I have never seen a quarterback throw the ball better than Dave Humm today! How do you throw it any better?!
TOUCHDOWN TO WESTBROOK! Dave "The Dealer" rolled to his left! And who did he find?! Donnie Westbrook! "The Cheyenne Kid!"
That’s three TD catches for Westbrook today, tying Clarence Swanson and Johnny Rodgers. Coyle’s kick is good and it’s 28-0!
Nebraska has been coming off the ball today, just like lightning!
If you’ve ever heard these words from Nebraska radio play-by-play announcer Lyell Bremser, when No. 12 Nebraska played at No. 13 Kansas on Oct. 19, 1974, you’re probably a die-hard Husker fan.
If you heard these words from Bremser just last week, well, you’re probably Paul "Jake" Jacobsen.
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How, exactly, did Jacobsen, a 54-year-old Nebraska fan, just happen to hear a 42-year-old radio broadcast of a Husker football game?
Easy, really.
He just goes to his office in his Wahoo home, consults his color-coded DVD library of some 1,000 radio and television broadcasts of Nebraska football games, and he sits and listens.
“I’m kind of a historian,†Jacobsen said in probably something of an understatement. “Sometimes even the old commercials are fun to listen to or watch.â€
This hobby of collecting Nebraska football broadcasts began when Jacobsen, a Firth native, began searching for a copy of the 1971 "Game of the Century" between No. 1 Nebraska and No. 2 Oklahoma.
“I can remember the game, bits and pieces of it, but when you’re 9 years old, you don’t really grasp the magnitude of it,†Jacobsen said. “When I got older, I wanted to see that game again, and boy, I tell you, you couldn’t find a videotape of that anywhere.
"I finally found it, watched it, and then it kind of blossomed.â€
In 1985, Jacobsen purchased his first VCR and began recording all televised Husker games, later transferring all copies to DVD. That same year he responded to a letter from a reader in Huskers Illustrated magazine who was seeking a copy of the "Game of the Century."
Jacobsen wrote back saying he had that game and about 20 more, and the magazine printed his name and address. Fans began sending him letters requesting various games.
Jacobsen initially obliged, until a friend reminded him of that message the announcer delivers at the outset of every broadcast.
Any rebroadcast, reproduction, retransmission or other use of the description and accounts of this game without the expressed, written consent of (insert name) is strictly prohibited.
“I’m not a copyright lawyer, and I tend to lean toward caution,†Jacobsen said. "I just politely decline.â€
So please don’t contact Jacobsen wanting copies of old Husker football games — unless you might have a game to trade that he’s interested in collecting.
Granted, there probably aren’t many left, although a couple of Holy Grails do remain.
The 1973 game against UCLA — the first for head coach Tom Osborne — tops that short list.
“There’s a good chance I would overtrade for that,†Jacobsen said with a smile.
He trades on his website, , and shares commentary and play-by-play snippets of games he reviews on his Twitter account, @HuskerTapes.
Jacobsen has gone to great lengths to secure copies of some games. He called the Library of Congress for a radio broadcast of the 1941 Rose Bowl, and after he received copyright permission from NBC Universal, which made certain Jacobsen wasn’t out to sell copies, the Library of Congress asked for an “engineering fee.â€
Of $500.
Jacobsen split that cost with another Husker historian. He also paid $250 to the University of Minnesota library for a copy of the 1964 Nebraska-Minnesota game.
The oldest television broadcast in Jacobsen’s library is the 1971 Orange Bowl against LSU.
“I wanted really bad the three Orange Bowls where Nebraska played LSU, Alabama and Notre Dame, and I found 2½ of those,†he said. “The second half of the Notre Dame (game) is lost.
“The Orange Bowl I got, the LSU one, I called (former Husker) Jerry Murtaugh and asked if he wanted a copy. We kind of stayed in touch and he started his "Legends" radio show. So now when he has a guest he’ll say, ‘I’ve got Dave Morock on the show, send me some audio of Dave Morock.’
“He gets these old guys on the show and he plays a clip for them, and he said their eyes just light up. They can’t believe somebody’s got some radio audio from when they played.â€
Jacobsen can listen to the 1971 game against Iowa State, when Bob Hope, who’s in the stadium, joins the broadcast crew in the fourth quarter.
That Rich Glover, he looks like Dick Butkus at feeding time.
Or the 1971 Kansas game, when Nebraska native Johnny Carson was interviewed on the pregame show. Or the 1972 Oklahoma game, when Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench made a guest appearance on the halftime broadcast.
Jacobsen has broadcasts of other college football games, too, along with broadcasts of college basketball, NFL and some local high school basketball games.
His favorite Husker game, without question, is Nebraska’s 1978 victory against No. 1 Oklahoma.
“Just the outpouring of joy. The tearing down the goal posts, it wasn’t forced,†he said. “They just did it.
“Radio audio, my favorite is the 1970 Nebraska-USC game. Lyell Bremser is just priceless in that game. There’s interceptions, there’s fourth-down stops, halfback passes, and the game is just back-and-forth. Lyell just has some great calls in that game.â€
And in many, many other games that Jacobsen can locate and listen to in mere minutes.
Man, woman and child …