Dave Feit's Greatest Huskers by the Numbers: 27 - Irving Fryar

Despite having 116 names on the roster, Big Eight rules allowed teams to take only 60 players on the road. Every Husker played before the fourth quarter started. Mike Rozier had to come back into the game late in the third quarter because his backups were getting gassed. He promptly ran for a 71-yard touchdown. Irving Fryar had 138 receiving yards… on two receptions… both in the first quarter.

It was that kind of night, and Nebraska had that kind of offense.

In the fourth game of the season (UCLA), Nebraska trailed for the first time all year, falling behind 10-0 early in the second quarter. The Huskers then scored 42 unanswered points (including a memorable touchdown) to put the game away. The nonconference schedule ended with a 63-7 beatdown of Syracuse.*

*The Orange would remember the humiliating loss and get their revenge the following season in the Carrier Dome, 17-9. It is one of the biggest upset losses in school history.

The Big Eight schedule started with a 14-10 win at Oklahoma State. NU's 14-point total was the definition of a statistical outlier. Jimmy Johnson's Cowboys were not ranked at the time, but they finished the 1983 ranked No. 18 with an 8-4 record. The Huskers had five turnovers (four fumbles and an interception). The defense - not known as a strength of the 1983 team - saved the day by recording three interceptions, including one by safety Bret Clark in the end zone on the game's final play.

Nebraska's struggles continued the following week at Missouri, as NU led 20-13 going into the fourth quarter. But the Huskers scored twice in the fourth - including Fryar's second touchdown of the day* - to win by 21.

*Irving Fryar, who was battling the flu, sat out much of the second half. He still had seven receptions for 95 yards and two touchdowns. ABC named him the player of the game.

After that, the offense started running wide open. 69-19 over Colorado, including an NCAA-record 48 points in the third quarter. 51-25 at Kansas State. 72-29 over Iowa State and 67-13 over Kansas.

Oklahoma was not ranked for their annual showdown against Nebraska, but Switzer's teams always gave Osborne fits. With 32 seconds left in the game, cornerback Neil Harris made a leaping play in the end zone to break up a pass intended for Buster Rhymes. Nebraska 28, Oklahoma 21. The win gave Osborne his third straight Big Eight title and a trip to the Orange Bowl to face Miami.

The heart and soul of the Scoring Explosion offense were quarterback Turner Gill, I-back Mike Rozier and wingback Irving Fryar. They were the rock stars - "Earth, Wind and Fryar" - forever immortalized on a famous poster* where they are exploding through the Memorial Stadium scoreboard. Switzer simply referred to them as "the triplets."

*Fun fact: The Scoring Explosion poster was originally created as a recruiting piece. When Nebraska realized they had a hit on their hands, they added the 1983 schedule to it and made it available to the public.

The credit for the poster's design has been giviento NU's recruiting coordinator at the time, a Nebraska grad by the name of Steve Pederson.

Irving Fryar, by some accounts, may have been the most talented of the Scoring Explosion triplets, and yet I think he is the least heralded. While understandable (Rozier won the Heisman. Turner Gill finished fourth and is one of the greatest quarterbacks in school history as well as a longtime assistant coach), I think that is a shame. Consider: On the magical 1983 squad, Fryar touched the ball 83 times (catches, runs and kick returns). He averaged a staggering 14.6 yards per touch. He averaged 19.5 yards per reception.

Fryar easily earned All-Big 8 and All-America honors in 1983. Do you understand how rare it is – and how good you need to be – to earn consensus All-America honors as a receiver on a team that leads the nation in rushing? Think about it, if your offense is rolling up 400 yards rushing every game, how many opportunities will you get to catch passes?

That’s probably why Fryar was only the second player in college football history to ever do it, Another Husker legend – Freeman White – was the first.

Fryar went on to become Nebraska’s second-ever No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. He enjoyed a lengthy and productive pro career. Fryar scored a touchdown in Super Bowl XX, but his New England Patriots did not win. Unfortunately, it was not the first time Fryar's team came up short in a championship game.

In the 1984 Orange Bowl, No. 1 Nebraska had to play No. 5 Miami in the Hurricanes' home stadium. The Huskers fell behind 17-0 but fought back to make it a one-point game with 48 seconds to go. If Osborne kicks the PAT, the game likely ends in a tie and Nebraska wins the championship. Osborne elected to go for two and the outright win. Gill's attempt was incomplete and the Scoring Explosion came up short.

Ironically, Nebraska's most famous offensive trio never won a national championship. An Orange Bowl loss to Clemson in 1981, a controversial loss at Penn State in 1982 and a missed two-point conversion in 1983.

***

A random fact about Sam Foltz: In his first year at Nebraska (2012), he was listed as a wide receiver. In 2013, Foltz was listed as "wide receiver/punter." Of the 4,000+ players to ever appear on a Nebraska roster, Sam Foltz is the only one to simultaneously be listed at those two positions.

Sam Foltz was truly a one of one.

Alas, Foltz never caught a pass in a game at Nebraska.* That's not because of his receiving abilities. As a senior at Grand Island High School, Foltz caught 39 passes for 686 yards and 10 touchdowns (his quarterback was Husker teammate Ryker Fyfe). But it was easy to see that his future was as a punter.

*Can you imagine Foltz - who was also the holder for field goals and PATs - catching a pass on a fake and lowering his shoulder into some unsuspecting defensive back?

As a redshirt freshman, he averaged 41.6 yards per kick. Pretty darn good for a kid from - as he put it during pregame introductions - "Small Town, USA. Greeley, Nebraska." Foltz would only get better throughout his career. His average punt climbed to 42.2 yards as a sophomore and 44.2 as a junior. In 2015, sixteen of his punts traveled more than 50 yards. Fifteen of his kicks were downed inside the opponent's 20-yard line. He was the Blackshirts' best friend.*

*In the first quarter of the 2014 Iowa game, Foltz launched a 50-yard punt. The returner ran to his left and started to cut upfield. As fans started to get nervous, a white jersey came streaking into the frame. Foltz made a solo tackle, with his shoulder dislodging the football. Nebraska recovered the fumble and turned it into points in a 37-34 overtime win.

Going into his senior season, Foltz was a candidate for the Ray Guy Award (given to the nation's best punter). A lengthy NFL career seemed likely. Off the field, he was an excellent student, having already earned his degree in agronomy. He was quite active in the community, earning spots on the Tom Osborne and Brook Berringer Citizenship teams.

Every year, Nebraska holds an all-ages Road Run event to raise money for pediatric brain cancer research. There's a famous photo of Foltz running outside the stadium next to a young fan. The boy is staring up at Foltz with a look of starstruck awe. Foltz captioned the photo "You never know who's watching.. What impact do you wanna leave on the next generation to aspire to?! #DreamBig"

That's who Sam Foltz was - a fun-loving, hard-working, humble Nebraskan with big dreams. It's one of the many reasons he was a fan favorite throughout his career. Teammate and friend Sam Hahn put it best: "The thing that made Sam the most special was that he didn't know he was special."

Tragically, Foltz and Michigan State punter Mike Sadler died in an automobile accident while attending a kicking camp in July 2016. Foltz was just 22 years old. In Nebraska's first home game of 2016, the Huskers honored him with a "missing man" formation. Play-by-play announcer Greg Sharpe gave Husker Nation "permission to shed a tear." I, like most of the people who were there, did just that.

Sam's #27 has been unofficially out of circulation since his passing. It has been worn in a game only once (by grad transfer Kyan Brumfield in the 2021 Fordham game).

The Sam Foltz Foundation (www.forevertwoseven.org) conducts an annual kicking camp to help the next generation of kickers. The foundation also awards scholarships to graduates of Grand Island and Central Valley (Greeley) High Schools.  The Sam Foltz Memorial Scholarship is given to a player who "best represents Sam’s characteristics of excellence and leadership – on and off the field."

Sam Foltz left us far too soon. His memory and his mantra ("Dream big. Work hard. Stay humble.") will remain alive forever.