CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1984 Nebraska

10–⁠2 (6–⁠1 Big Eight), coached by Tom Osborne, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Nebraska in 1984, game by game: won vs. Wyoming 42–7; won vs. Minnesota 38–7; won at No. 8 UCLA 42–3; lost at Syracuse 9–17; won vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State 17–3; won vs. Missouri 33–23; won at Colorado 24–7; won vs. Kansas State 62–14; won at Iowa State 44–0; won at Kansas 41–7; lost vs. No. 6 Oklahoma 7–17; won vs. No. 11 LSU 28–10+48−10Won 42–7 vs. Wyoming+35WyomingWon 38–7 vs. Minnesota+31MinnesotaWon 42–3 at No. 8 UCLA+39No. 8 UCLALost 9–17 at Syracuse-8SyracuseWon 17–3 vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State+14No. 9 Oklahoma StateWon 33–23 vs. Missouri+10MissouriWon 24–7 at Colorado+17ColoradoWon 62–14 vs. Kansas State+48Kansas StateWon 44–0 at Iowa State+44Iowa StateWon 41–7 at Kansas+34KansasLost 7–17 vs. No. 6 Oklahoma-10No. 6 OklahomaWon 28–10 vs. No. 11 LSU+18No. 11 LSU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8vsWyomingW 42–⁠781%
Sep 15vsMinnesotaW 38–⁠792%
Sep 22at8UCLAW 42–⁠354%
Sep 29atSyracuseL 9–⁠1776%
Oct 6vs9Oklahoma StateW 17–⁠365%
Oct 13vsMissouriW 33–⁠2381%
Oct 20atColoradoW 24–⁠787%
Oct 27vsKansas StateW 62–⁠1494%
Nov 3atIowa StateW 44–⁠087%
Nov 10atKansasW 41–⁠782%
Nov 17vs6OklahomaL 7–⁠1775%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs11LSUSugar BowlW 28–⁠1070%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat LSU 28–⁠10 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 4 in the final AP poll; Big Eight champions.

In program history: The 13th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 129 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 2
  2. Wk 2: 2
  3. Wk 3: 1
  4. Wk 4: 1
  5. Wk 5: 1
  6. Wk 6: 8
  7. Wk 7: 6
  8. Wk 8: 5
  9. Wk 9: 4
  10. Wk 10: 3
  11. Wk 11: 2
  12. Wk 12: 1
  13. Wk 13: 7
  14. Wk 14: 5
  15. Wk 15: 5
  16. Final: 4

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1984.

Big Eight champions6–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Oklahoma

Consensus All-AmericanMark Traynowicz, C

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠1 shared first in Big Eight
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 1
Points
387–⁠115
Coach
Tom Osborne
Elo
1769 +48 this season
SP+ rating
23.0 No. 2 of 106; offense No. 14, defense No. 7
SRS
20.8 No. 2 of 110 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Charlie McBride
Offense
I formation
Defense
5–⁠2

Drafted in 1985

The 1985 draft
Rd 2Mark Traynowicz OGBuffalo Bills
Rd 2Mark Behning OTPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 7Bret Clark DBLos Angeles Raiders

All-Big Eight

9 first team, 4 second team

First team

  • Jeff SmithRBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Doug DuBoseRBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Mark TraynowiczCAP-1; UPI-1
  • Harry GrimmingerDown linemenAP-1; UPI-1
  • Mark BehningDown linemenAP-1; UPI-1
  • Scott StrasburgerDEAP-1; UPI-1
  • Bill WeberDEAP-1; UPI-2
  • Bret ClarkDBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Scott LivingstonPAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Rob StuckeyDTAP-2
  • Marc MunfordLBAP-2
  • Mark DaumLBAP-2
  • David BurkeDBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1984 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1984 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Nebraska6–⁠110–⁠24
Oklahoma6–⁠19–⁠2–⁠16
Oklahoma State5–⁠210–⁠27
Kansas4–⁠35–⁠6
Missouri2–⁠4–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Kansas State2–⁠4–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Colorado1–⁠61–⁠10
Iowa State0–⁠5–⁠22–⁠7–⁠2

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