2010’s - Nebraska Football’s Worst Moments of the Decade: #6-10

There have been plenty of lowlights from 2010-2019 for Nebraska football. Here are the ones you picked for #6-#10. (Numbers 1-5 will each get their own articles over the next few days).

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10. Five-year losing streak to Iowa (2015-19)

Losing that many consecutive games to a team like Ohio State is one thing, but Iowa is another. No, I am not completely dissing the Hawkeyes. Year in, year out, they are almost always a good football team. A football team that lets their opponents make the mistake which is the difference in the game.

Unfortunately, Nebraska has obliged.

It has also been noted, repeatedly, that the Huskers have not won vs the Hawkeyes since the infamous quote from Shawn Eichorst “But in the final analysis, I had to evaluate where Iowa was.” This was part of his reasoning for firing Bo Pelini despite the fact that Pelini had just beaten Iowa (check out #9 on the “best moments” article).

Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images

If you can figure out what will break that curse, I’m sure they are taking suggestions at the athletic department administrative and football offices.

9. Losing the “Red-Out Around the World” Game to Texas 2010

2010 was a year of great excitement in Husker land. We had a shiny new quarterback and a defensive backfield that ranks among the best secondaries in all of college football for the decade. It was supposed to be the year that the Huskers got the Longhorn off their backs.

The Huskers were ranked #5 in the country and Texas was unranked. The slick “Red Out Around the World” campaign was part of the excitement - you may remember the entire slogan was “Wear Red, Be Loud, Beat Texas”... until athletic director Osborne decided that calling out a specific opponent was not the Nebraska way.

You know the rest. The Huskers were down 20-3 early in the third quarter and tried to rally, but fell short.

Even worse, Texas finished 5-7 on the season and didn’t win another conference game in 2010.

8. The 62-3 loss to Ohio State in 2016

The first year of Mike Riley (2015) was considerably less successful than Husker fans were accustomed to. Most chalked it up to a new coach and a lack of “buy in”. 2016 was going so much better...Nebraska was even ranked #10 in the nation when they traveled to Columbus to face #6 Ohio State. Most Husker fans knew that Nebraska was not worthy of a #10 ranking, but they were feeling pretty good about the team (despite the OT loss to Wisconsin a week earlier).

The beatdown by the Buckeyes made it clear how far Nebraska had fallen. The difference in speed and athletic ability was obvious to any Husker fan watching that game.

Perhaps the scariest moment was seeing Tommy Armstrong Jr., Nebraska’s tough-as-nails quarterback, laying on the turf motionless. Fortunately Tommy was okay, but the state of the Nebraska football program was being revealed and Husker fans had to begin the “acceptance” part of the grieving process.

Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

7. Bo Pelini’s Recorded Rant after Being Fired (2014)

Bo Pelini’s dismissal was handled badly all around. He wasn’t allowed to meet with his team to say goodbye and had to arrange something off campus. The toxic environment that had developed between he and the current administration was so evident that it was a surprise that Pelini had even returned for the 2014 season. Bo chose to say a whole lot of things that were vulgar and negative and someone chose to record this rant.

A whole lot of poor decisions were made in a heated moment and their summation has left a lasting impression, unfortunately.

6. The BYU Hail Mary to open Mike Riley’s tenure as head coach in 2015

This gut punch turned out to be a pretty good indicator of what the Mike Riley era would be like for Nebraska.

Jill Heemstra