Steve Taylor Season 1985

Honors & Awards

• Drafted 12th Round by Indianapolis Colts
• 1989 East-West Shrine Bowl
• 1988 First-Team All-Big 8 (AP, UPI, Coaches)
• 1988 Big 8 Player-of-the-Week (UtahState)
• 1988 Raycom Outstanding Player-of-the-Game (Texas A&M)
• 1988 ABC Nebraska Player-of-the-Game (UCLA)
• 1987 First-Team All-American (Football News)
• 1987 Third-Team All-American (AP)
• 1987 First-Team All-Big 8 (AP, UPI)
• 1987 Sugar Bowl MVP
• 1987 Big 8 Offensive Player-of-the-Week (UCLA, Arizona State)
• 1987 ESPN Nebraska Player-of-the-Game (UCLA)
• 1987 ABC Nebraska Player-of-the-Game (Arizona State)
• 1987 CBS Nebraska Player-of-the-Game (Oklahoma State)
• 1986 Big 8 Player-of-the-Week (Florida State)
• 1986 Sports Illustrated National Player-of-the-Week (Florida State)
• 1986 CNN National Player-of-the-Week (Florida State)

1988 (Senior)
Although Taylor did not repeat as an All-American, he did improve in almost every statistical category. For the first time in his career Taylor threw for over 1,000 yards, in total he threw for 1,067 on 151 attempts and 11 TD’s. Taylor’s longest pass of the year was a staggering 82-yard pass to Todd Millikan on third-and-22 against Missouri, later in the same game Taylor completed a 59-yard pass to Nate Turner on third and 14. Taylor ranked second in the Big 8 in passing behind No. 2 nationally ranked Mike Gundy of OklahomaState. Taylor was also a worthy competitor on the ground, as he rushed for 826 yards on 157 carries and 13 TD’s. Taylor not only made plays in the air, he also reeled off a 60 yard touchdown run against OklahomaState in a 63-42 win. Taylor’s 5.3 yards per carry for the season was astonishing for a quarterback. As a quarterback Taylor ranked 7th in the conference in rushing and combined with his passing was ranked 5th in the conference in total offense with 1893 yards. In the second game of the season against Utah State Taylor threw for 143 and a touchdown as he became the eighth Nebraska player to top 2,000 career passing yards, Taylor also rushed for another 74 yards and two touchdowns to pass Vince Ferragamo and move into fifth on NU’s career total offense chart. Against Arizona State, Taylor was one of three Huskers to rush for more then 100 yards (Ken Clark 122, Taylor 116, Terry Rodgers 113). Two games later against Kansas in a 63-10 win Taylor reached two career milestones, he became the fifth Husker to top 4,000 total-offense yards, finishing the game with 4,034, and he became the third Husker to record 50 career total-offense touchdowns. The next week against Oklahoma State, Taylor would score five more touchdowns and set the school career-record at 55. In the regular-season finale against Oklahoma, Taylor would score the only touchdown of the game in the first quarter on a 1-yard run; Nebraska would go on to win the game 7-3. This win would end Oklahoma’s 31-game Big 8 win streak and earn the Huskers an outright Big Eight title and an Orange Bowl berth for the first time in five years.

Taylor would end his career holding many Husker records: rushing attempts by a quarterback in a season (157 in 1988), rushing attempts by a quarterback in a career (431 in 1985-88), rushing net yards gained by a quarterback in a single game (157 vs. Utah State, 1987), rushing net yards gained by quarterback in a season (826 in 1988), rushing net yards gained by a quarterback in a career (2,215 in 1985-88), tied with three others for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a game (3 vs. Iowa State, 1988), rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a season (13 in 1988), rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a career (32 in 1985-88), and passing touchdowns in a game (5 vs. UCLA, 1987). 

1987 (Junior)
Taylor started his junior season by rushing for 157 yards against UtahState, a single-game record for a Nebraska quarterback, then laid to rest any doubt about his passing ability the following week vs. UCLA. When the third ranked Bruins’ defense held the second-ranked Huskers’ high-powered rushing attack to a season-low 117 yards, Taylor responded with one of the top passing performances ever for a Nebraska quarterback, as he complete 10 of 15 passes for 217 yards and five touchdowns in leading the Huskers to a 42-17 lead on their way to a 42-33 win. The five TD passes broke the old Nebraska record and tied the Big 8 Conference mark set in 1938 by Ralph Miller of Kansas against Washburn (Miller, of course, has gone on to become one of the nation’s most successful college basketball coaches, and heads into his final year at Oregon State in 1988-1989). Taylor’s performance vs. UCLA earned him the first of two-straight Big 8 offensive player-of-the-week awards. In the Huskers’ third game, he rushed for 122 yards and two TD’s and passed for 69 yards and another score as he led Nebraska to a 35-28 win at ArizonaState. A four-TD-pass effort at Missouri later in the season was another standout performance. Taylor finished the year with 659 rushing yards, a single-season record for a Husker quarterback, while completing 57 of 123 passes (46.3 percent) for 902 yards and 13 TD’s, with nine interceptions. He went into his senior year ranked 10th in career passing at Nebraska (1,748 yards), fifth in career touchdown passes (tied at 19), seventh in career total offense yards (3,047) and 22nd overall in career rushing yards (1,299, 18 yards short of Tuner Gill’s quarterback record of 1,317). His eight rushing TD’s increased his career total to 19, another NU quarterback record. The Huskers’ fastest-ever quarterback (4.54 in the 40), he has been the team’s second-leading rusher each of the last two years.

1986 (Sophomore)
Steve’s 1986 Fiesta Bowl performance helped propel him into a starting job for the following season, and his first career star was a memorable performance. In a national-televised opener vs. Florida State, he complete 10 of 16 passes for 130 yards and two TD’s, and rushed 12 times for 139 yards and two more TD’s in the Huskers’ 34-17 win over the Seminoles, winning Sports Illustrated and CNN national offensive player-of-the-week honors. Three games later, he hit on nine of 19 passes for 196 yards at South Carolina, and hit tight end Todd Millikan with an 11-yard TD strike with 1:26 left to give the Huskers a 27-24 win over the Gamecocks.

1985 (Freshman)
As a freshmen he split time between the freshman and varsity teams. In four starts with the frosh before moving up to the varsity full time, he completed 19 of 32 passes (59.4 percent) for 425 yards and five TD’s, with 218 yards and seven TD’s on the ground.

Before Nebraska (San Diego Lincoln High)
As a senior for Coach Ray Hooper, Steve broke Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Allen’s school total offense record by piling up 3,211 yards. He also topped Allen’s school-record per-carry rushing average with an 11.2 mark, and his pass-completion percentage bettered a school record held by Allen’s brother, Damon. He earned second-team All-CIF honors as a senior and had his jersey No. 3 retired. Taylor played only his senior year at San Diego Lincoln after transfering from Fresno Edison when Hooper changed jobs.

Personal
Son of Dulcena Taylor, Steve was born Jan. 7, 1967, in Fresno. Speech communications major.

Taylor's Career Passing Statistics

Year	Att.	Cmp.	Int.	Pct.	Yds.	LP	TDs
1985	6	3	1	.500	38	16	0
1986	124	52	7	.419	808	73	6
1987	123	57	9	.463	902	78	13
1988	151	72	7	.477	1,067	82	11
Totals	404	184	24	.455	2,815	82	30

Taylor's Career Rushing Statistics

Year	Att.	Gain	Loss	Yards	Avg.	TD	LP
1985	14	112	9	103	7.4	2	32
1986	130	656	119	537	4.1	9	46
1987	130	794	135	659	5.1	8	58
1988	157	998	172	826	5.3	13	60
Totals	431	2,560	435	2,125	4.9	32	60

Taylor's Bowl Game Statistics
1986 - Fiesta Bowl vs. Michigan: Passing: 2 of 9, 15 yards,1 int.; Rushing: 10 for 76 yards, 1 TD
1987 - Sugar Bowl vs. Louisiana State: Passing: 11 of 19, 110 yards, 1 TD; Rushing: 20 for 63 yards, 1 TD; (Named Game MVP).
1988 - Fiesta Bowl vs. FloridaState: Passing: 7 of 14, 142 yards, 1 int.; Rushing: 20 for 75 yards, 1 TD
1989 - Orange Bowl vs. Miami: Passing: 8 of 21, 55 yards, 2 int.; Rushing: 17 for 12 yards.