1907 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

The 1907 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Nebraska in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) during the 1907 college football season. In its first season under head coach William C. "King" Cole, the team compiled an 8–2 record (1–0 against conference opponents), tied for the MVC championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 323 to 69. The team's average of 32.3 points per game ranked second among 68 major college teams.[1] The team played its home games at Antelope Field in Lincoln, Nebraska.

1907 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Missouri Valley co-champion
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
1907 record	8–2 (1–0 MVC)
Head coach	William C. "King" Cole (1st season)
Home stadium	Antelope Field

1907 Missouri Valley football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Iowa +	1	–	0	–	0			3	–	2	–	0
Nebraska +	1	–	0	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Kansas	1	–	1	–	0			5	–	3	–	0
Missouri	1	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Washington University	0	–	1	–	0			1	–	5	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions

Before the season

Nebraska's 11th head coach took over in the same year that Nebraska once again joined a conference, though only one conference game was played this year.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 28	Peru State*	Antelope Field Lincoln, NE	W 53–0
October 5	South Dakota*	Antelope Field Lincoln, NE	W 39–0
October 12	Grinnell*	Antelope Field Lincoln, NE	W 30–4
October 19	at Minnesota*	Northrop Field Minneapolis	L 5–8
October 26	Colorado*	Antelope Field Lincoln, NE	W 22–8
November 2	Iowa State*	Antelope Field Lincoln, NE	W 10–9
November 9	at Kansas	Lawrence, KS	W 16–6
November 16	at Denver*	Denver, CO	W 63–0
November 23	Doane*	Antelope Field Lincoln, NE	W 85–0
November 28	at Saint Louis*	St. Louis, MO	L 0–34
*Non-conference game

[2]

Roster

[3]

Baekley PLAYER Barkley PLAYER Beltzer, Oren E Bentley, Orlando QB Birkner, Hugo HB Burleigh PLAYER Chaloupka, William RT Collins, Sydney C Cooke, Harold QB Ewing, Henry LG Frum, Sidney RG Harte, Louis RG Harvey, James E Johnson, Frank E Kroger, Ernest FB Matters, Thomas LT Miller, A.H. RT Minor, Harry HB Patton E Perrin, Dale C Price PLAYER Weller, John HB

Coaching staff

Name	Title	First year in this position	Years at Nebraska	Alma Mater
William C. "King" Cole	Head Coach	1907	1907–1910	Marietta
Jack Best	Trainer	1890	1890–1922

[4][5]

Game summaries

Peru State

Peru State at Nebraska

1 2 Total Peru State 0 • Nebraska 53 Date: 1907-09-28 Location: Antelope Field • Lincoln, Nebraska

New head coach Cole started strong with a shutout downing of Peru State, the first time these teams met, without allowing the visiting team even a single first down in the game. [6][7]

South Dakota

South Dakota at Nebraska

1 2 Total South Dakota 0 0 0 • Nebraska 23 16 39 Date: 1907-10-05 Location: Antelope Field • Lincoln, Nebraska

South Dakota seemed at first to have the key to holding off Nebraska, but once the Cornhuskers managed to find the end zone, the Coyote defense lost their containment of the Cornhuskers. Nebraska's lead in the series was now 4-1. [6][7]

Grinnell

Grinnell at Nebraska

1 2 Total Grinnell 4 • Nebraska 30 Date: 1907-10-12 Location: Antelope Field • Lincoln, Nebraska

It had been two years since Grinnell appeared in Lincoln, but it was more of the same for them upon their return. Nebraska failed to capitalize on several Grinnell miscues in the first half, but eventually the Cornhuskers pulled away for the clear win to extend their series lead to 5-2. [6][7]

Minnesota

Nebraska at Minnesota

1 2 Total Nebraska 5 • Minnesota 8 Date: 1907-10-19 Location: Northrop Field • Minneapolis

The now-annual grudge match, where Nebraska continuously seemed to find futility in their repeated attempts to knock off Minnesota, was a repeat of the last several contests. Things were looking up for the Cornhuskers when they capitalized on a Golden Gopher error to score first, but a couple of field goals by Minnesota reversed the lead and yet again sent Nebraska home with a loss, seriously lagging in the series 1-6. [6][7]

Colorado

Colorado at Nebraska

1 2 Total Colorado 8 • Nebraska 22 Date: 1907-10-26 Location: Antelope Field • Lincoln, Nebraska

See also: Colorado–Nebraska football rivalry

Colorado arrived in Lincoln with designs to avenge some earlier losses to the Cornhuskers, but were sent home disappointed after being handed a 22-8 decision resulting in part from several Colorado mistakes during the game. Nebraska's lead in the series was extended to 5-1.[6][7]

Iowa State

Iowa State at Nebraska

1 2 Total Iowa State 9 • Nebraska 10 Date: 1907-11-02 Location: Antelope Field • Lincoln, Nebraska

Nebraska survived a scare after the Cyclones were at one point leading the Cornhuskers 9-4 in the second half. Both teams made mistakes, but it was Nebraska with more points when time expired. Iowa State fell further behind in the series, 3-6. This game is under dispute, as Iowa State claims they won by a final score of 13-10. This is because on a late-game field goal attempt, the ball hit the ground well short of the uprights, but bounced through. [6][7]

Kansas

Nebraska at Kansas

1 2 Total • Nebraska 16 Kansas 6 Date: 1907-11-09 Location: Lawrence, Kansas

The game with Kansas was the only conference match for Nebraska this year, since the Cornhuskers had only recently rejoined a conference and were unable to schedule the other conference teams on the relatively short notice. This one win, however, was enough for Nebraska to claim a share of the conference title, and improved their record over the Jayhawks to 8-6. [6][7]

Denver

Nebraska at Denver

1 2 Total • Nebraska 63 Denver 0 Date: 1907-11-16 Location: Denver, Colorado

Nebraska suddenly found their machine to be well-oiled and effective, traveling to Denver to meet the Pioneers for the second time, and recording a convincing 63-0 shutout victory to celebrate the 100th Nebraska program victory, also moving up to 2-0 against Denver. [6][7]

Doane

Doane at Nebraska

1 2 Total Doane 0 • Nebraska 85 Date: 1907-11-23 Location: Antelope Field • Lincoln, Nebraska

The Cornhuskers demolished Doane in every way, shutting them out 85-0. This was the highest score and margin of victory ever in the history of Antelope Field, and the second-highest score and margin of victory in program history at that time, second only to the 1905 smashing of Creighton in Omaha, 102-0. Nebraska was now 11-2 over Doane in the longest still-active series in Nebraska's history at that time. [6][7]

Saint Louis

Nebraska at Saint Louis

1 2 Total Nebraska 0 • Saint Louis 34 Date: 1907-11-28 Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Nebraska closed out 1907 facing St Louis for the first and only time, no small task considering the Billikens had gone undefeated in the previous season. The Cornhuskers made it within the 2-yard line, and on another attempt within inches of the end zone, but were unable to convert and avoid the season-ending shutout loss. [6][7]

After the season

Coach Cole wrapped up his first season with the Cornhuskers with relative success, his one-season record of 8-2-0 (.800) raising the program's total slightly to 101-39-5 (.714). Nebraska's win in their one conference game, against Kansas, was enough to put Nebraska into a tie for first place in the league.

References

1. "1907 Nebraska Cornhuskers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
2. "Football - 1907 Schedule/Results". University of Nebraska–Lincoln Athletics Department. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
3. "Nebraska Football 1907 Roster". University of Nebraska–Lincoln Athletics Department. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
4. "Nebraska head coaches". HuskerMax. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
5. "118 Years of Cornhusker Football" (PDF). University of Nebraska Athletics Department. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-05-10. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
6. "1907 Game Recaps". Husker Press Box. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
7. "the 1900s". HuskerMax. Retrieved 2009-11-15.