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It wasn’t until 1923 that the University of Nebraska at Lincoln built a stadium specifically for the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team. That was more than 30 years after the team got its start in 1889 when a group of students pooled their money to buy a football.

Known originally as the Old Gold Knights, the team played home games in various locations over its first three decades including Omaha, Cooper’s Park (then called Lincoln Park), Lewis Ballfields and its first on-campus field at 10th and T Streets referred to as Nebraska Field.

After the university built a new engineering building, Richards Hall, on its campus field in 1908, the team moved back to the area of the ballfields. The next year it obtained the power of eminent domain and forcibly displaced a neighborhood buying part of the land where Memorial Stadium now stands. 

Fundraising for the stadium finally started in 1920. It was intended to be a World War I memorial honoring Roscoe (Dusty) Rhodes, captain of the 1918 team who had been killed in France. Plans for the Nebraska Soldiers and Sailors Memorial also included not just the stadium but also a museum, gymnasium and an assembly room for veterans’ gatherings. It design also included Roman-style colonnades wrapping around the north and south end zones.

Fundraising for the new project started in 1920 but was abandoned due to the faltering economy as well as resistance from editors, American Legion chapters and bank managers. The university pivoted by scaling back its plans and dropped everything but the 30,000 seat stadium. 

After architects John Latenser of Omaha and Ellery Davis of Lincoln volunteered their services, the Nebraska Memorial Association aggressively sought donations from students and other interested parties from around the state for the $450,000 project. The ground breaking took place on April 26, 1923 with a promise the stadium would be ready for the first game in that fall.

The stadium was oriented north-to-south with open end zones, grandstands along the east and west sidelines and a mile track surrounding the playing field. Each corner of the stadium was given an inscription from philosophy professor Harley Burr Alexander:

Southeast: “In commemoration of the men of Nebraska who served and fell in the nations wars.”

Southwest: “Not the victory but the action; not the goal but the game; in the deed the glory.”

Northwest: “Courage; generosity; fairness; honor; in these are the true awards of manly sport.”

Northeast: “Their lives they held their country’s trust; they kept its faith; they died its heroes.

The stadium wasn’t quite finished in time for its first game on October 13, 1923. Even so, it opened for business despite the presence of scaffolding which some fans scaled to reach the unfinished upper balcony. In the game, Nebraska remained undefeated against the Oklahoma Sooners with a 24-0 shutout.  One week later Memorial Stadium was dedicated to those who served in the American Civil War, Spanish-American War and World War I. That happened to be the homecoming against Kansas which ended in a 0-0 tie.  

The stadium remained largely unchanged until the south end zone was constructed in 1964. It wasn’t until the north end zone was completed two years later that the stadium went from a horseshoe to a bowl shaped and increased the capacity to more than 65,000 – more than double its original capacity. Press boxes were added in 1967 and the capacity was further increased to 73,650 when the south end zone was extended in 1972.

Permanent lighting replaced temporary lights that were used for late afternoon games which were usually reserved for Black Friday games against Oklahoma. The first night game to be played with those permanent lights was a 34-17 win against Florida State in 1986.

Due to poor maintenance, a 439-seat section of the stadium that was originally designed to be removable collapsed in the southwest tunnel in 1993. The section was built when the stadium was used to host track meets. While the track remains in place, it is covered by bleachers. Fortunately nobody was injured and more frequent structural examinations were ordered. 

In 1998 the field was named in honor of Tom Osborne who retired as the winningest active coach in college football. With the installation of additional seating in 2006, the capacity exceeded 80,000 for the first time. At the same time the Tunnel Walk entrance moved from the south to the north end zone. After its move to the Big Ten, additional seating was added in 2011 bringing it to its current capacity of 85,548 – the 13th largest college football stadium in the country by capacity. 

Memorial Stadium, of course, remains the home of the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team and is also used for other events such as graduation ceremonies, concerts and other activities. It was also the site of Volleyball Day in 2023 in which it hosted matches between the Huskers and the UNO Mavericks as well as UNK Lopers and Wayne State Wildcats. It remains the highest ever recorded attended women’s sporting event with a crowd of 92,003.

More than 100 years old and after 403 straight sellouts, Memorial Stadium nicknamed “The Sea of Red” has historically been recognized as one of the hardest places for opposing teams to play and is considered among the top college football venues in the country.

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