H U S K E R D A N
March 2, 2011
THE DANNO AWARDS OF THE PAST DECADE (PLUS ONE) OFHUSKER FOOTBALL
PART II
As we await the arrival of spring, it's time to turn ourfocus to football. In the past, the Danno Awards havebeen given annually to recognize the people and some of thespecial moments in the world of Nebraska football.
2000-2010 (DECADE PLUS ONE)DANNO AWARD WINNERS
But this year, we are going to honor the best (and worst) of theyears 2000 to 2010 (the Decade Plus One) of Husker football. Why thepast 11 years? Because 2010 marked the end of Nebraska's associationwith the Big 12 Conference. And this fall, the Huskers will be playing inthe venerable Big Ten Conference.
In this segment, we'll look at the Cornhusker Award and the best of theoffensive moments.
2000-2010 (DECADE PLUS ONE)DANNO AWARD WINNERS
CORNHUSKER OF THE DPO (DECADE PLUSONE)
UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman (2001-present)This award is given to the person who has had the greatest positive impacton the world of Husker football. And the DPO winner may be a surpriseto some of you, but we think Chancellor Perlman is deserving. It'strue, he oversaw the hiring of Steve Pederson (at the time most Husker fansapplauded the move) and he was there when Pederson and former Husker head coach,Bill Callahan, received raises and contract extensions just months before bothwere fired.
BEST HUSKER OFFENSIVETEAM2001
But it was Perlman who had the sense to fire AD Steve Pederson and tohire Tom Osborne as interim AD. In turn, Osborne fired Callahan and mostof his staff at the end of the '07 season and replaced him with Bo Pelini.And last year, Chancellor Perlman also publicly voiced his displeasure with BoPelini's sideline meltdowns during last year's loss at TexasA&M.
But maybe even more importantly, it was Harvey Perlman who led the wayfor Nebraska to move to the Big Ten Conference. One wonders what wouldhave happened had Callahan remained the head coach and Perlman not beenchancellor. Would Nebraska still have been invited to dancein the Big Ten? It's doubtful.
BEST HUSKER OFFENSIVETEAM
Led by Heisman winner Eric Crouch, the Huskersmanaged to win 11 games – the most games during the DPO. That year, despitegetting slammed by the Buffaloes 62-36 in their last regular-season game, the11-1 Huskers – with a huge assist from the computer – limpedinto the national championship game, losing to Miami 37-14 in the RoseBowl. But Husker fans still savor that team's 20-10 win overthe #2 ranked Sooners in Lincoln, in what became the biggest win of theDPO.
BEST OFFENSIVEPLAYER
Even though he played only two years in the DPO, he left a legacy that willlong endure. In 2001, Crouch became the Huskers' third Heisman winner,joining Johnny Rodgers and Mike Rozier. Eric has always represented theuniversity, the football program, the state of Nebraska and Husker fans to thehighest level.
BEST QUARTERBACK
Eric Crouch (1998-2001)
Although the DPO saw the end of option football at Nebraska after the '03season, it's a safe bet that Crouch would have found success running the WestCoast and read-option offenses. On his way to winning the Heisman in2001, Crouch became the national career rushing leader for TDs bya QB (59) and became only the 13th player in NCAA history to rush for over 1,000yards and pass for over 1,000 yards in the same season.
BEST TD RUN BY AQUARTERBACK
Eric Crouch at Missouri 2001 ("The Run")
All you have to do is watch this play and just shake your head.This amazing run put Crouch at the top of the Heisman list – a position he neverrelinquished. Recently, I asked Eric what goes through his mind when hewatches replays of "The Run.". "It was all instinct," he saidreferring to the moves he made to shake defenders. Instinct andtalent – what a combination. Congratulations, Eric!
BEST TD CATCH BY AQUARTERBACK
Eric Crouch Oklahoma @Nebraska 2001 (1998-2001)
This was an amazing play, executed to perfection against the biggest rivalin the biggest game of the DPO. This was not Crouch's only career TDcatch, but it was his greatest.
BEST RUNNINGBACK
In last year's 31-17 win over Missouri inLincoln, Helu broke the Husker single-game rushing record(294) established by Calvin Jones in 1991. Roy broke therecord by running for an amazing 307 yards. Helu now standsfourth on the career rushing list (3,434) behind Heisman winner MikeRozier (4,780), Ahman Green (3,880) and another Heisman winner, Eric Crouch(3,434). Helu ended his Husker career with a 5.9 yards per carryaverage. In his record-setting single-game performance, Roy had TD runs of66 (NU's first offensive play of the game), 73 and 53 yards as the Huskers won a criticaldivisional game over the Tigers.
BEST BLOCKING RUNNINGBACK
At 5'6" and 195 pounds, how could a player that size even play RB at aprogram like Nebraska's? And at his size, how could he be expected toblock blitzing linebackers in the West Coast offense? I don't know, but hedid. In fact, he was the Nebraska Offensive MVP in '04 and '05. Healso received the Tom Novak Award his senior year at Nebraska.
BEST FULLBACK
Judd Davies (2000-2003)
This is a very hard pick, not because there haven't been good athletes atthe position over the past 11 years, but because the offenses that have been runsince Judd played at Nebraska have all but eliminated the FBposition. We're going with Davies who, like Heisman winner Eric Crouch,came out of Millard North High to become a Husker. And for two of thoseyears, they played in the same backfield. In fact, Judd was part of Huskerhistory when he helped tie an NCAA record for the number of players (4) onthe same team to rush for at least 100 yards in asingle game. At Baylor in 2001, Thunder Collins (who is currently inprison for murder) rushed for 165 yards, Dahrran Diedrick had 137, EricCrouch had 132 and Davies had 119. Despite injuries,Davies managed to rush for a total of 703 career yards and had a 5.3yards per carry average.
BESTRECEIVER
Maybe Nate wasn't the most gifted Husker receiver, but he maximized thetalent he did have and developed into an excellent go-to player, superb routerunner and a good punt returner.
(There is a really good YouTube highlight video of Swift, but there arejust a few too many "F" bombs in the rap music (?) version, so it wasn'tincluded in this column.)
BEST TIGHTEND
Matt (The Pride of Pierce, Nebraska) Herian was on hisway to becoming one of the best tight ends in school history, buta bad leg injury against Missouri kept him from reaching hispotential. Nevertheless, Matt gets the nod. He ended his Huskercareer with an average of 19.1 yards per catch and 1,243 total career receptionyards.
BEST OFFENSIVELINEMAN
Although he played only one year of the DPO, Dominic was good enough to winthe Rimington Trophy his senior year. No other Husker offensive linemansince then has achieved such highrecognition.