1996 Fiesta Bowl
Nebraska 62, Florida 24
January 2, 1996
Attendance: 79,864
Offensive Player of the Game: Tommie Frazier, Nebraska
Defensive Player of the Game: Michael Booker, Nebraska
Sportsmanship Award: Danny Wuerffel, Florida
Head Coaches: Tom Osborne, Nebraska - Steve Spurrier, Florida
Weather: Chilly
Television: CBS
Payout Per Team: $13,600,000
The 1996 Fiesta Bowl was the perfect match-up.
No.1 Nebraska against No. 2 Florida.
Both teams were undefeated and untied, only the fifth time in college football history that this had happened in a bowl game.
It was January 2, prime time, under the lights and the entire world watching.
And with the blink of an eye, Nebraska flexed its muscles, showed its big game experience and rolled over Florida, 62-24, to claim its second consecutive national championship.
The Cornhuskers did it on both sides of the football. Offensively, they rushed for an NCAA bowl record 524 yards. Defensively, they recorded seven sacks, forced four turnovers, had a safety and returned an interception for a touchdown.
In a game with several stars, it was Nebraska’s Tommie Frazier who owned the spotlight. Frazier threw for a touchdown and ran for two scores, including one of the most exciting runs in college football history, a 75-yard tackle-breaking dazzler.
He finished with 199 yards rushing, the most by any quarterback in bowl game history.
Lawrence Phillips also had a huge game, rushing for 165 yards and two touchdowns.
Yardstick
68-524
Rushes-Yards
21-(-28)
How They Scored
0
3
Bart Edmiston 23 yard field goal
6
3
Lawrence Phillips 16 yard pass from Tommie Frazier (kick blocked)
6
10
Danny Wuerffel 1 yard run (Edmiston kick)
13
10
Phillips 42 yard run (Kris Brown kick)
15
10
Safety. Wuerffel sacked by Jamel Williams
22
10
Ahman Green 1 yard run (Brown kick)
25
10
Brown 26 yard field goal
32
10
Michael Booker 42 yard interception return (Brown kick)
35
10
Brown 24 yard field goal
42
10
Frazier 35 yard run (Brown kick)
42
18
Ike Hilliard 35 yard pass from Wuerffel (Reidel Anthony pass from Wuerffel)
49
18
Frazier 75 yard run (Brown kick)
55
18
Phillips 15 yard run (kick blocked)
62
18
Brook Berringer 1 yard run (Ted Retzlaff kick)
62
24
Anthony 93 yard kickoff return (run failed)
Individual Statistics
NEB
Lawrence Phillips 25-165, Tommie Frazier 16-199, Ahman Green 9-68, Jeff Makovicka 6-32, Brian Schuster 1-4, Clinton Childs 3-14, James Sims 2-35, Joel Makovicka 2-4, Damon Benning 1-3, Brook Berringer 1-1, Billy Legate 1-1, Matt Turman 1-(-2).
FLA
Elijah Williams 6-6, Danny Wuerffel 9-(-37), Terry Jackson 4-4, Reidel Anthony 2-(-1).
NEB
Tommie Frazier 6-14-2-105, Lawarence Phillips 0-1-0-0.
FLA
Danny Wuerffel 17-31-3-255, Eric Kresser 3-7-0-42.
NEB
Clester Johnson 2-43, Brendan Holbein 1-33, Lawrence Phillips 1-16, Joel Makovicka 1-8, Jon Vedral 1-5.
FLA
Chris Doering 8-123, Ike Hilliard 6-100, Reidel Anthony 2-40, Travis McGriff 2-19, Terry Jackson 1-10, Jerome Evans 1-5.
