1985 Sugar Bowl

New Orleans, La., Jan. 1, 1985--Senior quarterback Craig Sundberg closed out his career in grand style, as he led the Huskers back from a 10-0 first-half deficit to a 28-10 win over Louisiana State in the 51st annual Sugar Bowl.

Fired-up LSU scored on two of its first three possessions to grab the early lead, but after a rocky start, the Sundberg-led Nebraska offense roared to life to put 28 unanswered points on the board. Two of the Huskers' four touchdowns were set up by a defense that forced six Tiger turnovers, five of them interceptions, including four off LSU starting quarterback Jeff Wickersham.

Sophomore I-back Doug DuBose helped spark Nebraska with a 102-yard rushing effort, but it was Sundberg who provided most of the punch and was named the game's most valuable player. Starting for the first time since arm trouble knocked him out of the starting lineup at midseason, Sundberg completed 10 of 15 passes for 143 yards, threw for three touchdowns and ran for the go-ahead score himself on a 9-yard sprint 6:46 into the second half. Sundberg's three TD passes tied a Nebraska bowl record. Two of those scoring tosses went to tight end Todd Frain, tying another NU bowl mark.

1985 Sugar Bowl

Teams	1	2	3	4	Final
Nebraska	0	7	7	14	28
Louisiana St.	3	7	0	0	10

 

Statistics	NU	LSU
First Downs	23	21
Rushing, Net	280	183
Passes Att., Comp., Int.	18-10-3	38-20-5
Passing, Net	144	221
Total Offense	423	404

Scoring Summary
First Quarter
LSU-FG Ronnie Lewis 37, 4:40

Second Quarter
LSU-Dalton Hilliard 2 run (Lewis kick), 13:11
NU-Doug DuBose 31 pass from Craig Sundberg (Dale Klein kick), 10:31

Third Quarter
NU-Sundberg 9 run (Klein kick), 8:14

Fourth Quarter
NU-Todd Frain 24 pass from Sundberg (Klein kick), 10:54
NU-Frain 17 pass from Sundberg (Klein kick), 8:40