Dave Feit's Greatest Huskers by the Numbers: 6 - Keith Jones

How an innovative new play helped the Huskers find the end zone, plus the story behind Darin Erstad's championship leg.

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 6: Keith Jones, I-back, 1984-1987

Honorable Mention: Sammy Sims

Also worn by: AJ Bush Jr., Kenny Cheatham, Corey Cooper, Khiry Cooper, Major Culbert, Donald DeFrand, Darin Erstad, DeAntae Grixby, Tommi Hill, Eric Lee, Tim Marlowe, Armando Murillo, Quinton Newsome, John Reece

Dave's Fave: Darin Erstad, Punter, 1994


The old joke was that Tom Osborne's offense had four plays: Option left, option right, fullback trap and PAT. But the reality was Osborne's offense could do a ton of different things.

He could run his basic plays out of numerous formations and sets. I-formation, two tight ends, power I, Maryland I, shotgun, ace, trips, even a spread with five wideouts. Many of his running plays could also be utilized as a play-action pass with devasting results. Safeties, seeing the same running play over and over, would start to cheat up looking to make a tackle. That's when a Husker receiver would go flying by, en route to a 50-yard reception.

Osborne loved to put strain on opposing defenses, and he could do it several different ways. Think of him as an ace baseball pitcher with four dominating pitches:

• The power running game was his fastball. Here it comes. Try to do something about it.
• Play-action passes were his off-speed pitch. It looked like a split-finger fastball, but it was actually a split end running wide open in the secondary.
• The option was his curveball. You might recognize it early, but you must have excellent discipline to avoid chasing a ball that isn't there.
• Osborne's fourth pitch was a screwball.

Keith Jones carries the ball against Oklahoma. | Nebraska Athletics

In baseball terms, a screwball is a breaking ball that moves in the opposite direction of a typical curve or slider. In football terms, we know it simply as counter.

Counter is a running play credited to Osborne and offensive line coach Milt Tenopir that used misdirection and pulling linemen to create gigantic running lanes. "Counter" can refer to counter traps, counter sweeps and the counter trey.

If you want a detailed X's-and-O's breakdown of the counter play (and its many variations), there's a ton of great content online. I'm going to stick with a very high-level description:

At the snap, counter looks like a run to the right. The defense reacts and pursues in that direction. But then the I-back jab steps and heads to the left as two pulling linemen suddenly appear to form a convoy. Trust me: you do NOT want to be the defensive end on the play side when a 300-pound pulling lineman hits you with a full head of steam.

Counter was introduced to the world in 1982 as Mike Rozier ran through holes as wide as a Platte River on his way to a host of school records.

The football world took notice.

Keith Jones checks for pursuers during one of his patented long runs. | Nebraska Football Media Guide

Hall of Fame NFL coach Joe Gibbs: "We saw some film on Nebraska, and Tom Osborne was doing some really innovative things with his line up front. We were watching it and thought, 'God, that’s good stuff.' So, we stole it." Gibbs adapted the counter for Washington's offense and rode the play to three Super Bowl wins.

Between the success of Nebraska and Washington, the Gospel of Counter spread far and wide. Even in a shotgun, spread-formation era, counter is still a widely used - and effective - play. Ohio State won the national championship game in 2014 by running counter all over the Oregon Ducks.

By the time Keith Jones became the starting I-back at Nebraska (1986), the counter was an integral part of the offense. And the speedster known as "End Zone" Jones was the perfect back for it. At Illinois in 1986, Jones ran a counter from the Nebraska 22-yard line that was a thing of beauty.

Right guard John McCormick and right tackle Tom Welter drove the defensive tackle into the next county. The defensive end was fooled by the action to the strong side of the field and has mostly taken himself out of the play. As he tries to recover, left guard Stan Parker pulls around and trips him up, creating the inside wall of the hole. Left tackle Kevin Lightener looks like a locomotive pulling from the other side of the field, looking for somebody to run over. Seven yards downfield, he finds an Illini cornerback who is suddenly wishing he was in the marching band.

Keith Jones sprints 78 yards for a Nebraska touchdown against Illinois in 1986. | Nebraska Football Media Guide

"End Zone"* Jones shows off his (electronically timed) 4.3 speed and sprints 78 yards, untouched, for a touchdown.

*Contrary to popular belief, Keith Jones did not pick No. 6 because carrying a ball into the end zone is worth six points. The motivation came from Jones' senior season at Omaha Central where the team lost three games by a total of six points. As Jones told the Omaha World-Herald in 2015: "I just always felt like if I’d done a little more in those games we could have won ’em. So, I picked No. 6 because that was kind of my driving force — to finish every run, to try to make the most of each play."

But Keith Jones was more than just a speed guy. Earlier in that same game, Jones lowered his pads, crumpled a safety into the turf and picked up another seven yards. Jones would finish the 1986 season with a team-high 830 yards and 14 touchdowns, earning All-Big Eight honors.

As a senior, Jones battled injuries but still rushed for 1,232 yards and 13 more TDs. Jones was once again a first team All-Big Eight performer and honorable-mention All-American.

For his career, Keith "End Zone" Jones" left Nebraska as the third-leading rusher in school history (currently 17th). He ended his final regular season with 240 yards against Iowa State, 94 against Oklahoma and a career-best 248 rushing yards against Colorado.

* * *

In the 1994 Orange Bowl, Nebraska came agonizingly close to winning Tom Osborne's first national championship. A furious final drive gave senior kicker Byron Bennett a chance for a walk-off win. Unfortunately, his 45-yard field goal attempt went wide left. Osborne knew he would need a big leg if the Huskers were going to complete their unfinished business.

But nobody expected Osborne to find it on the Nebraska baseball team. Over the years, numerous Husker football players have moonlighted on the baseball team. But had anyone ever gone from baseball to football?

Enter Darin Erstad.

In the spring of 1994, sophomore Erstad was the best player on Nebraska's baseball team, hitting .317 with a team-high 12 home runs and 52 runs batted in. Likely to be a high draft pick the following year, Erstad didn't set out to become a member of the Nebraska football team.

As part of their conditioning, members of the baseball team would play football at the Cook Pavilion. Afterward, they'd kick the ball around. His baseball teammates quickly realized that Erstad - the North Dakota Athlete of the Year and a punter/kicker on his high school team - was really good. Rumors of Erstad's big leg reached the football offices. Osborne and his staff were curious.

Darin Erstad | Nebraska Athletics

Due to the expansive NCAA rule book, it wasn't easy. As a scholarship athlete in another sport, Erstad couldn't try out for the football team, nor could he walk on. Heck, the football coaches weren't allowed to watch Erstad kick in person.

To maintain compliance and eligibility, Erstad's baseball teammates were instructed to videotape him attempting a number of specific punts and kicks (into the wind, different distances, etc.). That tape made its way into Osborne's VCR. Osborne was interested, but it meant Erstad would have to relinquish his baseball scholarship and become a football scholarship player.

Duing the summer before the 1994 season, Erstad played baseball in the prestigious Cape Cod League. Nebraska sent him with a half-dozen footballs and asked him to practice punting while he was out there. He took the footballs to a local park, kicked them to one end, jogged over, and kicked them back. Erstad won the Cape's MVP award but left before the playoffs started: Nebraska's fall camp was starting.

Erstad's first game was the 1994 Kickoff Classic against No. 24 West Virginia at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. The Mountaineers had Todd Saurerbrun, an All-America punter who would go onto a 13-year NFL career. Nebraska had an outfield from the baseball team who would go onto a 14-year MLB career. Aided by a 90-yard bomb, Sauerbrun won the head-to-head battle, averaging 60.1 yards on nine kicks. But Erstad more than held his own, punting three times for a 48.3-yard average.

Darin Erstad at bat for the Anaheim Angels in 2003. | VJ Lovero-Imagn Images

Erstad averaged 42.6 yards per punt in 1994, with a long of 73. He was 3 of 8 on his field goals, with a long of 48. Tom Sieler kicked most of the PATs and field goals inside 40 yards. Erstad's big left leg had everything over 40 yards.

In the 1995 Orange Bowl against Miami, Erstad was an unsung hero. He had seven punts for a 41.1 average, with three being downed inside the 10. Erstad did not attempt a field goal, but his coach was confident in his abilities. Osborne once told the Lincoln Journal-Star: "In retrospect, we might’ve won two (titles with Erstad)…He could kick it 50 to 55 yards, and he was good under pressure."

After helping the football team win the national championship, Erstad returned to baseball and hit .410 with 19 home runs and 79 RBIs in 1995. The California Angels selected Erstad as the No. 1 overall pick in the 1995 MLB draft. Erstad would later return to his alma mater to lead the baseball program from 2012-2019.

How many other football programs have had players taken first overall in the drafts of two different pro sports?

---

---

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