The top 5 moments at Memorial Stadium

Memorial Stadium has delivered some incredible moments over the decades. Here are the five best moments to get the Kool Aid flowing as we head into summer.

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We’re at the point in the offseason where we get excited about watching 7-on-7 passing camp highlights or debate whether or not Nebraska’s alternate uniforms should have a corncob pattern on the helmet.

Real football can’t come soon enough.

As we look forward to seeing Nebraska football deliver on the field this fall, I started to wonder, “What are the best moments in Husker home game history?”

It was a fun trip down memory lane. Here are my top five best moments (not entire games) inside Memorial Stadium. Feel free to drop your best moments in the comments.

5. Kansas schools complain about it being too loud to play football (Kansas, 1992; KSU, 1993)

Why it was a big moment: I’m cheating here by including two games in one, but I find it a bit humorous that both Kansas schools in back-to-back years complained about Husker fans being “too loud.” They deserve each other.

Each game was on national television. The Kansas game was the ESPN Saturday night game of the week. Glenn Mason (Kansas) and Bill Snyder (KSU) had positioned their teams to give Nebraska a run for their money. Expectations were high.

In the KSU game, officials even threatened to charge a timeout against Nebraska if the fans didn’t quiet down. Husker fans never let up, either time. Nebraska won both games easily.

Why did I include these rather pedestrian moments on the list? It’s a tip of the cap to Husker fans who, in the 90s, were a force to be reckoned with.

4. Calvin Jones rips off a long TD run…then rips off his helmet (Colorado, 1992)

Why it was a big moment: Nebraska hadn’t beaten Colorado since 1988, and Husker fans were out for blood.

With Nebraska up 7-0 in the second quarter, the game was still within reach for Colorado. But the Blackshirt defense had already been harassing Koy Detmer, so it was obvious Colorado’s offense would struggle to score.

The defense set the tone. But when Calvin Jones went 47 yards untouched to paydirt, then ripped off his helmet, it was utter pandemonium. It was clear Colorado was in for an old-fashioned woodshed beating.

Nebraska cruised to a 52-7 victory on Halloween.

3. Billy Sims fumbles—TWICE—and #1 OU goes down (Oklahoma, 1978)

Why it was a big moment: After a field goal to put Nebraska up 17-14, John Ruud delivered a bone-shattering hit on the Sooner kick returner that forced a fumble. Nebraska would have been in business to add another score and ice the game. That play was blown dead, however. The officials argued that the player was down. (He clearly wasn’t, and the announcers said as much.)

But the football gods were watching.

OU drove into the red zone with the hope of scoring a touchdown to keep their perfect season alive. But eventual Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims took a handoff and fumbled as he entered the pile.

Nebraska recovered, but had to punt. Sooner magic seemed to be alive and well as they drove toward the endzone again. On an option pitch at the Nebraska 20-yard line, Sims broke free and scampered toward the endzone, took a hit, and fumbled on the 2-yard line. Future Nebraska governor Jim Pillen recovered the ball.

It was Tom Osborne’s first victory over Barry Switzer and Oklahoma.

2. The Kick and the Pick (Colorado, 2008)

Why it was a big moment: Colorado was a bad team that had hung around all day, and it was looking bleak for Nebraska. After a drive stalled, Nebraska had a choice to go on fourth down or kick what would be a school record 57-yard field goal.

Alex Henery channeled his inner Jimmy Chitwood and told coach Bo Pelini, “I’ll make it.” He did.

To add insult to injury, as Colorado tried to mount one final drive in the last minute, Ndamukong Suh intercepted a pass and, en route to returning it for a touchdown, stepped on Colorado quarterback (and coach’s son) Cody Hawkins and crushed the Buffaloes’ bowl hopes.

1. Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass (Oklahoma, 2001)

Why it was a big moment: Third-ranked Nebraska was clinging to a three-point lead over favorite #2 Oklahoma in the fourth quarter.

The entire game was a defensive slobberknocker. Both teams struggled to move the ball. So much so that they emptied the playbook. Earlier in the game, OU tried a similar trick play, but quarterback Jason White slipped and the pass to him fell harmlessly to the turf.

Though Nebraska was leading 13-10 at the time of “Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass,” the touchdown put the game out of reach—and sealed the Heisman Trophy for Eric Crouch.

Honorable mentions:

• Mike Rozier runs 80 yards for a 2-yard TD run (UCLA, 1983).

• Travis Hill intercepts Koy Detmer on the first play of the game (Colorado, 1992).

• The Tunnel Walk before the first game after September 11 (Rice, 2001).

• Ron Kellog III to Jordan Westerkamp on a Hail Mary to win the game (Northwestern, 2013).

• Nebraska honors the late Sam Foltz by lining up in punt formation without a punter (Fresno State, 2016).

• Ameer Abdullah saves Bo Pelini’s bacon with a bonkers run-after-catch for a touchdown to win the game with less than 30 seconds left (McNeese State, 2014).

• Tommi Hill gets a pick-6 off Shedeur Sanders (Colorado, 2025).

• Not football, but Volleyball Day in Nebraska was pretty epic, right? Too good, too important, to leave off this list.