Dave Feit’s Greatest Huskers by the Numbers: 46

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 46: Tony Felici, Defensive End, 1980-1982

Honorable Mention: Marion Broadstone, Eric Martin, Gail O’Brien, Thomas Lee Penny, Ted Vactor

Also worn by: Doug Colman, Chad Daffer, Maury Damkroger, Ben Eisenhart, Gary Higgs, Joshua Kalu, John Kroeker, Robert Mills, John Ruud, Brian Shaw

Dave’s Fave: Eric Martin, Defensive End, 2009-2012

If you ask Husker fans to name the greatest Nebraska team that didn’t win a national championship, they’ll likely start with the Scoring Explosion team of 1983. They only lost one game – the Orange Bowl – by one point, when a two-point conversion attempt at the end fell incomplete. The 1993 team was a field goal (or a correctly called goal-line fumble, or phantom clip not being called, or…) away from a title. The 1999 team finished the season playing as well as anybody in the country. Old heads may point to the 1963 or 1965 teams. The 2001 Huskers were in the conversation… until the start of the Colorado game.

But there’s one team that deserves serious consideration for the “best to not win it all” crown: the 1982 Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Actually… hold that thought. Before we talk about the 1982 Huskers, let’s set the stage with how the 1981 season ended.

After a disappointing 1-2 start – the only time Osborne ever started with a losing record – Nebraska rebounded to beat Oklahoma and win the Big Eight title. The Huskers, ranked No. 4, went to the Orange Bowl to face No. 1 Clemson.

On New Year’s Day 1982, upsets in other bowl games (Pitt over No. 2 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and Texas over No. 3 Alabama in the Cotton Bowl) opened the door for Nebraska to follow the same path that led to their first championship in 1970. Beat Clemson, and the Huskers would be No. 1.

It was not to be.

Mark Mauer was Nebraska's quarterback in the 1982 Orange Bowl in place of the injured Turner Gill. | George Gardner/Staff, The Greenville News via Imagn Content Services, LLC

The Huskers – who were called for an average of 5.3 penalties per game in 1981 – were flagged six times in the first half.* Two turnovers put Nebraska in a 22-7 hole that the Huskers could not climb out of.

*In Paul Koch’s “Anatomy of a Husker,” longtime defensive backs coach George Darlington said “Clemson was a good football team, but they got a lot of help.” Darlington recounted a story of Osborne coming into a staff meeting after the customary officials’ meeting saying “we’re in trouble” because the officials greeted Clemson coach Danny Ford with hugs like old friends.

After the game, Osborne called it “the most disappointing loss I’ve ever been associated with. We had a chance to win it all. We had it in our hands and let it get away.” Nebraska finished 9-3, with losses to No. 1 Clemson, No. 4 Penn State and No. 18 Iowa.

Nebraska likely entered the 1982 season with a bit of an “unfinished business” mentality. But once again, the Huskers would fall short.

The 1982 team went 12-1. The lone loss was at (then) No. 8 Penn State in a highly controversial manner. We’ll get into the full story later, but let’s just say this: If replay reviews had existed in 1982, Nebraska would have been national champions.*

*Had instant replay existed prior to when it started in 2006, I believe Nebraska would have won championships in 1982 and 1993. Florida State’s William Floyd clearly fumbled before crossing the goal line. That said, Nebraska likely would not have won in 1997. The Scott Frost to Matt Davison catch in the Missouri game might have been overturned for being illegally kicked by Shevin Wiggins.

Nebraska opened the 1982 campaign with a 42-7 demolition of Iowa. The next game – against outmatched New Mexico State – featured one of the greatest offensive performances in school history. A school-record 677 rushing yards (without a single yard lost, an NCAA record) and 883 yards of total offense. The upset at Penn State came next. The ending – which I promise we’ll discuss in depth down the line – is so controversial that it is still over-discussed 40 years later. Nebraska opened October with a 41-7 win at No. 20 Auburn.* The nonconference schedule also included an early December trip to Hawaii.

*The 1982 Auburn game is the last time Nebraska played a team from the Southeastern Conference in the regular season. The Tigers hold the distinction of being the last SEC team to visit Memorial Stadium. They lost 17-3 in 1981. Nebraska is 17-8-1 all-time versus the SEC (4-1-1 in the regular season and 13-7 in bowl games).

The Huskers started the 1982 Big Eight slate in dominating fashion, beating Colorado, Kansas State, Kansas, Oklahoma State and Iowa State by an average score of 46-9. A 23-19 win over Missouri (where quarterback Turner Gill was knocked out of the game on a questionable – some might call it “cheap” – hit), was the only competitive game in that stretch.

Quarterback Turner Gill carries the ball during Nebraska's 28-24 win over Oklahoma in 1982. | Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images

That set up the annual clash against Oklahoma for the Big Eight title. Tom Osborne dug into his bag of tricks as the Huskers successfully executed a “Bounceroosky.” Taking the snap from the near hash mark, Gill threw a perfect backwards bounce pass behind the line of scrimmage to Irving Fryar, standing between the far hash mark and the sideline. Fryar than threw a pass to Mitch Krenk, who made an impressive one-handed catch for a 37-yard gain. Nebraska would score a few plays later.

The game was still in doubt late in the fourth quarter until Scott Strasburger intercepted a Kelly Phelps pass and ran it down to the one-yard line. Even though there were still 26 seconds left in the game, Husker fans poured onto the field to celebrate. After the field was cleared (and the Huskers were assessed a 15-yard penalty*), Gill took a knee to seal a 28-24 win. The goalposts were torn down, sending a handful of fans to the hospital.

*I’m not a big gambling guy, but the 1982 OU game is likely in the “Bad Beats” hall of fame. The Huskers were favored by 7 to 9 points and led by four. If Strasburger scores, NU covers… but he’s tackled at the 1. If Nebraska runs a final play from one-yard line (as Osborne was known to do) and scores, NU covers. Instead, the Huskers are backed up 15 yards and Osborne decides to kneel before more mayhem occurs.

The Huskers faced No. 13 LSU in the Orange Bowl. Nebraska turned it over four times in the first half and trailed 17-7 in the third quarter. Turner Gill accounted for two second-half touchdowns and the Blackshirts – led by Tony Felici – held the Tigers to just 38 yards rushing and 211 yards of total offense. Nebraska won 21-20 and finished the season ranked No. 3. No. 2 Penn State beat No. 1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. SMU, who did not have a loss, jumped Nebraska to finish second.

Tony Felici scores against Florida State in 1981. | Nebraska Football Media Guide

Tony Felici was a relatively small defensive end, even by the standards of the early 1980s – his playing weight as a senior was listed at 205 pounds – but that did not stop him from being a presence on the defensive line. A walk-on from Omaha Central, he was an All-Big Eight selection in 1981 and 1982.

In the 1981 game versus Florida State, linebacker Mike Knox blasted a Seminole kick returner so hard that the ball flew out of his hands. Felici caught it on the fly and returned it for a 13-yard touchdown. During his Husker career, Felici recorded 14 sacks and made numerous other tackle for loss.

And he was nearly a two-time national champion.

***

Time often has a way of offering perspective.

In the moment, you are convinced of what you saw (or didn’t see). Your reactions and opinions are shaped by how you experienced that moment when it happened.

But then… days, weeks, or even years go by, and you revisit that moment. What you see is still the exact same, but the elapsed time forces you to view it through a different lens. You are the same person, but in so many ways – thoughts, experiences, and more – you are often completely different.

That’s not a bad thing, by the way. It’s just how life works. It’s okay to acknowledge and accept that our in-the-moment reactions may not always be accurate.

I mention all of this to bring up a specific play in a specific game: Nebraska’s 2010 game at Oklahoma State. The Cowboys just scored to cut the lead to 7-6. We’re still in the first quarter of what would become a 51-41 shootout. The Pokes are kicking off.

Niles Paul catches the kick a yard deep in the end zone. He returns it 100 yards for a touchdown! After a big play like that, everybody scans the field for penalty flags. There are none! Touchdown Nebraska!

But… there is a Cowboy player lying motionless on the field.

Eric Martin makes a tackle against South Dakota State in 2010. | Bruce Thorson-Imagn Images

Replay shows that Eric Martin – a defensive end and special teams dynamo – laid the player out with a massive block. I’m guess the player never saw Martin coming. As trainers attended to him, one of the ABC announcers (Ed Cunningham) made an impassioned speech demonizing the hit – and Eric Martin.

A few days after the game, Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe suspended Martin for “targeting an opponent with the crown of his helmet,” even though no penalty was called during the game. (This was before video replay was used to review potential targeting calls). Martin would have to sit out Nebraska’s next game against No. 7 Missouri.

Husker fans – including myself – were furious. Yeah, the guy got lit up, but that’s football! Everybody who ever played had a coach who said, “Keep your head on a swivel.”

Nebraska fans – already counting down the days until we would leave for the greener pastures of the Big Ten – felt it was another attempt by the league office to stick it to Nebraska on their way out the door. Screw this conference, screw Dan Beebe, and screw Ed Cunningham!

But here’s the thing about time and perspective. I rewatch that hit today and immediately think “yikes, that is definitely targeting.” That’s a 15-yard penalty, take the touchdown off the board, and Martin is gone for the rest of the game. Heck, many officiating crews would tack on a second 15-yard penalty for how Martin stood and flexed towards the sideline after the hit. I still do not miss Ed Cunningham’s preachy commentary during games, but he did know the letter of the law.

I mentioned all of this not to demonize Eric Martin, who remains one of my favorite Nebraska players. I loved his passion, energy and physicality then. Fifteen years later, I wish Nebraska had more players on defense and special teams with those attributes. I don’t want this to come across like a shot at a very fine player.

Eric Martin takes down Iowa State's David Sims in 2010. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

When I first laid out this project, I knew Martin would be the guy I’d want to write about for #46. Mentally, I already started composing a piece about the injustice of that suspension. I’d mention how it was – at the time – a clean hit like Kenny Bell’s infamous block a few years later,* and get a few shots in at Ed Cunningham along the way.

But then I went back and rewatched Martin’s hit, and all of the feelings I’ve held since that game immediately vanished. It was a vicious and illegal hit, even under the targeting rules in place at the time. We can debate Dan Beebe’s motives in suspending Martin before facing a top-10 team, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that player safety was more important than sticking it to NU.

*I will continue to defend Bell’s block because he a) did not lead with his helmet, b) did not hit the Wisconsin player in the helmet, c) did not taunt, and d) the “blindside block” rule had not been introduced yet.

So, instead of remembering Eric Martin from a penalty, I’d rather remember who the special teams standout (he blocked a punt in 2009 and was one of the great wedge busters). Celebrate the linebacker who became an all-conference defensive end with 8½ sacks as a senior. And give some props to the pro who won a Super Bowl ring with the New England Patriots.

All of that is a far greater legacy than one hit in one game.

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