On Oct. 17, 1987, No. 2 ranked Nebraska traveled to Stillwater to take on No. 12 Oklahoma State.
The Cowboys were off to their best start since 1945 and came in with high hopes of beating the Huskers for the first time since 1961.
Led by future NFL stars like running backs Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders, along with current OSU head coach Mike Gundy, the Cowboys were no match for the Big Red.
In this week's edition of "On this Day," we look back at Nebraska's 35-0 victory at Oklahoma State in 1987.
Thurman Thomas talked a big game, but he didn't back it up
Before the 1987 Nebraska vs. Oklahoma State game started, OSU running back Thurman Thomas had some choice words for the Blackshirts after their Friday walk-through practice.
NU's defense was led by future NFL stars like Neil Smith and Broderick Thomas.
As they were loading the bus to the hotel, Thurman Thomas told Nebraska's defense they were going to have a hard time stopping him.
“Thurman walked by and right in front of our whole defense and said, 'You guys won’t be able to stop me one-on-one. It will take all 11 of you.’
“He went off like the Tasmanian devil had jumped in his heart. I almost fell on the ground laughing," Broderick Thomas told the Omaha World-Herald.
Heading into that game, Thomas led the nation in rushing yards, averaging 140 per game.
He finished that game with one of his worst performances of his career with just 7 yards on nine carries.
“That really pumped the defense up,” tackle Neil Smith told the Omaha World-Herald.
“If we had lined up last night, it might have been worse than it turned out today.
“We couldn’t settle the fellas down until we got back to the hotel. But we got together and saved that frustration so we could use it on the field instead.”
After jumping up 7-0 on a 6 play 92-yard scoring drive, Broderick Thomas forced a fumble on Thurman Thomas. It was the first fumble of the season for Thurman Thomas and paved the way for the Huskers 21-0 first-half lead.
Plenty of star power on OSU's roster
Oklahoma State had no shortage of star power in 1987.
Think about this, future NFL Hall-of-Fame running back Barry Sanders was the back up to Thurman Thomas. He rushed for 60 yards on seven carries to lead OSU that day.
Current Cowboy head coach Mike Gundy was a sophomore in 1987. He finished his career with nearly 8,000 passing yards, making him the all-time leading passer in Big Eight history.
On top of that, Oklahoma State also had a future first-round draft pick wide receiver and All-American Hart Lee Dykes. He probably had the best day of any of the Cowboys, finishing with 113 yards receiving on five receptions.
Cowboys couldn't get by Nebraska and Oklahoma
Oklahoma State finished 10-2 in 1987. The problem was Oklahoma and Nebraska were the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country.
That tells you just how far ahead the Sooners and Huskers were with the overall depth in their programs.
Sanders led the nation in 1987 in kickoff returns, and in 1988 he would go on to win the Heisman Trophy.
Even with all that firepower, OSU never beat Nebraska or Oklahoma in 1987 or 1988.
The 1988 game in Lincoln between these two teams was a shootout, as the Huskers ran for 570 yards on 60 carries. Sanders finished with 189 yards on 35 carries - a much better performance than how Thomas fared before in 1987.
Thomas finished seventh in the 1987 Heisman voting, while Sanders ran away with the award in 1988 after rushing for 2,850 yards and 42 touchdowns (counting bowl stats) - to this day it's still arguably the best individual season for a running back in college football history.
Osborne gets a nice dig in at AP reporter that picked the Cowboys
In 1987, there was no Lee Corso or Kirk Herstreit.
The big prediction element for college football back then came from the Associated Press.
Associated Press college football editor Herschel Nissenson picked OSU to beat the Huskers 28-27 in his weekly picks.
After Nebraska's 35-0 win in Stillwater, Osborne couldn't help himself poking some fun at the AP's upset pick.
“Where’s Herschel?” Osborne joked. “Really, I felt the same way he did. I felt there was a good chance they could win the game.”
NU would go on to win their next three games in a row, climbing to No. 1 in the polls. They would eventually lose to No. 2 Oklahoma 17-7, along with No. 3 Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl 31-28 to finish 10-2 in 1987.
“I hope people feel like we’re a good football team because we played a good football team,” Osborne said after NU's win at OSU. “I think we’re good, but I don’t want to get carried away.
“We’ll have a chance to do well in the Big Eight and nationally. For now, the problem is to make sure we don’t get complacent.”
