1911 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

The 1911 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska in the 1911 college football season. The team was coached by Ewald O. Stiehm and played their home games at Nebraska Field in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Before the season
New head coach Stiehm arrived in Lincoln and took over a program with only 17 players on the roster to start the year, however nine of those returners were veteran starters of previous seasons.

Roster

 * Anderson, Arthur G
 * Chauner, Walter E
 * Elliott, E.B. C
 * Frank, Ernest HB
 * Frank, Owen HB
 * Gibson, J.P. FB
 * Harman, Dewey RT
 * Hornberger, Evans G
 * Lofgren, Gus E
 * Pearson, Monte T
 * Potter, Herbert QB
 * Purdy, Leonard HB
 * Russell, Richard HB
 * Shonka, Sylvester LT
 * Swanson, Caesar LG
 * Warner, Leon QB

Kearney State
New Coach Stiehm came out of the box swinging, scoring nearly as many points as were posted in Nebraska's previous game to end the prior season. Unlike the closing against Haskell in 1910, however, coach Stiehm played backups and substitutes to help establish the starters for the season and yet still piled up an astonishing 117 points, just 2 points shy of the 119-0 record set the year before and resulting the Cornhuskers outscoring their opponents 236-0 in the previous two games. This was the only time Kearney State would face off with the Cornhuskers.

Kansas State
The Cornhuskers met the Kansas State squad for the first time in what would in later years become something of a grudge match between conference foes if not a full blown rivalry, but at this time Kansas State was not in the conference with Nebraska. Coach Stiehm treated Kansas State as he did Kearney State, as a tuneup game to test position players out. Much like the previous week, the Cornhuskers dominated their opponent with another lopsided shutout victory.

Minnesota
Minnesota again snatched a victory from Nebraska, extending the futility of the Cornhuskers yet again. Nebraska failed to capitalize on their successes, having outgained Minnesota in rushing, passing and kicking, and fell farther behind the Golden Gophers in the series to 1-9-1.

Missouri
Putting aside the annual disappointments in Minnesota, the Missouri contest was Nebraska's 8th straight shutout victory. This series was renewed after a nine-year interruption, and opened the Cornhuskers' Missouri Valley conference slate to start them out 1-0, and 9-3 against the Tigers all-time.

Iowa State
Nebraska was understandably feeling confident, having outscored its opponents 473-57 since the beginning of the previous season, with only the losses to Minnesota in each year marring the record. Iowa State had not landed Nebraska back on their home turf in Ames since 1899, and pounced on an unprepared Cornhuskers squad to surprise them by scoring first and holding Nebraska to a 6-6 tie by the end of the day. Iowa still lagged behind Nebraska in the series, though, at 3-8-1.

Doane
Doane came into Lincoln for what was becoming an annual road trip loss for their program, and this one was more of the same. Coach Stiehm used the Doane game as another tuneup match, utilizing substitutes and resting starters on the way to the shutout victory and padding the series lead to 15-2. With wins against both in-state rivals for the year, Nebraska recorded their eighth state championship.

Kansas
Kansas was dealt a 0-29 defeat on their home field, considered among the most decisive defeats for the Jayhawks of that time. Nebraska finished their league slate undefeated and improved their record over Kansas to 10-8.

Michigan
The match with Michigan was anticipated for much of the season and seen by some as a rematch to settle accounts following Nebraska's loss to the Michigan Wolverines Football Club in Ann Arbor in 1905. This second meeting of the teams was also the first Homecoming football game for Nebraska. While the Cornhuskers would have preferred a clear victory on the scoreboard, the game was considered a victory of recognition that Nebraska was a football program that would experience sustained success and challenge the college football powers for years to come.

After the season
Coach Stiehm's first year at Nebraska seemed like a continuation of the relative success of the program's past several seasons. The Cornhuskers' program total improved to 123-46-10 (.715), while the conference overall record improved to 7-2-2 (.727). Nebraska and Iowa were named Co-Champions of the Missouri Valley conference.