Omaha Exploration

Today we continue our offseason exploration of Nebraska football. If you missed the prior post, you’ll find a link to it down below. Nebraska finished its second season with mixed results. Despite two wins against Doane and a second state championship, it recorded it first ever loss to an out of state rival – Iowa.

The same year Nebraska changed its nickname from the Old Gold Knights to the more familiar Bugeaters. Nebraska started the season with its second ever out-of-state game, this time against Illinois. The only score came after Illinois fumbled the ball. Upon the recovery, Nebraska halfback George Flippin ended up scoring the game’s only touchdown on a 25-yard run to earn Nebraska 6-0 victory in front of 600 students at Lincoln Park (current day Cooper Park). Apparently there were hard feelings as Illinois left guard George Huff punched Nebraska’s right guard Albin Jones in the face after the game ended. Huff disappeared into the crowd but would later resurface as Illinois’ athletic director in 1901. The students of the home team, meanwhile, were enraged while the visiting teams coach offered no apology or explanation.

Nebraska lost its first ever out-of-state game. The Bugeaters were badly outmatched by its professional grade opponent – Denver Athletic Club. While Nebraska scored a late touchdown to avoid a shutout, they lost 18-4. In its third game of the season, Missouri forfeited in what would have been the first in-conference game. The Tigers, it seems, wasn’t too keen on playing against Flippin, who was not only the teams star halfback but one of few African Americans to play college football in the entire country. Afterwards the conference instituted a rule preventing teams from refusing to play one another. The game was scored a 1-0 victory for the Bugeaters.

The Bugeaters returned to the friendly confines of Lincoln Park for its fourth game which was considered the defacto conference championship with both teams being undefeated in conference play. Unable to put anything together on offense, Nebraska lost the game 12-0. The newspaper said that while the team played well, the lack of coaching was evident and poor blocking helped contain Flippin. This is the first of what would become the longest continuous series between two college football teams. They would play annually for 118 years until Nebraska moved to the Big Ten for the 2011 season.

Nebraska ended the season with a 10-10 tie against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Sportsman Park in Omaha. Flippin opened the game with a 40-0 run which setup a touchdown. Iowa responded with two touchdowns to take the lead at the half. Flippin followed with a score to open the second half in what was the best game of his young career. As a result of the score, Nebraska tied the game which was prematurely on the account of darkness.

This season proved that in order for Nebraska football to improve, it needed a permanent head coach – something they would finally get in the upcoming season.

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