1905 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team
Encyclopedia
The 1905 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska in the 1905 college football season
. The team was coached by Walter C. "Bummy" Booth
and played their home games at Antelope Field in Lincoln, Nebraska
.
The Cornhuskers opened the season without Coach Booth on the sidelines, as he was recovering from illness. It seemed to matter little, as Nebraska rolled to their third win in three games against Grand Island in the last time these teams would meet.
Ending another series, the University team defeated the Lincoln High School team for the 8th time in eight games, in this final exhibition game between the teams.
South Dakota's only points came on a fumble lost by Nebraska that the Coyotes returned the length of the field. Except for that moment of excitement, the day belonged to the Cornhuskers, who pulled ahead of South Dakota 2-1 in the series.
Knox didn't put up much fight, but neither did Nebraska expend much effort in what was described as another early season walk through warm up game. Nebraska's record over Knox advanced to 4-0.
Nebraska met Michigan for the first time in Ann Arbor, in the last season that the Wolverines played at Regents Field. This game had additional meanings, as it was Michigan who had been named Western Champion in 1902 over Nebraska, despite the Cornhuskers finishing the season with a perfect record of shutout victories. In addition, former Cornhusker head coach Fielding H. Yost was at the helm of the Michigan team. This was the first time Nebraska had faced one of its own former head coaches.
Any hopes held by the Cornhuskers to settle its affairs against Michigan were silenced, as both teams fought to a draw in the first half only for Michigan to break through and run up 31 unanswered points against the Cornhuskers in the second half.
Coach Booth allowed the Cornhuskers to absolutely smash Creighton in the week after the crushing loss to Michigan. Not holding back at all, Nebraska used trick plays and kept the pressure on throughout the entire game, scoring half again as much in the second half as the first. This game set new records for total points scored and largest margin of victory, displacing the 76-0 downing of Hastings in 1898, as the Cornhuskers moved up to 2-0 against Creighton.
After a three-year break, Nebraska renewed the series with Iowa State when the Cyclones traveled to Lincoln. The heavy rains kept scoring to a minimum, certainly there were less points scored by Nebraska than the previous week, but Iowa State scored no points at all and fell farther behind in the series, 2-5.
The 4,000+ crowd counted at this game set a record for a non-Thanksgiving Day game crowd, as the Cornhuskers battled a determined Colorado team to emerge with the shutout win and move up in the series to 4-1.
Nebraska again traveled to Minneapolis to challenge the superiority of the Golden Gophers, who seemed to generally have Nebraska's number. The same was true today, as the Minnesota squad blanked the visiting Cornhuskers and improved their series lead over Nebraska to 4-1.
Doane arrived in Lincoln after a two year break in facing the Cornhuskers, but it was more of the same as Doane fell 5-43. Nebraska had run out ahead by 37 before the half, and though Doane figured out the Cornhuskers enough to play them to a second half draw, those early points were of course far too much to overcome. To Doane's credit, it was the first time in five games against Nebraska that they avoided the shutout. Nebraska's daunting record over Doane was stretched to 9-2. As Nebraska finished with wins against all in-state competition for the season, they recorded their second consecutive and sixth overall state championship.
Nebraska again closed the season with a win against Illinois. The Fighting Illini of 1905 were demoralized at this point, having been shut out in three of the previous four games, and did not put up a serious fight. Still winless in the series, Illinois was now down 0-4 against Nebraska.
1905 college football season
The 1905 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listing Chicago and Yale Bulldogs football as national champions.-Rule experiment:...
. The team was coached by Walter C. "Bummy" Booth
Walter C. Booth
-References:...
and played their home games at Antelope Field in Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln, Nebraska
The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....
.
Before the season
Coach Booth, after the extremely successful 1902 and 1903 seasons, sought to return to dominance after the relatively disappointing 7-3 1904 season. Last year's roster of 30 was reduced somewhat, with 26 players appearing in 1905.Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 23 | Grand Island | Antelope Field • Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379.... |
W 30-0 | - |
| September 30* | Lincoln High | Antelope Field • Lincoln, Nebraska | W 20-0 | - |
| October 7 | South Dakota | Antelope Field • Lincoln, Nebraska | W 42-6 | - |
| October 14 | Knox | Antelope Field • Lincoln, Nebraska | W 16-0 | - |
| October 21 | at Michigan 1905 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1905 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1905 college football season. The team's head football coach was Fielding H. Yost. The Wolverines played their home games at Regents Field... |
Regents Field Regents Field Regents Field was the home field for the University of Michigan football team from 1893 to 1905. It was located along South State Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Schembechler Hall stands today.... • Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010... |
L 0-31 | - |
| October 28 | at Creighton Creighton Bluejays The Creighton Bluejays, or Jays, are the athletic teams of Creighton University, a Jesuit/Catholic University located in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Creighton competes in NCAA Division I athletics, competing in the Missouri Valley Conference... |
Omaha, Nebraska Omaha, Nebraska Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River... |
W 102-0 | - |
| November 4 | Antelope Field • Lincoln, Nebraska | W 21-0 | - | |
| November 11 | Colorado Colorado Buffaloes football The Colorado Buffaloes football program represents the University of Colorado at Boulder in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The team is currently a member of the Pacific-12 Conference, having previously been a charter member of the Big 12 Conference. Before joining the Big 12,... |
Antelope Field • Lincoln, Nebraska | W 18-0 | 4,012 |
| November 18 | at Minnesota | Northrop Field • Minneapolis, Minnesota | L 0-35 | - |
| November 25 | Doane Doane College Doane College is a private liberal arts college in Crete, Nebraska, United States, with additional campuses located in Lincoln and Grand Island.-History:... |
Antelope Field • Lincoln, Nebraska | W 43-5 | - |
| November 30 | Antelope Field • Lincoln, Nebraska | W 24-6 | - | |
| *Exhibition Game. | ||||
Roster
Barta, Frank G Barwick, Leonard QB Bender, Johnny HB Benedict, Maurice QB Borg, Charles C Burns, Donald T Cotton, Charles RG Craig, Hugh HB Denslow, Lloyd E Eager, Earl HB Graves, Elliot HB Hunter, Fred RG Johnson, William E Lundin, Alford T Mason, Cyrus LT Mason, John FB McDonald, Gil E Mills, Leslie QB Morse, C.L. QB Nelson, Thomas G Ringer, John LG Schmidt, Francis HB Taylor, Robert RG Weller, John HB Wenstrand, Ralph G Wilson, Harry HB |
||||||
Coaching staff
| Name | Title | First year in this position |
Years at Nebraska | Alma Mater |
| Walter C. "Bummy" Booth Walter C. Booth -References:... |
|Head Coach | 1900 | 1900–1905 | Princeton Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution.... |
| Jack Best | |Trainer | 1890 | 1890–1922 | |
| John Westover | |Assistant Coach | 1904 | 1901–1905 | Nebraska |
Grand Island
|
The Cornhuskers opened the season without Coach Booth on the sidelines, as he was recovering from illness. It seemed to matter little, as Nebraska rolled to their third win in three games against Grand Island in the last time these teams would meet.
Lincoln High
|
Ending another series, the University team defeated the Lincoln High School team for the 8th time in eight games, in this final exhibition game between the teams.
South Dakota
|
South Dakota's only points came on a fumble lost by Nebraska that the Coyotes returned the length of the field. Except for that moment of excitement, the day belonged to the Cornhuskers, who pulled ahead of South Dakota 2-1 in the series.
Knox
|
Knox didn't put up much fight, but neither did Nebraska expend much effort in what was described as another early season walk through warm up game. Nebraska's record over Knox advanced to 4-0.
Michigan
|
Nebraska met Michigan for the first time in Ann Arbor, in the last season that the Wolverines played at Regents Field. This game had additional meanings, as it was Michigan who had been named Western Champion in 1902 over Nebraska, despite the Cornhuskers finishing the season with a perfect record of shutout victories. In addition, former Cornhusker head coach Fielding H. Yost was at the helm of the Michigan team. This was the first time Nebraska had faced one of its own former head coaches.
Any hopes held by the Cornhuskers to settle its affairs against Michigan were silenced, as both teams fought to a draw in the first half only for Michigan to break through and run up 31 unanswered points against the Cornhuskers in the second half.
Creighton
|
Coach Booth allowed the Cornhuskers to absolutely smash Creighton in the week after the crushing loss to Michigan. Not holding back at all, Nebraska used trick plays and kept the pressure on throughout the entire game, scoring half again as much in the second half as the first. This game set new records for total points scored and largest margin of victory, displacing the 76-0 downing of Hastings in 1898, as the Cornhuskers moved up to 2-0 against Creighton.
Iowa State
|
After a three-year break, Nebraska renewed the series with Iowa State when the Cyclones traveled to Lincoln. The heavy rains kept scoring to a minimum, certainly there were less points scored by Nebraska than the previous week, but Iowa State scored no points at all and fell farther behind in the series, 2-5.
Colorado
|
The 4,000+ crowd counted at this game set a record for a non-Thanksgiving Day game crowd, as the Cornhuskers battled a determined Colorado team to emerge with the shutout win and move up in the series to 4-1.
Minnesota
|
Nebraska again traveled to Minneapolis to challenge the superiority of the Golden Gophers, who seemed to generally have Nebraska's number. The same was true today, as the Minnesota squad blanked the visiting Cornhuskers and improved their series lead over Nebraska to 4-1.
Doane
|
Doane arrived in Lincoln after a two year break in facing the Cornhuskers, but it was more of the same as Doane fell 5-43. Nebraska had run out ahead by 37 before the half, and though Doane figured out the Cornhuskers enough to play them to a second half draw, those early points were of course far too much to overcome. To Doane's credit, it was the first time in five games against Nebraska that they avoided the shutout. Nebraska's daunting record over Doane was stretched to 9-2. As Nebraska finished with wins against all in-state competition for the season, they recorded their second consecutive and sixth overall state championship.
Illinois
|
Nebraska again closed the season with a win against Illinois. The Fighting Illini of 1905 were demoralized at this point, having been shut out in three of the previous four games, and did not put up a serious fight. Still winless in the series, Illinois was now down 0-4 against Nebraska.