Has it really been 48 years?
All Saints’ Day.
November 1, 1975.
At Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri, Tom Osborne’s Cornhuskers, rated third in the country, was searching for their first win over Al Onofrio’s Missouri Tigers since 1972.
The Tigers were ranked 12th.
68,195 fans packed the then 49-year-old stadium.
ABC-TV was there to show the nation that the fur always flew when these two Big 8 teams locked claws.
However, on this day, Nebraska ran the Tigers and their tails through a corn picker.
Nebraska took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, on a Mike Coyle field goal and a Vince Ferragamo to Brad Jenkins pass, before Missouri pulled to within three, at 10-7, with 6:34 left in the first half.
Then, with 1:46 left in the second quarter, Osborne called for the “Bummerooski,” which crossed up the Tigers, the TV cameras, the famous Lyell Bremser and the stadium’s fans.
With Nebraska in punt formation, the ball was snapped to blocker Tony Davis, who pushed the ball from behind through John O’Leary’s legs, then turned and faked to Monte Anthony coming around right.
All the Huskers, including the punter, tore off to the right as if it were a fake kick sweep, while O’Leary remained stationary with the ball hidden. Then, when Missouri players took off with the Husker flow to the right, O’Leary went to his left and ran 40 yards to score with nary a Tiger within 10 yards of O’Leary.
The Huskers led at halftime, 16-7.
Nebraska scored twice more in the second half on touchdown passes of 37 yards and 61 yards from Vince Ferragamo to Bobby Thomas, and Nebraska won the game, 30-7.
I did not see the contest until the game film was shown on the Sunday evening Tom Osborne TV Show.
Brittle nerves on game day coursed through my 16-year-old system. I couldn’t bear to watch Nebraska lose three straight to Missouri.
So, no color television, but vivid Lyell on my portable radio and a long walk through the Lancaster County and Butler County roads.
It is one of my most cherished Big Red memories.
Tom Osborne’s Bummerooski — which is named for one-time Houston Oilers head coach Bum Phillips — probably won the game for the Cornhuskers.
To follow, would be Osborne’s Fumblerooski vs. Oklahoma in 1979, Miami in 1984 and Colorado in 1992.
There was also the Bouncerooski vs. Oklahoma in 1982.
There haven’t been any “Rooskis” in Nebraska football lore since Tom Osborne retired. A close second would be Frank Solich’s Black 41 Flash Reverse against #2 Oklahoma on October 27, 2001, a 20-10 Husker victory in Lincoln.
If you are looking for a way to celebrate the beginning of November, then toast the 48th anniversary of the birth of Nebraska’s football “rooskis.”
On All Saints’ Day, 2023, the football lore lives on.