Official recap
Tom Osborne's Cornhuskers broke open a tight contest in the third quarter with a pair of game-breaker plays to chalk up a 19-3 win over Texas in the 1974 Cotton Bowl game. The chilled New Year's Day crowd saw the Big Eight's runner-up and the Southwest Conference champions battle to a 3-3 tie at halftime, thanks to a brilliant Longhorn goal-line stand just before the gun.
But the Huskers weren't to be denied, and midway through the third quarter, safety Bob Thornton returned a Texas field goal try 41 yards to set up the clinching touchdown. Ritch Bahe got the final 12 yards on a reverse to make it 10-3. Four plays later, John Bell recovered a Texas fumble at the Longhorn 19, and three plays after that, Tony Davis ripped in from the three to make it 16-3. Sanger kicked a 43-yard field goal with 8:09 left to complete the scoring.
Texas had scored first on a 22-yard field goal by Bill Schott after a Husker fumble. Early in the second quarter, defensive end Steve Manstedt picked up a Roosevelt Leaks fumble in midair and raced 65 yards to the eight. But a stiff Longhorn defense held NU to a 24-yard field goal by Sanger.
FULL RECAP | OWH STORY & PHOTOS
LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
OSBORNE VICTORY RIDE
THE BIRTH OF HERBIE HUSKER
TEXAS RECAP | SERIES HISTORY
NU BOWLS | NU ROSTER
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Nebraska 19
Texas 3
Jan. 1, 1974
Dallas, TXTexas 3 0 0 0 - 3
Nebraska 0 3 13 3 - 19
First Quarter
UT - FG Billy Schott 22, 9:30.
(Drive: 8 plays, 29 yards)
Second Quarter
NU - FG Rich Sanger 24, 9:05.
(Drive: 4 plays, 1 yard)
Third Quarter
NU - Ritch Bahe 12 run (Sanger kick), 3:05.
(Drive: 8 plays, 59 yards)
NU - Tony Davis 3 run (Kick blocked), 1:23.
(Drive: 3 plays, 19 yards)
Fourth Quarter
NU - FG Sanger 43, 8:02.
(Drive: 13 plays, 63 yards)
NU UT
First Downs Rushing ...... 14 6
First Downs Passing ....... 5 4
First Downs by Penalties .. 2 1
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS ........ 21 11
Rushing Attempts ......... 58 37
Yards Gained Rushing .... 260 132
Yards Lost Rushing ...... 20 26
NET YARDS RUSHING ....... 240 106
Passes, Attempted ........ 17 17
Passes, Completed ......... 7 7
Passes had Intercepted .... 2 2
NET YARDS PASSING ........ 91 90
Total Offense Plays ...... 75 54
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS ..... 331 196
Punts, Number ............. 3 4
Punts, Yards ............ 120 159
Attendance: 68,500.
Weather: Partly cloudy, 30 degrees
OUTSTANDING PLAYERS:
Tony Davis, Nebraska; Wade Johnston, Texas
NEBRASKA
RUSHING Att. Yds TD
Tony Davis 28 106 1
Dave Humm 6 29 0
Ralph Powell 6 27 0
Ritch Bahe 7 26 1
Maury Damkroger 5 19 0
Steve Runty 1 16 0
John O'Leary 1 7 0
Jeff Moran 1 2 0
Earl Everett 2 3 0
Don Westbrook 1 5 0
PASSING Cmp Att Int Yds TD
Dave Humm 5 13 2 75 0
Steve Runty 2 4 0 16 0
RECEIVING No. Yds TD
Ritch Bahe 2 35 0
Frosty Anderson 1 20 0
Maury Damkroger 1 16 0
Brent Longwell 1 12 0
Tony Davis 2 8 0
PUNTING No. Yds Avg.
Rich Sanger 3 120 40.0
RETURNS Punt Int KO
B. Thornton 1-41 1-0
Borg 1-7
Manstedt 1-65*
Johnson 1-0
O'Leary 1-21
* fumble return
TACKLES AT UT TT
Schneider 2 0 2
B. Thornton 2 1 3
Borg 3 1 4
Heydorff 3 1 4
Talley 1 0 0
Fischer 0 1 0
Powell 0 1 0
Sanger 0 1 0
Ruud 4 1 5
Starkebaum 5 2 7
Schmidt 0 1 0
Nelson 6 3 9
Alward 0 1 0
W. Thornton 1 0 0
Bell 5 2 7
Pate 1 1 2
Mills 1 1 2
Manstedt 2 3 5
Wieser 1 0 1
Martin 2 0 0
Dutton 3 1 4
Pruitt 3 0 3
Redding 2 1 3
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TEXAS
RUSHING Att. Yds TD
Roosevelt Leaks 13 48 0
Marty Akins 15 44 0
Lonnie Bennett 2 12 0
Joseph Aboussie 3 8 0
Raymond Clayborn 2 5 0
Mike Presley 2 -11 0
PASSING Cmp Att Int Yds TD
Mike Presley 7 13 1 90 0
Marty Akins 0 4 1 0 0
RECEIVING No. Yds TD
Parker Alford 3 32 0
Jim Moore 1 20 0
Pat Kelly 1 20 0
Raymond Clayborn 2 18 0
PUNTING No. Yds Avg.
Mike Dean 4 159 39.8
RETURNS Punt Int KO
Moore 1-21
Bizzell 1-16
Gaspard 1-11
Clayborn 4-72
Padgett 1-24
TACKLES AT UT TT
Bizzell 4 5 9
Sarchet 1 0 0
Hamilton 9 0 9
Melancon 2 2 4
Clayborn 1 0 0
Yeoman 9 7 16
Bennettt 0 1 0
Johnston 11 6 17
Gaspard 10 5 15
Arnold 8 2 10
Minnick 7 1 8
Crosslin 0 1 0
Dahlberg 3 1 4
Simmons 0 1 0
Reese 3 3 6
English 2 1 3
Thruman 6 0 6
Boecker 2 0 2
Rutherford 4 1 5
Johnson 2 1 3
Milan 2 0 0
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Tony Davis is stopped at the goal line near the end of the first half
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