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Dave Feit’s Greatest Huskers by the Numbers: 85 – Freeman White

Originally posted on Nebraska Cornhuskers on SI | Last updated Jun 4, 2025 7:00 AM ET

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 85: Freeman White, End, 1963 – 1965

Honorable Mention: Jon McWilliams, William Schabacker

Also worn by: T.J. DeBates, James Huge, KC Hyland, Faron Klingelhoefer, Monte Kratzenstein, Daryl Liese, Wyatt Liewer, Jerry List, Tom Penney, J.B. Phillips, Wade Praeuner, Robb Schnitzler, Matt Shaw, Matt Snyder

Dave’s Fave: Matt Shaw, Tight End, 1990 – 1994

Pop quiz: What is longest run in the 100+ year history of Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium, and who made it?

Roger Craig went 94 yards for a score against Florida State in 1981. But an opponent holds the stadium record.

In 1963, a junior halfback from Kansas scored on a 99-yard touchdown run. His name? Gale Sayers.

Although he was known as the “Kansas Comet,” Gale Sayers almost became a Nebraska Cornhusker. Sayers grew up in Omaha and attended Central High School. He signed a grant-in-aid agreement with Nebraska coach Bill Jennings in 1961. But the decision didn’t feel right to Sayers.

On his recruiting visit to the Nebraska campus, Sayers and a Central teammate slept on cots in the basement of a dormitory, clanging heating pipes over their heads. Their hosts took them to a dance at the student union with nearly fifty black athletes… and just two black girls. At Kansas, Sayers slept in an actual bed and met members of black fraternities and sororities. He flipped to KU days before classes started, and the rest is history.

Jennings, who had already been struggling, was fired after going 3-6-1 in 1961.* Bob Devaney was hired to replace him.

*Ironic side note: Jennings was hired as an assistant coach at Kansas and had a front-row seat for Sayers’s record-setting career.

Although he was not involved in the recruitment of Sayers, Devaney vowed that Nebraska would not lose out on a player like him again. He saw the changes that needed to be made.

His program – and the university overall – needed more diversity.

Nebraska’s first black player was George Flippin in the 1890s. There were a few other black players around the turn of the century… and then there was a big, awkward gap until 1951.*

*More on this when we get into the 60s…

Devaney once told a story from his days as an assistant coach at Michigan State. He was hard at work studying game film, really breaking down the X’s and O’s. Head coach Duffy Daugherty walked in and said, “That don’t do much good unless you have the players to put in the films.” Devaney later said the biggest lesson he learned at Michigan State was “recruiting is the name of the game.” He would put that knowledge to work both within Nebraska’s borders and in the Big Ten footprint he covered while in East Lansing.

Early in his NU career, Devaney recruited more black players than any (and likely, every) Nebraska coach before him. By 1964, Nebraska had eight black players on the roster. That might not seem like much now, but at the time it was incredibly rare for a college football team outside of the Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) to have eight black players.*

*Devaney also pressured the university to award more scholarships to black women. A cynic may suggest this was to done primarily to help the numbers at those campus dances. But from everything I have read about Devaney, I believe he did this with honest and respectable intentions.

The black players on the 1964 team referred to themselves as the “Magnificent Eight.” Their names: Jim Brown, Langston Coleman, Tony Jeter, Preston Love Jr., Willie Paschall, Ted Vactor, Harry Wilson and Freeman White.

Freeman White is one of the greatest receivers in school history. As a junior, White caught a Big Eight-best 19 passes for 338 yards – just one yard shy of the school record. He scored two touchdowns, both of which were over 55 yards. White earned All-Big Eight honors.

In his senior season, White set seven school records, including receptions and yards for a game, season and career. He easily repeated as All-Big Eight and earned All-America honors.*

*Here is the list of every college football receiver to earn All-America honors while playing for a team that led the nation in rushing (since 1964, when two-platoon football returned full-time):

Freeman White, Nebraska, 1965
Irving Fryar, Nebraska, 1983
(end of list)

It is tough to overstate the impact of the “Magnificent Eight.” On the field, players like Freeman White, Tony Jeter and others took Nebraska to new levels of success. On the recruiting trail,* the Eight’s accomplishments helped open doors in black communities, which ultimately led to one of the greatest players in school history: Johnny Rodgers.

*More on recruiting and another member of the Magnificent Eight next time…

And while we’re not going to explore it, try to imagine the societal impact (and fan reaction) of eight black men playing for the flagship university in a state that was – per the 1970 census – 97% white. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech a year for the Magnificent Eight suited up for Nebraska. Racial tensions throughout the decade were very high.

Before we go, let’s do one more pop quiz: At the top, we learned that Gale Sayers has the longest run in Memorial Stadium. What is longest reception in the 100+ year history of Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium, and who made it?

In 1965, Fred Duda threw a 95-yard touchdown pass against Colorado. The man who caught it? Freeman White.

***

Technically, Matt Shaw played tight end at Nebraska. But let’s be honest: He was the honorary sixth member of the vaunted Pipeline offensive line.

The 1994 team rotated three tight ends. Mark Gilman had 17 catches for 196 yards and one touchdown. Eric Alford had 14 catches for 271 yards and four TDs in 1994.

Matt Shaw’s career statistics:

Games played: 33
Receptions: 0
Yards: 0
Touchdowns: 0

And yet, he is an unsung hero of the 1994 national championship.

Let’s go back to the winning drive from the 1995 Orange Bowl against Miami:

Third-and-three from the NU 48
Shaw intentionally goes by Miami defensive end Kenny Holmes on his way to the second level. Unblocked and in the backfield, Holmes now gets to play a game known as “Tommie Frazier’s Option Pick ‘Em!” Does he go after Frazier or Lawrence Phillips? The Hurricane defender picks L.P., which is the wrong answer. Frazier cuts and zips upfield. Meanwhile, Shaw has locked into Miami linebacker Corwin Francis and steers him out of the way as Frazier goes flying by. It is a 25-yard gain, and Nebraska is in business.

First-and-ten from the Miami 27
Shaw shoves Holmes away from the play and sprints downfield looking for somebody else to block. Phillips picks up about seven yards.

Second-and-three from the 21
Shaw and Clester Johnson combine to put Holmes on his back, but Phillips is stopped for no gain.

Third-and-three from the 21
Initially, Shaw isn’t on the field, but Frazier doesn’t like what he sees and calls timeout before the snap. With many of the Miami defenders on a knee trying to catch their breath, Shaw comes back onto the field. It’s an option to Shaw’s side. This time, Shaw blocks Holmes. He drives the future first-round draft pick toward the sideline and onto his back. It is a textbook pancake block. Frazier picks up seven yards and a first down.

On the next play, Frazier handed the ball to Cory Schlesinger on a trap play.

Touchdown.

National championship.

Do you know who the first person was to greet Schlesinger in the end zone? Matt Shaw.

After the game, Sports Illustrated released a Special Collector’s Edition about Nebraska’s first national championship in a generation. Do you know who is on the cover?

Matt Shaw, being embraced by Aaron Graham.