Damon Benning Season 1994

Honors & Awards

• Free-Agent Signee with the Carolina Panthers (1997)
• Member of Two Nebraska National Championship Teams (1994, 1995)
• Doak Walker Award Nominee (1996)
• Honorable-Mention Academic All-Big 12 (1996)
• Phillips 66 Big Eight End-of-the-Year Academic Honor Roll (1995)

Career

Damon Benning was a four year letterman who helped lead the Huskers to back-to-back national titles. He finished his career carrying the pigskin 270 times for a total of 1,562 yards. Benning also caught the ball 12 times for a total of 134 yards and returned 32 kickoffs for 770 yards. He finished his Husker career with 2,625 all-purpose yards. Due to his outstanding career, Benning was signed as a free-agent by the Carolina Panthers in 1997.

1996 (Senior)

Benning entered the fall season as Ahman Green's backup, but saw ample snaps, carrying the ball 85 times for 465 yards and scoring seven touchdowns, averaging 5.5 yards per carry and 42.3 yards per game. Benning was once again a key member of the kickoff return team as he returned eight kicks for a total of 191 yards, an average of 23.9 yards per attempt. In the 1996 Orange Bowl, Benning rushed 15 times for 95 yards and two scores. He also caught one pass for a two-yard gain and had one kickoff return for 23 yards. Benning was a Doak Walker Award nominee and earned an Academic All-Big 12 honorable-mention.

1995 (Junior)

Benning battled a hamstring pull, suffered before the season opener, then reaggravated the injury in the first game. He missed the Michigan State and Arizona State games, but moved into a starting role against Pacific with the suspension of Lawrence Phillips and a knee injury to Clinton Childs, before spraining an ankle. He was able to start the Washington State game, but true freshman Ahman Green took over the starting I-back position and held it for the last six games of the regular season. Benning played in nine games and rushed 63 times for 407 yards and four touchdowns. He had a career-long rush of 62 yards against Pacific and a career-best 173 yards on 10 carries and a personal-best three touchdowns against the Tigers. He totaled 50 yards or more three times, including 62 against Oklahoma State and 63 against Washington State. He also caught two passes for 40 yards in 1995, with a long of 23 against Kansas State and returned three kickoffs for 79 yards, including a season-best of 42 yards at Kansas. Benning was fifth on the team with 560 all-purpose yards, 62.2 per game and had one tackle on special teams. In the 1996 Fiesta Bowl, Benning played behind Lawrence Phillips and Ahman Green and rushed one time for three yards. He also had one punt return for no yards.

1994 (Sophomore)

Benning served as Phillips' backup at I-back along with Clinton Childs. Benning and Childs alternated by game to determine who would be the first to relieve All-Big Eight selection Phillips in the second and fourth quarters. Benning fished as the team's fourth-leading rusher, playing in all 13 games. He rushed 67 times for 367 yards, lost only nine, and scored five touchdowns. He averaged 5.5 per carry and 30.6 per game. His best outing was 10 carries for 87 yards against Pacific with a touchdown. He had two touchdowns against Missouri, one against UCLA and one against Kansas. His season-long rush was a 23-yard scamper against Pacific. Also Nebraska's kickoff returner with Childs, Benning led the Huskers with 12 returns for 308 yards, including a career-best 58-yarder against Texas Tech, when he had three for 90 total yards. Always a big-play threat, Benning had two kickoff returns for 61 yards against UCLA, including a long of 37; a 32-yard return against Wyoming; two for 51 against Iowa State, including a 26-yard return; and one for 25 yards against Oklahoma to give him five returns of 25 yards or more on the year, eight in his career. Benning also caught five passes for 68 yards in 1994, including a career-best 37-yard gain against Kansas and two for 20 yards against Missouri. A key special team’s player on the punting team, Benning is one of the quickest coverage men downfield. He recorded four tackles on the season and recovered a fourth-quarter fumble against Wyoming which set up the game-clinching touchdown. He helped NU rank No. 2 in net punting, allowing opponents just 2.9 yards per return, the second lowest in school history. In the 1995 Orange Bowl against Miami, Benning had three carries for 18 yards and returned five kickoffs for 88 yards including a long of 29.

1993 (Freshman)

One of three first-year players at I-back, Benning started the Texas Tech and UCLA games when Calvin Jones was out with a knee injury. Benning finished the season as the Huskers' fourth-leading rusher with 55 carries for 323 yards and four touchdowns. His 5.9 average per carry led the top rushers. Playing in 10 games, he averaged 32.3 yards per game with a season-long of 51 yards against North Texas and had a 45-yard touchdown run against Texas Tech. Against North Texas, he carried eight times for 82 yards and a score, then rushed for a season-high 127 yards in his first start against Texas Tech (in place of injured starter Calvin Jones) on 19 carries with two touchdowns. His fourth touchdown was against Iowa State when he had 40 yards on seven carries, his third-highest total. He caught four passes for 27 yards, and as a member of the top return team, ran back nine kickoffs for 192 yards, including longs of 57 yards against Colorado State and 40 yards against Missouri. He also had one solo tackle. He sprained an ankle in early preparations for the 1994 Orange Bowl, but was able to play at game time. He came off the bench for the injured Calvin Jones in the second quarter and rushed five times for five yards. He returned two kickoffs for 39 yards, including a long of 37 yards.

1992 (Redshirt)

A scholarship athlete, Benning redshirted his first season as a Husker.

Omaha Northwest High School

A quarterback as a junior, Benning switched to I-back in 1991 and was the leading rusher in Nebraska Class A for Coach Frank Hanel at Omaha Northwest High School. An all-class, all-state selection, he was an honorable-mention All-American and was named captain of the all-metro team after leading Northwest to five wins, following a winless 1990 season. Included in his 1,548 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns his senior year (on 208 attempts) were 358 yards again Ralston (five touchdowns) and 272 against state runner-up Omaha Creighton Prep, in a season in which he tied a state record with nine-straight 100-yard games. Benning also averaged 24.1 yards on 14 kickoff returns, including 65- and 80-yard touchdowns, and averaged 15.1 yards on 10 punt returns, including a state-record 98-yard touchdown. He played in the 1992 Nebraska Shrine Game. He also lettered three times in baseball and once in basketball and earned all-state baseball honors. An honor student, Benning was his senior class president, a member of the National Honor Society and graduated in the top 10 percent of his class. Benning chose Nebraska over Iowa and Wyoming.

Personal

Damon Benning is the son of Dee and Dr. Don Benning. Born on March 2, 1974, in Omaha, Benning has three sisters (Vicki, Tracy and Kym) and one brother (Don, Jr.). He majored in elementary education and was an active volunteer in the community, serving as a guest speaker in 1993 and 1994 at Omaha Youth Rap Sessions and at Teachers College Career Night, and during National American Education Week in 1994.

Benning's Career Statistics

	Rushing
Year	G/S	Att.	Yds.	Y/C	Y/G	TDs
1992	Redshirted
1993	10/2	55	323	5.9	32.3	4
1994	12/0	67	367	5.5	30.6	5
1995	9/2	63	407	6.5	45.2	4
1996	11/1	85	465	5.5	42.3	7
Totals	42/5	270	1,562	5.8	37.2	20

	Receiving
Year	Games	No.	Yds.	Avg.	TDs
1993	10	4	27	6.8	0
1994	12	5	68	13.6	0
1995	9	2	40	20.0	0
1996	11	1	-1	0.0	0
Totals	42	12	134	11.2	0

	Kickoff Returns
Year	Games	No.	Yds.	Avg.	TDs
1993	10	9	192	21.3	0
1994	12	12	308	25.7	0
1995	9	3	79	26.3	0
1996	11	8	191	23.9	0
Totals	42	32	770	24.1	0

	All-Purpose
Year	Rush	Rec.	PR	KOR	Total	A/G
1993	367	27	0	192	586	58.6
1994	323	68	0	308	699	58.3
1995	407	40	34	79	560	62.2
1996	465	-1	125	191	780	70.9
Totals	1,562	134	159	770	2,625	62.5

Career Tackles: 3 UT, 3 AT, 6 TT

1994 Orange Bowl vs. Florida State: Rushing 5-5; KOR 2-39
1995 Orange Bowl vs. Miami: Rushing 3-18; KOR 5-88
1996 Fiesta Bowl vs. Florida: Rushing 1-3; PR 1-0
1996 Orange Bowl vs. Virginia Tech: Rushing 15-95-2; Receiving 1-2; KOR 1-23