1921 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team
Encyclopedia
The 1921 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska in the 1921 college football season
. The team was coached by Fred Dawson
and played their home games at Nebraska Field
in Lincoln, Nebraska
.
Nebraska Wesleyan arrived in Lincoln as Nebraska's tune up game, and nearly every player on the roster found time in the game as the Cornhuskers rolled to an easy shutout victory, as Nebraska's goal was never threatened. This was the last game between these teams, ending the 5th-oldest active series in Nebraska's history to that date, all eight games Nebraska victories dating back to 1896.
For the second game in a row, Nebraska brought to a close a historic series. Nebraska's run of games with Haskell was the 7th oldest active series, dating to 1901. Much like the previous game, Nebraska was never seriously threatened and posted another shutout win, bringing the Haskell series to a close with a 7-2 record.
Nebraska's first ever trip to South Bend, after six straight games against Notre Dame in Lincoln, continued what had become one of the marquee games of the west. The game was all about Nebraska's stingy defense and inept offense. Time after time, the Cornhuskers turned away serious goal line threats, while also failing to find the scoreboard due to fumbles, incompletions and interceptions. Knute Rockne
changed his plan for the second half, to ensure Nebraska remained scoreless and banking on eventually finding points with low-risk plays, much like the previous year's game. Chet A. Wynne was among the Notre Dame players who contributed to their one successful scoring drive, and with those points the game was decided. Nebraska fell further behind in the series, to 2-4-1.
The Cornhuskers bounced right back from the bitter loss in South Bend by blanking the reigning conference champion Oklahoma Sooners in Lincoln, in Nebraska's first conference game since returning to the league. The win moved the Cornhuskers to 2-0-1 against Oklahoma to date.
Nebraska traveled to Pennysylvania for their first ever contest with Pittsburgh, known in the east as a strong team to be feared. The Cornhuskers were undaunted, taking a halftime lead and ultimately holding the Panthers scoreless for the entire game. Building on the exposure started by the 1920 victory over Rutgers the previous year, Nebraska solidified their reputation as a western powerhouse to the football fans of the east.
The Cornhuskers easily handled the Jayhawks at the homecoming game, never seriously threatened during the course of the game as Nebraska recorded their fifth shutout over their previous six games, and improved over Kansas 18-9-1 all time.
Iowa State fired the first shot of the game, putting up an early field goal to take a 3-0 lead, but that was last time the Cyclones would speak. The Cornhuskers ruined Iowa State's homecoming game by rolling up 35 unanswered points, finishing conference play unbeaten, and improving their dominating lead over Iowa State 13-4-1.
Nebraska finished the 1921 season with force, flattening the Colorado Ag football squad. Though the Aggies managed a 4th quarter score, Nebraska's 70 points were the most they had scored against any opponent since their 100-0 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan in 1917. Colorado Ag was now down 0-2 against Nebraska to date.
1921 college football season
The 1921 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listing California Golden Bears, Cornell Big Red, Iowa Hawkeyes, Lafayette Leopards, and Washington & Jefferson Presidents as champions...
. The team was coached by Fred Dawson
Fred Dawson
-References:...
and played their home games at Nebraska Field
Nebraska Field
Nebraska Field hosted the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team beginning in 1909 until it was replaced with the new Memorial Stadium, which was built in the same location and opened for the 1923 Nebraska football season...
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
Former head coach Schulte stepped down to focus on coaching other sports at Nebraska, but remained involved with the team as the lineman coach. New head coach Dawson arrived from Princeton, inheriting a team that had eighteen lettermen returning, the highest number ever for the program to date. Nebraska also rejoined the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association after a two-year stint as an independent, so the high number of returning starters raised aspirations for a conference title. A new league rule was enacted that restricted preseason practices to the two weeks prior to the first game, so much work was to be done after the summer break to be ready.Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 1* | Nebraska Wesleyan Nebraska Wesleyan University Nebraska Wesleyan University is a private, coeducational university located in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was founded in 1887 by Nebraska Methodists. As of 2007, it has 1,600 full-time students and 300 faculty and staff. The school teaches in the tradition of a liberal arts college education.... |
Nebraska 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 55-0 | - |
| October 15* | Haskell Haskell Indian Nations University Haskell Indian Nations University is a tribal university located in Lawrence, Kansas, for members of federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States... |
Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska | W 41-0 | - |
| October 22* | at | Carter Field Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame Stadium is the home football stadium for the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. The stadium is located on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States, just north of the city of South Bend.... • Notre Dame, Indiana Notre Dame, Indiana Notre Dame is a census-designated place north of South Bend in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States; it includes the campuses of three colleges: the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary's College, and Holy Cross College. Notre Dame is split between Clay and Portage Townships... |
L 0-7 | 14,000 |
| October 29 | Oklahoma | Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska | W 44-0 | - |
| November 5* | at | Forbes Field • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States... |
W 10-0 | - |
| November 12† | Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska | W 28-0 | - | |
| November 19 | at | Clyde Williams Field • Ames, Iowa Ames, Iowa Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa in Story County, and approximately north of Des Moines. The U.S. Census Bureau designates that Ames, Iowa metropolitan statistical area as encompassing all of Story County, and which, when combined with the Boone, Iowa... |
W 35-3 | - |
| November 24* | Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska | W 70-0 | - | |
| *Non-Conference Game. †Homecoming | ||||
Roster
Berquist, Joy #2 RG Dewitz, Herbert #10 (So.) QB Ekeroth PLAYER Hamilton PLAYER Hartley, Harold #20 (Jr.) FB Hartman, Cecil #16 FB Hendrickson, Emil #28 T Higgins PLAYER House, Gordon #25 C Hoy, George #8 (Jr.) HB Klemke, George #22 E Layton, Marvin #18 (So.) FB Lewellen, Verne #23 (So.) HB Lyman, Roy Link William R. Lyman William Roy "Link" Lyman was a professional American football player. He played tackle for the Canton Bulldogs, the Cleveland Bulldogs, the Frankford Yellow Jackets and the Chicago Bears.... #4 LT McGlasson, Harold #13 QB McGlasson, Ross #24 (So.) T Nixon, Byran #27 (So.) G |
Noble, Dave #7 (So.) HB Odum #14 PLAYER Peterson, Carl #26 (So.) C Preston, Glen #15 (So.) QB Pucelik, John #11 (Sr.)LG Reed #17 G Russell, Robert #9 QB Scherer, Leo #19 (Jr.) E Schoeppel, Andrew #6 (Jr.) E Swanson, Clarence Clarence Swanson Clarence Swanson was an American football player. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1973.... #1 (Sr.)E Thomas PLAYER Toft PLAYER Tripplett, Richard #30 (Jr.) E Weller, Raymond #3 (Jr.) RT Wenke, Adolph #12 (Jr.) G Woodward PLAYER Wright, Floyd #21 HB |
|||||
Coaching staff
| Name | Title | First year in this position |
Years at Nebraska | Alma Mater |
| Fred Dawson Fred Dawson -References:... |
|Head Coach | 1921 | 1921–1924 | 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 | |
| Henry Schulte Henry Schulte Henry Frank Schulte was an American football player and coach and also a college track and field coach... |
|Lineman Coach | 1921 | 1919–1924, 1931–1937 | Michigan University of Michigan The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan... |
| Owen Frank | |Backfield Coach | 1921 | 1921–1925 | Nebraska |
| Bill Day | |Centers Coach | 1921 | 1921–1925, 1928 | Nebraska |
| Farley Young | |Freshmen Coach | 1921 | 1921–1922 | Nebraska |
Nebraska Wesleyan
|
Nebraska Wesleyan arrived in Lincoln as Nebraska's tune up game, and nearly every player on the roster found time in the game as the Cornhuskers rolled to an easy shutout victory, as Nebraska's goal was never threatened. This was the last game between these teams, ending the 5th-oldest active series in Nebraska's history to that date, all eight games Nebraska victories dating back to 1896.
Haskell
|
For the second game in a row, Nebraska brought to a close a historic series. Nebraska's run of games with Haskell was the 7th oldest active series, dating to 1901. Much like the previous game, Nebraska was never seriously threatened and posted another shutout win, bringing the Haskell series to a close with a 7-2 record.
Notre Dame
|
Nebraska's first ever trip to South Bend, after six straight games against Notre Dame in Lincoln, continued what had become one of the marquee games of the west. The game was all about Nebraska's stingy defense and inept offense. Time after time, the Cornhuskers turned away serious goal line threats, while also failing to find the scoreboard due to fumbles, incompletions and interceptions. Knute Rockne
Knute Rockne
Knute Kenneth Rockne was an American football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history...
changed his plan for the second half, to ensure Nebraska remained scoreless and banking on eventually finding points with low-risk plays, much like the previous year's game. Chet A. Wynne was among the Notre Dame players who contributed to their one successful scoring drive, and with those points the game was decided. Nebraska fell further behind in the series, to 2-4-1.
Oklahoma
|
The Cornhuskers bounced right back from the bitter loss in South Bend by blanking the reigning conference champion Oklahoma Sooners in Lincoln, in Nebraska's first conference game since returning to the league. The win moved the Cornhuskers to 2-0-1 against Oklahoma to date.
Pittsburgh
|
Nebraska traveled to Pennysylvania for their first ever contest with Pittsburgh, known in the east as a strong team to be feared. The Cornhuskers were undaunted, taking a halftime lead and ultimately holding the Panthers scoreless for the entire game. Building on the exposure started by the 1920 victory over Rutgers the previous year, Nebraska solidified their reputation as a western powerhouse to the football fans of the east.
Kansas
|
The Cornhuskers easily handled the Jayhawks at the homecoming game, never seriously threatened during the course of the game as Nebraska recorded their fifth shutout over their previous six games, and improved over Kansas 18-9-1 all time.
Iowa State
|
Iowa State fired the first shot of the game, putting up an early field goal to take a 3-0 lead, but that was last time the Cyclones would speak. The Cornhuskers ruined Iowa State's homecoming game by rolling up 35 unanswered points, finishing conference play unbeaten, and improving their dominating lead over Iowa State 13-4-1.
Colorado Ag
|
Nebraska finished the 1921 season with force, flattening the Colorado Ag football squad. Though the Aggies managed a 4th quarter score, Nebraska's 70 points were the most they had scored against any opponent since their 100-0 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan in 1917. Colorado Ag was now down 0-2 against Nebraska to date.