94 Flashback: Nebraska 17, Kansas State 6

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Outlined against a gray October sky. …

Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said he was tired of talking about quarterbacks. Nebraska finally had a healthy one  — Matt Turman  — for a game against unbeaten Kansas State.

Turman, a walk-on from Wahoo Neumann High School, was given the start since Tommie Frazier was out with blood clots and, for the second straight week, Brook Berringer was suffering from a "leaky lung," according to Dr. Deepak Gangahar.

The misty-morning game in Manhattan promised to be Kansas State's best chance of ending a 25-game losing streak against NU because Wildcat quarterback Chad May was considered one of the best in the country and Turman wasn't even Nebraska's Class C-1 all-state quarterback in high school. That honor went to Scott Frost, who started his college career at Stanford.

Aggieville was prepped for the ESPN game. "Big Red" pop had been pulled from the shelves of Manhattan stores, the KSU stadium was almost filled by 8 a.m., and even KSU coach Bill Snyder said his team never had a better chance to beat Nebraska.

But Turman did the job well enough in the first half and Berringer finished off the second half, while I-back Lawrence Phillips ran and ran and ran between tackles.

Phillips even went to the hospital for X-rays at halftime because his left thumb was thought to be broken. But he returned and helped the Huskers control the clock. Phillips ran 31 times for 117 yards and rushed for more than 1,000 yards faster than any back in NU history.

The Huskers ran between the tackles on 38 of 61 plays. Phillips scored in the first quarter and KSU scored in the second quarter. But Troy Dumas blocked the K-State extra-point attempt and the Wildcats couldn't score again.

Fullback Jeff Makovicka added a 15-yard touchdown for NU and Darin Erstad tacked on a 24-yard field goal.

Along with the courageous, yet simple, NU offensive attack, the Husker defense earned plenty of praise. 

"They saved our ass," said Husker right guard Brenden Stai, referring to the defense.

Barron Miles broke up six passes while covering All-America candidate Kevin Lockett. Freshman defensive lineman Grant Wistrom had two of NU's six sacks of May, who had only been sacked seven times all season.

Kansas State was held to minus 7 yards rushing and 249 passing.

— Ken Hambleton