During spring training, Nebraska put extra effort into their drills.

At every session, to make sure no one forgot how much time was left when Nebraska led in the Orange Bowl and Florida State took over the ball, the coaches added 1:16 to the clock. The team would finish regulation practice and then go hard for another minute and sixteen seconds.

The team meant business.

The 1994 season began with the Kickoff Classic. Nebraska beat ranked West Virginia, 31 to 0, and the Huskers were off to a strong start.

But then, both Tommy Frazier and Brook Berringer, Osborne’s star quarterbacks, got hurt. Nebraska was playing a third string quarterback and with the offense in deep trouble, the defense felt the pressure.

Despite the injuries, Nebraska finished the season undefeated. They were headed to the Orange Bowl to play Miami for the National Championship, but as game day drew closer, the team still wasn’t sure who would start as quarterback.

Osborne, as usual, decided to pick the starting quarterback based on who played best in practice. Between Berringer and Frazier, Tommy got the better grade and with it, the nod.

Individual egos were held in check.

The Unity Council worked.

The 1995 Orange Bowl pitted Nebraska’s number one offense against Miami’s number one defense. Miami had won 62 of their last 63 games in Orange Bowl Stadium and they hadn’t lost a night game in 17 years.

At the end of the first quarter, Miami led, 10 to 0.

Nebraska players and fans began to get that old "Here-We-Go-Again Orange Bowl feeling.

In the second quarter, Nebraska’s offense clicked in and at half-time the score was 10 to 7.

In the locker room, Osborne once again stressed the importance of hard work and unity. He assured the team that if they played hard they’d take over and win in the fourth quarter. It seemed Tom Osborne had a crystal ball.

And his predictions came true.

Near the end of the game, down two points, Osborne went for two points in the same Orange Bowl end-zone where the National Championship was lost in 1983. The Cornhuskers beat Miami 24 to 17 and Tom Osborne won his first National Championship.

After playing well in 1982 and ‘83, and with the national title now in his pocket, Tom Osborne knew his team was good enough to be the best. And so did the fans.

But the ring and the trophy were not as important to Osborne as the unity shown by the team and coaches. They’d been through a lot together. They’d grown very close over the course of the season. It was their commitment to one another that really counted.

It meant more than winning.