“The Blackshirts!” The nickname of the Nebraska Cornhuskers defensive has been a part of the history of the program since the second week of the 1964 season.
Head Football Coach Bob Devaney made the decision to embrace the new use of a platoon system that had just become legal by the NCAA. Because offense and defense had always been one solid unit at practices, Nebraska had no way to distinguish between the two squads. Devaney sent assistant coach Mike Corgan to a local sporting goods store to purchase pullovers for the team to tell the difference between the two sides.
When Corgan returned, he had with him black pullovers. The legend says that the black jerseys didn’t sell particularly well, and the assistant coach was able to cut a deal with the store as a result. Only the first-team defenders were initially given the black jerseys instead of the standard team-issued gray to motivate second and third-teamers on the depth chart. Soon after adopting the black practice pullovers, the “blackshirt” nickname became synonymous with the Nebraska defense.
See the all-time Cornhuskers offense here.
Check out our other College Wire all-time defenses: Alabama / Auburn / Clemson / Colorado / Florida / Georgia / Iowa / LSU / Michigan / Michigan State / North Carolina / Ohio State / Oklahoma / Oregon / Penn State / Rutgers / Tennessee / Texas / Texas A&M / USC