1962 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

The 1962 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska in the Big Eight Conference during the 1962 NCAA University Division football season. Led by first-year head coach Bob Devaney, the Huskers were 8–2 (5–2 in Big 8, third) in the regular season,^[1] and played their home games on campus at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

1962 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Gotham Bowl champion
Gotham Bowl, W 36–34 vs. Miami (FL)
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Record	9–2 (5–2 Big 8)
Head coach	Bob Devaney (1st season)
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1961 1963 →

1962 Big Eight Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 8 Oklahoma $	7	–	0	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Missouri	5	–	1	–	1			8	–	1	–	2
Nebraska	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Kansas	4	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
Iowa State	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Oklahoma State	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Colorado	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	8	–	0
Kansas State	0	–	7	–	0			0	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Undefeated through October,^[2] their loss to Missouri on November 3 marked the start of Nebraska's current NCAA record of 400 consecutive sellouts. At the chilly Gotham Bowl in New York City in mid-December, they defeated Miami 36–34 to finish at 9–2.^[3][4]

Hired in February, Devaney was previously the head coach for five seasons at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. He coached Nebraska for eleven seasons, won consecutive national titles (1970, 1971), and was the athletic director from 1967 to 1992.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 22	2:00 pm	South Dakota*	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE		W 53–0	26,953
September 29	12:30 pm	at Michigan*	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI		W 25–13	70,287	[5]
October 6	2:00 pm	Iowa State	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE		W 36–22	34,321
October 13	2:00 pm	NC State*	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE		W 19–14	36,867	[6]
October 20	2:00 pm	Kansas State	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)		W 26–6	30,701
October 27	2:30 pm	at Colorado	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry)		W 31–6	34,183
November 3	2:00 pm	Missouri	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)		L 7–16	36,501	[2]
November 10	1:30 pm	at Kansas	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS (rivalry)		W 40–16	37,063
November 17	2:00 pm	Oklahoma State	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE		W 14–0	34,329
November 24	1:30 pm	at No. 10 Oklahoma	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry)		L 6–34	58,768
December 15	10:00 am	vs. Miami (FL)*	Yankee Stadium Bronx, NY (Gotham Bowl, rivalry)	ABC	W 36–34	6,166	[3][4]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Roster

48 Baffico, James LG (Jr.) 61 Brown, Robert RG (Jr.) 46 Brown, Ulysses RG (Sr.) 89 Bryant, Curtis E (Jr.) 80 Callahan, Richard E (Jr.) 62 Carlson, Dwain LG (Sr.) 14 Claridge, Dennis QB (Jr.) 82 Comstock, William E (Sr.) 65 Dervin, John LG (So.) 81 Doepke, Charles E (So.) 87 Donovan, Larry E (Sr.) 53 Drum, Duncan C (So.)    Eger, Mike E 15 Faiman, John QB (Sr.) 76 Fischer, Allen (Richard) RT (Sr.) 50 Fugitt, Mike C (So.) 69 Garner, Chuck LG (Jr.) 64 Gray, Gary LG (So.) 79 Griesse, Ronald RT (Jr.) 57 Haas, Dave RT (So.) 85 Huge, James E (Sr.) 58 Johnson, LaVane RG (Jr.) 31 Johnson, Rudy HB (Jr.) 74 Jones, Robert LT (Sr.) 77 Kiffin, Monte LT (Jr.) 68 Kirby, John LG (Jr.) 40 Koehler, Mike FB (Sr.) 86 Koinzan, John E (So.) 75 Kramer, Larry LT (Jr.) 18 Lucas, Gary E (So.)

42 Martin, Noel FB (Sr.) 32 McCloughan, Kent HB (So.) 63 McDermott, Donald RG (So.) 41 McNulty, Joe FB (So.) 54 Michka, Ron C (Jr.) 73 Osentowski, Clarence LT (So.) 33 Paschell, Willie HB (So.) 37 Peterson, Robert RT (Jr.) 20 Powers, Warren HB (Sr.) 70 Robertson, Tyrone LT (Sr.) 10 Rogers, Bill RG (So.) 66 Rood, Jed RG (Sr.) 21 Ross, Willie HB (Jr.) 35 Sebastian, John HB (So.) 52 Sittler, Lyle C (So.) 22 Smidt, Maynard HB (Jr.) 43 Smith, Bruce FB (So.) 51 Stevenson, Donald C (Sr.) 72 Strohmyer, John RT (So.) 34 Stuewe, Dennis HB (Sr.) 23 Theisen, David HB (Jr.) 30 Thornton, Bill FB (Sr.) 83 Tomlinson, Larry E (Jr.) 67 Toogood, Gary RG (Sr.) 36 Tregonning, Donn RG (Jr.) 17 Tucker, Douglas QB (So.)    Van Newkirk, Milan PK 71 Voss, Lloyd RT (Jr.) 24 Vujevich, John HB (So.) 44 Young, Gene FB (Jr.)

Depth chart

Defensive starters HB 14 Dennis Claridge HB 32 Kent McCloughan LB LB 62 Dwain Carlson 64 Bob Brown 68 John Kirby 67 Gary Toogood CB 23 David Theisen DE DT NT DT DE 84 Mike Eger 71 Lloyd Voss 54 Ron Michka 70 Tyrone Robertson 83 Larry Tomlinson 88 James Huge 76 Richard Fischer 56 James Baffico 75 Larry Kramer 87 Larry Donovan CB 20 Warren Powers

Offensive starters LE Larry Donovan Larry Tomlinson Mike Eger LG C RG LT RT Dwain Carlson Ron Michka Bob Brown Tyrone Robertson Lloyd Voss John Kirby James Baffico Gary Toogood Larry Kramer Richard Fischer RE James Huge Richard Callahan William Comstock QB Dennis Claridge John Faiman LB RB FB Willie Ross Rudy Johnson Dennis Stuewe Bill Thornton Warren Powers Kent McCloughan Gene Young

Coaching staff

Name	Title	First year in this position	Years at Nebraska	Alma mater
Bob Devaney	Head Coach	1962	1962–1972	Alma
John Melton		1962	1962–1988	Wyoming
Cletus Fischer		1960	1960–1985	Nebraska
Mike Corgan	Running Backs	1962	1962–1982	Notre Dame
George Kelly		1960	1960–1968
Jim Ross		1962	1962–1976
Carl Selmer	Offensive Line	1962	1962–1972

^[7][8]

Game summaries

South Dakota

1 2 3 4 Total South Dakota 0 0 0 0 0 • Nebraska 6 13 20 14 53 Date: September 22 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 26,953

^[9][10][11]

Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 0 7 12 6 25 Michigan 0 6 0 7 13 Date: September 29 Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan Game attendance: 70,287

^{[9][10][12][13]}

Iowa State

1 2 3 4 Total Iowa State 0 7 7 8 22 • Nebraska 14 14 0 8 36 Date: October 6 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 34,321

^{[9][14][15][16]}

NC State

1 2 3 4 Total NC State 6 0 8 0 14 • Nebraska 0 0 7 12 19 Date: October 13 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 36,867

^[9][14][17]

Kansas State

This was the last Nebraska home football game to not be sold out.

1 2 3 4 Total Kansas State 6 0 0 0 6 • Nebraska 0 14 12 0 26 Date: October 20 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 30,701

^[9][18][19]

Colorado

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 0 0 23 8 31 Colorado 0 6 0 0 6 Date: October 27 Location: Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado Game attendance: 34,183

See also: Colorado–Nebraska football rivalry

^[9][18][20]

Missouri

1 2 3 4 Total • Missouri 7 0 3 6 16 Nebraska 0 7 0 0 7 Date: November 3 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 36,501

This is the first game of Nebraska's NCAA record of consecutive sellouts, which currently stands at 386 sellouts continuing to the 2022 season.

See also: Missouri–Nebraska football rivalry

^{[9][18][21][22]}

Kansas

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 16 16 8 0 40 Kansas 0 0 8 8 16 Date: November 10 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, Kansas Game attendance: 37,063

^[9][18][23]

Oklahoma State

1 2 3 4 Total Oklahoma State 0 0 0 0 0 • Nebraska 14 0 0 0 14 Date: November 17 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 34,329

^[9][24][25]

Oklahoma

1 2 3 4 Total Nebraska 0 0 6 0 6 • #10 Oklahoma 7 7 14 6 34 Date: November 24 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma Game attendance: 58,268

See also: Nebraska–Oklahoma football rivalry

^[9][24][26]

Miami (FL)

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 6 14 8 8 36 Miami 6 14 7 7 34 Date: December 15 Location: Yankee Stadium, New York City Game attendance: 6,166

Main article: 1962 Gotham Bowl

^{[9][27][28][29]}

After the season

Awards

• All Big 8: Robert Brown, Dennis Claridge, Tyrone Robertson

^[30]

Future professional players

• Robert Brown, 1964 2nd overall pick by the Philadelphia Eagles
• Dennis Claridge, 1963 3rd-round pick of the Green Bay Packers
• Rudy Johnson, 1964 5th-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers
• Bob Jones, 1964 18th-round pick of the Washington Redskins
• Monte Kiffin, 1964 15th-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings
• John Kirby, 1964 5th-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings
• Larry Kramer, 1964 15th-round pick of the Baltimore Colts
• Willie Ross, 1964 9th-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals
• Dave Theisen, 1963 11th-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams
• Bill (Thunder) Thornton, 1963 5th-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals
• Lloyd Voss, 1964 1st-round pick of the Green Bay Packers