1983 Nebraska Game

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IronRanger91

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Just watched a 15 minute compilation of the 1983 Gopher-Nebraska game...wow! Talk about ineptitude! I had a friend who was on that team...says it was unreal...defensive coordinator was a real clown and would not change a thing...I found myself feeling sorry for Joe Salem...he seems like a decent guy from everything I've heard...we actually have some mutual friends...my buddy that played for him said he was a very good coach who was given no resources...interesting to watch him and Osbourne at the end of the game...I can only imagine what was said.
 

I can remember watching it on TV. The only reason I kept watching was to see if Nebraska could hit 90. 21 each quarter. I also remember thinking (very early) in that game that the Gophers were "in it". One of the ugliest games I have ever watched... and I have watched a lot of ugly Gopher football.
 

The Gophers stopped Nebraska on its first posession, which caused the new DC to share excited high fives with the defense as it came off the field - but that was the last thing to cheer about. Salem was forced to fire his DC and other staffers after his '82 team collapsed. This didn't help and our all-time worst season followed. Dr. Tom Osborne grew up in Nebraska when the Gophers dominated the series, including a 61-7 romp in 1945. He got his revenge by scoring 21 points in each quarter and keeping his All-Americans in during the third quarter. Tom was known for running up the score, once doing it against Arizona State in the '90s - a mistake, as the Sun Decvils ambushed the much-favored Huskers the next year in Tempe with a major upset.
 

People may debate this, but that was the all-time low-ebb in Gopher Football History.

In a way, it did serve a positive function: It woke up even the most asleep people at the U as to just how
bad the program had fallen behind. Sure, Nebraska had one of their best teams that year, but 84 points was
beyond sobering.

It is correct to say that Salem was a fine coach who was given very little to work with. Let's go back to the late 1970's....

The Big 10 was coming out of the "Big Two and Little Eight" period as the league opened up multiple teams to accept bowl bids.
The result of far more better teams and better league-wide competition should have been anticipated by the U, but it was
not (although Purdue, Wisconsin, Iowa and the rest seized on it).

By comparison, Salem had almost nothing to work with. His assistants were very sparsely compensated and were lured away
by other schools at the first opportunity. He had constant changeover, very little in the way of facilities, and the team left
campus for the Dome.

Basically, he had the rug pulled out from under him. His 6-5 season in 1981 should be the stuff of legend when taken into
proper context. Many new-era Gopher fans do not really appreciate just how bad the support was for football for many
decades. The fact that the program accomplished anything at all is just this side of miraculous. Again, you pay Chevette
dollars, you get a Chevette. You cannot buy a Cadillac with Chevette dollars, however.

Let's all hope and pray that 84-13, or something like that, does not happen this Saturday. I think we all know the state
of the program currently and just how fragile the team is. Let's hope for a solid and spirited performance from Kill and his team!
 

metrolax said:
People may debate this, but that was the all-time low-ebb in Gopher Football History.

In a way, it did serve a positive function: It woke up even the most asleep people at the U as to just how
bad the program had fallen behind. Sure, Nebraska had one of their best teams that year, but 84 points was
beyond sobering.

It is correct to say that Salem was a fine coach who was given very little to work with. Let's go back to the late 1970's....

The Big 10 was coming out of the "Big Two and Little Eight" period as the league opened up multiple teams to accept bowl bids.
The result of far more better teams and better league-wide competition should have been anticipated by the U, but it was
not (although Purdue, Wisconsin, Iowa and the rest seized on it).

By comparison, Salem had almost nothing to work with. His assistants were very sparsely compensated and were lured away
by other schools at the first opportunity. He had constant changeover, very little in the way of facilities, and the team left
campus for the Dome.

Basically, he had the rug pulled out from under him. His 6-5 season in 1981 should be the stuff of legend when taken into
proper context. Many new-era Gopher fans do not really appreciate just how bad the support was for football for many
decades. The fact that the program accomplished anything at all is just this side of miraculous. Again, you pay Chevette
dollars, you get a Chevette. You cannot buy a Cadillac with Chevette dollars, however.

Let's all hope and pray that 84-13, or something like that, does not happen this Saturday. I think we all know the state
of the program currently and just how fragile the team is. Let's hope for a solid and spirited performance from Kill and his team!
Click to expand...
Hopefully this Husker coach has more class than to see if he can hit 90
 


Schnauzer said:
I can remember watching it on TV. The only reason I kept watching was to see if Nebraska could hit 90. 21 each quarter. I also remember thinking (very early) in that game that the Gophers were "in it". One of the ugliest games I have ever watched... and I have watched a lot of ugly Gopher football.
Click to expand...

I was at the Humpty Dump for that game. I saw the debacle live.
 

I was at that awful game too. It was especially worse having to sit with my 2 buddies from Omaha. The good part is that my buddies had to buy me free beers all night long. I had to get really drunk after a game like that. YUK!
 

I played basketball in the Salem's driveway months after that defeat we were told never to bring up that loss. LOL. I remember the Salem twins were intense and were really athletic.
 

The way that the media in this town is beating 84-13 into everyone's head, you'd have thought that took place yesterday. Good grief!
 



Unfortunately, I suppose that it could...but...Let's hope for the best! I was at that game. I will be at this game.

Thank you administration at the Unviersity of Minnesota for many decades of inadequate support...inadequate attitude about Big Ten Football and the chance to relive the agony of that tragic event.

I personally hold the administrations completely guilty.

Best wishes to Coach Kill, his staff and all the student athletes on this Gopher Team. Give it your all and give it your best.
 

When Salem resigned, they were actually ignorant enough to believe that a coach like Dane Devine would be interested...Ken Keller was quoted as saying that he did not realize that "our football reputation had slipped that far"...that sums up in a nutshell the issues with Gopher football...five people (including Les Steckel but I am not sure who else) turned down the job...if Lou Holtz had nor been available, Lord only knows who else they would have found...my friend says that they were actually three plays from the Rose Bowl in 1981...Joe Salem is given far too much grief for what is an inept administrations fault.
 

This was one of the worst Gophers games I ever had to sit through in my life time. I don't expect much tomorrow, but I hope I never see this kind of game again.

See ya at the game! Go Gophers!
 




My reaction was the same as Schnauzer's. The only reason I kept watching is that I thought I might see the Cornhuskers hit the century mark.'

I think we actually won the time of possession.
 

Najarian on kfan

Anyone hear pete Najarian on KFAN with Barrero? I actually played along side Najarian that year. That game was like an out of body experience. First of all that was the most talented team of the 20th Century. Even the 85 national champion Sooners weren't close, at least on offense. Salem was a great guy and decent coach. Heck, he couldnt pay enough to keep Shanahan and Dungy or even Mark Tresman, who went to coach Bernie Kosar on the 83 Miami National Champions. Instead Smokey had to hire an assclown as a d-coordinator who came up with a "Husker" defense to stop their inside trap game that resulted in one 3 and out. After that the Huskers just pitched it to Rozier and Fryer all night.

Nebraska put over 70 points on Iowa state and Kansas that year. They could have scored 95 on Iowa state but they pulled way up. That whole 83 season was cursed. I remember seeing 3 ACL tears in one week of practice that year!
 

I was in the Marching Band at the game and I remember how we cheered because the Gophers managed to make The Big Red Machine actually punt. I don't think they were made to punt for the rest of the game. That was as brutal football beatdown as I have ever witnessed.
 

50PoundHead said:
I think we actually won the time of possession.
Click to expand...

And I don't think it was even close. It was something like 2-1. Most of Nebraska's "drives" were only a handful of plays.
 

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