The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Nicknamed "The Scoring Explosion", the team was noted for its prolific offense, which is still widely considered one of the greatest in college football history.
WB Gill, Turner #12 (Sr.) QB Graeber, Ken #52 (Jr.) MG Greene, Ricky #5 (Jr.) CB Grimminger, Harry #58 (Jr.) OG Hagerman, Mark #9 (Sr.) PK Harris, Neil #11 (Jr.) CB Herrmann, Doug #63 (Sr.) DT Hiemer, Brian #94 (Jr.) TE Hoefler, Mike (So.)
S Strasburger, Scott #90 (Jr.) DE Stuckey, Rob #75 (Jr.) DT Sundberg, Craig #15 (Jr.) QB Swanson, Shane #17 (Jr.) WB Thayer, Dan #29 (So.)
S Thomas, Anthony #53 (Jr.) OG Thompson, Jim #39 (Jr.) WB Tramner, Mike #64 (Sr.) MG Traynowicz, Mark #57 (Jr.) C Tucker, Scott #89 (So.)
Nebraska overcame nine fumbles (one lost) to avenge their only loss from the previous year, destroying the defending national championship Penn State team 44–6 in the first ever Kickoff Classic.
The Nittany Lions narrowly avoided their first shutout since 1972 when they scored a touchdown against Nebraska reserves with 20 seconds left to play.
Irving Fryar set a new wingback reception record of 138 yards on two catches, both tosses the longest of his and QB Turner Gill's careers, and the entire 60-man Cornhusker travel squad had obtained playing time before the start of the 4th quarter.
The game was also notable for one of the most famous plays in Nebraska history, a 2-yard touchdown run in which Rozier started left, reversed his field, ran backward to about the 17-yard line while sweeping to the right, and then avoided several more defenders before entering the end zone.
Nebraska QB Turner Gill was 17 interception-free pass completions from the Big 8 all-time record when his streak of 125 was broken by Syracuse S Rob Hobby.
Nebraska was struggling to pull away from Oklahoma State, holding on to a tenuous 4-point lead, and watched three drives into Cowboy territory come up empty due to turnovers.
The Blackshirts held strong to prevent any 2nd half scoring by the Tigers, who themselves contributed to the effort by offering up a key fumble turnover, and the Cornhuskers came out of Columbia with the win.
Buffalo CB Victor Scott later stated "It was like someone dropped the atom bomb on us", in regards to the three touchdowns Nebraska put up in the first 2:24 of the 2nd half.
Although the Cornhuskers were outscored 13–20 in the 4th quarter, their two touchdowns were more than enough to preserve the win, as Nebraska IB Mike Rozier moved into 2nd place on the Big 8 career rushing chart.
After the Cornhuskers came from behind twice, the Blackshirts made an epic stand at the end of the game, taking advantage of a motion penalty that moved Oklahoma back from Nebraska's 1-yard line before sacking Sooner QB Danny Bradley and then knocking down two of his subsequent pass attempts with just 32 seconds left to play, which preserved the Cornhusker 7-point lead, the victory, and gave Nebraska its third straight Big 8 Title.
Nebraska Head Coach Tom Osborne decided to forgo an almost-certain national title from settling for a tie game, and boldly went for a 2-point conversion in the final minute in order to get the win.
The attempt failed, Miami won the National Championship, and Coach Osborne's legendary decision was forever embedded in Nebraska lore.
The Cornhuskers had battled back from a 17–31 deficit at the start of the fourth quarter without Heisman winning HB Mike Rozier who left due to injury.
Mike Rozier finished with a national best 2,486 total yards with 2,148 of those coming on the ground and twenty-nine touchdowns scored.
His magical senior season was capped when he was awarded the Heisman Trophy, given to the best individual player in college football.
During his senior season, Turner Gill called the signals for one of the most prolific offenses in college football history.
The Huskers came within a whisker of a national championship, falling just one point short following a failed two-point conversion attempt in the 1984 Orange Bowl.
Overall, Gill finished with a 28–2 record in his three years as a starter, winning three consecutive outright Big Eight championships with a perfect 20–0 mark in conference play.
[3] The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1983 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.