1897 Nebraska Bugeaters football team

The 1897 Nebraska Bugeaters football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska in the 1897 college football season. The team was coached by Eddie N. Robinson and played their home games at Antelope Field in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Nebraska's football team began its history as the "Old Gold Knights", and was also sometimes known as the "Tree Planters", "Nebraskans", "The Rattlesnake Boys", "Red Stockings", "Antelopes" or "Goldenrods" in their early years.

Before the season
Coach Robinson returned for his second season at Nebraska, leading a team with even less players on the roster than last year, having reduced from 22 down to 20 players.

Iowa State
Nebraska was unable to keep pace with Iowa State, and were not helped by windy conditions that favored the Cyclones during the first half but died down when it would have helped the Bugeaters. The series was now even at 1-1 between the teams. As it would turn out, this would be the only loss of the season for Nebraska.

Tarkio
This was the first meeting between Nebraska and the squad from Tarkio College in Missouri, and also the first game played on the campus at the University of Nebraska. On this day, the new field (which would eventually be known as Antelope Field) was a muddy mess that was little improved by efforts before kickoff to make it more layable. Tarkio was overmatched by the Bugeaters, never getting closer than the Nebraska 30 yard line and unable to prevent the Bugeaters from scoring.

Nebraska Wesleyan
When Nebraska Wesleyan arrived, it was unclear if the game would be played, as they did not have enough members present to field a team. A bid to have their coach play, a solution seen in some previous years, was denied as against league rules. NWU eventually resolved the problem by adding a local high school football player to their team for the day. In addition, the game was shortened to 15 minute halves. Despite the setbacks weighing on NWU, Nebraska was unable to score in the first half and lost two players to injuries, eventually settling for just 10 points in the second to get the win and extend their unbeaten record over NWU to 3-0.

Missouri
Nebraska scored four times in the first half in the conference opener, easily putting the game out of reach early on, but they didn't let off the pressure and went ahead with even more offensive production in the second half while shutting out the Tigers 41-0. This game set new Nebraska records for total points scored and largest margin of victory, besting the 38-0 mark set against the Sioux City Athletic Club in 1895. Nebraska's record over Missouri improved to 4-0.

Kansas
In an unusually contentious meeting between these teams, controversy was the order of the day. Even before kickoff, disagreement began over the person chosen by Kansas as their officiating representative. Over and over again, the Bugeaters protested calls made by the umpire. Later, a Kansas field kick that many spectators claimed missed the mark was ruled good by the umpire. Nebraska chose to continue playing at that point, but officially under protest. All of the argued calls continually delayed the game's progress, until finally the Jayhawks argued a late Nebraska touchdown for so long that the contest was eventually called for lack of daylight and Nebraska was awarded the 10-5 win. Kansas demanded a rematch, but it was never scheduled. Despite the Kansas loss, they still owned twice as many wins as Nebraska in the series, 4-2.

University of Kansas records indicate the final score of this game was a 6-5 Nebraska victory.

KC Medics
The death of a Commandant Jackson resulted in this game being canceled, though it is not clear which team or school he was associated with. The game was initially rescheduled for December 5 but was never played.

Iowa
Some sources indicate that Iowa failed to follow league requirements prior to the start of the season, which disqualified them as league participants, however league standings from the time show Nebraska as having played all three expected league games. In any case, The Bugeaters managed 6 points against a stiff Iowa defense for the win, sweeping all conference opponents and claiming their first outright league title. Nebraska's record over the Hawkeyes also improved to 4-2-2.

After the season
Unbeaten against all conference foes, Nebraska claimed its first outright conference title, but once again lost their head coach when Coach Robinson returned to his alma mater to coach for Brown University. Robinson's overall record with Nebraska over his two years at the helm was 11-4-1 (.719), and this season concluded with Nebraska's program record improving to 32-15-3 (.670).