1920 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

1920 Nebraska Cornhuskers football

Conference	Independent
1920 record	5–3–1
Head coach	Henry Schulte (2nd year)
Home stadium	Nebraska Field

The 1920 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska in the 1920 college football season. The team was coached by Henry Schulte and played their home games at Nebraska Field in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Before the season

Looking for stability after a rough couple of years prior, Nebraska had some vacancies to fill with the departure of several seniors to graduation over the summer. The season was easier than the unusually demanding slate of 1919, but contests with powerhouses Notre Dame and Penn State, and against high-profile Rutgers in New York, loomed ahead.^[1]

Schedule

^[2]

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
October 2	Washburn	Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska	W 14-0	-
October 9	Colorado Ag	Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska	W 7-4	-
October 16†	Notre Dame	Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska	L 7-16	10,000
October 23	South Dakota	Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska	W 20-0	-
November 2	vs. Rutgers	Polo Grounds • New York, New York	W 28-0	15,000
November 6	at Penn State	New Beaver Field • State College, Pennsylvania	L 0-20	9,000
November 13	at Kansas	McCook Field • Lawrence, Kansas	T 20-20	-
November 20	MAC	Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska	W 35-7	-
November 25	Washington State	Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska	L 20-21	-
*Non-Conference Game. †Homecoming

Roster



Bassett, Henry (So.) T Dana, Herbert (Jr.) E Day, William (Sr.) C Hartley, Harold (So.) FB Henry, Stanley HB Howarth, Harry (Jr.) QB Hoy, George (So.) HB Kellogg, Sam T Moore, Vern (So.) H Munn, Monte (Jr.) G Munn, Wade (Jr.) G Newman, Richard (Jr.) Q Pucelik, John (Jr.) G Russell, Robert QB		Schellenberg, Elmer HB Scherer, Leo (So.) E Schissler PLAYER Schoeppel, Andrew (Jr.) E Schulte PLAYER Swanson, Clarence (Jr.) E Thomsen, Fred (So.) E Tripplett, Richard (So.) E Weller, Raymond (So.) T Wenke, Adolph (So.) G Wilder, Harold T Wright, Floyd (Jr.) HB Young, Farley (Sr.) G ^[3]

Coaching staff

Name	Title	First year in this position	Years at Nebraska	Alma Mater
Henry Schulte	Head Coach	1919	1919–1924, 1931–1937	Michigan
Jack Best	Trainer	1890	1890–1922
Paul Schissler	Assistant Coach	1918	1918–1920

^[4]

Game notes

Washburn

Washburn at Nebraska

	1	2	Total
Washburn			0
• Nebraska			14

Date: 1920-10-02
Location: Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska

The Cornhuskers tuned up on Washburn to open the season, only scoring 14 points in the process but still getting the season underway with a win. The margin of victory would probably have been greater if coach Schulte had not rested most of the starters while looking ahead at the Notre Dame game two weeks away. This was the last game between Nebraska and Washburn, the final record in the series all Nebraska wins at 4-0. ^[1]^[5]^[6]

Colorado Ag

Colorado Ag at Nebraska

	1	2	Total
Colorado Ag			4
• Nebraska			7

Date: 1920-10-09
Location: Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska

The first game between Nebraska and the Agricultural College of Colorado was not as easy a task as might have been expected, with starters again held back to stay healthy for Notre Dame in a week. The Aggies made quite a game of it, preventing the Cornhuskers from producing much on the scoreboard. Nebraska barely escaped with a 3-point win to go 1-0 in the series. ^[1]^[5]^[6]

Notre Dame

Notre Dame at Nebraska

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Notre Dame	2	7	0	7	16
Nebraska	7	0	0	0	7

Date: October 16
Location: Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 10,000

Notre Dame arrived in Lincoln for the sixth meeting of these teams, with the series tied at 2-2-1. Knute Rockne's team that year included quarterback Joe Brandy and the legendary George Gipp (of "Win one for the Gipper" fame), and Nebraska clearly had their work cut out for them. While the Cornhuskers did not score first, they led by the end of the first quarter. Unfortunately, that was the end of Nebraska scoring, as Rockne modified his game plan to prevent Nebraska from scoring by controlling the time of possession with low-risk, low-gain plays that chewed up the clock while still managing to get ahead mainly due to the efforts of Gipp. Gipp at one point even defied Rockne's directives to play conservatively, and continued to try to score, managing in the process to score another touchdown and contribute 218 personal rushing yards to the team's net of only 174.

South Dakota

South Dakota at Nebraska

	1	2	Total
South Dakota			0
• Nebraska			20

Date: 1920-10-23
Location: Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska

Nebraska rebounded from the disappointing loss to Notre Dame by blanking South Dakota in Lincoln, the team's sixth-straight home game victory stretching back into 1919. The Cornhuskers improved in the series to 6-1-2. ^[1]^[5]

Rutgers

Nebraska vs. Rutgers

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Nebraska	0	14	0	14	28
Rutgers	0	0	0	0	0

Date: November 2
Location: Polo Grounds • New York, New York
Game attendance: 15,000
Referee: Nat A. Tufts

The Cornhuskers outclassed and dominated the Scarlet Knights in the only game ever played between these teams. This was Nebraska's farthest trip eastward to date, and the large New York City crowd presented a rare opportunity to shine in a locale unaccustomed to Nebraska football. Rutgers went on to finish the season just 2-7, thus the high-profile game ended up being less about a contest between strong teams, instead ultimately mainly providing more exposure for Nebraska in the east.

Penn State

Nebraska at Penn State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Nebraska	0	0	0	0	0
• Penn State	0	7	0	13	20

Date: November 6
Location: Beaver Field • State College, Pennsylvania
Game attendance: 9,000
Referee: Michigan Hadden

Nebraska was entirely shut down by the Nittany Lions, though the Cornhuskers held Penn State to a single touchdown and stayed in the game until the 4th quarter. It would be nearly 30 years before these teams would cross paths again, leaving Nebraska 0-1 in the series for a very long time. Penn State's Percy W. Griffiths, Charley Way and Glenn Killinger, coached by Hugo Bezdek, went on to finish their season unbeaten.

Kansas

Nebraska at Kansas

	1	2	Total
Nebraska			20
Kansas			20

Date: 1920-11-13
Location: McCook Field • Lawrence, Kansas

Nebraska ran ahead to a 20-0 lead by halftime in their drive to avenge the bitter loss to Penn State, and the game seemed to be decided early. However, Kansas stormed right back and matched the 20 in the second half, with the help of at least one controversial call in their favor. Ultimately the contest ended in a draw, with Nebraska still firmly in charge of the series at 17-9-1. ^[1]^[5]^[7]

MAC

MAC at Nebraska

	1	2	Total
MAC			7
• Nebraska			35

Date: 1920-11-20
Location: Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska

Returning home after three straight games on the road, the Cornhuskers had little difficulty with the Aggies, dispatching them 35-7 despite the high regard held for the Michigan Ag squad before the game. This was only the second time these teams had met to date, with the last game from 1914 also a Nebraska win. ^[5]^[7]

Washington State

Washington State at Nebraska

	1	2	Total
• Washington State			21
Nebraska			20

Date: 1920-11-25
Location: Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska

In the first meeting between these teams, the Cougars of State College in Washington made the long journey to Lincoln. It was a season to end in disappointment for the Cornhuskers, as Nebraska failed to hold on to a 20-0 halftime lead, scoring no additional points afterward, and then ultimately losing the game by just 1 point. ^[5]^[7]

After the season

Coach Schulte departed soon after the conclusion of the season, leaving the Cornhuskers looking for their fourth head coach in just six years. Schulte's career record with Nebraska ended at 8-6-3 (.559), the third lowest in program history up to that point, for coaches on at least a full year or more. Nebraska's overall record fell to 174-60-15 (.729). Nebraska subsequently rejoined the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association for the upcoming 1921 season, ending two years of playing as an independent.

References

1 2 3 4 5 "1921 Cornhusker - University of Nebraska Yearbook (Page 229)". University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
↑ "Football - 1920 Schedule/Results". University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletics Department. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
↑ "Nebraska Football 1920 Roster". University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletics Department. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
↑ "Nebraska head coaches". HuskerMax. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
1 2 3 4 5 6 "the 1920s". HuskerMax. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
1 2 "1920: Notre Dame Stalls Their Way To 16-7 Win". Husker Press Box. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
1 2 3 "1921 Cornhusker - University of Nebraska Yearbook (Page 231)". University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries. Retrieved 2009-12-03.

Nebraska Cornhuskers football

Venues	Lincoln Park (1890–95) "M" Street Park (1894–96) Antelope Field (1897–1908) Nebraska Field (1909–22) Memorial Stadium (1923–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Colorado Iowa (Heroes Trophy) Kansas Miami Minnesota ($5 Bits of Broken Chair) Missouri (Victory Bell) Oklahoma Texas Wisconsin (Freedom Trophy)

Culture & lore	Herbie Husker Lil' Red "Dear Old Nebraska U" "Hail Varsity" Marching band Blackshirts Origin of "Cornhuskers" 1939 Kansas State game 1971 Oklahoma game Fumblerooski 1982 Penn State game Flea Kicker Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass 1 Second Left

People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders

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 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

National championship seasons in bold

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