Nebraska Football's All-Quarter-Century Team

Running Backs

Ameer Abdullah, 2011-14

Abdullah earned All-America honors twice as a Husker, including second-team after his dynamic 2014 season. He put together his third straight 1,000-yard rushing season in 2014, a first in the history of the Nebraska football program. Abdullah trails only Mike Rozier for 100-yard games and career rushing yards. Rozier and Eric Crouch are the only Huskers to score more rushing touchdowns in a career. He holds the record for most all-purpose yards in a Husker career.

Rex Burkhead, 2009-12

Burkhead still holds the school record for carries in a game, with 38 against Iowa in 2011. The 2011 first-team All-Big Ten selection is No. 6 on the Nebraska all-time rushing chart and tied with Lawrence Phillips for 10th in career rushing touchdowns.

Wide Receivers

Stanley Morgan Jr, 2015-18

Morgan had a record-breaking career, that saw him finish with career records for receptions and receiving yards and season records for receiving yards, receptions by a wide receiver, and 100-yard receiving games in a season. He also went 38 consecutive games with a catch. The two-time second-team All-Big Ten selection held the top two spots for most receiving yards in a season when he was done in Lincoln.

Kenny Bell, 2011-14

Bell finished his time in Lincoln with the program career records for receptions and receiving yards. Bell's first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2014 made him the first Husker receiver to earn a first-team nod since 1991. Still holding the record for the longest touchdown run by a freshman in school history (80 yards at Minn., 2011), Bell is most known on highlights for an explosive block during the 2012 Big Ten Championship game.

Tight End

Austin Allen, 2018-21

Allen was named the Big Ten Tight End of the Year in 2021. In that season, he set the position records for single-game receiving yards, season receptions, season receiving yards, and season 100-yard receiving games. He is currently 30th on the all-time receptions chart at NU.

Offensive Line

Russ Hochstein, 1997-00

Hochstein earned more than just All-Big 12 honors in 2000; he was also an All-American. He helped Nebraska claim the NCAA rushing title in 2000. Against Notre Dame, he set a school record for pancake blocks in a game with 23.

Dominic Raiola, 1998-00

Raiola is the only offensive lineman of the 21st century to have his jersey retired. The inaugural Rimington Award winner in 2000 as the best center in the nation, Raiola was also a finalist for the Lombardi and the Outland trophies. He earned first-team All-America while helping the Huskers to an NCAA rushing title (349.0 yards per game).

Toniu Fonoti, 1999-2001

Fonoti earned All-Big 12 honors twice in the early 2000s, including 2001 when he was a first-team All-American. A finalist for the Outland Trophy and semifinalist for the Lombardi, he helped lead Nebraska to the BCS National Championship. Along the way, Fonoti set records for single-game pancake blocks (32, Texas Tech), single-season pancakes (201), and career pancakes (379).

Cam Jurgens, 2018-21

Jurgens made the switch from tight end to center during a redshirt season in 2018. That move proved to be perhaps the single best decision of the Scott Frost era. Jurgens started all but one game over the next three seasons, earning third-team All-Big Ten in 2021.

Richie Incognito 2001-03

Incognito was the first Husker freshman offensive lineman to start in the season opener and just the third rookie lineman to earn any start in his first year of competition. He would eventually earn All-Big 12 honors and notch the second-highest pancake total in a season with 171.

Defense

Defensive Line

Ndamukong Suh, 2005-09

Suh finished his career as one of the most productive and decorated defenders in Husker history. A two-time All-Big 12 selection, 2009 saw Suh named Associated Press College Player of the Year, Unanimous First-Team All-American, Rotary Lombardi Award Winner, Bronko Nagurski Trophy Winner, Chuck Bednarik Award Winner, Bill Willis Award Winner, Big 12 Conference Defensive Lineman of the Year, and Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year, among others.

As a senior, Suh led Nebraska in tackles for the second straight season with 85 tackles, the most by a defensive lineman since 1974. He also became the first defensive lineman to lead Nebraska in tackles in consecutive seasons. He also led the team in tackles for loss (24), sacks (12), quarterback hurries (26) and blocked kicks (3). His 24 tackles for loss were second on the Nebraska season list, while his 12 sacks ranked third in school history. Suh's 10 pass breakups were second on the team and led the nation's defensive linemen. He also added his fourth career interception, an NU record for defensive linemen.

Randy Gregory, 2013-14

Gregory set the record for most sacks as a first-year Husker in 2013. He carried that momentum into first-team All-Big Ten selections that year and in 2014. In his final year, Gregory had multiple outlets name him as an All-American. His 10.5 sacks in 2013 are ninth-best in program history for a single season, with his 17.5 sacks also ranking ninth all-time.

Jared Crick, 2008-11

Crick missed the majority of his senior season with an injury, but still put together a career that saw him finish in the top 10 on Nebraska's career sacks list and just outside of the top 10 in career tackles for loss. Crick earned first-team All-Big 12 honors in 2009 and 2010, being named an All-American by multiple outlets for his junior season.

Adam Carriker, 2002-06

Carriker was named first-team All-Big 12 and the league's Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2006, capping off a dominant Husker career. In his senior season, he had a team-leading seven sacks and ranked second on the team with 16 tackles for loss. His 52 total tackles led all Nebraska defensive linemen, and he also paced the Blackshirt defense with 12 quarterback hurries, while registering his first career interception.

Linebackers

Carlos Polk, 1997-2000

Polk helped the Cornhuskers enter the new millennium with a bang, as he was named a first-team All-American in 2000. No Husker linebacker in history has made opponents lose more yards than Polk did in his career, with 32 TFLs for 134 yards.

Lavonte David, 2010-11

David made a giant impact in just two years with the Blackshirts. The two-time All-American was the top linebacker in the Big Ten in 2011, earning Butkus-Fitzgerald Big Ten Linebacker of the Year. In that final season, he led the team in tackles (133), tackles for loss (13), sacks (5.5), interceptions (2), fumbles caused (2), and fumble recoveries (2). David holds the record for most tackles in a season (152, 2010), passes broken up by a linebacker in a season (10, 2010), and is No. 5 on the all-time tackles chart.

Barrett Ruud, 2001-04

Ruud is Nebraska's all-time leading tackler with 432 from 2001-04. A three-time All-Big 12 selection and 2004 third-team All-American, he also holds the single-game Husker record for unassisted tackles with 16 against Kansas State in 2004, which helped him set the single-season record that same year. Only Lavonte David has had a season with more total tackles than Ruud, who owns spots two and three on the single-season tackles list.

Defensive Backs

Prince Amukamara, 2007-10

Amukamara closed his Husker career as 2010's Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, also being named a first-team All-American. That season saw opponents complete just 18 passes in 52 attempts against him. He also ranked among the national leaders with 13 pass breakups, while registering 59 tackles, including 36 solo stops. Amukamara is tied for eighth in single-season interceptions (5), eighth in single-season pass breakups (13), and seventh in career pass breakups (27).

Josh Bullocks, 2002-04

Bullocks may not have returned as many interceptions for touchdowns as his twin brother, but he found a way to grab more during their time in Lincoln. His 10 interceptions in 2003 are a single-season record. Bullocks also ranks second in all-time interceptions (13), trailing only Dana Stephenson's 14 from 1967-69.

Alfonzo Dennard, 2008-11

Dennard was named the Tatum-Woodson Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year. During that 2011 season, he ended Michigan State's B.J. Cunningham's 41-game run of receptions and held Big Ten Receiver of the Year Marvin McNutt of Iowa to just four catches for 29 yards.

Nate Gerry, 2013-16

Gerry was top two among Blackshirts in both tackles and interceptions for three consecutive seasons. A 2016 All-American, he is No. 8 on the all-time tackles chart and only trails Mike Brown (1996-99) among defensive backs. He holds the position record for unassisted tackles and tackles for loss in a career, while also ranking No. 2 among all positions for unassisted tackles in a career behind Barrett Ruud. Gerry is also tied for eighth in single-season interceptions (5) and second in career interceptions (13).

Specialists

Kicker

Alex Henery, 2007-10

Henery set the NCAA record for career field goal percentage, knocking through 89.5% of his attempts from 2007-10. When combined with PATs, he put the ball through the uprights 96.7% of the time in his career. He also holds Husker records for PAT/FG% in a season, FG% in a career, longest field goal made (57 yards, Colorado 2008), consecutive PATs made (116), consecutive field goals made (18), most makes in a season (24), and most makes in a career (68).

A multiple-time All-Big 12 selection, Henery earned first-team All-America in 2010. He trails only Dale Klein's 1985 effort against Missouri for most field goals in a game, making five against Virginia Tech in 2009. He is tied twice with Paul Rogers from the 1969 Sun Bowl for most makes in a bowl game: four in the 2009 Gator Bowl and in the 2009 Holiday Bowl. He is tied with himself (2009 and 2010) for 10th in single-season scoring. Henery ranks first all-time for career scoring at Nebraska.

Punter

Sam Koch, 2001-05

Koch was named All-Big 12 and an All-American in 2005 after a dominant season. Two of the five longest punts in school history came that year: 84 yards vs. Pittsburgh and 76 yards vs. Wake Forest. His 46.51 yards per punt in 2005 is a school record. Koch only trails Hadenfeldt for career average, at 44.04.

Returner

De'Mornay Pierson-El, 2014-17

Pierson-El was named the 2014 Jet Award Punt Returner of the Year, earning All-America honors for his return ability. His 44.67 yards per punt return average against Iowa that year is a single-game record. Also that year, he had an 86-yard return against Fresno State, which is the seventh-longest punt return in school history. His 596 punt return yards in 2014 are third in school history for a single season, which is the same slot he sits in for career punt return yards (904).

• QB Eric Crouch
• RB Ameer Abdullah
• RB Rex Burkhead
• WR Stanley Morgan Jr.
• WR Kenny Bell
• TE Austin Allen
• OL Dominic Raiola
• OL Toniu Fonoti
• OL Russ Hochstein
• OL Richie Incognito
• OL Cam Jurgens
• DL Ndamukong Suh
• DL Randy Gregory
• DL Adam Carriker
• DL Jared Crick
• LB Lavonte David
• LB Barrett Ruud
• LB Carlos Polk
• DB Prince Amukamara
• DB Nate Gerry
• DB Alfonzo Dennard
• DB Josh Bullocks
• K Alex Henery
• P Sam Koch
• R De'Mornay Pierson-El