Eight
Nebraska
Big Ten
Penn State
Big West
Nevada, Louisiana and UNLV (shared)
Mid-American Conference
Central Michigan
Pac-10
Oregon
Southeastern Conference
Florida
Southwest Conference
Baylor, Rice, TCU, Texas and Texas Tech (shared)
Western Athletic Conference
Colorado State

Division I-AA

American West Conference
Cal Poly
Big Sky
Boise State
Gateway Football Conference
Northern Iowa
Ivy League
Pennsylvania
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Marist
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
South Carolina State
Ohio Valley Conference
Eastern Kentucky
Patriot League
Lafayette
Pioneer Football League
Butler and Dayton (shared)
Southern Conference
Marshall
Southland Conference
North Texas
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Alcorn State and Grambling (shared)

Division II and below

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Hampton
Gulf South Conference
North Alabama
North Central Conference
North Dakota and North Dakota State (shared)

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

26 playersAll 8 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 1994 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 1994 All-America teams page.

The 1994 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Defensive player of the year

Scholarship and character

Coaches

The champion’s staff

Every title staff

Nebraska 55 on the staff list

  • Tom Osborneassistant A.D., head coach
  • Frank Solichassistant head coach, running backs
  • Charlie McBridedefensive coordinator, Def. line
  • Ron Brownassistant coach, receivers
  • George Darlingtonassistant coach, secondary
  • Turner Gillassistant coach, quarterbacks
  • Tony Samuelassistant coach, outside linebackers
  • Kevin Steeleassistant coach, linebackers
  • Milt Tenopirassistant coach, offensive line
  • Dan Youngassistant coach, offensive line, kickers
Support staff (45)

Strength and conditioning

  • Boyd Epley assistant athletic director, director of athletic performance, C.S.C.S
  • Mike Arthur assistant director of athletic performance, C.S.C.S.
  • Bryan Bailey coordinator of Reconditioning, C.S.C.S.
  • Randy Gobel coordinator of strength and conditioning, C.S.C.S.
  • Curt Thompson coordinator of performance Education services, C.S.C.S
  • Kevin Coleman Graduate assistant (coach Boyd Epley’s staff)
  • Paul Koch Bob Devaney sports center strength coach, C.S.C.S.

Operations and recruiting

  • Steve Pederson associate athletic director, football operations
  • Mary Lyn Wininger coach Osborne’s Secretary
  • Joni Duff football Secretary
  • Kathi Woody recruiting Secretary
  • Dennis Leblanc Interim assistant athletic director, Academic Programs and Student services
  • Keith Zimmer assistant director of Academic Programs and Student services
  • Pat Logsdon assistant to the director of football operations
  • Al Papik senior associate athletic director, Compliance
  • Bill Shepard Grounds manager (Memorial Stadium and football practice fields)
  • Joe Selig assistant athletic director, Facilities and Events

Sports medicine and nutrition

  • George Sullivan head FB trainer, Asst. chief of staff
  • Dr. Lonnie Albers director of athletic medicine
  • Jerry Weber head athletic trainer, Physical Therapist
  • Doak Ostergard Assoc. trainer
  • Jack Nickolite Assoc. Dir. of Ath. Med., Physician’s assistant
  • Duke LaRue Asst. trainer
  • Cindy Barker Asst. trainer
  • Sara Weinberg Asst. trainer
  • Ruth Cook Graduate assistant (athletic training)
  • Doug Edwards Graduate assistant (athletic training)
  • Chris Froiland Graduate assistant (athletic training)
  • Scott Gardner Graduate assistant (athletic training)
  • Glenda Quarles Graduate assistant (athletic training)

Equipment

  • Glen Abbott equipment manager
  • Mike Mason assistant equipment manager

Video, communications and other staff

  • Jack Stark performance Psychologist
  • Dave Finn video operations director
  • John Bousek video assistant
  • Chris Anderson sports Information director
  • Vicki Cartwright sports Information Secretary, Office manager
  • Don Bryant associate athletic director, Public relations (SID 1962-93)
  • Janette Sojka Central communications coordinator, sports Information Secretary
  • Jeff Schmahl video Production Specialist
  • Bryan Carpenter Computer video Technician
  • Brian Mohnsen Computer video Technician, Husker football staff
  • Floyd Sorley video assistant
  • Vince Ullman video Electronic Technician
  • Nick Joos associate sports Information director (football)

The staff as the school listed it that season, roles in the source’s words (students and graduate assistants left out). Names link to coach pages where we have one, else to Wikipedia. Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages.

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 15, 1994UNLV 52, Central Michigan 24Las Vegas Bowl
Dec 25, 1994Boston College 12, 11Kansas State 7Aloha Bowl
Dec 27, 199414Utah 16, 15Arizona 13Freedom Bowl
Dec 28, 199418Virginia 20, TCU 10Independence Bowl
Dec 29, 199422BYU 31, Oklahoma 6Copper Bowl
Dec 30, 199420Michigan 24, 10Colorado State 14Holiday Bowl
Dec 30, 1994Tennessee 45, 17Virginia Tech 23Gator Bowl
Dec 30, 1994Texas 35, 19North Carolina 31Sun Bowl
Dec 31, 1994Illinois 30, East Carolina 0Liberty Bowl
Dec 31, 199424Washington State 10, Baylor 3Alamo Bowl
Jan 1, 19951Nebraska 24, 3Miami 17Orange Bowl
Jan 1, 199523NC State 28, 16Mississippi State 24Peach Bowl
Jan 2, 19956Alabama 24, 13Ohio State 17Citrus Bowl
Jan 2, 19954Colorado 41, Notre Dame 24Fiesta Bowl
Jan 2, 19957Florida State 23, 5Florida 17Sugar Bowl
Jan 2, 19952Penn State 38, 12Oregon 20Rose Bowl
Jan 2, 1995South Carolina 24, West Virginia 21Carquest Bowl
Jan 2, 199521USC 55, Texas Tech 14Cotton Bowl
Jan 2, 1995Wisconsin 34, 25Duke 20Hall of Fame Bowl