Year-by-Year: 1955
November 24, 1955 10:00 AM
Duke Turns Nebraska Blue
Duke 34
Nebraska 7
Duke won the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1954 and Oklahoma won the Big Seven, but the Sooners stayed home because of a conference rule that prohibited consecutive Orange Bowl appearances. This allowed runner-up Nebraska to enter the game, which they lost to the Blue Devils, 34-7.
The Blue Devils controlled the ball throughout the game. They dominated every statistical category, including plays (76 to 54), first downs (23 to 6) and yards (361 to 105).
Duke scored first on Bob Pascal’s seven-yard run in the second quarter and Jerry Barger threw five yards to Jerry Kocourek for a 14-0 halftime lead.
Nebraska got on the board with Don Comstock’s three-yard run over the left tackle in the third quarter, but Barger’s second touchdown pass to Sonny Sorrell for five yards, made it 20-6.
Duke’s final touchdowns were on a one-yard run by Nick McKeithan and a three-yarder by Sam Eberdt.
GAME STATISTICS
Duke Nebraska
First Downs 23 6
Rushing Plays 64 34
Rushing Yards 280 79
Passes Attempted 12 10
Passes Completed 6 1
Had Intercepted 0 2
Passing Yards 81 26
Total Offense 361 105
Punting/Avg. 5/18.4 7/29.3
Fumbles/Lost 2/1 0/0
Penalties/Yards 2/30 2/20
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Duke 0 14 6 14 34
Nebraska 0 0 7 0 7
SCORING SUMMARY
DU: Pascal 7 run (Nelson kick); DU: Kocourek 5 pass from Barger (Nelson kick); DU: Sorrell 5 pass from Barger (kick failed); NE: Comstock 3 run (B. Smith kick); DU: McKeithan 1 run (Nelson kick); DU: Eberdt 3 run (Nelson kick)
Duke Head Coach Bill Murray
Nebraska Head Coach Bill Glassford