OMAHA, Neb. — Nebraska wasn’t always the home of the triple-option quarterback.
In 1971, all the big football schools tried to recruit quarterback David Humm out of Las Vegas. He chose Nebraska because it was a passing team.
Cornhuskers fans under 40 might find that hard to believe. But, yes, Bill Callahan isn’t the first coach to feature the pass at Nebraska.
“We threw first, ran second,” Humm said.
Now 52, Humm still holds the school records for passing yards in a career (5,035) and a season (2,074).
Humm has been a member of the Oakland Raiders’ radio broadcast team for 10 years, so he’s familiar with Callahan’s offense. Callahan was the Raiders’ offensive coordinator from 1998 to 2001 and head coach in 2002 and ’03.
“When I heard he got the Nebraska job, I started thinking about how much fun it would be to play in his offense back there,” Humm said from his home in Las Vegas.
Before Callahan’s arrival in January, Nebraska’s identity in college football was tied to the run for 25 years.
Tom Osborne, outsmarted by Barry Switzer’s Oklahoma wishbone five times in a row in the mid 1970s, began emulating the Sooners by implementing the option attack. The well-grounded philosophy became the symbol of Nebraska football.
But it was also Osborne who, as Bob Devaney’s offensive coordinator, designed the Huskers’ offense of the early ’70s that was considered freewheeling at the time.
Bear Bryant and Joe Namath flew to Las Vegas to woo Humm to Alabama. Other schools rented hotel suites on the Strip to entertain the hotshot high school prospect. But it was Devaney and the mild-mannered Osborne who won him over.
With Jerry Tagge, Humm and Vince Ferragamo at quarterback, the Huskers led the old Big Eight in passing in four of six seasons from 1971-76.
Humm has five of the top eight passing days in Nebraska history, topped by a 297-yard performance against Wisconsin in 1973.
Humm said the passing offense he played in was crude when compared with Callahan’s West Coast offense.
The move to the option offense made sense at the time, Humm said. But Nebraska has slipped in recent years, and Humm said a change was needed.