Official recap
Nebraska exploded for two touchdowns within six seconds midway in the third quarter to break up a close game, and the Huskers went on to crush Florida State, 34-14, in the home opener.
The Huskers were leading, 10-7, when Irving Fryar returned a punt 82 yards for a TD with 8:31 left, then, on the ensuing kickoff, Tony Felici picked a fumble out of mid-air and ran 13 yards to score at the 8:25 mark to give Nebraska an insurmountable 24-7 lead. The Seminoles did pull back within 27-14 midway in the fourth quarter, but Roger Craig's 94-yard touchdown run put the game away—in addition to tying the Nebraska record for longest touchdown run and wrapping up a 234-yard day for Craig, which earned him national back-of-the-week honors. Felici came off the bench to record 13 tackles, earn Big Eight defensive player-of-the-week honors and nail down a starting job at defensive right end.
 |
Nebraska 34
Florida State 14
Sept. 19, 1981
Lincoln, NEFlorida State 0 7 0 7 — 14
Nebraska 10 0 14 10 — 34
1st quarter
NEB — Nate Mason 8 run (Kevin Seibel kick)
NEB — FG Seibel 24
2nd quarter
FSU — Ricky Williams 1 run (Mike Rendina kick)
3rd quarter
NEB — Irving Fryar 82 punt return (Seibel kick)
NEB — Tony Felici 13 fumble return (Seibel kick)
4th quarter
NEB — FG Eddie Neil 21
FSU — Dennis McKinnon 3 pass from Rick Stockstill
(Rendina kick)
NEB — Roger Craig 94 run (Seibel kick)
FSU NEB
First downs 15 22
Rushes-yards 41-54 63-472
Passing yards 173 31
Return yards 1 151
Passes 16-26-1 3-8-1
Punts 8-51.1 2-33.5
Fumbles-lost 3-2 4-4
Penalties-yards 3-43 9-71
Time of possession 30:25 29:35
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing
FSU: Williams 13-29, Billy Allen 5-16.
NEB: Craig 20-234, Mike Rozier 11-72, Phil Bates 8-66, Mason 13-63.
Passing
FSU: Stockstill 16-25-1-173.
NEB:, Mason 2-7-1-15, Turner Gill 1-1-0-16.
Receiving
FSU: Sam Childers 5-47, Williams 4-86. McKinnon 3-24.
NEB:, Jamie Williams 3-32.
Attendance — 76,289
|
