TEMPE, Ariz. -- Fiesta Bowl opponents Nebraska and Florida State, each unable to win a national championship in the 1980s despite sterling seasons, begin the new decade Monday again outside the title picture.
The No. 6 Cornhuskers won 10 of 11 games this season, losing only on the road to now-No. 1 Colorado. The No. 5 Seminoles, who many regard as the best team right now, are riding a nine-game winning streak.
Still, there is precious little chance either school will capture this season's national championship. Guys named Jeff Campbell and Bret Favre helped see to that.
Campbell broke two long punt returns Nov. 4 in Colorado's 27-21 defeat of Nebraska. Favre tossed a 2-yard TD pass with 23 seconds left Sept. 2 to give Southern Mississippi a 30-26 upset of Florida State in the season opener.
'They were better prepared and it cost us, it cost us,' said Seminoles Coach Bobby Bowden, whose team then fell the next week to Clemson.
The Cornhuskers claim they lost because clipping penalties on Campbell's returns went undetected.
'One was right in front of the refs,' said offensive tackle Doug Glaser, whose team outgained the Buffaloes 397 yards to 227. 'It's disappointing. We had a chance of going to the Orange Bowl and playing for the national championship.'
It seems like Nebraska and Florida State did everything but wind up No. 1 in the '80s.
The Cornhuskers tied a decade-record with 103 victories, and the NCAA says a Fiesta triumph would give them sole possession of the mark first set by Alabama in the '70s. They finished twice No. 2, twice No. 3 and once No. 4.
The Seminoles won 87 times, with final rankings of No. 2 in 1987, No. 3 last season and No. 5 in 1980. They are the lone team to beat Miami this year.
Monday's game at soldout Sun Devil Stadium (4:45 p.m. EST) may lack the drama of the title chase, but it hardly shapes up as a second-rate attraction.
Nebraska led the nation by averaging 375.3 yards on the ground. I-back Ken Clark rushed for 1,196 yards and option triggerman Gerry Gdowski ran for 925 more.
Florida State took mainly to the air, rolling up 313.5 yards a game to rank fifth in passing.
Peter Tom Willis was superb in his first season as the Seminoles' starting quarterback. He broke or tied 15 school records, completing 61 percent of his passes for 3,124 yards, 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He had five TD throws Nov. 18 against Memphis State -- in the second quarter.
'We have a lot of weapons,' Willis said. 'If we do what we're supposed to do, we're extremely hard to stop.'
But Bowden and Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne insist offense won't decide the outcome.
'The game's going to be won defensively,' Bowden said. 'We hear about all of these offensive players. That's who you like to talk about: the throwers, the catchers, the runners. But it's going to be won on the other side of the ball. We're proud that we averaged 34 points a game. But I ain't proud they averaged 44.'
Florida State's defense is anchored by nose guard Odell Haggins. LeRoy Butler quietly replaced Deion Sanders at cornerback and picked off seven passes.
The Cornhuskers have the nation's No. 8 defense, but could be without strong safety Reggie Cooper, who has a knee injury.
The game could hinge on how well Florida State runs behind tailback Dexter Carter. Or how well Nebraska throws with Gdowski, who unlike traditional Cornhusker quarterbacks can move his team through the air.
'Our big concern is to play good pass defense, yet be sound enough against the run so they don't kill us,' Osborne said. 'They're diverse enough so that it's really hard to just tee off and play the pass.'
These teams met in the 1988 Fiesta Bowl, with the Seminoles winning 31-28 on a 4th-and-15 pass from Danny McManus to Ronald Lewis with 3:07 left. Florida State drove 97 yards after Nebraska's Tyreese Knox fumbled.
The triumph gave Bowden the third of four straight bowl victories. The Seminoles are unbeaten in their last seven postseason games, and Bowden's bowl winning percentage of 70.8 is the best.
Osborne owns the best active winning percentage in all games (81.1), but he's only 8-8 in bowls. Nebraska has lost its last two postseason games and is 0-3 in the Fiesta Bowl, losing by a total of 10 points.
The Cornhuskers want that streak to end. They also want to show the nation how good they are -- they appeared on national television just once this season, against Colorado.
'A lot of people don't think we're that great,' Gdowski said. 'But we deserve to be talked about in the top five or six teams in the country.'