Huskers Honor 2015 Hall-of-Fame Class, 1965 Team

Blackshirts Headline 2015 Hall of Fame Class

Randy York’s N-Sider

Official Blog of the Huskers

Recent NFL defensive standouts Demorrio Williams and Josh Bullocks and former Nebraska quarterback Scott Frost are among a six-player Husker class of 2015 inductees into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame this weekend.

Five Husker players will be back inside Memorial Stadium Saturday. The late Brook Berringer is the sixth Husker, and his family will be on hand Saturday, following Friday night’s 2015 Nebraska Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Williams and Bullocks wore Blackshirts together at Nebraska in 2002 and 2003. Williams went on to play eight years in the NFL with three teams, and Bullocks played six years in the NFL with two teams. Frost quarterbacked Nebraska’s 1997 national championship team that beat Tennessee, 42-17, in the Orange Bowl. He spent six years in the NFL as a defensive back.

Jeff Krejci, a first-team All-Big Eight safety in 1981, is a fourth modern-day Husker who will be inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame. Krejci played on a team that lost to national champion Clemson, 22-15, in the Orange Bowl.

It’s a Double Celebration Weekend for ‘Light Horse’ Harry Wilson

Harry "Light Horse" Wilson, pictured above, is the fifth and final Husker who will be in Lincoln on Saturday. Wilson will be honored twice this weekend: as a Hall-of-Fame inductee; and as a 1965 Nebraska team member joining the celebration of the 50-year anniversary of the Huskers’ 1965 Big Eight championship and Orange Bowl team.

Following a 10-0 regular season in 1965, NU fell to Alabama, 39-28, in an Orange Bowl showdown that decided the national champion. ‘Bama had difficulty stopping Nebraska’s offense, but benefitted from keeping the Husker offense on the bench, recovering three on-side kickoffs. Nebraska finished third in the final UPI ranking and fifth in the AP poll.

50 Years Later, Three First-Team Husker All-Americans Return to Lincoln

Three of Nebraska’s four first-team All-Americans – defensive tackle Walt Barnes, defensive end Tony Jeter and defensive back Larry Wachholtz, pictured below – will attend Saturday’s Golden Anniversary reunion. The ’65 team also will be formally recognized Saturday night when Nebraska hosts South Alabama in Memorial Stadium’s 342nd consecutive sellout crowd.

Wilson will be present for the double celebration of his individual Hall-of-Fame enshrinement and the 1965 team reunion. Despite the obstacles he’s faced and the hurdles he’s cleared throughout his life, “Light Horse” Wilson had a memorable career at Nebraska. He enjoyed a three-year stint in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles and remains savvy enough to babysit two young grandchildren on a regular basis.

'Light Horse' Followed ‘Thunder’ Thornton and ‘Choo Choo’ Winters

In August, I connected with “Light Horse” on the phone and told him he deserves his own place in the sun. “Finally,” he said, laughing. I told him how legendary he was to countless Nebraskans who loved watching Harry “Light Horse” Wilson follow in the running back footsteps of Bill “Thunder” Thornton and Charlie “Choo Choo” Winters.  

That activated another sincere, robust laugh, especially when he remembers Bob Devaney and John Melton recruiting him out of Steubenville, Ohio, where he was the state of Ohio’s Back of the Year. The “Steubenville Stomper” went on to lead Nebraska in rushing in 1965 and 1966.

Perhaps the most memorable 1965 "Light Horse" performance was his 160 yards rushing on 19 carries in Nebraska's 21-9 win over Oklahoma in Lincoln. Trailing 9-7 at half (when Choo Choo ran 29 yards for a touchdown), "Light Horse" produced two electrifying plays in the third quarter. The first was a 66-yard touchdown run to give Nebraska a 14-9 lead and then catching a 38-yard touchdpown pass from Bob Churchich  to finish the scoring.

“Back then, you couldn’t play as a freshman,” Wilson said, acknowledging how he flirted with fame as a sophomore when the Huskers went 9-0 before losing their regular-season finale at Oklahoma. The Huskers then fell to unbeaten Arkansas at the Cotton Bowl. In a backfield that included fullback Frank Solich, “Light Horse” stole the show, gaining 84 yards on only 12 carries, including a 45-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.

All-America Teammate Tony Jeter Came Up with the Nickname

I write “Light Horse” because it was Jeter, pictured above, who bestowed that name on Wilson when he became nationally prominent at the Cotton Bowl. “I got that name from Tony,” he said, unaware if there was any connection to the Harry “Light Horse” Wilson who was an All-America halfback at Penn State in 1923 before his College Football Hall of Fame induction 50 years later.

Nebraska’s “Light Horse” was a first-team All-Big Eight running back and honorable-mention All-American as a senior, when he led the Huskers with 1,077 all-purpose yards. More importantly, he was pivotal in helping Nebraska win three straight Big Eight championships from 1964 to 1966, when NU finished among the top six in the final poll those three seasons. The Huskers’ overall record was 28-5 during that three-year run.

Solich, the 1965 team’s offensive captain, is unable to participate in the 50-year reunion because of his responsibilities as head football coach at the University of Ohio. Barry Alvarez, Solich’s close friend and teammate on the ’65 team, will speak on his behalf.

’65 Defensive Captain Mike Kennedy: We Played Together as One

Mike Kennedy, pictured above, was an All-Big Eight Conference linebacker and the Huskers' defensive captain. He will speak at the reunion, along with Jeter. Nebraska Director of Athletics Shawn Eichorst will welcome Nebraska’s historic 1965 team, and Tom Osborne, who was an assistant coach under Bob Devaney in 1965, will share his thoughts from half a century ago.

“Someone asked me once why we were such a good team,” Kennedy said. “The easy answer is great coaches and great players. I don't really remember scores or games so much, but I remember the guys that I shared the year with. Being elected defensive captain was a great honor that I never took lightly.”

The original Husker team to wear Blackshirts, Kennedy played alongside Walt Barnes, an All-American whose “attitude was always striving to be successful,” Kennedy said. “(The late) Langston Coleman's passion for Nebraska football was unmatched. Larry Wachholtz was an undersized defensive back from North Platte, but he led the nation in interceptions his senior year…the list goes on and on.”

The most important part of the Huskers’ heart and soul? “We played together as one, and we celebrated together the same way,” Kennedy said. “I’m looking forward to renewing old friendships with so many guys that I haven't seen for decades. It’ll be a special day and a special group of guys to share memories with. They’re men that I'm proud to have known and played with in 1965. Together, we made history.”

Barnes, Jeter, Wachholtz Lead Returnees for Team's 50-Year Reunion

The following 1965 Husker players have confirmed they will attend the 50-year reunion of the first Nebraska team to earn a No. 1 national ranking: Vern Allers, Barry Alvarez, Walt Barnes (pictured above), Gary Brichacek, Ken Brunk, Leonard Canarsky, Kaye Carstens, Bob Churchich, Rick Coleman, Richard Czap, Dan Delaney, Fred Duda, Bill Haug, Robert Hill, Leonard Janik, Tony Jeter, Bill Johnson, Mike Kennedy, Ron Kirkland, Roger Kudrna, James McCord, Marvin Mueller, Gerald Murphy, Lou Narish, Jim Osberg, Tom Pappas, Ron Poggemeyer, Stephen Schaefer, Lynn Senkbeil, Ernie Sigler, Thomas Smith, Carel Stith, John Strohmyer, Pete Tatman, Dennis Thorell, Joe Unis, Larry Wachholtz, Wayne Weber, Bob Weinman, Mick Ziegler, Ivan Zimmer, Gerald Murphy. Tom Osborne, a receiver coach for the 1965 team, also will attend the reunion, along with longtime Nebraska trainer George Sullivan and Dick Beechner, who was a graduate assistant coach under Devaney in 1965.

Berringer Family Will Accept Brook's Posthumous Hall of Fame Honor

The late Brook Berringer, pictured above, was inducted by a unanimous vote from the board of directors executive committee. Berringer was a proven quarterback and inspiring leader on Nebraska’s 1994 and 1995 national championship teams. He died in a plane he was piloting prior to the 1996 NFL draft. His family, including mother Jan, will accept Brook’s posthumous induction into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame. The announcement of his induction came on what would have been his 42nd birthday.

Midland University All-America offensive tackle Brad Colburn is also part of the 2015 Hall of Fame class. The Hall also will recognize Kelly and Virginia Holthus of York with its Clarence E. Swanson Meritorious Service Award. Lincoln’s Byron and Olinda Boslau will be honored with the Lyell Bremser Special Merit Award.

The Nebraska Football Hall of Fame is sponsored by the Nebraska Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. The College Football Hall of Fame opened in South Bend, Ind., in 1995 before moving to its new headquarters in Atlanta last year.

Send a comment to ryork@huskers.com (Please include city, state)

Follow Randy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RandyYorkNsider

Randy’s N-Sider Column Archive