Honors & Awards
- Honorable-Mention All-Big 12 (Coaches, Associated Press)
- Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week (vs. Oklahoma, 2009)
- Walter Camp and Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week (vs. Oklahoma, 2009)
- 2009 Pacific Life Holiday Bowl Defensive MVP
- 2009 Cletus Fischer Native Son Award Winner
- 2009 Bobby Reynolds Award
- Nebraska Game Record for Interceptions (3 vs. Oklahoma, 2009)
- Two-Time First-Team Academic All-Big 12 (2006, 2009)
- Second-Team Academic All-Big 12 (2007)
- Four-Time Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Academic Honor Roll (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009)
- Three-Time Big 12 Commissioner's Fall Academic Honor Roll (2005, 2008, 2009)
2009 (Senior)
Safety Matt O'Hanlon closed out his Nebraska career with an impressive senior season in 2009. The Bellevue, Neb., native was in the starting lineup for all 14 games on one of the nation's top defenses and continued to have a nose for the football. O'Hanlon ranked as the team leader in interceptions and among the top five Blackshirt tacklers in 2009.
O'Hanlon totaled 69 tackles, including 39 solo stops and a pair of tackles for loss. He had at least four tackles in 13 of 14 games during his senior season, helping the Huskers lead the nation in scoring defense and pass efficiency defense, while also ranking in the top 10 in rushing and total defense. His play earned O'Hanlon honorable-mention All-Big 12 honors.
O'Hanlon's six interceptions led the team and were the most by a Husker since 2003. He also ranked second in the Big 12, and among the top 20 nationally in interceptions. His ball-hawking skills helped Nebraska to 20 interceptions, good for seventh nationally. In addition to the interception total Nebraska held 10 opponents to 50 percent or less in the passing game and allowed just seven passing touchdowns.
O'Hanlon posted his first interception of the season in the opener against Florida Atlantic. He came up with his first career sack as part of a five-tackle effort at Virginia Tech. His most memorable game of the year came against Oklahoma when he had a career-high 12 tackles, including nine solo stops and he also had three interceptions to tie the Nebraska single-game record. He was named national and conference defensive player of the week for his effort.
O'Hanlon had a key fumble recovery at Kansas, then closed the regular season with his fifth interception of the year at Colorado. He returned the pick 20 yards for a touchdown. He had five tackles and a sack against Texas in the Big 12 title game. O'Hanlon closed out his Nebraska career by earning Defensive MVP honors in the Holiday Bowl shutout of Arizona. O'Hanlon set the tone with an interception and return on the game's third play and finished the night with five tackles.
2008 (Junior)
O'Hanlon started the first nine games of the season at safety, then split time with Thenarse the remainder of the year. He finished third among all Nebraska tacklers with 52, including 33 solo stops. O'Hanlon added two tackles for loss, an interception and five pass breakups.
O'Hanlon notched five tackles in each of the first two games and went on to record five or more tackles seven times. He snared his first career interception against New Mexico State, returning the fourth-quarter pick 21 yards, and added a career-best two breakups in the game.
O'Hanlon had a career-high eight tackles against Virginia Tech, including his first career tackle for loss. He notched seven tackles against Kansas, including a season-high five solo stops. In the Gator Bowl victory over Clemson, O'Hanlon played a key role with six tackles, including five solo stops. He helped preserve the win with a critical pass breakup on a Clemson third-and-goal play in the final two minutes.
2007 (Sophomore)
O'Hanlon played in 10 games, primarily working on the Huskers' special teams units. He finished the year with three tackles, including solo stops against Nevada and Iowa State, as well as an assist against Texas.
2006 (Freshman)
O'Hanlon played in all 14 games and made eight tackles, including six stops in the first four games. He made a season-high three tackles against Louisiana Tech, and added two tackles against Nicholls State. O'Hanlon made his first career unassisted tackle against Colorado. His play on kickoff coverage helped NU rank among the nation's best in that category.
2005 (Redshirt)
O'Hanlon redshirted after joining the program in January.
Before Nebraska (Bellevue East HS)
O'Hanlon was a quarterback at Bellevue East as a sophomore and junior before moving to running back as a senior for Coach Jerry Lovell. On defense, O'Hanlon played cornerback and free safety, while returning punts and kickoffs. A team captain, O'Hanlon led Bellevue East to two state playoff berths, including the quarterfinals as a senior. He was an all-district and honorable-mention all-state pick for his performance on the gridiron, and was also an honorable-mention academic all-state pick. He participated in the 2004 Nebraska Shrine Bowl, starting at strong safety.
O'Hanlon also participated in powerlifting, winning a state title in 2003 and finishing as a runner-up in 2004. He earned four varsity soccer letters and helped the Chieftains to the state playoffs in 2003.
Personal
The son of Joe and Becky O'Hanlon, Matt was born on Oct. 5, 1985. He is majoring in history and was a first-team academic All-Big 12 pick in 2006, and a second-teamer in 2007. He has also been named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll six times. He has volunteered as part of the Huskers' hospital visits.Â
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Tackles
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Fum.
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QB
Year
G/S
UT
AT
TT
TFL
Sacks
C-R
BK
PBU
PI
Hry.
2005
Redshirt
         Â2006
14/0
1
7
8
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
2007
10/0
2
1
3
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
2008
13/9 33 19 52 2-5 0-0 0-0 0 5 11
2009
14/14Â 39Â 30Â 69 2-19Â 2-19Â 1-2Â 0Â 5Â 6Â 0ÂTotals
51/23 75 57 132 4-24 2-19 1-1 0 10 7 1Â
Single-Game Highs
Tackles–12 vs. Oklahoma, 2009
Solo Tackles–9 vs. Oklahoma, 2009
Tackles for Loss-1 four times, twice in 2008 and twice in 2009
Sacks-1.0 at Virginia Tech, vs. Texas, 2009
Pass Breakups-2 vs. New Mexico State, 2008
Interceptions-3 vs. Oklahoma, 2009 (ties school record)