Dave Feit's Greatest Huskers by the Numbers: 8 - Ameer Abdullah

The record-setting all-purpose threat and two of his career-defining plays.

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 8: Ameer Abdullah, Running Back, 2011-2014

Honorable Mention: Tyrone Byrd, Tyrone Williams

Also worn by: Austin Cassidy, Myles Farmer, John Gibson, Will Henry, Lorenzo Hicks, Chris Jones, Paul Letcher, Nate Mason, Stanley Morgan Jr., Brian Morro, Ben Rutz, Andrew Shanle, D.J. Singleton, DeShon Singleton, Logan Smothers, Bobby Thomas, Deontai Williams, Jaron Woodyard

Dave's Fave: Ameer Abdullah


The first time I did this exercise, Tyrone Williams - an excellent cornerback on the 1994 and 1995 teams - owned this spot.

That first iteration was prior to the 2014 season. That's just before Ameer Abdullah etched his name among the all-time greats in Nebraska's history.

Heck, with all due respect to the quarterbacks Martinez (Taylor and Adrian), I would argue that Ameer Abdullah is the best offensive player Nebraska has had since Eric Crouch won the Heisman in 2001.*

*Sorry about the spoiler for #7!

Ameer Abdullah dives for the winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter at Michigan in 2013. | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Nebraska has had some NFL-caliber offensive weapons since 2002 (Jammal Lord, Roy Helu Jr., Rex Burkhead, Stanley Morgan Jr. and Kenny Bell, to name a few), but none of them matched Ameer for consistency, determination and the ability to make a big play when his team needed it most.

Ameer Abdullah's name appears 85 times in the Nebraska football record book. Yes, each of his 24 career games with more than 100 yards rushing (second-most in school history) is listed individually, but it shows Abdullah's ability to be a weapon any time he had the ball in his hands.

Here's a sampling of the records Ameer Abdullah holds:

• Rushing: First in attempts (813), second in career yards (4,588) and 100-yard games (24), as well as the fourth- and sixth-most rushing yards in a season.
• Receiving: Most career TD receptions by a running back (7).
• All-purpose yards: Most in a game (341 vs Rutgers in 2014), most in a career (7,186), and the second-, fourth- and eighth-best seasons in school history. Ameer holds the career record by 1,600 yards over Johnny Rodgers. He has the second-most all-purpose yards in Big Ten history.
• Kickoff returns: Tied for the longest return (100 yards), most return yards in a game (211), fourth-best single season, and third most in a career.
• Scoring: Tied for second with 22 touchdowns scored in a season. Seventh all-time in scoring, and third among non-kickers.

But if Abdullah had listened to the recruiting pitches from home state schools Alabama and Auburn, he may never had gotten the ball in his hands. Both schools wanted him to play cornerback despite 2,315 yards of total offense (and four punt-return touchdowns) as a high school senior.

Ameer Abdullah hurdles a USC cornerback during the 2014 Holiday Bowl. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

When Abdullah signed with Nebraska, he was listed as an "athlete." The only recruiting promise Bo Pelini made was that he'd put Abdullah where his skills would be best utilized. As a freshman, that meant backing up Rex Burkhead - an established star on and off the field - and competing with fellow freshmen (and highly touted running back recruits) Aaron Green and Braylon Heard for carries.

Abdullah made an early splash as a kick returner. In his second career game, Abdullah returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and set his first school record: Most kickoff return yards (211) in a game. He finished his true-freshman season with 1,020 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns.

A knee injury to Burkhead pushed Abdullah into the starting lineup early in the 2012 season. Abdullah seized the opportunity with 1,137 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. Ameer had over 100 yards in each of his first five starts, something that had not been done since Lawrence Phillips in 1994.

Abdullah kept getting better and better. In 2013, he was one yard shy of 2,000 all-purpose yards, including 1,690 rush yards. Ameer returned for his senior season, stating "my chances of long-term success in life will be greatly enhanced by completing my college education."

2014 was the Year of Ameer. Nebraska promoted him as a Heisman candidate, sending eight "AA" batteries to voters. The Cornhusker Marching Band spelled out "FEAR AMEER" at halftime of a game.* Even though he was listed at 5'9," he was the biggest man on campus.

*To my knowledge - and I call upon the Cornhusker Marching Band community to fact-check me - that was the first time the band had spelled out the name of a player since forming "TOM" for Tom Novak in 1949.

Ameer Abdullah rushed for 229 yards in the Huskers' 2014 win against Miami. | Bruce Thorson-Imagn Images

Ameer was a force of nature in 2014. 232 rushing yards against Florida Atlantic. A miracle play versus McNeese that we'll get to a minute. 229 yards and two touchdowns against Miami. 208 and three TDs against Illinois. Four touchdowns (and 146 yards) versus Northwestern. A school-record 341 all-purpose yards against Rutgers, including his fourth 200-yard rushing game of the season. And on and on.

The only thing that slowed Abdullah down was a knee strain suffered in early November. He ended the year with 1,611 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns.*

*Something to note about Ameer's fabulous 2014 season: He wasn't exactly running behind the 1994 Pipeline. I mean no disrespect to (from left to right) Alex Lewis, Jake Cotton, Mark Pelini, Mike Moudy and Zach Sterup, but when Husker fans reminisce about the great offensive lines in school history, that group is unlikely to be mentioned.  

Put it this way: Abdullah rushed for 1,611 yards in 2014 behind a line that can be described as "good, not great." Just imagine what he could have done with an All-America guard clearing the way for him. Lewis and Cotton received honorable mention All-Big Ten recognition.  

Ameer Abdullah is everything you could want in a college running back. Breakaway speed, raw power, good vision and agility, and a warrior-like toughness to play through injuries.

* * *

How many times did Ameer Abdullah save Bo Pelini?

As Nebraska suffered through the Mike Riley and Scott Frost years, a vocal minority of fans (i.e. the last of the "Bo-lievers") often felt the need to remind fans of how Pelini could always - ALWAYS! - be counted on to win nine games.

That is true. Pelini's teams always won nine or 10 games, every single year. But think of the seasons where Bo's Huskers teetered on the brink of falling below the nine-win threshold, only to have Ameer drag them over the line. Here are two examples:

2013: Northwestern at Nebraska.

The game is known for the improbable walk-off Hail Mary from Ron Kellogg III to Jordan Westerkamp. But back up a few plays…

Nebraska is trailing Northwestern by three with under a minute to go in the game. After a sack on third-and-seven, the Huskers have fourth-and-15 from their own 24-yard line. With no timeouts, Kellogg gets the team lined up and takes a shotgun snap.

Kellogg is flushed immediately, and scrambles from right to left. Unable to find a receiver downfield, he dumps it off to Ameer Abdullah. Abdullah catches the ball at the 34, between the hashmarks and the sidelines, needing to reach the 39. Oh yeah, he's also facing the wrong direction. As he turns and steps on the 35-yard line, there are two Wildcats between him and the first down. Alonzo Moore is coming in to help, but he doesn't touch either player (which is for the best, as it likely would have been a block in the back).

Without Ameer Abdullah's fourth-down effort a few plays earlier, this moment against Northwestern in 2013 would never have happened. | Nebraska Athletics

Ameer plants and cuts to his right. The first would-be tackler slides off his back. Near the 37, he's about 2½ yards away from the first down. But the second defender is wrapping him up from the backside. A third Wildcat has his heels on the line to gain and looks ready to make a form tackle.

Abdullah squirts free, putting his left hand down on the 38-yard line for balance, his right knee inches away from the turf. As the third Wildcat defender lunges forward, Ameer dives underneath him, extending his right arm forward, cupping the football.

The ball land squarely on the 40-yard stripe. First down Nebraska with 21 seconds left. Four plays later, Kellogg and Westerkamp would immortalize themselves in Husker history.

2014: McNeese State at Nebraska.  

The Huskers are hosting a lower-division team on a sleepy Saturday morning. The Nebraska offense has struggled for most of the game and gave up a 98-yard pick six. A Cowboy field goal with 4:21 left tied the game at 24. The Huskers were suddenly staring down overtime - or worse, a never-live-it-down home field loss to a FCS school that would finish 6-5, sixth place in the Southland Conference that season.

With just 35 seconds left in regulation, Nebraska has third-and-six from its own 41. Tommy Armstrong Jr. drops back and hits Abdullah on an out route. When Ameer catches it, he's three yards short of the first down with two players in his path. He plants at the 45 as the first defender grabs his shoulder pads. Abdullah plants and drives off to the left, as the first defender's momentum sends him face first into the FieldTurf. Defender number two trips over his teammate.

Ameer Abdullah breaks away to score the winning touchdown in the final half-minute against McNeese State. | Bruce Thorson-Imagn Images

Abdullah crosses the 48 - a first down! - as two more Cowboys converge from either side. Yet another is waiting on the other side of the 50. All four converge at midfield as Ameer takes what looks like a direct hit from the Cowboy defender at midfield. Except… somehow… Ameer spins out of the hit, avoids one of his offensive linemen who has come to help, and bursts upfield.

A great block by Cethan Carter gives Abdullah even more daylight.  Now across the 35, he's at full speed. Jordan Westerkamp lays out to chip the final defender at the 20, and Ameer runs in for one of the most unbelievable touchdowns in Memorial Stadium history… even if it was needed to avoid the most embarrassing loss in school history.

Nebraska would - once again - win nine games in 2014, thanks to Ameer Abdullah.

We could always count on him to deliver in big moments.

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