Official recap
Two back-to-back third-quarter touchdowns moved Nebraska from a 24-14 deficit to a 27-24 victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the 1976 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl.
Nebraska's third-quarter touchdowns came on an 18-yard run by Rick Berns, who ended the game with 118 yards on 27 carries, and a 23-yard Vince Ferragamo to Chuck Malito pass. The touchdown pass was set up by a partially blocked Texas Tech punt by Kent Smith and Ted Harvey.
With the score Nebraska 27, Texas Tech 24 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the game was far from over. Because twice before in '76 — against Missouri and Oklahoma — the Huskers saw fourth quarter leads vanish. But the third time was the charm for Nebraska.
Full recap here.
GAME VIDEO
OWH STORY & PHOTOS
LJS RETROSPECTIVE
SERIES HISTORY | NU BOWLS
SEASON STATS | NU ROSTER
FINAL POLLS | HONORS
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Nebraska 27
Texas Tech 24
Dec. 31, 1976
Houston, TXNebraska 7 7 13 0 — 27
Texas Tech 3 14 7 0 — 24
First Quarter
NEB — Rick Berns, 1-run (Al Eveland kick) 5:42
TTU — Brian Hall, 28-yard field goal 1:22
Second Quarter
TTU — Billy Taylor, 14-pass from Rodney Allison
(Brian Hall kick) 12:08
TTU — Billy Taylor, 11-pass from Rodney Allison
(Brian Hall kick) 2:14
NEB — Mark Dufresne, 22-pass from Vince Ferragamo
(Al Eveland kick) 0:33
Third Quarter
TTU — Billy Taylor, 8-run (Brian Hall kick) 11:32
NEB — Rick Berns, 18-run (Al Eveland kick failed) 9:19
NEB — Chuck Malito, 23-pass from Vince Ferragamo
(Al Eveland kick) 7:01
NU TT
First Downs Rushing 10 13
First Downs Passing 9 11
First Downs by Penalties 2 0
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS 21 24
Number Attempts Rushing 48 42
Yards Gained Rushing 191 206
Yards Lost Rushing 27 15
NET YARDS GAINED RUSHING 164 191
Number Passes Attempted 24 23
Number Passes Completed 14 15
Number Passes Had Intercepted 0 0
NET YARDS GAINED PASSING 232 193
Number Plays Rushing and Passing 72 65
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDAGE 396 384
Number Interceptions 0 0
NET YARDS INTERCEPTIONS RETURNED 0 0
Number Times Punted 4 3
Number Punts Had Blocked 0 0
PUNTING AVERAGE YARDS 39.7 36.3
Number Punts Returned 2 1
NET YARDS PUNTS RETURNED 11 3
Number Kickoffs Returned 2 5
NET YARDS KICKOFFS RETURNED 12 64
Number Times Penalized 1 2
TOTAL YARDS PENALIZED 5 21
Number Times Fumbled 2 4
NUMBER OWN FUMBLES LOST 2 1
NEBRASKA | | TEXAS TECH |
RUSHING Att Yds TD Lng
Donnell 8 34 0 9
Berns 27 118 2 24
Craig 5 27 0 7
Ferragamo 7 -18 0 4
Stewart 1 3 0 3
PASSING Att Com Int Yds TD Lng
Ferragamo 23 13 0 183 2 35
Craig 1 1 0 49 0 49
RECEIVING No Yds TD Lng
Craig 3 24 0 11
Berns 2 10 0 6
Dufresne 2 31 1 22
Donnell 1 1 0 1
Shamblin 2 45 0 24
Malito 3 107 1 49
Spaeth 1 14 0 14
PUNTING No Yds Avg. Lng
Lessman 4 159 39.7 49
RETURNS Punt KO Int
Hansen 1-6 0-0 0-0
Butterfield 1-5 0-0 0-0
Craig 0-0 1-11 0-0
Berns 0-0 1-1 0-0
TACKLES AT UT TT
Phillips 0 3 3
Pruitt 0 5 5
Fultz 0 2 2
Samuel 0 1 1
Andrews 0 3 3
Pillen 0 8 8
Eichelberger 0 7 7
Wightman 0 1 1
Smith 2 1 3
Butterfield 0 3 3
Harvey 0 3 3
Anderson 0 1 1
Valasek 1 7 8
Kunz 0 1 1
Carpenter 0 3 3
Davis 1 1 2
Lindquist 1 1 2
Young 0 1 1
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RUSHING Att Yds TD Lng
Taylor 13 46 1 21
Allison 14 89 0 25
Isaac 13 54 0 13
Williams 2 2 0 4
PASSING Att Com Int Yds TD Lng
Allison 23 15 0 193 2 25
RECEIVING No Yds TD Lng
Isaac 4 41 0 19
Nelson 1 14 0 14
Taylor 4 33 2 14
Turner 2 25 0 14
Williams 3 63 0 25
Brown 1 17 0 17
PUNTING No Yds Avg. Lng
Kuykendall 3 109 36.3 61
RETURNS Punt KO Int
Patterson 1-3 0-0 0-0
Berlingeri 0-0 1-17 0-0
Nelson 0-0 2-36 0-0
Isaac 0-0 2-11 0-0
TACKLES AT UT TT
Buell 0 9 9
Howard 2 6 8
McCright 0 3 3
Mock 0 10 10
Krahl 0 4 4
Arledge 0 5 5
Patterson 0 10 10
Roberts 1 5 6
Dupree 0 2 2
Emerson 0 3 3
Frazier 0 3 3
Bothwell 0 2 2
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