1923 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

1923 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Missouri Valley Champions
Conference	Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association
1923 record	4-2-2 (3-0-2 MVIAA)
Head coach	Fred Dawson (3rd year)
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons « 1922 1924 »

1923 Missouri Valley football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Nebraska	3	–	0	–	2			4	–	2	–	2
Kansas	3	–	0	–	3			5	–	0	–	3
Drake	3	–	1	–	0			5	–	2	–	0
Iowa State	3	–	2	–	1			4	–	3	–	1
Kansas State	2	–	2	–	2			4	–	2	–	2
Missouri	1	–	3	–	2			2	–	3	–	3
Oklahoma	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	5	–	0
Grinnell	1	–	3	–	0			2	–	6	–	0
Washington (MO)	1	–	4	–	0			3	–	5	–	0

The 1923 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska in the 1923 college football season. The team was coached by Fred Dawson and played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Contents 1 Before the season 2 Schedule 3 Roster 4 Coaching staff 5 Game notes 5.1 Illinois 5.2 Oklahoma 5.3 Kansas 5.4 Missouri 5.5 Notre Dame 5.6 Iowa State 5.7 Syracuse 5.8 Kansas State 6 After the season 7 External links 8 References

Before the season

Coach Dawson returned for his third season with two conference championships to his credit and a new home playing field following the completion of Memorial Stadium, but it was a hard start to the season. The most prounounced change was the absence of Jack Best, the team's trainer of the previous 32 seasons dating to the beginning of the program, who had died shortly after the end of the 1922 season. The first team on the schedule was not the typical tune-up patsy scrimmage of most seasons past, as coach Dawson had arranged an opening battle on the road against Illinois in order to infuse his team with a heavy dose of experience early in the year. Making things additionally rough to start the year, only nine starters from last season's title team were returning to play for the Cornhuskers.^[1]

Schedule

^[2]

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
October 6*	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, Illinois	L 7-24	-
October 13	Oklahoma	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska	W 24-0	-
October 20†	Kansas	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska	T 0-0	20,000+
October 27	at Missouri	Rollins Field • Columbia, Missouri	T 7-7	-
November 10*	Notre Dame	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska	W 14-7	30,000
November 17	at Iowa State	Clyde Williams Field • Ames, Iowa	W 26-14	-
November 24*	Syracuse	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska	L 0-7	-
November 29	Kansas State	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska	W 34-12	-
*Non-Conference Game. †Homecoming

Roster

Bassett, Henry (Sr.)T Berquist, Joy (Sr.)RG Bloodgood, Elbert (So.) QB Collins, Melvin (So.) E Dewitz, Herbert (Sr.)HB Dewitz, Rufus (Jr.) HB Gately QB Halberslaben G Hartman, Cecil (Sr.)FB Hendrickson, Emil (Jr.) G Hill T Hubka, Ladimer (So.) E Hutchinson, Harold (So.) C Lewellen, Verne (Sr.)QB Locke, Roland (So.) HB Mackey C		McAllister, Eugene (Jr.) E McGlasson, Ross (Sr.)G Myers, Douglas (So.) E Noble, Dave (Sr.)HB Ogden, Warren (So.) G Packer, Bloyce G Popelar E Pospisil, Frank G Randolph, George HB Reed G Rhodes, John (So.) E Robertson, Rob (So.) E Rorby, Noel C Weir, Ed (Jr.) T Wostoupel, Joseph (So.) E [3]

Coaching staff

Name	Title	First year in this position	Years at Nebraska	Alma Mater
Fred Dawson	Head Coach	1921	1921–1924	Princeton
Henry Schulte	Lineman Coach	1921	1919–1924, 1931–1937	Michigan
Owen Frank	Backfield Coach	1921	1921–1925	Nebraska
Bill Day	Centers Coach	1921	1921–1925, 1928–1931	Nebraska
Leo Sherer	Ends Coach	1923	1923–1928	Nebraska
Hartley	Backfield Coach	1923	1923
James Tyson	Manager

^[4][5]

Game notes

Illinois

Nebraska at Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total Nebraska 7 • Illinois 24 Date: October 6 Location: Memorial Stadium • Champaign, Illinois

Nebraska had not faced Illinois since 1905, but had racked up victories in every contest against the Fighting Illini to date. This time, however, the game was to be played in Champaign instead of Lincoln, and the Cornhuskers had only two weeks of practice to prepare for this opening contest. The game was held close, and the outcome was in doubt until the fourth quarter, when Illinois finally overpowered Nebraska and pulled away for the win. The Cornhuskers went home with an opening loss, but held the series advantage at 4-1. ^[1][6]

Oklahoma

Oklahoma at Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total Oklahoma 0 • Nebraska 24 Date: October 13 Location: Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska

The Cornhuskers hosted Oklahoma for the first game played at the new Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. The lopsided score does not tell the tale of the game, which was a bitter contest of near equals except for the breaks that fell in favor of the Cornhuskers. The Sooners repeatedly threatened to score and were thwarted by untimely errors, and the final Nebraska score came on another near-touchdown by Oklahoma that was turned over and returned 90 yards. Oklahoma remained winless in the series, trailing Nebraska 0-4-1.^[1][6][7]

Kansas

Kansas at Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total Kansas 0 0 0 0 0 Nebraska 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 20 Location: Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 20,000+

Although this was not the first game to be played at the new Memorial Stadium, this was the game associated with the official dedication of the facility, scheduled to coincide with homecoming. According to the Nebraska yearbook, there was apparently a streak of home field losses for area teams dedicating new stadiums at about this time, and although Nebraska did not drop this game, they also failed to get a win against visiting Kansas. Where Nebraska had the offense to move the ball, Kansas produced some stingy goal line stands to keep the Cornhuskers off the board for all four quarters, leaving both teams scoreless at the final whistle. Nebraska's overall lead in the series thus remained unchanged, at 19-9-2.^[6][7]

Missouri

Nebraska at Missouri

1 2 3 4 Total Nebraska 7 Missouri 7 Date: October 27 Location: Rollins Field • Columbia, Missouri

For the second game in a row, Nebraska came out looking solid and played strong football, only to be met by an equally strong team opposing them. It was not a game filled with errors and mishaps, but rather two well-coached teams that matched up equally. As a result, the game ended in a 7-7 tie, the second consecutive tie game for Nebraska. The only other time Nebraska had tied two games in a row was in 1919, and it never happened again. Missouri still had a long way to go if they hoped to catch up the series, as they still lagged behind 3-13-1. ^[6][7][8]

Notre Dame

Notre Dame at Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total Notre Dame 0 0 0 7 7 • Nebraska 7 7 0 0 14 Date: November 10 Location: Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 30,000

Nebraska's season began rather weakly as the Cornhuskers managed to scrape up to a 1-1-2 record to date. Unsurprisingly, things looked grim for the home team as the undefeated Notre Dame team returned to Lincoln with a 6-0 record, having prevented all opponents from scoring more than a single touchdown in each game. The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame were looking to exact revenge for the defeat handed them by Nebraska the previous year. The game opened with Notre Dame shocked at their struggle to gain the upper hand. Nebraska scored once, and then again, going up 14-0 by halftime, stunning the crowd entirely - both those rooting for Notre Dame and for Nebraska. Knute Rockne finally managed to coach his team to a single fourth quarter touchdown, but the day belonged to the Cornhuskers. For the second time in a row, Nebraska handed the Four Horsemen a loss, which was also only the second time they had lost to any team. Notre Dame went on to win the next three games, finishing their season with just the one loss in Lincoln, again not allowing any of those other opponents more than 7 points per game. The Nebraska win caught them up with the Fighting Irish, to 4-4-1 all time.^[6][9][10]

Iowa State

Nebraska at Iowa State

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 26 Iowa State 14 Date: November 17 Location: Clyde Williams Field • Ames, Iowa

Nebraska ran right out to a 26-0 lead, never seriously being challenged by Iowa State for most of the game despite a hard-fought and physical battle on the field. In the fourth quarter, however, injuries and substitutions disrupted the rhythm of the Cornhuskers, which allowed Iowa State to come to life and put in a late 14 points. Iowa State's record against Nebraska fell to 4-15-1. ^[6][9][11]

Syracuse

Syracuse at Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total • Syracuse 7 Nebraska 0 Date: November 24 Location: Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska

Nebraska had some players still out from injury, while many who stayed in were slowed by various problems still carried since the Iowa State game. In another battle against a strong eastern team, both squads fought to a standstill for most of the game. Near the end, however, as in the previous week, the Cornhuskers began to bend and then finally allowed Syracuse a single touchdown, which was enough for to Syracuse to be the first visiting team to win in Nebraska's new stadium. Nebraska's frustration against the Orangemen was extended as they fell to 1-3 against Syracuse all time. ^[6][11]

Kansas State

Kansas State at Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total Kansas State 12 • Nebraska 34 Date: November 29 Location: Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska

Nebraska found success in the final game of the season by controlling the time of the possession, with a punishing ground game that prevented Kansas State from opportunities to touch the ball. Although the final score implied a convincing win, the Kansas State squad threatened to score throughout the entire game when they were able to get the ball, and the outcome was not decided until late in the day. The Nebraska win extended the futility of the Kansas State squad in the series, as they remained winless in all eight games played to date. ^[6][11]

After the season

After two very successful seasons, coach Dawson's third year experienced a setback in the program's record, but still came away with several successes. Although Nebraska tied two conference games, they were also unbeaten in conference play and had one less tie game than Kansas, which handed Dawson his third consecutive league title. Bigger than that was the defeat of Notre Dame in Lincoln. Notre Dame was now undefeated for two seasons in a row - except for the two losses handed down to them by the Cornhuskers. Coach Dawson's career record suffered from the relatively weak showing on the year, falling to 18-4-2 (.792) as the program's overall record slipped to 192-64-17 (.734). Nebraska's conference record also fell slightly, despite taking home the title again, to 35-3-4 (.881).

External links

• University of Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
• HuskerMax

References

Nebraska Cornhuskers football Venues Lincoln Park (1890–1895) "M" Street Park (1894–1896) Antelope Field (1897–1908) Nebraska Field (1909–1922) Memorial Stadium (1923–present) Bowls & rivalries Bowl games Colorado Heroes Trophy (Iowa) Culture & lore Herbie Husker Lil' Red "Dear Old Nebraska U" "Hail Varsity" University of Nebraska Cornhusker Marching Band Blackshirts Origin of "Cornhuskers" Fumblerooski People Head coaches Seasons 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 National championship seasons in bold