Dave Feit's Greatest Huskers by the Numbers: 23

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 23: Hubert Boswell, Halfback, 1931-1933

Honorable Mention: Verne Lewellen

Also worn by: Larry Arnold, Ernie Beler, Mark Blazek, Dicaprio Bootle, Daniel Davie, Bennie Dillard, Dante Dowdell, Leodis Flowers, Isaac Gifford, Anthony Grant, Tom Holbrook, Bill Lafleur, Roger Lindstrom, Ed Sauer, Lance Thorell

Dave's Fave: Isaac Gifford, Safety, 2020-2024

The 1933 Nebraska Cornhuskers were one of the best teams in program history. Led by Coach Dana X. Bible, they played one of the hardest schedules in the country, facing off against top teams from all corners of the country. They blanked southern power Texas 26-0, went undefeated against the Big Six, held off Iowa, and - on four days' rest - blew out Oregon State. A one-score loss at perennial power Pittsburgh was their lone setback.

Thirty years before the first Blackshirts would be handed out, the 1933 "Biblemen" (a common nickname in the newspapers of the time) allowed 19 points.

Not 19 points per game. Not 19 points in a loss.

The 1933 team allowed 19 points for the entire nine-game season. They shut out six teams and did not allow more than seven points to any opponent.

Hubert Boswell carries as Bernie Masterson blocks during the Huskers' 1932 game against Minnesota. | Minneapolis Tribune via Newspapers.com

Offensively, the '33 team was strong. Bernie Masterson (a future Husker head coach) was the quarterback. The legendary George Sauer played fullback. And Hubert "Hub" Boswell was the halfback. Described as a "slippery back and a great runner," Boswell was a key contributor and All-Big Six player - one of nine members of the all-conference team. The pride of Ravenna, Neb., Boswell also played forward for the Nebraska basketball team.

Boswell had a heads-up play to give Nebraska an early lead in the 1933 Oklahoma game. The Huskers kicked off. The ball went over the return man's head and rolled to a stop in the end zone. The Sooners, assuming the ball was dead, started to line up for their first offensive play. Boswell slipped past the OU players and divd on the ball for a touchdown. At the time, it was the fastest touchdown in college football history.

After winning the Big Six, the fate of Nebraska's season hung on the Huskers' trip to 6-1 Pittsburgh. The Cornhuskers were reportedly considered for a Rose Bowl bid (then, an east vs. west matchup not tied to any conferences). Before the Pitt game, Bible said "We have too much at stake today and next Saturday against Iowa to even think of the Tournament of Roses or the Chicago national championship game. If we get by Pitt today and Iowa next week, we'll have plenty of time to consider any invitations that may come to us for post-season games."*

*I'm not sure what "Chicago national championship game" Bible was referring to. I could not find any record of such a game being played.

Unfortunately, Nebraska's offense sputtered against Pittsburgh, gaining just 123 yards of total offense. The Panthers got plenty of yards (354), but the defense held strong for the majority of the game. A three-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter gave Pittsburgh a 6-0 victory, smashing Nebraska's Rose Bowl hopes and national title aspirations.

Columbia (7-1, with its lone loss coming to undefeated Princeton) was selected to play Stanford in the Rose. The Lions won, but Michigan (8-0-1) was declared the national champion.

I'd love to tell you how high this team climbed in the rankings, but there was no AP poll in 1933. The poll would not start until the 1936 season.*

*Fun fact: one of the driving forces behind the AP poll was sportswriter Cy Sherman of the Lincoln Star.

In 1935, the sports editor of the Associated Press conducted a poll with just one voter: himself. Unfortunately, the pressure was too much, as he declared a three-way tie at No. 1 between Minnesota, Princeton and Southern Methodist.

Frustrated by the results, Sherman suggested having local sports editors submit their own rankings which would be aggregated into a single poll, better representing the nation. The first AP poll was released in October 1936. Nebraska (2-1) was ranked 15th, between Texas A&M and Fordham.

Dr. Frank Dickinson, an economics professor at the University of Illinois, created a system that was an early predecessor of computer polls and other statistically based ranking systems. The Dickinson System had a strength-of-schedule component that rewarded strong schedules. Thirty points were awarded for beating a "strong team," 20 for win over a "weak team," 15 for a loss to a strong team and 10 for a loss to a weak team.

In 1933, Nebraska finished second in the Dickinson rankings, behind national champion Michigan.

***

There was a lot of excitement and anticipation for the 2022 season. After a disappointing 3-9 season that wasn't nearly as "close" as it appeared, Nebraska reconfigured for a make-or-break year in Scott Frost's head coaching tenure. Two coordinators and four assistant coaches were replaced. Casey Thompson was plucked out of the transfer portal to replace the departed Adrian Martinez.

Optimism was high, but the preseason vibes were - in hindsight - awkward and forced.

At Big Ten Media Days, Frost did not give the customary opening statement - a free opportunity to set the narrative about his team. It wasn't a huge thing, but it showed a lack of attention to detail - a common theme in his tenure. At Media Days, Frost came across as somebody who was not happy to be handing over play-calling duties to new offensive coordinator Mark Whipple.

A few weeks later, in an attempt to illustrate how hard new offensive line coach Donovan Raiola was pushing the players, Frost estimated that the linemen were puking "15-20 times" per practice - a quote that lit off a mini firestorm of pushback and concerns over player safety. Frost later walked back the comment.

An 11-point lead unraveled for Nebraska in Dublin after a failed onside kick. | Imagn Images

The 2022 season would start with a Week 0 game against Northwestern in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, played in Dublin, Ireland.* As the team was preparing to travel to Dublin, the social media team released a short, supposedly candid, video of Frost sliding down the railing outside the stadium on the way to the team bus. The intention was to show a loose and carefree Frost, but it was later revealed to be staged (and rehearsed) content.

*Including the Dublin game, Nebraska has played six games outside of the continental United States. The Huskers have played Hawaii four times on the islands (1954, 1971, 1976 and 1982). At the end of the 1992 regular season, Nebraska and Kansas State played in the Coca-Cola Bowl in Tokyo.

The Ireland game started off great. Husker fans inundated Ireland and drank the stadium out of beer. On the field, the Huskers twice took an 11-point lead over the only Big Ten team they beat in 2021 (a 56-7 blowout). After a touchdown to go up 28-17, Frost inexplicably called for an onside kick.

The attempt failed.

Northwestern recovered the ball and grabbed all the momentum. The Wildcats came back to win 31-28. After an offseason spent convincing fans that it was going to be different, it was the same old infuriatingly painful same old.

Back home in Lincoln the following Saturday, Nebraska beat North Dakota of the lower FCS division. The game was tied 7-7 at halftime. Nebraska scored 21 points in the final 18 minutes to make the final score 38-17. Jet lag from the Ireland trip was blamed for the sluggish performance.

Next up was another "buy game" against Georgia Southern. The Eagles had a first-year head coach and were switching from a ground-based offense to a passing attack. The Huskers were favored by 22½ points.

Nebraska's defense allowed 45 points and 642 yards. Nebraska lost 45-42 as a last-second field goal went wide left.

Scott Frost was fired the next day, Sept. 11, 2022.

Had athletic director Trev Alberts waited another three weeks to fire Frost, he could have saved $7.5 million off of the buyout. But it was crystal clear - even to the legions of passionately loyal Frost defenders - that after four years, it was never going to work.

Interim head coach Mickey Joseph in 2022 with quarterback Casey Thompson. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Wide receivers coach Mickey Joseph - a former Nebraska quarterback - was named the interim head coach for the remainder of the 2022 season. Joseph was the first - and still only - black head coach of a Nebraska men's sport. He brought a calming presence to the team and worked to restore their shattered confidence.

Joseph's tenure started with a 49-14 loss to No. 6 Oklahoma, NU's longtime rival. It was the completion of a two-year home-and-home series that Frost secretly tried to cancel in 2020.

Joseph's Huskers beat Indiana at home and Rutgers on the road. A six-point loss at Purdue (in which wide receiver Trey Palmer had a school-record 237 receiving yards) did not slow the growing fan support for Joseph to become the full-time head coach.

Trev Alberts, who was leading the search, vowed to take his time and find the right person for Nebraska. A few rumors swirled as fans compared their "hot boards" of desired candidates. Meanwhile, the 2022 Huskers fell into a slump.

Quarterback Casey Thompson was injured in a 26-9 loss to Illinois.* Losses to Minnesota, No. 3 Michigan and Wisconsin stretched the Husker losing streak to five games.

*It was revealed later that Matt Rhule and his wife, Julie, flew into Omaha on the day of the 2022 Illinois game. Alberts' wife picked them up and drove them around Lincoln while the game was going on. Rhule - who had been fired by the Carolina Panthers 19 days earlier - wore a hat and sunglasses to avoid being recognized.

Isaac Gifford sacks Illinois quarterback Tommy DeVito in 2022. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

There were a few bright spots on the 2022 team. Trey Palmer set school records for receptions (71) and receiving yards (1,043) in a single season. After an embarrassing start to the season, the defense rebounded to play fairly well over the second half of the season. Assistant coach Bill Busch stepped in as the defensive coordinator when Erik Chinander was let go with Frost. Nobody confused the 2022 Blackshirts with the 1999 or 2009 defenses, but they did play well enough to re-earn the "Blackshirts" name.

One of the defensive bright spots was Isaac Gifford. The younger brother of Luke - a former Husker and longtime NFL player - Isaac started 10 games in 2022 - rotating between nickel back and safety. Gifford flashed big play potential in many of his games, finishing the season third on the team with 70 tackles, along with five tackles for loss, a sack and three pass break-ups.

Gifford had one of his best games in the 2022 finale at Iowa, with a team-high eight tackles and a TFL. The Huskers played one of their best games of the season and beat the Hawkeyes for the first time since Bo Pelini's final game in 2014.

Isaac Gifford at practice in 2023. | Nebraska Athletics

The 2022 Iowa game would also be Mickey Joseph's final game at Nebraska. The morning of the game, news broke that Matt Rhule was going to be named Nebraska's next head coach. Less than a week later, Joseph would be arrested on suspicion of strangulation and third-degree domestic assault. Although the charges were later dropped, he was not retained on Rhule's first staff.

Isaac Gifford would have his best season in 2023, earning honorable mention All-Big Ten honors. He made several impact plays on defense. Nagging injuries limited his productivity in 2024, his senior season.

More from Nebraska on SI

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.