The 1995 season
Nebraska finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 12–0 under Tom Osborne, after it beat Florida 62–24 in the Fiesta Bowl. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 1 Nebraska 62, No. 2 Florida 24 (Jan 2, 1996). Two Division I-A teams finished unbeaten. 55 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents. Share
Heisman Trophy: Eddie George, RB, Ohio State, who also won the Maxwell, Walter Camp and Doak Walker.
The Heisman vote: Eddie George 1,460 points, Tommie Frazier 1,196
| Player | Points | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eddie George RB, Ohio State | 1,460 | 268 | 248 | 160 | |
| Tommie Frazier QB, Nebraska | 1,196 | 218 | 192 | 158 | |
| Danny Wuerffel QB, Florida | 987 * | 185 | 128 | 128 | |
| Darnell Autry RB, Northwestern | 535 | 87 | 78 | 118 | |
| Troy Davis RB, Iowa State | 402 | 41 | 80 | 119 | |
| Peyton Manning QB, Tennessee | 109 | 10 | 21 | 37 | |
| Keyshawn Johnson WR, USC | 59 | 9 | 10 | 12 | |
| Tim Biakabutuka RB, Michigan | 31 | 1 | 11 | 6 | |
| Warrick Dunn RB, Florida State | 29 | 2 | 3 | 17 | |
| Bobby Hoying QB, Ohio State | 28 | 0 | 9 | 10 |
First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published. * The votes shown don’t add up to the points shown; the source has a typo in one of them.
Scoreboards
Final AP poll
| 1 | Nebraska | Big Eight |
| 2 | Florida | Southeastern Conference |
| 3 | Tennessee | Southeastern Conference |
| 4 | Florida State | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| 5 | Colorado | Big Eight |
| 6 | Ohio State | Big Ten |
| 7 | Kansas State | Big Eight |
| 8 | Northwestern | Big Ten |
| 9 | Kansas | Big Eight |
| 10 | Virginia Tech | Big East |
| 11 | Notre Dame | Independent |
| 12 | USC | Pac-10 |
| 13 | Penn State | Big Ten |
| 14 | Texas | Southwest Conference |
| 15 | Texas A&M | Southwest Conference |
| 16 | Virginia | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| 17 | Michigan | Big Ten |
| 18 | Oregon | Pac-10 |
| 19 | Syracuse | Big East |
| 20 | Miami | Big East |
| 21 | Alabama | Southeastern Conference |
| 22 | Auburn | Southeastern Conference |
| 23 | Texas Tech | Southwest Conference |
| 24 | Toledo | Mid-American Conference |
| 25 | Iowa | Big Ten |
Biggest upsets
| Nov 2, 1995 | 24Virginia 33, 2Florida State 28 |
| Sep 16, 1995 | LSU 12, 5Auburn 6 |
| Sep 30, 1995 | Wisconsin 17, 6Penn State 9 |
| Oct 7, 1995 | 24Kansas 40, 4Colorado 24 |
| Nov 4, 1995 | Michigan State 28, 7Michigan 25 |
| Oct 7, 1995 | 25Northwestern 19, 7Michigan 13 |
| Oct 7, 1995 | Texas Tech 14, 8Texas A&M 7 |
| Sep 2, 1995 | Northwestern 17, 9Notre Dame 15 |
| Oct 7, 1995 | North Carolina 22, 9Virginia 17 |
| Oct 28, 1995 | Arizona State 35, 10Oregon 24 |
| Nov 25, 1995 | 18Michigan 31, 2Ohio State 23 |
| Oct 28, 1995 | Arkansas 30, 11Auburn 28 |
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
Climbed
- Kansas Stateunranked → No. 7
- Northwesternunranked → No. 8
- Kansasunranked → No. 9
- Virginia TechNo. 24 → No. 10
- ColoradoNo. 13 → No. 5
Fell
From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.
National leaders
| Passing yards | Mike Maxwell (Nevada) | 3,611 yds |
|---|---|---|
| Passing touchdowns | Danny Wuerffel (Florida) | 35 TD |
| Passer rating | Danny Wuerffel (Florida) | 178.4 |
| Rushing yards | Troy Davis (Iowa State) | 2,010 yds |
| Rushing touchdowns | Eddie George (Ohio State) | 24 TD |
| Yards per carry | Ahman Green (Nebraska) | 7.7 |
| Receptions | Alex Van Dyke (Nevada) | 129 catches |
| Receiving yards | Alex Van Dyke (Nevada) | 1,854 yds |
| Yards per catch | Terry Glenn (Ohio State) | 22.0 |
| Receiving touchdowns | Terry Glenn (Florida) | 17 TD |
| Points | Eddie George (Ohio State) | 144 pts |
| Points per game | Eddie George (Ohio State) | 12.0 |
| Total offense | Cody Ledbetter (New Mexico State) | 3,724 yds |
| Total offense per game | Mike Maxwell (Nevada) | 402.6 |
| Punt return average | James Dye (BYU) | 21.9 |
| Kickoff return average | Robert Tate (Cincinnati) | 34.3 |
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 and Virginia (shared)
- Big East
- Miami and Virginia Tech (shared)
- Big Eight
- Nebraska
- Big Ten
- Northwestern
- Big West
- Nevada
- Mid-American Conference
- Toledo
- Pac-10
- USC and Washington (shared)
- Southeastern Conference
- Florida
- Southwest Conference
- Texas
- Western Athletic Conference
- Air Force, BYU, Colorado State and Utah (shared)
Division I-AA
- American West Conference
- Sacramento State
- Big Sky
- Montana
- Gateway Football Conference
- Eastern Illinois and Northern Iowa (shared)
- Ivy League
- Princeton
- Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
- Duquesne
- Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
- Florida A&M
- Ohio Valley Conference
- Murray State
- Patriot League
- Lehigh
- Pioneer Football League
- Drake
- Southern Conference
- App State
- Southland Conference
- McNeese
- Southwestern Athletic Conference
- Jackson State
- Yankee Conference
- Delaware
Division II and below
- Eastern Collegiate Football Conference
- Stonehill
- Gulf South Conference
- North Alabama
- North Central Conference
- North Dakota
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
- QBTommie Frazier, Nebraska
- RBEddie George, Ohio State
- RBTroy Davis, Iowa State
- WRKeyshawn Johnson, USC
- WRTerry Glenn, Ohio State
- TEMarco Battaglia, Rutgers
- OTOrlando Pace, Ohio State
- OTJonathan Ogden, UCLA
- OLJason Odom, Florida
- OLJeff Hartings, Penn State
- CBryan Stoltenberg, Colorado
- CClay Shiver, Florida State
- DETony Brackens, Texas
- DETedy Bruschi, Arizona
- DTCornell Brown, Virginia Tech
- DTMarcus Jones, North Carolina
- LBZach Thomas, Texas Tech
- LBPat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
- LBKevin Hardy, Illinois
- DBAaron Beasley, West Virginia
- DBLawyer Milloy, Washington
- DBChris Canty, Kansas State
- SGreg Myers, Colorado State
- KMichael Reeder, TCU
- PBrad Maynard, Ball State
Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 1995 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 1995 All-America teams page.
The 1995 awards
Every awardPlayer of the year
- HeismanEddie George, RB, Ohio State
- MaxwellEddie George, RB, Ohio State
- Walter CampEddie George, RB, Ohio State
By position
- Davey O’BrienDanny Wuerffel, QB, Florida
- Unitas Golden ArmTommie Frazier, QB, Nebraska
- Doak WalkerEddie George, RB, Ohio State
- BiletnikoffTerry Glenn, WR, Ohio State
- OutlandJonathan Ogden, OT, UCLA
- LombardiOrlando Pace, OT, Ohio State
- ButkusKevin Hardy, LB, Illinois
- ThorpeGreg Myers, S, Colorado State
- GrozaMichael Reeder, K, TCU
Defensive player of the year
- NagurskiPat Fitzgerald, LB, Northwestern
- BednarikPat Fitzgerald, LB, Northwestern
Scholarship and character
- Campbell TrophyBobby Hoying, QB, Ohio State
The champion’s staff
Every title staff
Nebraska 67 on the staff list
- Tom Osborneassistant A.D., head coach
- Frank Solichassistant head coach, running backs
- Charlie McBridedefensive coordinator, defensive line
- Craig Bohlassistant coach, linebackers
- Ron Brownassistant coach, receivers
- George Darlingtonassistant coach, secondary
- Turner Gillassistant coach, quarterbacks
- Tony Samuelassistant coach, outside linebackers
- Milt Tenopirassistant coach, offensive line
- Dan Youngassistant coach, offensive line, kickers
Support staff (57)
Strength and conditioning
- Boyd Epley Asst. A.D., Dir. of athletic performance
- Mike Arthur assistant director of athletic performance
- Bryan Bailey coordinator of Reconditioning
- Kevin Coleman West Stadium strength coach
- Randy Gobel assistant director of athletic performance
- Paul Koch Bob Devaney sports center strength coach
- Curt Thompson coordinator of performance Education services
Operations and recruiting
- Steve Pederson Assoc, A.D., football operations
- Pat Logsdon assistant to the director of football operations
- Mary Lyn Wininger coach Osborne’s Secretary
- Kathi Woody recruiting Secretary
- Joni Duff football Secretary
- Dennis LeBlanc assistant A.D., Academic Programs, services
- Keith Zimmer assistant director: Keith Zimmer (Academic Programs and Student services)
- Al Papik senior associate AD, Compliance coordinator
- Chris Anderson sports Information director
- Keith Mann assistant SID
- Dave Ebb graduate assistant in the sports information office
- Jon Bostick athletic Department Fund-Raiser
- Bill Shepard Grounds manager (Memorial Stadium and football practice fields)
- Joe Selig assistant athletic director, Facilities and Events
Sports medicine and nutrition
- Jack Nickolite head football trainer, Physician’s assistant
- Jerry Weber head athletic trainer, Physical Therapist
- Doak Ostergard Assoc. trainer
- Duke LaRue Asst. trainer
- Cindy Barker Asst. trainer
- Sara Weinberg Asst. trainer
- Mike Gooding assistant athletic trainer
- George Sullivan head trainer Emeritus
- Dr. Lonnie Albers director of athletic medicine
- Dr. Samuel Fuenning director Emeritus, athletic medicine
Equipment
- Glen Abbott equipment manager
- Mike Mason assistant equipment manager
- Troy Williams 1995 Nebraska football equipment Managers (no individual title given)
- Mark Lewin 1995 Nebraska football equipment Managers (no individual title given)
- Matt Geiser 1995 Nebraska football equipment Managers (no individual title given)
- Shawn Davis 1995 Nebraska football equipment Managers (no individual title given)
Video, communications and other staff
- Dave Ellis performance nutritionist
- Dr. Jack Stark performance Psychologist
- Dave Finn video operations director
- Jeff Schmahl video Production Specialist
- Rick Schwieger Production Specialist
- Bryan Carpenter Computer video Technician
- Brian Mohnsen Computer video Technician
- John Bousek Husker video Crew (no individual title given)
- Vince Ullman video Electronic Technician
- Floyd Sorley video assistant
- Ed Morrow Undergraduate assistant coach
- Merritt Nelson Undergraduate assistant coach
- Chad Young Undergraduate assistant coach
- Abdul Muhammad Undergraduate assistant coach
- Damon Schmadeke Undergraduate assistant coach
- Chad Stanley Undergraduate assistant coach
- 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
- 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 14, 1995 | 25Toledo 40, Nevada 37Las Vegas Bowl |
| Dec 25, 1995 | 11Kansas 51, UCLA 30Aloha Bowl |
| Dec 27, 1995 | Texas Tech 55, Air Force 41Copper Bowl |
| Dec 28, 1995 | 19Texas A&M 22, 14Michigan 20Alamo Bowl |
| Dec 29, 1995 | Iowa 38, 20Washington 18Sun Bowl |
| Dec 29, 1995 | 10Kansas State 54, Colorado State 21Holiday Bowl |
| Dec 29, 1995 | LSU 45, Michigan State 26Independence Bowl |
| Dec 30, 1995 | East Carolina 19, Stanford 13Liberty Bowl |
| Dec 30, 1995 | North Carolina 20, 24Arkansas 10Carquest Bowl |
| Dec 30, 1995 | 18Virginia 34, Georgia 27Peach Bowl |
| Dec 31, 1995 | 13Virginia Tech 28, 9Texas 10Sugar Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1996 | 7Colorado 38, 12Oregon 6Cotton Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1996 | 8Florida State 31, 6Notre Dame 26Orange Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1996 | 15Penn State 43, 16Auburn 14Outback Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1996 | 17USC 41, 3Northwestern 32Rose Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1996 | Syracuse 41, 23Clemson 0Gator Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1996 | 4Tennessee 20, 4Ohio State 14Citrus Bowl |
| Jan 2, 1996 | 1Nebraska 62, 2Florida 24Fiesta Bowl |