Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame
There was no logical reason why Augustana should have repeated its national title in 1984. Head coach Bob Reade started seven sophomores and had 11 first year starters in the lineup when the season kicked off in September.
Win the national championship is exactly what the Vikings did, however. They compiled a perfect 12-0 record for the second consecutive season.
They did it with a fearsome defense despite the fact that seven of the starters on that unit were new.
They did it with a bruising, ball control offense despite the fact that four of the starters were sophomores.
But mostly they did it because they had fun playing the game as Reade so succinctly pointed out. “We were just a bunch of young kids who listened well and played hard all of the time.”
Oh, there were some veterans like All-Americans Greg King, Norm Singbush, Ron Nelson and Joe Wheeler, but mostly it was the performance of sophomores Brad Price, Kirk Bednar, Mike Gray, Lynn Thomsen and Troy Westerman who spearheaded the charge.
The new faces in the lineup proved to be invaluable in keeping the rest of the team from resting on its laurels of a year before.
It took a while for the defense to get the hang of things but in the last six games the Vikings allowed just 38 points. After breezing though the regular season with a 9-0 record, the fourth straight dating back to 1981, the Blue & Gold beat Dayton 14-13 in a slugfest in the first round of the playoffs. In the second round the Union Dutchmen came into Rock Island looking for revenge from the 1983 championship game. Instead of revenge, Union got a 23-6 dismantling as an aroused Augustana defense intercepted a school record seven passes.
In the Stagg Bowl, Nelson gained 155 yards and scored three touchdowns. The defense allowed just 18 yards rushing as Augustana defeated Central of Iowa 21-12 and the Vikings were champions once again.
Nelson was the workhorse of the offense from his fullback position and Price added a breakaway threat from his halfback position. They both went over 1,000 yards on the season. Senior Joe Wheeler was the leader from his linebacker position and won the CCIW Most Valuable Defensive Player award. Center Greg King was selected as the CCIW’s Most Valuable Offensive Player despite playing on the offensive line.
