CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1977 Nebraska

9–⁠3 (5–⁠2 Big Eight), coached by Tom Osborne, finished No. 12 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Nebraska in 1977, game by game: lost vs. Washington State 10–19; won vs. No. 4 Alabama 31–24; won vs. Baylor 31–10; won vs. Indiana 31–13; won at Kansas State 26–9; lost vs. Iowa State 21–24; won vs. No. 7 Colorado 33–15; won at Oklahoma State 31–14; won at Missouri 21–10; won vs. Kansas 52–7; lost at No. 3 Oklahoma 7–38; won vs. No. 14 North Carolina 21–17+45−31Lost 10–19 vs. Washington State-9Washington StateWon 31–24 vs. No. 4 Alabama+7No. 4 AlabamaWon 31–10 vs. Baylor+21BaylorWon 31–13 vs. Indiana+18IndianaWon 26–9 at Kansas State+17Kansas StateLost 21–24 vs. Iowa State-3Iowa StateWon 33–15 vs. No. 7 Colorado+18No. 7 ColoradoWon 31–14 at Oklahoma State+17Oklahoma StateWon 21–10 at Missouri+11MissouriWon 52–7 vs. Kansas+45KansasLost 7–38 at No. 3 Oklahoma-31No. 3 OklahomaWon 21–17 vs. No. 14 North Carolina+4No. 14 North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 10vsWashington StateL 10–⁠1983%
Sep 17vs4AlabamaW 31–⁠2442%
Sep 24vsBaylorW 31–⁠1066%
Oct 1vsIndianaW 31–⁠1382%
Oct 8atKansas StateW 26–⁠977%
Oct 15vsIowa StateL 21–⁠2464%
Oct 22vs7ColoradoW 33–⁠1552%
Oct 29atOklahoma StateW 31–⁠1451%
Nov 5atMissouriW 21–⁠1061%
Nov 12vsKansasW 52–⁠785%
Nov 25at3OklahomaL 7–⁠3837%
Dec 19Bowls & playoffvs14North CarolinaLiberty BowlW 21–⁠1755%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat North Carolina 21–⁠17 in the Liberty Bowl; No. 12 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Big Eight.

In program history: The 33rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 129 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 15
  2. Wk 3: 14
  3. Wk 4: 11
  4. Wk 5: 9
  5. Wk 6: 9
  6. Wk 7: 18
  7. Wk 8: 12
  8. Wk 9: 11
  9. Wk 10: 12
  10. Wk 11: 11
  11. Wk 12: 11
  12. Wk 13: 12
  13. Final: 12
Record
9–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Big Eight
AP final
No. 12 peak No. 9
Points
315–⁠200
Coach
Tom Osborne
Elo
1706 +79 this season
SP+ rating
23.0 No. 11 of 140; offense No. 14, defense No. 13
SRS
19.5 No. 12 of 145 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Lance Van Zandt
Offense
I formation
Defense
5–⁠2

Drafted in 1978

The 1978 draft
Rd 2Brett Moritz OGTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 3Stan Waldemore OGAtlanta Falcons
Rd 4Dodie Donnell RBNew York Jets
Rd 5Ken Spaeth TEBuffalo Bills
Rd 6Tom Davis COakland Raiders
Rd 7Mark Dufresne TEPittsburgh Steelers

All-Big Eight

3 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1977 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1977 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma7–⁠010–⁠27
Nebraska5–⁠29–⁠312
Iowa State5–⁠28–⁠4
Colorado3–⁠3–⁠17–⁠3–⁠1
Missouri3–⁠44–⁠7
Kansas2–⁠4–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Oklahoma State2–⁠54–⁠7
Kansas State0–⁠71–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.