Three Yards Away: The 1983 Nebraska Cornhuskers, College Football's Would-Be Champions

By Dennis P. Crawford

The 1983 Nebraska Cornhuskers may be the best team ever to fall short of victory in a national championship. Declared the greatest team of all time during the regular season, they are best remembered for an offense that averaged 52 points and 546.7 yards per game. They maintained the number-one ranking in the polls during the regular season, winning every game until Miami toppled them in the epic 1984 Orange Bowl.

This book reaches beyond one play and one game--it provides a broader historical overview of Nebraska football from its inception in 1890; discusses the 1983 regular season; and looks at the career of coach Tom Osborne, highlighting his leadership through both triumph and adversity as well as his final game on January 2, 1998. Interviews with Osborne and 18 players give an inside view of a memorable season for the Huskers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 147665705X
• ISBN13: 9781476657059
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: McFarland & Company
• Length: 120 Pages
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up