1908 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

1908 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	7–2–1 (1–1 MVC)
Head coach	William C. "King" Cole (2nd season)
Home stadium	Antelope Park
Seasons ←  1907 1909  →

1908 Missouri Valley Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Kansas $	4	–	0	–	0			9	–	0	–	0
Nebraska	2	–	1	–	0			7	–	2	–	1
Iowa State	2	–	1	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Missouri	3	–	2	–	0			6	–	2	–	0
Drake	1	–	2	–	0			5	–	2	–	0
Washington University	0	–	2	–	0			4	–	4	–	1
Iowa	0	–	4	–	0			2	–	5	–	0
$ – Conference champion

The 1908 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) during the 1908 college football season. The team was coached by second-year head coach William C. "King" Cole and played its home games at Antelope Park in Lincoln, Nebraska. ^[1]

Following the 1908 season, the university constructed Nebraska Field, located on campus adjacent to where Memorial Stadium was later built.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 26		Peru Normal *	Antelope Park Lincoln, NE	W 20–0		[2]
October 3		Doane *	Antelope Park Lincoln, NE	W 43–0		[3]
October 10		Grinnell *	Antelope Park Lincoln, NE	W 20–5		[4]
October 17		at Minnesota *	Northrop Field Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	T 0–0	12,000	[5]
October 24		Haskell *	Antelope Park Lincoln, NE	W 10–0		[6]
October 31		at Iowa *	Iowa Field Iowa City, IA (rivalry)	W 11–8		[7]
November 7	3:00 p.m.	vs. Iowa State	Dietz Park Omaha, NE (rivalry)	W 23–17	8,000	[8]
November 14		Kansas	Antelope Park Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	L 5–20		[9]
November 26	2:30 p.m.	Wabash *	Antelope Park Lincoln, NE	W 27–6		[10]
December 2	2:30 p.m.	Carlisle *	Antelope Park Lincoln, NE	L 6–37	2,000	[11]
*Non-conference game

Coaching staff

Coach [12]	Position	First year	Alma mater
William C. "King" Cole	Head coach	1907	Marietta
Jack Best	Trainer	1890	Nebraska

Roster

^[13]

Beltzer, Oren HB Bentley, OrlandoQB Birkner, HugoHB BowersRG Chaloupka, WilliamT Collins, SydneyC Cooke, HaroldQB Ewing, Henry LG Frum, SidneyRG Harte, LouisT Harvey, JamesE Hascoll, VincentQB Johnson, FrankE Kroger, ErnestFB Matters, ThomasT Miller, A.H.T Minor, HarryHB Perrin, DaleC SlaughterHB Sturmer, FrederickLT Sturzenegger, Alfonzo HB Temple, LeRoyFB Wolcott, O.M.QB

Game summaries

Peru State

Peru State at Nebraska

Team	1	2	Total
Peru State			0
•Nebraska			20

• Date: September 26
• Location: Antelope Park, Lincoln, NE

• Sources: ^{[14] [15]}

Doane

Doane at Nebraska

Team	1	2	Total
Doane			0
•Nebraska			43

• Date: October 3
• Location: Antelope Park, Lincoln, NE

• Sources: ^{[14] [15]}

Grinnell

Grinnell at Nebraska

Team	1	2	Total
Grinnell			5
•Nebraska			20

• Date: October 10
• Location: Antelope Park, Lincoln, NE

• Sources: ^{[14] [15]}

At Minnesota

Nebraska at Minnesota

Team	1	2	Total
Nebraska	0	0	0
Minnesota	0	0	0

• Date: October 17
• Location: Northrop Field, Minneapolis, MN

• Sources: ^{[14] [15]}

See also: Minnesota–Nebraska football rivalry

Nebraska again traveled north to face powerhouse Minnesota, ending a four-game losing streak against the Golden Gophers with a goal-line stand to force a scoreless draw.

Haskell

Haskell at Nebraska

Team	1	2	Total
Haskell			0
•Nebraska			10

• Date: October 24
• Location: Antelope Park, Lincoln, NE

• Sources: ^{[14] [15]}

Iowa

Nebraska at Iowa

Team	1	2	Total
•Nebraska			11
Iowa			8

• Date: October 31
• Location: Iowa City, IA

• Sources: ^{[14] [15]}

See also: Iowa–Nebraska football rivalry

Iowa State

Nebraska vs. Iowa State

Team	1	2	Total
•Nebraska			23
Iowa State			17

• Date: November 7
• Location: Dietz Park, Omaha, NE
• Game start: 3:00 PM CT

• Sources: ^{[14] [15]}

See also: Iowa State–Nebraska football rivalry

Kansas

Kansas at Nebraska

Team	1	2	Total
• Kansas	16	4	20
Nebraska	5	0	5

• Date: November 14
• Location: Antelope Park, Lincoln, NE

• Sources: ^{[14] [15]}

See also: Kansas–Nebraska football rivalry

Kansas gave Nebraska its first home loss since 1906. After the game, Nebraska players accused Kansas of spying on team practices or otherwise improperly obtaining NU team signals, but the game result stood and gave the Jayhawks the MVIAA championship.

Wabash

Wabash at Nebraska

Team	1	2	Total
Wabash			6
•Nebraska			27

• Date: November 26
• Location: Antelope Park, Lincoln, NE
• Game start: 2:30 PM CT
• Game weather: Snow

• Sources: ^{[14] [15]}

Carlisle

Carlisle at Nebraska

Team	1	2	Total
• Carlisle			37
Nebraska			6

• Date: December 2
• Location: Antelope Park, Lincoln, NE
• Game start: 2:30 PM CT
• Game attendance: 2,000

• Sources: ^{[14] [15]}

For the second consecutive week, Nebraska hosted a team it would play only once in program history. The meeting was arranged to bring the heralded Jim Thorpe to Lincoln, and though Thorpe reportedly struggled, Carlisle dominated the game.

References

1. "1908 Nebraska Cornhuskers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
2. "Victory opens football season". The Lincoln Star. September 27, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Nebraska smothers poor little Doane". The Minneapolis Journal. October 4, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Grinnell was brillant; Holds Cornhuskers down and scores herself". The Des Moines Register & Leader. October 11, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Minnesota and Nebraska tie in gridiron battle". The Duluth News Tribune. October 18, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Nebraska beats Haskell, 10 to 0". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. October 25, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Nebraska 11, Iowa 8; Cornhuskers win hard fought game at Iowa City". The Daily Nonpareil. November 1, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Nebraska 23, Ames 17; University wins from Iowa in a clean, hard fray at Dietz Park". Omaha World-Herald. November 8, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Kansas wallops the Cornhuskers badly". Omaha World-Herald. November 15, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Wabash is crushed; Bows to Cornhuskers 27–6". The Indianapolis Star. November 27, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Indians win in West". The Baltimore Sun. December 3, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Nebraska head coaches". HuskerMax. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
13. "Nebraska Football 1908 Roster". University of Nebraska–Lincoln Athletics Department. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
14. "1908 Game Recaps". Husker Press Box. Retrieved November 15, 2009.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
15. "the 1900s". HuskerMax. Retrieved November 15, 2009.