The 1909 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska in the 1909 college football season. The team was coached by William C. "King" Cole and played their home games at Nebraska Field in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Before the season
Nebraska's new home playing venue, Nebraska Field, was opened this year on the grounds of the campus, to use in place of Antelope Field at the 'M' Street Park. Coach Cole entered his 3rd year at the helm of the program.
Schedule
[1]
Roster
[2]
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Beltzer, Oren HB
Bentley, Orlando QB
Chauner, Walter E
Collins, Sydney C
Dobson PLAYER
Elliott, E.B. G
Ewing, Henry RG
Frank, Owen HB
Harte, Louis LT
Hascoll, Vincent QB
Johnson, Frank E
Lofgren, Gus E
Magor, Louis E
McDonald HB
Rathbone, Harvey FB
Schauner E
Shonka, Sylvester C
Spellmeyer RT
Sturmer, Frederick LT
Sturzenegger, Alfonzo FB
Temple, LeRoy RT
Wendstrand PLAYER
Wenstrand, Ralph RG
Wolcott, O.M. LG |
Coaching staff
| Name | Title | First year
in this position | Years at Nebraska | Alma Mater |
| William C. "King" Cole | Head Coach | 1906 | 1906–1910 | Marietta |
| Jack Best | Trainer | 1890 | 1890–1922 | |
[3]
Game notes
South Dakota
Nebraska broke in the new playing field by battling it out with visiting South Dakota. After falling behind in the 1st half 0-6, the Cornhuskers were able to stop the Coyotes from scoring again, though only managed 6 points of their own to secure a tie. Nebraska still held a comfortable lead in the series, at 4-1-1.
[4][5]
Knox
Knox at Nebraska
| |
1 |
2 | Total |
|---|
| Knox |
|
|
0 |
| • Nebraska |
|
|
34 |
- Date: 1909-10-09
- Location: Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska
|
Three years had passed since Knox went up against the Cornhuskers, but the outcome followed the pattern of the previous meetings in the series when Nebraska cruised to a relatively easy win. This was the last time Knox played Nebraska, and the series ended with Nebraska in command 5-0.[4][5]
Minnesota
The first time these teams met, in 1900, the game was held in Lincoln. Since then, the following seven games were Minnesota home games played in Minneapolis. Finally, for 1909, the Cornhuskers had Minnesota heading south to Nebraska again, albeit to Omaha instead of Lincoln. Despite the change in venue, the outcome was an all-too familiar Cornhusker loss, as Minnesota padded their series lead to 7-1-1.[4][5]
Iowa
Iowa at Nebraska
| |
1 |
2 | Total |
|---|
| Iowa |
|
|
6 |
| Nebraska |
|
|
6 |
- Date: 1909-10-23
- Location: Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska
|
Nebraska kept Iowa out of the end zone all day, but the Hawkeyes still managed two field goals to put the Cornhuskers behind 0-6. Nebraska almost dropped the game when they lost a fumble inside the Iowa 5, but the ball was recovered and run in for a touchdown, and the point after ended the scoring with a tie. Nebraska's series advantage was still relatively safe at 7-4-3.[4][5]
Doane
Doane at Nebraska
| |
1 |
2 | Total |
|---|
| Doane |
|
|
0 |
| • Nebraska |
|
|
12 |
- Date: 1909-10-30
- Location: Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska
|
Records indicate that Nebraska substituted many players in the course of this match, in order to obtain playing time for inexperienced players and build depth. Despite the heavy use of backups, the Cornhuskers still emerged with a shutout win, and improved their dominating series lead over Doane to 13-2.[4][5]
Kansas
Kansas at Nebraska
| |
1 |
2 | Total |
|---|
| • Kansas |
|
|
6 |
| Nebraska |
|
|
0 |
- Date: 1909-11-06
- Location: Nebraska Field • Lincoln, Nebraska
|
Nebraska committed several costly miscues, fumbling the ball and committing painful penalties. On the drive that killed the Cornhuskers' hopes, two 15-yard penalties eventually resulted in a Nebraska punt that Kansas returned for the game-winning score. Finally, Kansas had caught back up to Nebraska and evened the series at 8-8.[4][5]
Denver
Nebraska at Denver
| |
1 |
2 | Total |
|---|
| • Nebraska |
|
|
6 |
| Denver |
|
|
5 |
|
Nebraska scored on a lucky kickoff play, and rode those points to secure the win. It was a Denver kickoff where the returner signaled a fair catch, but then fumbled the ball instead of catching it. The Denver players, pulling up at the signal of the fair catch, were not prepared for another Nebraska player to scoop up the fumble, and the ball was then successfully run down the field for the touchdown. Nebraska moved up to 3-0 against Denver.[4][5]
Haskell
Nebraska at Haskell
| |
1 |
2 | Total |
|---|
| Nebraska |
5 |
0 |
5 |
| • Haskell |
11 |
5 |
16 |
|
Nebraska was hoping to win at the conclusion of the season for the first time in coach Cole's tenure, but Haskell denied the attempt. An 80-yard play produced Nebraska's only touchdown, while Haskell managed to block five Nebraska punts to repeatedly establish a favorable starting field position. Nebraska's record against Haskell fell to 4-2.[4][5]
After the season
The season was shorter than in recent years past, having only eight games on the schedule, and was somewhat disappointing with only three wins recorded at the end of the year. Coach Cole's overall record after three years slipped to 18-7-3 (.696), dropping the overall program record to 111-44-8 (.706). Nebraska's Missouri Valley league 0-1-1 record for the season also dropped their overall league record to 3-2-1 (.583).
References
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National championship seasons in bold |
