CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1989 Nebraska

10–⁠2 (6–⁠1 Big Eight), coached by Tom Osborne, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Nebraska in 1989, game by game: won vs. Northern Illinois 48–17; won vs. Utah 42–30; won at Minnesota 48–0; won vs. Oregon State 35–7; won vs. Kansas State 58–7; won at Missouri 50–7; won at Oklahoma State 48–23; won vs. Iowa State 49–17; lost at No. 2 Colorado 21–27; won vs. Kansas 51–14; won vs. Oklahoma 42–25; lost vs. No. 5 Florida State 17–41+51−24Won 48–17 vs. Northern Illinois+31Northern Illino…Won 42–30 vs. Utah+12UtahWon 48–0 at Minnesota+48MinnesotaWon 35–7 vs. Oregon State+28Oregon StateWon 58–7 vs. Kansas State+51Kansas StateWon 50–7 at Missouri+43MissouriWon 48–23 at Oklahoma State+25Oklahoma StateWon 49–17 vs. Iowa State+32Iowa StateLost 21–27 at No. 2 Colorado-6No. 2 ColoradoWon 51–14 vs. Kansas+37KansasWon 42–25 vs. Oklahoma+17OklahomaLost 17–41 vs. No. 5 Florida State-24No. 5 Florida State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9vsNorthern IllinoisW 48–⁠1780%
Sep 16vsUtahW 42–⁠3080%
Sep 23atMinnesotaW 48–⁠074%
Sep 30vsOregon StateW 35–⁠785%
Oct 7vsKansas StateW 58–⁠795%
Oct 14atMissouriW 50–⁠783%
Oct 21atOklahoma StateW 48–⁠2368%
Oct 28vsIowa StateW 49–⁠1791%
Nov 4at2ColoradoL 21–⁠2750%
Nov 11vsKansasW 51–⁠1494%
Nov 18vsOklahomaW 42–⁠2572%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs5Florida StateFiesta BowlL 17–⁠4144%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Florida State 41–⁠17 in the Fiesta Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Big Eight.

In program history: The 24th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 129 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1989.

Consensus All-AmericanJake Young, C

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠1 2nd in Big Eight
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 3
Points
509–⁠215
Coach
Tom Osborne
Elo
1734 +62 this season
SP+ rating
22.2 No. 11 of 103; offense No. 3, defense No. 42
SRS
19.2 No. 8 of 106 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Charlie McBride
Offense
I formation
Defense
3–⁠4

Drafted in 1990

The 1990 draft
Rd 3Jeff Mills LBSan Diego Chargers
Rd 6Kent Wells DTWashington Redskins

All-Big Eight

7 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1989 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1989 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Colorado7–⁠011–⁠14
Nebraska6–⁠110–⁠211
Oklahoma5–⁠27–⁠4
Iowa State4–⁠36–⁠5
Oklahoma State3–⁠44–⁠7
Kansas2–⁠54–⁠7
Missouri1–⁠62–⁠9
Kansas State0–⁠71–⁠10

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