1917 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team
Encyclopedia
The 1917 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska in the 1917 college football season
. The team was coached by E. J. Stewart
and played their home games at Nebraska Field
in Lincoln, Nebraska
.
The Cornhuskers opened the new season with a chip on their shoulder, and completely smashed Nebraska Wesleyan in a bit of revenge for being held to just 21 points in the previous year's shutout win over NWU. This was the fourth and final time Nebraska scored 100 or more points in the history of the program, the previous coming in 1911 in a 117-0 blanking of Kearney State
. NWU remained winless against Nebraska, 0-7.
The Cornhuskers put up another shutout by blanking Iowa, continuing the strong start intended to wipe away the memory of last year's two losses, and improved over Iowa to 12-4-3.
Notre Dame returned to Lincoln with hopes of staying on top of the Cornhuskers, but ND assistant Knute Rockne
had scouted the team in advance and reported back to ND head coach Jesse Harper
that Nebraska was to be feared after the strong 147-0 combined scoring of their first two games. Notre Dame had started the season with a 55-0 shutout over Kalamazoo but was then held to a scoreless tie against Wisconsin before the date in Lincoln. It wasn't until the second quarter that the Cornhuskers managed to post the first points, and though the teams continued to fight severely, the defenses carried the rest of the day. Notre Dame's closest attempt reached the Nebraska 8 before an interception killed the drive. Among the Notre Dame players present was future College Football Hall of Fame
inductee George Gipp
(of "Win one for the Gipper"
fame), who in this case was handed his first career loss at Notre Dame as Nebraska moved ahead in the series to 2-1.
Nebraska was riding a wave of success, having shut out all three of their opponents on the season, including Notre Dame, and arrived in Ann Arbor looking for their first win against Michigan. The game was in fact a shutout, but not the one the Cornhuskers were hoping for, as the Wolverines sent Nebraska home in futility and without a win in the series, now at 0-2-1 against Michigan to date. The bitter defeat was the first Nebraska blanking since Minnesota defeated the Cornhuskers 13-0 in 1912.
After four years off, the series with conference foe Missouri was renewed in Lincoln. Still smarting from last week's shutout beating in Ann Arbor, the Cornhuskers unloaded on the helpess Tigers and put up their fourth shutout on the year in front of the homecoming crowd, moving up to 11-3 all time against Missouri.
Kansas put a scare into the Cornhuskers, having brought Nebraska down to Lawrence and carrying some confidence after defeating them the previous season in Lincoln. The scoring output was much lower than earlier games with comparable foes as the Jayhawks refused to be shut down. Nebraska still escaped with the win anyway, staying perfect in their only two conference games of the year, and increased their series lead over Kansas to 15-9.
Up against the third powerhouse team of the season, Nebraska could not quite come up with enough to close out the season with a win, losing by only one point to Syracuse in Lincoln, in the first meeting of these teams.
. Coach Stewart's Nebraska career record fell slightly to 11-4-0 (.733), and the two season losses nudged the program's overall record down to 164-51-11 (.750), though the conference record improved to 24-3-2 (.862).
Coach Stewart departed the football program after this year in order to assist in the war effort, as the United States moved closer to involvement in World War I
. He would spend time at the YMCA helping young men train in preparation for joining the armed forces, but would eventually return to Nebraska to run the basketball program.
1917 college football season
The 1917 college football season had a clear-cut champion, with the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listing Georgia Tech as national champions.-Conference standings:The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:...
. The team was coached by E. J. Stewart
E. J. Stewart
Edward James "Doc" Stewart was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator...
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
Coach Stewart's second Cornhusker team was coming off of a down year that anywhere else would have been considered very successful. The two losses of 1916, although ending the four-season unbeaten streak, still did not prevent Nebraska from notching a seventh consecutive league title. Stewart greatly expanded his roster to 22 players, an increase of almost 30% from the 17 players on the squad in 1916. Coach Stewart set up this year's schedule as an ambitious test, as powerhouses Michigan, Notre Dame and Syracuse all had dates with the Cornhuskers on the slate.Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 6* | 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 100-0 | - |
| October 13* | Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska | W 47-0 | - | |
| October 20* | Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska | W 7-0 | - | |
| October 27* | at Michigan 1917 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1917 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1917 college football season. The team's head football coach was Fielding H. Yost... |
Ferry Field Ferry Field Ferry Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It opened in 1906 and was home to the Michigan Wolverines football team prior to the Michigan Stadium opening in 1927. It had a capacity of 46,000.... • 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 0-20 | - |
| November 10† | Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska | W 52-0 | - | |
| November 17 | at | McCook Field • Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County... |
W 13-3 | - |
| November 29* | Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska | L 9-10 | - | |
| *Non-Conference Game. †Homecoming | ||||
Roster
Cook, John QB Day, William C Dobson, Paul HB DuTeau, Al E Henry, Stanley C Hubka, Ernest FB Kellogg, Sam T Kositsky, Ed T Kriemelmeyer, Walter T McMahon, Harold HB Munn, Wayne G Otopalik, Hugo HB Rhodes, Roscoe E Riddell, Ted E Schellenberg, Elmer HB Shaw, Edson T Shaw, Lawrence T Teter, John G White, Herbert PLAYER White, Roland PLAYER Wilder, Harold T Young, Farley G |
||||||
Coaching staff
| Name | Title | First year in this position |
Years at Nebraska | Alma Mater |
| E. J. Stewart E. J. Stewart Edward James "Doc" Stewart was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator... |
|head Coach | 1916 | 1916–1917 | Mount Union Mount Union College The University of Mount Union is a 4-year private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Alliance, Ohio.Mount Union enrolls 2200 undergraduates. Approximately 50 percent are women and 50 percent are men, representing more than 22 states and 13 countries. Mount Union has an active alumni base of... |
| Jack Best | |Trainer | 1890 | 1890–1922 |
Nebraska Wesleyan
|
The Cornhuskers opened the new season with a chip on their shoulder, and completely smashed Nebraska Wesleyan in a bit of revenge for being held to just 21 points in the previous year's shutout win over NWU. This was the fourth and final time Nebraska scored 100 or more points in the history of the program, the previous coming in 1911 in a 117-0 blanking of Kearney State
University of Nebraska at Kearney
The University of Nebraska at Kearney , founded in 1905 as the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney, is the Kearney, Nebraska, United States campus of the University of Nebraska system.-History:...
. NWU remained winless against Nebraska, 0-7.
Iowa
|
The Cornhuskers put up another shutout by blanking Iowa, continuing the strong start intended to wipe away the memory of last year's two losses, and improved over Iowa to 12-4-3.
Notre Dame
|
Notre Dame returned to Lincoln with hopes of staying on top of the Cornhuskers, but ND assistant 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...
had scouted the team in advance and reported back to ND head coach Jesse Harper
Jesse Harper
-External links:* * at College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com...
that Nebraska was to be feared after the strong 147-0 combined scoring of their first two games. Notre Dame had started the season with a 55-0 shutout over Kalamazoo but was then held to a scoreless tie against Wisconsin before the date in Lincoln. It wasn't until the second quarter that the Cornhuskers managed to post the first points, and though the teams continued to fight severely, the defenses carried the rest of the day. Notre Dame's closest attempt reached the Nebraska 8 before an interception killed the drive. Among the Notre Dame players present was future College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
inductee George Gipp
George Gipp
George "The Gipper" Gipp was a college football player who played for the University of Notre Dame. Gipp was selected as Notre Dame's first All-American and is Notre Dame's second consensus All-American , after Gus Dorais. Gipp played multiple positions, most notably halfback, quarterback, and...
(of "Win one for the Gipper"
Knute Rockne, All American
Knute Rockne, All American is a 1940 biographical film which tells the story of Knute Rockne, Notre Dame football coach. It stars Pat O'Brien, Ronald Reagan, Gale Page, Donald Crisp, Albert Bassermann, Owen Davis, Jr., Nick Lukats, Kane Richmond, William Marshall and William Byrne. It also...
fame), who in this case was handed his first career loss at Notre Dame as Nebraska moved ahead in the series to 2-1.
Michigan
|
Nebraska was riding a wave of success, having shut out all three of their opponents on the season, including Notre Dame, and arrived in Ann Arbor looking for their first win against Michigan. The game was in fact a shutout, but not the one the Cornhuskers were hoping for, as the Wolverines sent Nebraska home in futility and without a win in the series, now at 0-2-1 against Michigan to date. The bitter defeat was the first Nebraska blanking since Minnesota defeated the Cornhuskers 13-0 in 1912.
Missouri
|
After four years off, the series with conference foe Missouri was renewed in Lincoln. Still smarting from last week's shutout beating in Ann Arbor, the Cornhuskers unloaded on the helpess Tigers and put up their fourth shutout on the year in front of the homecoming crowd, moving up to 11-3 all time against Missouri.
Kansas
|
Kansas put a scare into the Cornhuskers, having brought Nebraska down to Lawrence and carrying some confidence after defeating them the previous season in Lincoln. The scoring output was much lower than earlier games with comparable foes as the Jayhawks refused to be shut down. Nebraska still escaped with the win anyway, staying perfect in their only two conference games of the year, and increased their series lead over Kansas to 15-9.
Syracuse
|
Up against the third powerhouse team of the season, Nebraska could not quite come up with enough to close out the season with a win, losing by only one point to Syracuse in Lincoln, in the first meeting of these teams.
After the season
Coach Stewart ended his second season much like his first, with two bitter nonconference losses but with another conference championship. Nebraska had so far strung together an implausible eight straight conference titles, spanning all of coach Stewart's career as well as the entire career of his predecessor, Ewald O. StiehmEwald O. Stiehm
-External links:* * at College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com...
. Coach Stewart's Nebraska career record fell slightly to 11-4-0 (.733), and the two season losses nudged the program's overall record down to 164-51-11 (.750), though the conference record improved to 24-3-2 (.862).
Coach Stewart departed the football program after this year in order to assist in the war effort, as the United States moved closer to involvement in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He would spend time at the YMCA helping young men train in preparation for joining the armed forces, but would eventually return to Nebraska to run the basketball program.