1982 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

The 1982 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Defending Big Ten Champion Iowa was down 28-0 by halftime, and was only able to muster a single 4th-quarter touchdown against Nebraska reserves to avoid the shutout.

Records fell all over as Nebraska steamrolled New Mexico State 68-0 in Lincoln. Nebraska's total of 883 offensive yards, 645 consecutive yards without going backwards, 36 rushing first downs, and 43 total first downs were all new NCAA records.

Nebraska fought back from a 7-21 deficit and finally pulled into the lead on an 80-yard drive with 1:18 remaining, yet the Nittany Lions drove right back and handed the Cornhuskers their first and only loss of the season, keyed by a controversial Penn State completion at the sideline, leaving 9 seconds left on the clock. Sixteen years later, Penn State TE Mike McCloskey, the receiver of the controversial catch, admitted he was out of bounds on the play and should have been ruled incomplete. Because the McCloskey "catch" stood, quarterback Todd Blackledge subsequently tossed the game winning catch to Kirk Bowman with 4 seconds remaining.

The Cornhuskers, demoralized from the loss to Penn State a week earlier, struggled to come to life as Nebraska entered the locker room at halftime with a narrow 14-7 lead. By the end of the 3rd quarter, Nebraska had tacked on another 7 points, while Auburn had turned over the ball three times, and Nebraska finally ran off three straight scores in the 4th to put it away.

Nebraska LB Steve Damkroger only recorded two interceptions during his Nebraska career, both in this game, as new Colorado coach Bill McCartney had his Colorado Buffaloes gunning for Nebraska through his attempt to establish the Cornhuskers as their main rival to give his squad a target by which to measure their success. At one point, Colorado came within 6 points of the lead, but Damkroger's two interceptions helped put to bed any Colorado upset hopes as Nebraska posted 20 unanswered 4th quarter points for the easy win.