If we’ve learned anything during the early stages of our season-long look at Nebraska’s first national championship in football, it may be that what college football could use more of now is good nicknames that fans know.
There was, of course, Johnny "The Jet" Rodgers on the 1970 championship team, but also “Fast Eddie.†That was Ed Periard, the small middle guard on defense who earned his nickname because of his tremendous speed.
He’s the subject of this walk down memory lane.
Periard was an unsung star and one of those great walk-on stories that Nebraska has had for more than 50 years. As a senior on the 1970 team, his 79 total tackles were second-most on the team, trailing only linebacker Jerry Murtaugh’s 142. Periard had a team-best 15 tackles for losses and earned first-team All-Big Eight honors.
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Other players with well-known nicknames from the ’70 team were John Adkins (“Spiderâ€), Willie Harper (“Sweet Willieâ€), Bob Newton (“Big Figâ€) and Guy Ingles (“Guy the Flyâ€).
Periard, who was killed in a car accident in his home state of Michigan in 1993, was chosen for the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
The story goes that in high school Periard wanted to play at Nebraska badly, but was turned down twice before getting a chance. After one semester, coach Bob Devaney said that Nebraska had to keep Periard on the team because the coach didn’t want to have to play against him.
Periard was from the small town of Birch Run, Michigan. In high school he was a running back, scoring 17 touchdowns and leading the team to an undefeated season.
In college he was small for a defensive lineman at 5-foot-9 and 200 pounds. So he went around, rather than through, the offensive linemen.
“He was quick as a cat,†said Mike Beran, an offensive lineman for Nebraska in 1970. “Not very big. But he was lightning quick and he had a big heart and he was always around the football.â€
Periard was a two-year starter at middle guard. He began his college career at Nebraska as a linebacker, but assistant coach Monte Kiffin made him a middle guard.
In the third game of the ’70 season, a 28-0 shutout against Army in Lincoln, Periard was one of the players of the game. He had 11 tackles (six solo) and caught the Army quarterback four times for losses totaling 27 yards. That was Nebraska’s only shutout that year.
“He wasn’t very big, but he was just fiery as hell,†said former Husker Larry Jacobson.
Murtaugh thought the world of Periard and felt that Periard was the backbone of the defense that year.
“Everything was against him. He was so little,†Murtaugh said. “But he was so driven, and he was so quick. And every game, he’s playing against centers that are 6-2 to 6-4, 235 to 250. And he’s 195 pounds. And he’s beating them all. He was so much quicker.â€
In his final college game, Periard and Nebraska played LSU in the Orange Bowl. Before Nebraska’s game that day, No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Ohio State both lost their bowl games, leaving the door open for No. 3 Nebraska to win the national championship.
On the bus ride to the game, Periard learned that the top two teams lost and was so excited that he stood up on the bus and wanted to be let out so he could run the rest of the way to the stadium. His teammates told him to sit down.
“He says, ‘I can’t, I can’t! We got a shot at winning this!’†Murtaugh said.
Periard had seven solo tackles as the Huskers beat LSU 17-12 that evening and won the national title.
While he was still in college, Periard had lined up a job to return home to Michigan and be a teacher and coach. He was the defensive coordinator for Arthur Hill High School when the team was undefeated and unscored against in 1973. He would practice against his players without any pads and end up with his arms bruised.
But when pheasant season came, the head coach knew that Periard might be late for practice because he was hunting.
Periard later coached at his alma mater, Birch Run, where the football field is named Ed Periard Memorial Field. There is also some of his Nebraska memorabilia in a trophy case at the school.