Does Nebraska football have an alternate uniform curse?

Author

Dylan Jurgens

Published

May 5, 2024

The Nebraska Cornhuskers football team has a storied history. Most of the time, people think of the past when talking about the Huskers’ legacy that is still (unfortunately) stuck in the 90s. Nebraska football uniform history is also pretty storied as well.

The Huskers’ alternate uniform history dates back to the 1966 Orange Bowl against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Nebraska decided to go away from their traditional white jersey and red pants look to an all-white look. Yes, this is where the dreaded all-white jersey originated from. The Huskers would go on and lose 29-38 to the Crimson Tide. There are two main types of alternate uniform Nebraska has worn in it’s history. You have the alternate uniform that is a one-time use (any uniform from 2009-2023). Then there is the all-white/red look with the traditional uniform style.

After the 1966 Orange Bowl, the Huskers didn’t wear all-white uniforms until the 1991 Citrus Bowl against the No. 2 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. They thought this would be a good idea because it’s been a while since they wore all-white, let’s try it now. Well, things did not go well as the Yellow Jackets demolished the Huskers 45-21.

Code 
library(tidyverse)
library(gt)
library(ggrepel)

Updated_Alternate_Uniforms <- read_csv("~/Documents/SPMC 350 /Project2DataFiles/Updated_Alternate_Uniforms.csv")
Alternate <- read_csv("~/Documents/SPMC 350 /Project2DataFiles/Alternate.csv")

Updated_Alternate_Uniforms |>
  filter(
    Uniforms == "All-White"
  ) |>
  select(
    Date, School, Opponent, Pts, Opp
  ) |>
  gt() |>
  cols_label(
      Date="Date",
      School="School",
      Opponent="Opponent",
      Pts="Points",
      Opp= "Opp Points"
    ) |>
  tab_header(
    title = "Nebraska potentially has an all-white uniform curse",
    subtitle = "The Huskers seem to always lose while wearing all white uniforms against good opponents. Hence, this is why people think Nebraska has a curse when the all white uniforms are used. Note: Numbers in () mean AP Poll ranking."
  ) |>
  tab_source_note(
    source_note = md("**By:** Dylan Jurgens  |  **Source:** [Sports Reference CFB](https://www.https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/)")
  ) |>
  tab_style(
    style = cell_text(color = "black", weight = "bold", align = "left"),
    locations = cells_title("title")
  ) |>
  tab_style(
    style = cell_text(color = "black", align = "left"),
    locations = cells_title("subtitle")
  ) |>
   tab_style(
     locations = cells_column_labels(columns = everything()),
     style = list(
       cell_borders(sides = "bottom", weight = px(3)),
       cell_text(weight = "bold", size=14)
     )
  ) |>
   opt_row_striping() |> 
  opt_table_lines("none") |>
  tab_style(
    style = list(
      cell_fill(color = "#E41C38"),
      cell_text(color = "#FFFFFF")
      ),
    locations = cells_body(
      rows = Date == "Nov 14 1992")
  ) |>
   opt_row_striping() |> 
  opt_table_lines("none") |>
  tab_style(
    style = list(
      cell_fill(color = "black"),
      cell_text(color = "#E41C38")
      ),
    locations = cells_body(
      rows = Date == "Nov 15 2014")
  )
Nebraska potentially has an all-white uniform curse
The Huskers seem to always lose while wearing all white uniforms against good opponents. Hence, this is why people think Nebraska has a curse when the all white uniforms are used. Note: Numbers in () mean AP Poll ranking.
Date School Opponent Points Opp Points
Jan 1 1966 (3) Nebraska (4) Alabama 28 39
Jan 1 1991 (19) Nebraska (2) Georgia Tech 21 45
Sep 19 1992 (12) Nebraska (2) Washington 14 29
Oct 24 1992 (8) Nebraska Missouri 34 24
Nov 14 1992 (7) Nebraska Iowa State 10 19
Sep 14 2002 (8) Nebraska Penn State 7 40
Sep 28 2002 (20) Nebraska (19) Iowa State 14 36
Oct 19 2002 Nebraska Oklahoma State 21 24
Oct 26 2002 Nebraska Texas A&M 38 31
Nov 16 2002 Nebraska (11) Kansas State 13 49
Nov 23 2007 Nebraska Colorado 51 65
Sep 13 2014 Nebraska Fresno State 55 19
Oct 18 2014 (19) Nebraska Northwestern 38 17
Nov 15 2014 (11) Nebraska (22) Wisconsin 24 59
Dec 27 2014 (25) Nebraska (24) USC 42 45
Sep 19 2015 Nebraska Miami (FL) 33 36
Oct 3 2015 Nebraska Illinois 13 14
Oct 17 2015 Nebraska Minnesota 48 25
Dec 30 2016 (24) Nebraska Tennessee 24 38
By: Dylan Jurgens | Source: Sports Reference CFB

The all-white uniform curse would continue after the 1991 Citrus Bowl when Nebraska decided to wear all-white in its first three road games. In the first road game of 1992, the Huskers struggle to have any offense against the No. 2 Washington Huskies, losing 14-29 in Seattle. Nebraska then barely got a win over the Missouri Tigers on the road in College Football Hall of Famer Tommie Frazier’s first start, before losing to the 4-7 Iowa State Cyclones. The loss in Ames, Iowa would be head coach Tom Osborne’s only loss to a losing team in his career at Nebraska.

The Huskers would not wear all-white again until making the all-white look as its road uniform in 2002. This went horribly, with a 7-7 record in 2002. Nebraska would go back to the white jersey and red pants in 2003. The next time the Huskers wore all-white was in 2007, where head coach Bill Callahan’s final game at Nebraska against the Colorado Buffaloes where Nebraska lost 51-65. Callahan was fired the next day.

The Huskers worst loss while wearing all-white isn’t even one of those games. The worst loss was in a monumental game against the No. 22 Wisconsin Badgers in Nov. of 2014. If Nebraska went on and defeated the Badgers, the Huskers controlled their destiny for the first ever Big Ten West Division title. The game started off strong for Nebraska. The Huskers held a 17-3 early on in the second quarter. However, this momentum switched quick as the Nebraska defense had no answer for Melvin Gordon, who rushed for a then NCAA record for most rushing yards in a game with 408 yards, while Wisconsin scored 56 unanswered points on the Huskers. Nebraska went on to lose 24-59.

Now, Nebraska has had different jersey modifications, including one-game uniform changes. The first time this occurred was in the 1974 Cotton Bowl against the Texas Longhorns. The Huskers wore white jerseys with red pants, but the thing that was changed was there was a bold “Nebraska” across the top of the jersey. Nebraska went on to win in Tom Osborne’s first bowl game as a coach of the Huskers.

Nebraska has worn many different types of alternate uniforms like a Blackshirt uniforms, all black uniforms, all red uniforms, throwback uniforms, etc. Starting in 2009, Adidas and the Huskers started to do an alternate uniform game, which has gone both well and horribly for Nebraska.

Code 
Alternate |>
  select(
    Date, School, Opponent, Pts, Opp
  ) |>
  gt() |>
  cols_label(
      Date="Date",
      School="School",
      Opponent="Opponent",
      Pts="Points",
      Opp= "Opp Points"
    ) |>
  tab_header(
    title = "Nebraska's alternate uniform history goes way back",
    subtitle ="The Huskers non-all-white alternate uniform history goes back to 1974. From 2009 to 2023, Nebraska wore different style of uniforms, which led to some unfortunate losses, especially in 2013."
  ) |>
  tab_source_note(
    source_note = md("**By:** Dylan Jurgens  |  **Source:** [Sports Reference CFB](https://www.https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/)")
  ) |>
  tab_style(
    style = cell_text(color = "black", weight = "bold", align = "left"),
    locations = cells_title("title")
  ) |>
  tab_style(
    style = cell_text(color = "black", align = "left"),
    locations = cells_title("subtitle")
  ) |>
   tab_style(
     locations = cells_column_labels(columns = everything()),
     style = list(
       cell_borders(sides = "bottom", weight = px(3)),
       cell_text(weight = "bold", size=14)
     )
  ) |>
   opt_row_striping() |> 
  opt_table_lines("none") |>
  tab_style(
    style = list(
      cell_fill(color = "#E41C38"),
      cell_text(color = "#FFFFFF")
      ),
    locations = cells_body(
      rows = Date == "Sep 14 2013")
  ) |>
   opt_row_striping() |> 
  opt_table_lines("none") |>
  tab_style(
    style = list(
      cell_fill(color = "black"),
      cell_text(color = "#FFFFFF")
      ),
    locations = cells_body(
      rows = Date == "Sep 10 2022")
  )
Nebraska's alternate uniform history goes way back
The Huskers non-all-white alternate uniform history goes back to 1974. From 2009 to 2023, Nebraska wore different style of uniforms, which led to some unfortunate losses, especially in 2013.
Date School Opponent Points Opp Points
Jan 1 1974 Nebraska Texas 19 3
Dec 27 1980 Nebraska Mississippi State 31 17
Nov 22 1986 Nebraska Oklahoma 17 20
Sep 26 2009 Nebraska Louisiana 55 0
Sep 29 2012 Nebraska Wisconsin 30 27
Sep 14 2013 Nebraska UCLA 21 41
Sep 27 2014 Nebraska Illinois 45 14
Oct 24 2015 Nebraska Northwestern 28 30
Sep 24 2016 Nebraska Northwestern 24 13
Oct 7 2017 Nebraska Wisconsin 17 38
Nov 10 2018 Nebraska Illinois 54 35
Oct 26 2019 Nebraska Indiana 31 38
Nov 21 2020 Nebraska Illinois 23 41
Sep 11 2021 Nebraska Buffalo 28 3
Sep 10 2022 Nebraska Georgia Southern 42 45
Oct 21 2023 Nebraska Northwestern 17 9
By: Dylan Jurgens | Source: Sports Reference CFB

In 2009, Nebraska wore an a commemorative 1962 throwback jersey against the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns and it wasn’t a game for the Ragin Cajuns. The Huskers put up 55 points to Louisiana’s 0 points. Nebraska did not wear an alternate uniform again until 2012, where Adidas released alternates for both Nebraska and Wisconsin. Despite being down 17 in the second half, the Huskers came back and defeated the Badgers 30-27. However, things wouldn’t be as nice in 2013.

Nebraska started off the 2013 season with two wins over the Wyoming Cowboys and Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles before facing off with the UCLA Bruins. Adidas and the Huskers announced an alternate uniform with a black jersey with white pants that had black stripes on it for the game. Nebraska started strong against the Bruins held a 21-3 lead over the Bruins in the second quarter before a monumental collapse by the Huskers. UCLA scored 38 unanswered points on Nebraska and the Huskers lost 21-41.

Another blunder was in September of 2022. It was former head coach Scott Frost’s fifth season at Nebraska and the Huskers were looking at making their first bowl appearance since 2016. The Huskers had a week three matchup against Georgia Southern Eagles. Nebraska wore a 1983 throwback uniform to commemorate the 1983 football team coined as “The Scoring Explosion”. What a way to remember that season with a 42-45 loss to the Eagles, which led to Frost being fired the next day.

Code 
updatedregular <- Updated_Alternate_Uniforms |>
  filter(Uniforms=="Regular") |>
  summarise(
    avg_pd = mean(pd)
  ) |>
  mutate(
    Uniforms = "Regular"
  )

updatedallwhite <- Updated_Alternate_Uniforms |>
  filter(Uniforms=="All-White") |>
  summarise(
    avg_pd = mean(pd)
  ) |>
  mutate(
    Uniforms = "All-White"
  )

updatedalternate <- Updated_Alternate_Uniforms |>
  filter(Uniforms=="Alternate") |>
  select(Uniforms, pd) |>
  summarise(
    avg_pd = mean(pd) 
  ) |>
  mutate(
    Uniforms = "Alternate"
  )

ggplot() +
  geom_bar(data=updatedregular, aes(x=Uniforms, weight=avg_pd), fill="#E41C38") +
  geom_bar(data=updatedallwhite, aes(x=Uniforms, weight=avg_pd), fill="#FDF2D9") +
  geom_bar(data=updatedalternate, aes(x=Uniforms, weight=avg_pd), fill="#000000") +
  coord_flip() +
  labs(
    x="Uniform",
    y="Average Point Differential",
    title="Nebraska should stop wearing the all-white uniform",
    subtitle="The Huskers have a negative average point differential when wearing all-white uniforms. Nebraska's point \ndifferential when wearing alternate uniforms is just over two.",
    caption="Source: Sports Reference CFB | By Dylan Jurgens"
  ) +
  theme_minimal() +
  theme(
    plot.title = element_text(size = 15, face = "bold"),
    axis.title = element_text(size = 8),
    plot.subtitle = element_text(size=10),
    panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
    plot.title.position = "plot"
  )

Since 1966, Nebraska has a average point differential of over 15 while wearing Regular uniforms. This shows that Huskers have more success when just wearing the traditional red jersey with white pants at home and wearing a white jersey with red pants on the road. With alternate uniforms, Nebraska has a worse average point differential of just over 2 points while wearing an alternate uniform. Despite all of that, the worst is clearly all-white. When wearing all-white uniforms, the Huskers have an average point differential of under -2. Meaning Nebraska looses more while wearing all-white compared to alternate uniforms and traditional uniforms.

This shouldn’t be a surprise though, as it has been discussed among Husker nation that there seems to be a curse when Nebraska wears all-white uniforms, especially in big games (I.e 2014 against Wisconsin).

There has only been one Adidas alternate uniform that has been worn twice. This being the blackshirts uniform that the Huskers wore in 2019 against the Indiana Hoosiers and in 2020 against the Illinois Fighting Illini. And oh boy, these uniforms look awesome. However, Nebraska hasn’t won once while wearing these uniforms and haven’t wore the uniforms since then as well.

Nebraska had an abysmal performance against the Illini in 2020, where Illinois put up 41 on the Blackshirts. Ironic that the “Blackshirts” didn’t play good when wearing the blackshirts uniform. The Huskers were never in the game after going down 28-10 in the second quarter. What a time that 2020 shorten season was.

Code 
Throwbacks <- Updated_Alternate_Uniforms |>
  filter(
    Uniforms == "Throwbacks"
  )

Blackshirts <- Updated_Alternate_Uniforms |>
  filter(
    Uniforms == "Blackshirts"
  )

all_white <- Updated_Alternate_Uniforms |>
  filter(
    Uniforms == "All-White"
  )

everythingelse <- Updated_Alternate_Uniforms |>
  filter(
    Uniforms == "Alternate"
  )

ggplot() +
  geom_point(data=Updated_Alternate_Uniforms, aes(x=Pts, y=Opp), color="lightgrey") +
  geom_point(data=Throwbacks, aes(x=Pts, y=Opp), color="#E41C38") +
  geom_point(data=Blackshirts, aes(x=Pts, y=Opp), color="#000000") +
  geom_point(data=all_white, aes(x=Pts, y=Opp), color="blue") +
  geom_point(data=everythingelse, aes(x=Pts, y=Opp), color="darkgreen") +
  geom_text_repel(data=Throwbacks, aes(x=Pts, y=Opp, label=Opponent), size=2.5) +
  geom_text_repel(data=Blackshirts, aes(x=Pts, y=Opp, label=Opponent), size=2.5) +
  geom_text_repel(data=all_white, aes(x=Pts, y=Opp, label=Opponent), size=2.5) +
  geom_vline(xintercept = 32.61711  , color="darkblue") +
  geom_hline(yintercept = 17.9425   , color="darkblue") +
  labs(
    x = "Team Points",
    y = "Opponent Points",
    title = "Many games did not go well for the Huskers",
    subtitle = "Majority of the Huskers games when they wore a a different uniform than usual are in the top left. Note:\nRed=Throwbacks, Black=Blackshirts, Blue=All-White, Green=Everything else",
    caption = "Source: Sports Reference CFB | By Dylan Jurgens"
  ) +
  theme_minimal() +
  theme(
    plot.title = element_text(size = 18, face = "bold"),
    axis.title = element_text(size = 8),
    plot.subtitle = element_text(size = 10),
    panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
    plot.title.position = "plot"
  )

So, the questions is, does Nebraska football have itself a uniform curse? They don’t necessarily have a overall uniform curse but it is possible that they have curse with those all-white uniforms when they wear them in big games. With an overall 5-14 record since the 1966 Orange Bowl when wearing all-white speaks for itself. The Huskers also haven’t won a game with a Blackshirt variant uniform, with a record of 0-5 when doing so. So if there is any takeaway, it would be this: Nebraska should not wear the all-white and blackshirts uniforms.