Dave Feit's Greatest Huskers by the Numbers: 37

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 37: Lawrence Ely, Center, 1930-1932

Honorable Mention: Clifford Ashburn, Ken Geddes, Harry Hopp, Monte Johnson, Sam Koch

Also worn by: Mauro Bondi, Jeff Carpenter, Robert Glantz, Paul Kastl, Kamdyn Koch, Wyatt Mazour, Tony Ortiz, Phalen Sanford, Darren Schmadeke, Doug Welniak, Jake Wesch, Frank Wilkins

Dave's Fave: Sam Koch, Punter, 2002-2005

What position do you most associate with Nebraska football?

During the Joe Paterno era, Penn State became known as "Linebacker U" for the string of talented backers the program produced. Several schools (USC, Georgia, Wisconsin and others) have tried to claim "Running Back U." And on and on for every position.

So, what is the "U" at dear old Nebraska U?

Certainly, Nebraska has produced several excellent I-backs and running backs over the years, especially during the Tom Osborne era. There was a 20-year stretch between Kris Brown and his brother Drew where Nebraska could have been considered "Placekicker U." And with six of Nebraska's nation-leading nine Outland Trophies being won by offensive linemen, there is definitely an argument for Nebraska being "O-Line U."

But I think we can get more specific.

Let's focus on one position: Center.

Nebraska centers have combined for:

35 first-team all-conference honors
12 first-team All-Americans
3 Outland Trophy winners
1 Big Eight Offensive Player of the Year award (beating out the quarterbacks and running backs from all eight teams)
1 Rimington Trophy

Personally, the fact that the award for the best center in college football is named after Nebraska center Dave Rimington is a rather indisputable bullet point on Nebraska's resume as "Center U."

Charley Brock, Franklin Meier, Tom Novak, Lyle Sittler, Kelly Petersen, Rik Bonness, Tom Davis, Rimington, Mark Traynowicz, Bill Lewis, Jake Young, Jim Scott, Aaron Graham, Aaron Taylor, Josh Heskew, Dominic Raiola and others were all standout centers at Nebraska.*

*A quick side note: seven of NU's 12 All-America centers were Nebraska natives. An eighth - Bill Lewis - is from just across the river in Sioux City, Iowa.

No other team can match Nebraska's résumé of great centers. Nebraska is "Center U."

The first in the long line of outstanding Husker centers was Lawrence Ely. The Grand Island, Neb., native was an anchor in the middle for some of Dana X. Bible's best teams.

Ely earned All-Big Six honors in 1931 and 1932. In 1932, the "Biblemen" finished 7-1-1, and a perfect 5-0 in the Big Six conference. Their only blemishes were a 7-6 loss at regional power Minnesota and a 0-0 tie against East Coast stalwart Pittsburgh.

In 1932, Lawrence Ely was a first-team All-American - the first time a Nebraska center earned that honor.

At "Center U," it would not be the last.

***

One of my deepest-held football convictions is the belief that - especially in college - any offensive system can work anywhere. Yes, weather can be a factor, but consider this: Mike Leach's Air Raid offense worked in Lubbock, Texas - the third windiest city in the United States.

I believe there are three key components for offensive success (which we'll look at through the lens of Tom Osborne's power running/option offense). I'm flexible on the order of importance, but collectively they are indisputable requirements for an offense to consistently gain yards and score points:

Coaches to teach it. Osborne was an offensive genius. Milt Tenopir is considered one of the greatest offensive line coaches in history. Ron Brown was masterful in teaching receivers to be unselfish blockers. Frank Solich arguably does not get enough credit for his work with the I-backs.
Time to perfect it. As we've discussed previously, Nebraska had a lot of in-state players who ran NU's offense in high school. Osborne's four-station practices gave a ton of reps to many, many players. And after embracing the option in 1980, Osborne didn't make a lot big changes to his philosophy until he retired after the 1997 season.
Talent to run it. Some systems - such as the option - do not require a roster of first-round draft picks to be effective. But to take that next step into the championship contender tier, you need elite talent. Osborne found it in Turner Gill, Steve Taylor, Tommie Frazier, Scott Frost, Eric Crouch and a host of talented I-backs.

Now, think about all of the various offenses Nebraska has tried to run since Osborne retired. None of them have had all three elements. Several struggled to get two of them.

Frank Solich arguably came the closest. He had the coaches to teach his offense, and time to perfect it. But after Eric Crouch left Nebraska with the 2001 Heisman Trophy, Solich found it very hard to replace him. High schools nationwide were moving away from the option, so the pool of talented option QBs was smaller than ever.

In 1999, Solich signed quarterback Carl Crawford, one of the top option QBs in the nation. Crawford was also a very talented baseball player. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays drafted Crawford in the second round of the MLB draft (52nd overall). When they offered a $1.2 million signing bonus, it was over. Nebraska's quarterback of the future set out on a 15-year MLB career, making four All-Star teams, leading the league in steals multiple times and winning a Gold Glove.

Some say Carl Crawford's choice of pro baseball over college football changed the fortunes of Nebraska head coach Frank Solich. | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

Gerald Garcia, Crawford's high school football coach, told Huskers Illustrated, "If (Crawford) would have gone to Nebraska, Frank Solich wouldn’t have gotten fired at Nebraska,” Garcia said. “Carl was that good of a player. He could have saved Solich’s job."*

*While I'm sure that is a bittersweet quote for Solich's supporters to read, the reality is that one player was not the difference between success and failure.

To put it bluntly: The option's days were numbered at Nebraska.

Even at the turn of the century, elite option quarterbacks were getting harder and harder to find. Top quarterbacks - even the dual-threat ones - had NFL aspirations. Being an option QB was not seen as a path to the pros.

After losing Crawford in 1999, Nebraska did not sign a scholarship quarterback in 2000. The 2001 class had two local QBs: Mike McLaughlin from Millard North and Mike Stuntz from St. Albert in Council Bluffs. The quarterback in the 2002 class was Curt Dukes. Take out the Black 41 Flash Reverse pass and Crawford, McLaughlin, Stuntz, and Dukes were a combined 9-25 passing for 100 yards at Nebraska - all of it by Stuntz.

Instead, Solich turned to Jammal Lord. I'm not going to disparage what Lord did as a starter. A) he had to follow a Heisman winner, which is never going to be easy. B) He didn't have players around him as good as what Crouch enjoyed. C) Even though Lord played in the NFL as a safety, he did not play defense on the 2002 team that allowed 23.9 points per game - the most since 1957.

In Bill Callahan's West Coast offense, quarterback Joe Dailey was a square peg in a round hole. | Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

Solich was fired after 2003 and replaced by Bill Callahan. Callahan wanted to run a West Coast offense but didn't have a West Coast quarterback. Instead of adapting his scheme to the talent on hand, Callahan tried to hammer a square peg through a round hole with predictable results. Joe Dailey - Solich's final scholarship QB recruit in 2003 - did an admirable job in 2004, but he was clearly running a system that didn't play to his strengths.

Picture Nebraska's offense under Osborne as a finely tuned sports car cruising at 75 mph. By 2002, Solich was driving a 20-year-old pickup truck - still reliable, but replacement parts were getting harder to find.

Callahan came in, disassembled everything and tried to build a complex helicopter from the parts. Technically possible, but nobody was all that surprised when the 2004 season ended 5-6.

Sam Koch averaged a school-record 46.5 yards per punt in 2005. | Nebraska Athletics

And when the offense sputters - or collapses - you had better hope you at least have a good punter.

Thankfully, those first Callahan teams had Sam Koch.

After serving as a kickoff specialist in 2003, Koch replaced NFL punter Kyle Larson in 2004. Koch averaged 41.3 yard per punt and helped Nebraska end up 16th nationally in net punting. The Seward native had a massive leg, which was on full display during his senior season.

Koch averaged 46.5 yards per punt in 2005 - a school record. Against Wake Forest, Koch uncorked a 76-yard bomb. The following week against Pittsburgh, an 84-yarder. Those punts are tied for the second- and fifth-longest in school history.

For his career, Koch averaged 44.5 yards per kick, just half a yard short of the school record (held by Dan Hadenfeldt).

Sam Koch had a stellar NFL career after his time at Nebraka. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Before we go, here are a couple of fun facts that you can use to stump your friends:

Sam Koch is the last Nebraska player to attempt and complete a pass in the NFL (2021 and 2020, respectively).
Koch is technically the most recent Husker to score points in a Super Bowl (he took a safety near the end of Super Bowl XLVII, running eight seconds off of the clock to help secure a victory for Baltimore).

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