The sixth and final member of the 2020 class of inductees to the Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame is former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and Husker legend Eric Crouch.
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Nebraska announced the news on Wednesday, rounding out a class that also features former volleyball coach Terry Pettit and athletes Jordan Larson (volleyball, 2005-08), Amanda Burgoyne (bowling, 2004-07), Maurtice Ivy (women’s basketball, 1985-88), and Sam Francis (football and track, 1934-37).
Crouch is also set to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this cycle as well, one of 19 members in the 2020 class. He’s the 19th Husker to enter the hall.
From 1997 to 2001, the quarterback from Omaha, Nebraska, crafted one of the most decorated careers in college football history. His No. 7 jersey has since been retired by the program.
A two-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and a Heisman winner in 2001, Crouch threw for 4,975 yards and 34 touchdowns in his career while rushing for 3,730 yards and 61 touchdowns. He ended his run as the Huskers’ signal-caller with the most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in NCAA history at the time, and his 17 100-yard rushing games were also the most by a quarterback in NCAA history.
Crouch is still Nebraska’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns and rushing yards by a quarterback and his 97 total touchdowns are the most by any player in school history. He finished his career as only the third quarterback in NCAA history to rush for 3,000 yards and pass for 4,000 yards. By graduation, he held 32 school records.
Crouch redshirted in his first season in 1997, when Nebraska captured a national championship behind another quarterback wearing No. 7. After starting five games the next season, Crouch was the Big 12 Co-Offensive Player of the Year in 1999 while leading Nebraska to a 12-1 record, a Big 12 championship and a No. 3 final ranking.
He helped Nebraska to a 10-2 mark as a junior before leading the Huskers to the national title game as a senior, when he won the Heisman Trophy, the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, the Davey O’Brien Quarterback Award and was the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. Crouch was 35-7 as the Huskers’ starting quarterback. Following his Husker career, Crouch was drafted as a receiver in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft.
The Nebraska hall’s inaugural class was in 2015, when 22 former Huskers were honored with plaques at the Nebraska Athletic Hall of Fame Plaza, currently nestled between East Stadium and the Ed Weir Outdoor Track and Field Stadium. Crouch will soon join football greats like Tom Osborne and Bob Devaney, Johnny Rodgers and Mike Rozier. A full list of the members of the Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame can be found here.
