Honors & Awards
- 2007 Team Captain
- Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Academic Honor Roll (2007)
2007 (Senior)
Cornerback Zackary Bowman completed his Nebraska career in 2007, after battling injuries to play a key role in the secondary, earning letters in 2005 and 2007. The 6-2, 200-pound Bowman had an outstanding season in 2005, then missed all of 2006 with a knee injury, before returning to play a key role last fall.
As a senior, Bowman appeared in 11 of 12 games with four starts. He finished the year with 29 total tackles, including 22 solo stops. He posted a career-high eight tackles at Missouri, and made seven stops in Nebraska’s win at Wake Forest. Bowman helped secure the Huskers’ 20-17 win over the Demon Deacons with an interception in the end zone late in the fourth quarter. The pick was the third of Bowman’s Nebraska career.
Bowman worked hard to get back on the field in 2007 after a pair of knee injuries the previous year. He suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during fall practice in 2006 and missed the season. After rehabilitating his knee, Bowman was sidelined once again after rupturing the patellar tendon in his right knee midway through spring practice.
Bowman made an immediate impact in 2005 after arriving from the junior college ranks. Bowman started the final five games of the year and totaled 27 tackles and a team-high 14 pass breakups. He also ranked second on the team with a pair of interceptions.
He registered his first career interception at Baylor, then made a season-high five tackles, with a tackle for loss and a breakup at Missouri, to earn a starting job. Bowman capped the regular season with two breakups each against Kansas State and Colorado. He punctuated his season with an interception and a Nebraska bowl-record five pass breakups in the Huskers’ Alamo Bowl victory over Michigan. He sealed the win on the game’s final play, assisting on a tackle after a wild sequence of laterals. Bowman’s play helped Nebraska finish 10th nationally in pass efficiency defense, and his effort on special teams assisted NU to a No. 2 national ranking in net punting.
Bowman possesses prototypical size for an NFL cornerback. He also has great leaping ability and posted an NU cornerback record in the 40-yard dash, clocking a 4.36 in January of 2006.
Bowman joined the Nebraska program as one of the nation’s top recruits after excelling at New Mexico Military Institute. Bowman grew up on an Air Force base in Anchorage, Alaska.
2006 (Redshirt)
Bowman suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on the third day of fall practice and missed the season. He used his redshirt season.
2005 (Junior)
Bowman played in 11 games, earning starts in the final five games of the year. He totaled 27 tackles and a team-high 14 pass breakups. He also ranked second on the team with a pair of interceptions.
Bowman opened the season with one breakup in each of the Huskers’ first two games before missing the Pitt matchup with a leg injury. He returned to action with three tackles and a breakup against Iowa State, then two games later registered his first career interception at Baylor, providing one of three Nebraska takeaways in the fourth quarter.
He made a season-high five tackles, with a tackle for loss and a breakup at Missouri the following week, earning Bowman his first career start the next week against Oklahoma. Bowman had four tackles and a pass breakup against the Sooners, then capped the regular season with two breakups each against Kansas State and Colorado.
Bowman punctuated his junior season with a dominant performance against Michigan in the Alamo Bowl. Bowman blanketed the talented Wolverine receivers throughout the game, picking off his second career pass in the third quarter, while setting a Husker bowl record with five pass breakups. He sealed the Alamo Bowl victory on the game’s final play, assisting on a tackle after a wild sequence of laterals.
The play of Bowman in the late part of the season helped Nebraska improve to 10th nationally in pass efficiency defense. With Bowman in the starting lineup, NU’s final five opponents connected on a combined 45.8 percent of their passes.
Bowman was also a key performer on Nebraska’s special teams units, serving as a gunner on the punting unit, helping Nebraska to a No. 2 national ranking in net punting.
Before Nebraska (New Mexico Military/Bartlett HS)
Bowman was regarded as one of the nation’s top junior college recruits in 2005 after a standout career at New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, N.M. Playing for Coach John O'Mara, Bowman earned junior college All-America honors and was the No. 2 junior college recruit in the nation according to Rivals.com.
In two seasons at the school, Bowman intercepted 10 passes, including six as a sophomore when he scored two touchdowns. Bowman had 18 pass breakups as a freshman, then had just four breakups as a sophomore when teams threw away from his side of the field. He made more than 50 tackles as a freshman, including 40 solo stops, and as a sophomore had two fumble recoveries and two fumbles caused. In addition to his defensive accolades, Bowman also saw spot duty on offense as a wide receiver.
Bowman was a standout at Bartlett High School in Anchorage, Alaska, where he was a three-time first-team all-state selection and the state’s player of the year as a senior. Bowman also excelled on the hardwood at Bartlett, where his teammates included Kansas hoops standout Mario Chalmers. He selected Nebraska over offers from Oklahoma, Texas Tech and South Carolina among others.
Personal
Bowman is the son of Zackary and Zelma Bowman, who live at Eielson AFB in Alaska. Zackary was born on Nov. 18, 1984. Bowman has volunteered his time as a speaker during American Education Week, and on Nebraska’s team hospital visits. A sociology major, Bowman earned his degree in December of 2007.
Bowman's Career Statistics
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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
11/5
24
3
27
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
14
2
0
2006
Redshirt
2007
11/4
22
7
29
1-2
0-0
0-0
0
6
1
1
Totals
22/9
46
10
56
1-2
0-0
0-0
0
20
3
1
2005 Alamo Bowl?Tackles: 0-1-1; Pass Breakups: 5 (Nebraska Bowl Record); Interceptions: 1
Single-Game Highs
Tackles?8 at Missouri, 2007
Solo Tackles?5, Three Times, most recently at Missouri, 2007
Interception?1, Three Times, at Wake Forest, 2007; at Baylor, vs. Michigan, 2005 Alamo Bowl
Pass Breakups?5, vs. Michigan, 2005 Alamo Bowl (Nebraska bowl record)