Jan. 1, 1994

Trev Alberts didn’t let a bum right elbow — injured in the final regular-season game against Oklahoma — keep him from what may have been his most amazing performance as a Blackshirt.

With a cast on his arm, Alberts and his teammates relentlessly harassed Florida State’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Charlie Ward in the 1994 Orange Bowl, sacking him five times, including three by Alberts. The Seminoles had given up just 10 sacks all season.

The Huskers lost a heartbreaker, 18-16, but the team’s performance — NU was a 17½-point underdog — proved to be a sign of things to come, and Alberts’ decision to play hurt (and play well) endeared him even more to Husker fans.

— Jeff Korbelik