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1921 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Missouri Valley Champions
ConferenceBig Eight Conference
1921 record7-1-0 (3-0-0 MVIAA)
Head coachFred Dawson (1st season)
Home stadiumNebraska Field
Seasons
← 1920
1922 →
1921 Missouri Valley football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Nebraska 3 0 0     7 1 0
Missouri 4 2 0     6 2 0
Kansas State 4 2 0     5 3 0
Drake 2 2 0     5 2 0
Kansas 3 3 0     4 4 0
Iowa State 3 4 0     4 4 0
Oklahoma 2 3 0     5 3 0
Washington (MO) 2 3 0     4 3 1
Grinnell 0 4 0     2 5 0

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.

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.[1]

Schedule[]

[2]

Date Opponent Site Result Attendance
October 1* Nebraska Wesleyan Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska W 55-0 -
October 15* Haskell Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska W 41-0 -
October 22* at Notre Dame Carter FieldNotre Dame, Indiana L 0-7 14,000
October 29 Oklahoma Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska W 44-0 -
November 5* at Pittsburgh Forbes Field • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania W 10-0 -
November 12† Kansas Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska W 28-0 -
November 19 at Iowa State Clyde Williams Field • Ames, Iowa W 35-3 -
November 24* Colorado Ag 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 #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 #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
[3]

Coaching staff[]

Name Title First year
in this position
Years at Nebraska Alma Mater
Fred Dawson Head Coach 1921 1921–1924 Princeton
Jack Best Trainer 1890 1890–1922
Henry Schulte Lineman Coach 1921 1919–1924, 1931–1937 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

[1][4]

Game notes[]

Nebraska Wesleyan[]

Nebraska Wesleyan at Nebraska
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Nebraska Wesleyan 0
Nebraska 0

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. [1][5]

Haskell[]

Haskell at Nebraska
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Haskell 0
Nebraska 0
  • Date: 1921-10-15
  • Location: Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska

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. [5][6]

Notre Dame[]

Nebraska at Notre Dame
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Nebraska 0 0 0 0 0
Notre Dame 0 0 7 0 7

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. [5][6][7]

Oklahoma[]

Oklahoma at Nebraska
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Oklahoma 0
Nebraska 0
  • Date: 1921-10-29
  • Location: Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska
  • Game weather: Rain

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.

[5][6]

Pittsburgh[]

Nebraska at Pittsburgh
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Nebraska 0
Pittsburgh 0

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. [5][6]

Kansas[]

Kansas at Nebraska
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Kansas 0
Nebraska 0
  • Date: 1921-11-12
  • Location: Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska

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. [5][6]

Iowa State[]

Nebraska at Iowa State
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Nebraska 0
Iowa State 0
  • Date: 1921-11-19
  • Location: Clyde Williams Field • Ames, Iowa

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. [5][6]

Colorado Ag[]

Colorado Ag at Nebraska
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Colorado Ag 0
Nebraska 0
  • Date: 1921-11-24
  • Location: Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska

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. [5][8]

After the season[]

Coach Dawson's first season was a clear success, with all games won except for the hard-fought Notre Dame loss, and an undisputed league championship secured in Nebraska's return to league play. The program's overall record improved to 181-61-15 (.733), while the conference record was improved to 27-3-2 (.875).

References[]

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