Dave Feit's Greatest Huskers by the Numbers: 55 - Russ Hochstein

The transition from Tom Osborne to Frank Solich, plus the Peter brothers.

Counting down the greatest Nebraska football players by jersey number. / HuskerMax

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 55: Russ Hochstein, Offensive Guard, 1996 - 2000

Honorable Mention: Rod Horn, Bill Janssen, Christian Peter, Jason Peter, Carl Samuelson,

Also worn by: Terris Chorney, Jon Clanton, Duncan Drum, Randall Jobman, Brad Johnson, Kevin Maurice, Wali Muhammad, Baker Steinkuhler, Paul Thurston

Dave's Fave: Jason Peter, Defensive Tackle, 1994 - 1997


There is a famous axiom in sports: You never want to be the guy who follows The Guy.

But nobody talks about the challenge of being the guy who follows The GOAT who followed The Legend.

That was Frank Solich's situation in 1998.

He was replacing Tom Osborne, who won 255 games and three national championships in 25 years. Osborne had replaced Bob Devaney (101 wins and two natties in 11 seasons).

No pressure. How are you feeling, Frank?

''I don't know if intimidation or fear are the right words,” Solich said on the day he was hired in 1997, ''but there's a lot of anxiety I have right now.''

Russ Hochstein / Nebraska Athletics

The 1998 season had some opening-year bumps and blips. Tim Rattay and Louisiana Tech threw for 590 yards in the season opener (a 56-27 Nebraska win). The Huskers lost their first regular-season Big 12 game - ever - at No. 18 Texas A&M. On Halloween, the Texas Longhorns broke Nebraska's 47-game winning streak at Memorial Stadium (which dated back to 1991). The Huskers would drop two more games to top 5 teams (40-30 to No. 2 Kansas State and 23-20 to No. 5 Arizona in the Holiday Bowl) to finish 9-4. It was Nebraska's first four-loss season since 1968.

The season - especially coming off three national championships in four years - felt disappointing. But it was understandable. Starting quarterback Bobby Newcombe hurt his knee in the opener. When freshman Eric Crouch went down a few weeks later, former walk-on Monte Christo was called on to lead the offense. Ahman Green, the second-leading rushing in school history who would have been a senior in 1997, was in the NFL. Defensively, a lot of the talent from the championship teams left the program.

But the 1998 team did have budding stars like Crouch, Newcombe, Dominic Raiola and Russ Hochstein. A redshirt sophomore from Hartington, Neb., Hoch was an honorable mention All-Big 12 performer despite starting only the final four games of the season.

The remainder of Russ Hochstein's career (1999 and 2000) felt like the Nebraska of old.

1999 was a bounce-back year. Nebraska finished 12-1, winning the Big 12 Conference championship game (NU's most recent conference crown). A four-point loss at Texas, hindered by three Husker fumbles, was the Huskers' only blemish. Longtime defensive coordinator Charlie McBride retired after the season. As a junior in 1999, Hochstein started full time and averaged over 10 pancake blocks per game. He has a first-team All-Big 12 selection.

Before the 2000 season, Offensive line coach Milt Tenopir raved about Hochstein: "If you had to identify the ideal lineman, Russ would be that guy. His size, quickness, effort and love for the game would rank him as one of the outstanding linemen that have come through our program. He is a great leader on and off the field. In starting a team, Russ would be one of the first players you would pick."

After his college career, Russ Hochstein won two Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots. / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Hochstein went on to back up his coach's glowing praise. He was a consensus first-team All-Big 12 choice and a first-team All-American in 2000. In Nebraska's overtime win against Notre Dame,* he set a school record with 23 pancakes.

*Let's do a quick sidebar on that Notre Dame game. Nebraska's first trip to South Bend since 1947 was THE road trip of a lifetime. Officially, Nebraska was allotted 4,000 tickets. An estimated 25,000 red-clad Husker fans begged, borrowed and bought their way into the 80,000-seat Notre Dame Stadium.

My buddies and I paid $300 each for tickets - about $550 in 2025 dollars - and it was worth every last penny. The Notre Dame fans were awesome, the tailgating was great, the game was tremendous, and the stories…. Oh, the stories will last a lifetime. Out of respect for the professionals and business owners I went with, those will remain offline. I will tell you that I have watched Nebraska play in 15 different stadiums and that was easily the most enjoyable experience I've had on the road.

Nebraska fans had a well-earned reputation for travelling well long before the 2000 Notre Dame game. But the takeover of the game in the shadow of Touchdown Jesus cemented Nebraska's legacy as one of the great - if not the best - fan bases in all of college sports.

In addition to the aforementioned overtime win at Notre Dame, the 2000 season was another strong showing. The Huskers finished 10-2 with the only losses coming at the No. 3 and No. 16 teams (Oklahoma and Kansas State).

When Russ Hochstein went off to the NFL to begin his long - and Super Bowl-winning - career, Frank Solich was 31-7 in his first three years. Most fans and pundits believed that would continue for years to come. As we'll discuss later, that was not necessarily the case.

***

Let’s get the controversy out of the way first.

If you want to make the case that Jason Peter had a better career at Nebraska than Russ Hochstein… well, I'm not going to disagree. But - and let's pause while I push up my "well, ackshully" glasses - I don't think there is a debate that Hochstein accomplished more in the #55 jersey than the guy who still refers to himself as the “Double Nickel” did.

Remember, Jason wore #95 for the first three years of his career, while big brother Christian was wearing #55.  Jason's senior season (All-Big 12, All-America, finalist for the Outland and Bronko Nagurski trophies) is extremely impressive. But Hoch's body of work in the double nickel beats that one season.

Regardless, this is why I have the "Dave's Fave" section - to be able talk some Jason Peter. And since we're here, we might as well include Christian too.

Christian Peter and Tyrone Williams celebrate stop against Oklahoma. / 1993 Nebraska Football Media Guide

The Peter brothers - Christian and Jason - were arguably the heart and soul of the championship defenses in the 1990s.

Christian, who played from 1991 to 1995, was the first and set the standard - on the field, at least.*

*Yes, if I'm going to celebrate Christian's contributions to the program, I'm also going to mention his lengthy list of off-field crimes and transgressions. In his five years in Lincoln, Christian was arrested eight times for crimes ranging from public urination to threatening a parking attendant to sexual assault. He was convicted four times. He was accused of assaulting four women.  

One of Christian's victims sued the University of Nebraska under Title IX and received an out-of-court settlement. She remains a vocal and passionate advocate against sexual violence. Despite his numerous run-ins with the law, the biggest punishment Christian Peter received as a player was being held out of a spring game, a glorified intrasquad scrimmage held in front of fans. That's not necessarily a knock against Tom Osborne, as much as it is simply acknowledging that punishments were handled differently in the 1990s than they are today.

Christian holds the unfortunate honor of being the first member of the championship-era Huskers to face charges. That is a list that includes Tyrone Williams (unlawful discharge of a firearm and use of a firearm to commit a felony), Reggie Baul (receiving stolen property), Riley Washington (attempted second-degree murder), Damon Benning (assault) and Lawrence Phillips (assault).  

It is worth noting that in many of these situations, charges were eventually dropped and/or the accused were found innocent.  

But collectively, those arrests and accusations tarnished the legacy of the 1994 and 1995 championship teams and led to the national narrative that Osborne was a "win at all costs" coach.

That was the bad. Let's shift focus to the good.

On the game days, Christian was a team captain, All-Big Eight player and honorable mention All-American. In practice, he was a leader who maintained and passed down the standard by the players who came before him like Kent Wells, Kevin Rameakers, Terry Conneally and others.

On YouTube, you can find a couple of motivational videos featuring Christian that were shown to the 1995 team before games. There's one - from before Nebraska played at No. 10 Kansas - that is an absolute classic. Peter, his head shaved and looking like he just came off the practice field, goes into a lengthy (and sometimes explicit) rant that puts the great WWE promos to shame. Not coincidentally, Nebraska won that game 41-3.

In his final game - the 1996 Fiesta Bowl - Florida scored a late touchdown and went for two. Jared Tomich sacked Danny Wuerffel and knocked the ball free. Christian scooped it up and ran it back, high-stepping the final 10 yards before his fellow Blackshirts tackled him in the end zone. The officials ruled the play dead, even though CBS's Jim Nantz said it "looked like a pretty clean fumble." It was a hilarious ending to one of the greatest nights in Nebraska history.

***

Jason Peter is widely credited as the originator of Nebraska defensive players "throwing the bones" after making a big play. While that claim is not entirely accurate,* he is definitely the first Husker to celebrate a sack by crossing his forearms in an "X" to replicate the Blackshirts skull and crossbones logo. Brandon Vogel did the research and found the first instance was in a 1996 game against Kansas.

*Vogel also found that the true creator of throwing the bones is Matt Hunting, a walk-on linebacker from Cozad, Neb. Hunting made an X with his arms during a 1996 practice. Jason Peter saw it and asked, "what the f--- is that?" Once Hunting explained, Jason knew he was more likely than Hunting to make a big play in a game and therefore had an opportunity - nay, an obligation! - to share the gesture with the rest of Husker Nation.

In a 2019 tweet, Jason even offered instructions on proper "Throwing da Bones" technique:  "You should be looking at (your) thumbs, like (you're) making a pair of binoculars! If (you) see (you're) palms… (thumbs down emoji)."

But Jason Peter's Husker legacy is much more than ensuring passionate Husker fans would have bruises on their forearms after the defense has a big game. Way back at #98, we talked about how Grant Wistrom's vocal do-as-I-say-and-as-I-do style of leadership was critical to the 1997 national championship. Jason Peter was doing the same things throughout that entire year. Together, Peter and Wistrom may be the two most assertive (and successful) captains Nebraska has ever had.

Tom Osborne is embraced by Jason Peter after the Huskers routed Tennessee in the 1998 Orange Bowl. / Nebraska Athletics

I'm guessing they took a lot of leadership cues from Christian Peter and the other defensive leaders who came before them. In 1995, Jason and Christian played side-by-side for much of the season. In the 1996 season, Jason broke his hand - an injury that could sideline a player for an extended period. However, it wasn't long until Jason was back out there with a cast that made it look like his arm suddenly morphed into a gigantic Q-Tip. Instead of being hindered by only having one hand to fight off blocks and make tackles, Peter adapted by using that cast as a club to swat offensive linemen* out of the way.

*Jason Peter always had a healthy hatred for offensive linemen. He referred to them as "fat slobs" and… um… other descriptions that are best left to your imagination.

Like his brother, Jason Peter won a national championship in his final game. One of my favorite moments of the 1998 Orange Bowl is Tom Osborne whipping around to see who had dumped the dadgum Gatorade bucket on him.  T.O. initially looks as upset as anybody who is about to win his third national championship can look. However, the sight of Peter’s grinning mug puts a big smile on Osborne’s face.  As they embrace, it shows the nation a side of the stoic coach that many had not seen.

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