Dave Feit's Greatest Huskers by the Numbers: 18

Dave Feit is counting down the days until the start of the 2025 season by naming the best Husker to wear each uniform number, as well as one of his personal favorites at that number. For more information about the series, click here. To see more entries, click here.

Greatest Husker to wear 18: Jon Bostick, Split End, 1988-1991

Honorable Mention: Jim Anderson, Brook Berringer, Arnold Oehlrich

Also worn by: Tre Bryant, Quincy Enunwa, Jeff Hemje, Bob Hohn, Menelik Holt, George Kyros, Adolph Lewandowski, Matt Masker, Princewill Umanmielen

Dave's Fave: Brook Berringer, Quarterback, 1992-1995

Jon Bostick's career was all about making the most out of unplanned situations.

After a successful year on the freshman team in 1988, the plan was for Bostick to redshirt in 1989. But with seniors Morgan Gregory and Chip Bahe slowed by injuries, Bostick played in the fourth game of the season against Oregon State. His first catch as a Husker was a 60-yard bomb from Gerry Gdowski. Bostick's touchdown helped put the game away.*

*Fun fact #1: Bostick wore #4 for this catch, as the decision to play him came hours before kickoff.

Jon Bostik finished his Nebraska career with 1,083 receiving yards. | Nebraska Football Media Guide

The next week against Kansas State, Bostick caught three more passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns. Another two-touchdown day against Oklahoma State followed later in the season. A touchdown against Kansas.* As a sophomore, Bostick averaged 24.08 yards per reception. He was just .07 yards (about 2.5 inches) per reception from tying the school record.

*Fun fact #2: Bostick wore #31 in this game. I'm guessing the change was needed as fellow sophomore George Achola was also assigned #4. Bostick would switch to 18 before his junior season. As the legendary Husker Tapes points out, Bostick is in a rare group of players (if not the only) to catch a touchdown pass in three different uniform numbers.

During the summer before his senior season, Jon Bostick was playing pickup basketball. The athletic 6'2" receiver went up for a dunk… and had his legs taken out from under him. He broke a bone in his right hand on the landing. Receivers coach Ron Brown was understandably not pleased about his best player getting injured.

Instead of feeling sorry for himself, Bostick saw an opportunity. Bostick continued to run routes over the summer. With a cast on his dominant right hand, he focused on his left, making one-hand catches and improving his skills. When he was fully healed, he had his best season as a Husker, with career highs in receptions (24) and yards (419), and earning All-Big Eight honors.

Jon Bostick with a catch against Washington in 1991. | Nebraska Football Media Guide

Against Iowa State in 1991, Bostick had an amazing catch for a 55-yard touchdown, leaping over the top of a Cyclone defender to secure the ball. The catch stunned everybody in the stadium - except for his teammates. “He makes those kinds of catches every day in practice,” said tight end William Washington. “It was no big thing to him — just another catch in Jon Bostick’s book.”

Bostick left Nebraska tied for sixth in career receiving yards (1,083). Not too shabby for a player who was told he wouldn't catch any passes if he left the West Coast to play at run-heavy Nebraska.

***

1994 was the "Unfinished Business" and "Refuse to Lose" season. That is exactly how things started with 31-0 demolition of No. 24 West Virginia in the Kickoff Classic and a 42-16 victory at Texas Tech. Safety Mike Minter suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Tech win, but overall, the Huskers were in good health.

Nebraska played its home opener on Sept. 17 against No. 13 UCLA. NU jumped out to a 28-7 halftime lead and never looked back, winning by 28 points. A 70-21 blowout of the University of Pacific (who would end their football program a year later) was not without drama. Quarterback Tommie Frazier left the game after just nine snaps with what was reported as a "calf bruise." He would spend four days in the hospital with a blood clot behind his right knee. Those were Frazier's last snaps of the 1994 regular season.

October 1994 opened with a game against the pesky Wyoming Cowboys. Brook Berringer got his first career start and scored on a 5-yard run late in the first half to cut the Wyoming lead to 21-14. Unbeknownst to anybody there, Berringer suffered a partially collapsed lung on that play. In the second half, Berringer ran for two more touchdowns (from 24 and 10 yards) as the Huskers held on, 42-32. For the second straight week, Nebraska's starting quarterback had an overnight hospital stay.

Brook Berringer in action against Michigan State in 1995. | RVR Photos-Imagn Images

Berringer - an absolute warrior of a player - started the following game against Oklahoma State. Per his doctor's pregame orders, Berringer was whisked via police car to the NU Student Health Center for a halftime X-ray. It was discovered that his lung was collapsing again. Berringer headed back to the hospital and walk-on Matt Turman finished the game, a 32-3 win.

The next game, at No. 16 Kansas State, would be Nebraska's biggest challenge to date. Turman started, but he mostly handed the ball off to Lawrence Phillips and fullbacks Jeff Makovicka and Cory Schlesinger. Berringer came off the bench for the final drive of the first half. An option quarterback, he forbidden to audible or run the option. Only handoffs and drop-back throws. Nebraska - carried by Phillips and the Blackshirts - won 17-6.

A 42-7 breather at Missouri set up an epic No. 3-vs.-No. 2 matchup against Colorado in the 200th consecutive sellout of Memorial Stadium. Going into the game, there was a lot of doubt whether Berringer was good enough to beat the Buffs. He led four scoring drives, including a gorgeous play-action bomb to Eric Alford that put Nebraska up 24-7. A TD late in the third quarter by Heisman winner Rashaan Salaam gave Colorado their only points.

Now solidly No. 1, the Huskers picked up wins over Kansas and Iowa State. In the Kansas win, Berringer showcased his arm completing 13 of 18 passes for 267 yards and two TDs - with 249 yards in the first half. It was the seventh-best passing day in school history and just 30 yards away from the school record. Due to the score, Berringer had just 18 yards passing after halftime. Matt Turman finished the game.

NU closed the 1994 regular season with two-score wins over Iowa State and Oklahoma. Nebraska, led by Berringer, won the Big Eight and was headed to Miami for the Orange Bowl. The Huskers would face Miami for the national championship.

Brook Berringer in 1995 during the Huskers' game at Michigan State. — Brook Berringer played through injuries of his own in 1994 after taking over at quarterback while Tommie Frazier battled blood clots, | RVR Photos-Imagn Images

In the leadup to the bowl, the fan debate was intense on which player would start at quarterback. Frazier was cleared to play, and Berringer was 6-0 in relief.

Who would Tom pick?

Who would you pick?

In the end, Osborne went with Frazier, citing a long-standing policy of players not losing starting jobs due to injury. But Berringer played extensively in the game, scoring Nebraska's first points on a throw to Mark Gilman. Although it wasn't his best performance (7 carries for minus-4 yards, 8-15 passing for 81 yards with a touchdown and an interception), I believe Berringer is one of the unsung heroes of that game.

Berringer did well enough that Frazier - who had not played in over three months - could stay fresh for the memorable fourth-quarter comeback. Nebraska won the Orange Bowl 24-17 and clinched the 1994 national championship, the first under Tom Osborne.

In 1995, Frazier was healthy and played a Heisman-worthy season, which meant Berringer only saw snaps in mop-up duty. He accounted for 333 of the 1995 team's 6,119 total yards. But Berringer was still an intriguing prospect in the 1996 NFL draft. That class was light on quarterbacks, and there was speculation that several teams - notably Denver - would have considered him in the middle to late rounds.

Brook Berringer's death in a plane crash came just two days before the 1996 NFL Draft. — Brook Berringer's death in a plane crash came two days before the 1996 NFL Draft. | Nebraska Football Media Guide

To take his mind off the draft (which was just two days away), Berringer, a licensed pilot, went for a flight with his girlfriend's brother. His plane suffered engine failure and crashed in an alfalfa field 20 miles northwest of Lincoln. Brook Berringer was 22 years old.

I will always have a great fondness and appreciation for Berringer’s career. He was easily the finest passing quarterback at Nebraska in the 25 years between Dave Humm and Zac Taylor, but he was also deceptively good running the option.

Berringer was heavily involved with community service throughout his Nebraska career. Today, the Brook Berringer Citizenship Team is the highest honor a Cornhusker can earn for his efforts to give back to the community. A statue memorializing Berringer (standing next to coach Tom Osborne) stands outside the Osborne Legacy Complex facility next to Memorial Stadium.

I was a student at UNL when Berringer died, and his passing really shook me. It was sobering to realize that a guy who seemingly had everything (talent, brains, looks, a desire to give back) could be taken far too soon. Nearly 30 years later, I still wonder what could have been.

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