THE. DAILY NEBRASKAN
A REVIEW OF THE 1908 NEBRASKA FOOTBALL SEASON
In Bomo roBpoclH tho season of 1908,
now drawing to an end, huh boon tho
moBt romnrkablo. n Nobraska football
team ovor oxporloncod. VVhtlo not
fulfilling tho fondoBt hopes or tho
, many admlrcra of "King" CoIo'b Corn-
luiBkorB, It luiR boon vory auccoBBful
from (ho Btandpolnt of tho nvorago
Nebraska Btudent. Tho tonin, while It
cannot pobbobb a doar tltlo, Ib prob
ably entitled to tho clmnipionBhlp
honors of tho MlBBourl valley.
Whon the practlco seaBon Htnrtod
Soptombor 21 tho prospects for a
championship team wore nover hotter.
Blovon "N" men of the previous fall
Captain Ilarvoy, Chaloupka, Frum,
Harto, Boltzor, Collins, Krogor, Cooko,
Johnson, ILwIng nnd Minor had ro
turnod to schoo'l. Coach "King" Colo
who In 1907 had developed a cham
pionship team was back In ehargo
of tho coaching. BobIiIcb tho veterans
of tho season before, ho had plenty of
oxcollont niatorlnl to work with, and
during tho oarly training 'weoks
brought out of thlB nrntorlal, Dontloy,
Tomplo, and Sturtoznoggor, throe men
who during tho big games of tho sea
son proved tholr worth.
Dut tho schedule which "King" Colo
and his votornns facod loomed up as
a protty big proposition for an olovon
to tacklo without mooting Bomo so
voro reverses. Thoro wore ton games
booked for tho fall. Fivo of theso
woro regarded as "big" gamos. Tho
CnmhiiRkorB wore hopeful of going
through tho season with a cloan Blnto, I
but none of them was sanguhie. Tholr
aim waB to dofoat Minnesota first and'
thon to win from Iowa, Amos and
KanBttB in succession, thoroby keeping
tho premlor honors at Nebraska for
at least another year. Tho early Boa-,
soh games, however, did not find the ,
CornluiBKors in goon annpo ami uiu
not promlso well for the accomplish
mont of their aim.
Slow In Developing.
In tho first two games, with Peru ,
and Doano, tho CornlniBkors had not
rounded Into form and tholr play was
HbUobb. InBtoad of running away
from tho small colleges, they were
forced to bo content with low scores.
Tholr nlnv was Blow and they did not
Bhow up well in any of tho flno polntB i
of tho gamo: Tho score was, Ne
braska, 20; Peru, 0.
Peru was played on a muddy field
and it Was Impossible to get any lino
on tho play of tho Nebraska toam.
Tho heavy lino, however, did not do
tho work against tho lighter normal
players that It should have boon able
to do. In tho Doano gamo which fol
lowed a week aftor tho Peru contost,
tho CornhuskorB again failed to ubo
their force and their supporters woro
moro or less disappointed. Tho Bcoro
was, Nebraska, 43; Doano, 0.
Grlnnoll, tho toam that tho previous
fall had surprised Nebraska and had
put up a remarkable defense, was
playod tho Saturday aftor tho Doano
gamo. In this contost tho Cornhuskors
showed tho same weakness that had
marked tholr play In the other two
games. Tho big lino still failed to
work woll and tho backflold and
quarterback wero extremely slow.
Tho men from Iowa worked hard and
gave tho Cornhuskors a roal scare by
Bcorlng tho first touchdown In tho
first fivo minutes of nlny.
They securotr tho ball on their own
forty-flvo-yard lino and by a triple for
ward pass from quarter to half and
then to loft end, they carried tho oval
to Nebraska's thlrty-flve-yard lino.
Horo they woro compollod to punt,
but recovered tho ball on Nebraska's
twenty-yard lino, from whore on
straight football they pushed It ovor
for the first touchdown.
This score by Grlnnell served to
awaken tho Cornhuskors and thoy
soori gained a load. Thoy showed
brilliant flashes of tholr old form
of tho provious fall, but did not play
consistent ball. The final scoro of
tho gamo waB 20 to 5 In favor of Ne
braska. Prospects Appear Dubious.
Tho prospects aftor this game
looked rather dubious for success
against the Gophers, who woro tho
opponents on tho next Saturday, Oc
tober 17. In tho throo games that
had already been played tho Corn
huskors had failed to come up to
expectations of tholr coach, and tholr
supporters wero oxtrpmoly disap
pointed, yet hopeful. None of tho
players seemed to have struck his
gait and tho play was listless. It
looked to everybody as though tho
rogulars woro not trying to do tholr
best as though thoy knew thoy had
tholr places clinched and believed they
did not have to work hard in order
to stay on tho team. But by this time
"King" Colo had tho services of two
former Nebraska players Ray El
liott and Charles Borg as assistant
coaches and the Cornhuskors began
to mako rapid strides toward getting
Into perfect condition.
Tho woolc of tho Minnesota gamo
tho throo coacheB worked hard with
tho squad' and sont them to Gopher
land many percent stronger than
thoy had beon In tho Grlnnell gamo,
Tho CornhuskorB found tho Gophers
less confident than In 1907 and with
out tho services of tho groat kicker,
Capron. Tho game resulted in a tlo,
but proved that Nebraska had a
Btrong lino nnd a Blow backflold.
In the llrst half Nobraska, with
Boltzor in at loft half, moro than hold
its own, and roally outplnyed tho Go
phers. Tho failuro of tho oarly sea
son to dovolop a drop kick cost No
hraska a Hold goal In this half which
would havo won tho gamo. An onBy
try at goal from tho twonty-flvo-yard
lino was missed and tho Cornhuskors
did not try to kick goal from the
Hold ngnln during tho gnmo. Boltzor
In this half did tho punting and kopt
tho GophorB from threatening tho
Cornhusker goal.
At tho end of tho first half Boltzor
retired, leaving Nobraska without a
puntor. Blrknor, upon whom tho tuHk
thon foil was completely out of form
and hlB punts did not average moro
than twenty yards. Soon after play
waB begun in the socond half Minne
sota scoured the ball In Nebraska's
territory and there It was kopt until
tho last four minutes of play. Blrk
nor, when he punted, sent tho ball
only a few yards and Nebraska could
not got' away from Its goal on this
account. Tho backs could not advance
with the ball and the Cornhuskors
wore compelled to defend tholr goal
for flfjtoen minutes with the Gophors
playing on tho Nebraska ten-yard lino.
Hero tho Nebraska line proved a stone
wall and held against the line plunges
of tho fierce playing Gophors. Tem
ple, a new man, was sent In to play
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at fullback In tho closing ten minutes
of tho game and did a great deal to
ward saving tho Nebraska goal lino
from being crossed. On every play
directed at the Nebraska line ho
throw himself Into tho defense of the
Cornhuskors and helped to hold back
tho powerful force that was oxorted
by tho Gophors. In tho loBt four min
utes of play Miner punted out from
behind tho Nebraska goal lino aftor
tho Cornhuskors had Bocured tho ball
on downs, and Johnson, Nebraska's
loft ond, recovered tho ball after It
had beon fumbled by Halfback John
son of Minnesota. On tho first play
Quarterback Cooko carried tho ball to
tho Gopher forty-flve-ynrd line on an
BEN BOWERS
Position, sun-center or 'guard;
weight 178'2, age 23 years, on squad
1, home Lincoln.
ond, run. At this point tho gamo
came to an end with tho scoro stand
ing 0 to 0, and honors about ovon.
Tho Minnesota gamo in some ways
was a disappointment to tho sup
porters of Nebraska who watched tho
play. It ought to havo boon won by
tho Cornhuskors who woro veterans
and who played against a cornpara
tlvoly now team.. And with Beltzer
playing tho second half Nobraska prob
ably would havo broken tho tlo in Its
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own favor. But oven with Beltzer
out, tho backflold waB not what It
should havo boon. Its work waB slow
and Its players did not tako advantage
cf tho opportunities which woro pre
sented. Nebraska in this gnmo had
a goldon opportunity for whipping
Minnesota. It failed to tako It though,
and several years will probably dwin
dle along before It will repeat the
trick of 1902, when tho scoro wob
0 to 0 In favor of tho CornhuBkers.
Tho Minnesota game was hard on
tho Cornhuskors and loft Kroger,
Cooke, nnd Beltzer crippled. Theso
men wero not rendy for tho Haskell
Indlnn gamo, on October 24. Thlb
game was played In a downpour of
rain and on a muddy Hold which pre
vented any fnst play and kept either
team from showing up to advantage.
Nebraska secured two touchdowns,
one being mndo on straight football,
when the Indians were shoved through
the mud across their goal lino, and
the other coming as a sore ot a lluko.
The ball passed over tho Haskell goal
line from a punt and In tho scramble
for the oval Frum fell on tho ball
making five points which were al
lowed. Tho final score of the gamo
wns 10 to 0.
Nebraska now faced three hard
games Iowa, Ames, and Knnsas.
Iowa was rated quite high before the
CornlniBkors met Conch Catlln's team
at Iowa City on October 31. It hud
defeated Coe of Iowa 5)2 to 0, but had
Nebrasha on the Ames Ten Yard Line
Nebraska-Ames Game, November 7th, 1908, at Omaha
gone down to defeat at the hands!
of Missouri by a score of 10 to 5.
Tho defeat at Missouri was accred
ited to over-conlldonce, nnd the Hawk
eyes' supporters were certain that
"King" Colo's men would bo easy for
If "a. Captain Kirk, who had boon
on i of the Missouri game, was In flno
condition again and the Hawkoyos
presented the best thoy had.
Nebraska, however, was In tho best
of condition and played In tho best
form It had so far shown. Iowa
started tho scoring, Captain Kirk mak
ing a drop kick from tho Nobraska
thirty-yard lino in tho early minutes
of the opening half. Following tho
Iowa score, tho Cornhuskors began
to play llorcely and completely swept
the Hawkoyes off their feet with tholr
lino nlungoB, end runB, onsldo kicks
and forward passes. Tho first half
ended G to 4 In fnvor of tho Corn
huBkers. In the second half Iowa
made another field goal and Nobraska
scored again on a touchdown, tho final
scoro being 11 to 8 In Nebraska's
favor.
Iowa Clearly Outplayed.
But tho final scoro does not show
tho relative strength of tho two teams.
Nobraska outclassed Its rival In both
tho open and old stylo play. It gained
many times aB much ground in every
way and deserved a much higher
scoro. Chaloupka, with hlB tonlflc
plunges, showed up to good advan
tage. Miner was a star In making
long .runs. Ho carried tho ball two
different times for over forty yards
on each run. Bentloy, who played at
quarter In placo of Cooko, ran tho
team remarkably woll.
Somo of the men camo out of tho
Hawkoyo contest badly bruised up,
and wero forced to tako light work
during tho week In preparing for
Amos, tho most foared of all Ne
braska's rivals. Amos was known to
bo strong, having defeated Missouri
by a 16 to 0 score.
Tho Cornhuskors and Iowa Aggies
clashed at Omaha November 7 In
what was probably tho hardest fought
game played on a western gridiron
J this season. Tho Aggies wero In per-
rect condition and tno uornnusKors,
with tho exception of Cooko, woro in
fairly good shape for a hard game.
i Nebraska's line was tho big factor in
winning this gamo which wont to tho
Cornhuskers by tho scoro of 23 to 17.
Tho Aggies woro not able to gain
through tho Cornhusker lino and had
to depend on their tact backflold,
which was far superior to Nebraska's.
Hubbard, and "SI" Lambert, left
halfback and fullback of Ames respec
tively, played a remarkable gamo.
Frequently thoy circled Nebraska's
ends for long gains and often re
turned punts long distances.
Nobraska used tho forward pass and
onsldo kick for groat gains. Tho lino
did splendid work and proved a stone-.
wall to Uo nttacks of tho Aggies. '
On tlifc nffenso It also nlavcd brilliant-1
ly. Chaloupka, at tackle, carried tlto '
ball for good gains and piougneu
through tho Agglo lino frequently.
Cooko won the gnmo by a long run In
tho last four minutes of play.
Ames secured Its first touchdown
from a fake kick formation. "Si"
Lambert, on Nebraska's thirty-yard
line, drew back as If to try a place
kick, but Instead tho ball was passed
to Knox, who carried It to Nebraska's
two-yard lino, whero SI" Lambert
was shoved over tho goal line. Tho
second came after Hubbard had
nniicht a mint on Nebraska's thlrty-
i yard line and carried It to the five-
yard line. A play at center netieu
tho touchdown. The third was mndo
in tiw unnnnil hnlf whon "SI" Lam
bert, catching a punt on the Corn- J
uiiskcr forty-ynrd line, ran across tne
goal line through a broken Held. Ibis
tied tho score making it 17 to 17.
Nebraska's first touchdown came
after a forward pass from Bentley on
the Amos forty-yard line to Harvoy,
had placed tho ball on the flfteen-ynrd
line. It wns carried over on straight
football from here, Boltzor making tho
touchdown. The second touchdown
came before the close of the first
half. Bentley returned a punt thirty
flvo vnrds to the Ancle ten-yard line.
Line plunges took the ball over the;
line from this point, Blrkner making
the last plunge which scored the
touchdown. A forward pass and some
fierce line plunging resulted in Ne
braska's third touchdown. The pass
took the ball twenty ynrds to tho
Ames' fifteen-yard line. Birkner made
three yards and tho ball was on the
ten-yard line. Chaloupka on a play
through tackle ploughed through tho
Aggies from this point for tho third
touchdown.
Cooke made a forty-yard run which
resulted in the winning touchdown.
Ho wns called into tho gamo In the
last ten mluutcs of play. When No
braska had the ball on the Ames'i
fifty-yard lino, Cooko, on a fake quar
A. C. STURTEZNEGGER
Position, sub-fullback; weight 155,
age 20, years on squad 2, home South
Bend.
terbnek run, dodged through a broken
Hold of tho Aggies for forty yards,
placing the ball on tho Amos five-yard
lino, from whero Sturtoznoggor scored
on the next play, .
With this gamo Nobraska had met
what was considered tho two strong
est teams in tho Missouri valley and
it looked as though tho championship
titlo was clinched. KafBas had yet
to bo playod, but all during tho soa
Bon little attention had been paid the
Jayhawkers for it was thought that
thoy were weak and that thoy would
fly v3tj
be OL'sy vlctiniB for tho mighty Corn
huskors. The KansaB game, however,
proved to bo Nebraska's Waterloo.
The Jayhawkers Won by a scoro of
20 to 5.
Tho grueling work of the Minnesota,
Iowa, and Ames games had worn out
Uie pupils of "King" Cole, and thoy
played the poorest game of tile fall.
Their powerful lino was worn out and
could not get Into tho gamo. It was
broken through repeatedly for good
gains by the Jayhawkers. Chaloupka
was the only lino man who played
up to tho standard. He worked like
a Trojan, hitting tho Kansas line
hard. Often his plunges were ef
fective. The Nobraska backfleld was not In
condition, at all. Cooko, Beltzer.
Miner, Blrkner nnd Kroger did not
play half as well as they did against
Ames. Captain Harvey was a star
and his fierce playing did much to
prevent big gains by the Jayhawkers.
On several occasions he pushed
through back of the Kansas line and
broke up plays.
Once during the contest tho Corn
huBkers showed brilliant form and
during that time they made a touch
down on a forward pass and straight
football. Bight of tho Kansas scores
were made on goals from tho flold.
The others came on two touchdowns.
The first one was due to a fumble
by Nebraska of an onsldo kick on
its own twenty-yard line. A Kansas
player recovered the ball and ran
over the goal line. The second one
came after a long run of eighty yards
by Johnson of Kansas through a
broken field. He placed the ball on
the Nebraska two-yard lino, from
where It was shoved ovor on tho
first play.
This game was the greatest sur
prise of the day in tho west. Ne
braska had been an easy winner by
all football experts and tho defeat wns
never considered. Knnsas had a
powerful lino nnd two fnst backflold
men that worked havoc with tho Corn
huskors. The defeat was a severe blow to No
braska, for 'It practically took away
all chances of getting the Missouri
valley championship. It really was
not a fair test for the CornlniBkors,
who had just come through three hard
games, to put them against the fresh
Jayhawkers.
Kansas In Fine Form.
The meeting with the C.ornhuskers
was the first hard gamo that Kansas
had played. Coach Kennedy had
pointed bis Jayhawkers for this
game; he had seen tho Cornhuskers
InNnctlon three times and knew their
plays well. H1b team was In tip top
form, while the Cornhuskers woro In
poor condition. They needed moro
than a week in which to reBt after
the Ames game before meeting tho
Jayhawkers.
There Is little doubt in tho minds
of tho Nebraska supporters that If tho
game had come a week later the
Cornhuskers wpuld have won. The
Kansas gamo wns played November
14, and by Novomber 21 tho Corn
huskorB wero in tho best form thoy
had shown during tho seaBon. If thoy
had gone ngalnst tho Jayhawkers on
that day they probably would havo
kept their slate clean.
Tho game with the Hastings college
which was scheduled to . follow the
Kansas contest was cancelled at tho
request of the Hastings players, and
Nebraska enjoyed a rest on the Sat
urday preceedlng Thanksgiving. ,
Two games remain to bo playod, Wa
bash today, and the Carlisle Indians
Wednesday, December 2. Since the
middlo of last week the CornhuBkers
havo been getting ready for the bat
tle with the Llttlo Giants, and today
are In fit shape for a hard gamo.
Thoy ought to win, but only after a
fierce struggle.
The Cornhuskers will not break
training with tho ond of tho game
today, but Saturday will commence
work for tho Carllslos. Since Minne
sota defeated tho Indians last Satur
day tho pupils of "King" Colo havo
somo hope of winning from tho Red
men. Good Spirit Manifested.
Tho season so far has scon a good
spirit among tho men. They have
worked hard to uphold tho honor of
tho scnrlet and cream, and havo done
remarkably well. Tholr schedule is
probably tho hardest any Nobraska
team over playod, and one that few
teams could havo carried out so woll.
Tho only mar on tholr record Is the
Kansas game, and that spot is not so
black whon the conditions which al
lowed It to get thoro aro considered.
Captain Harvoy, who finishes his
college football career In tho Carlisle
game, has made a great loader and
has been ono all tho players havo will
ingly followed. Coach "King" Colo
has hold tho respect of every man
on tho team- and of all others who
havo como In contact with him. Ho Is
a great coach and has glvon Nobraska
a great team.
Whon tho season is reviewed at
length it muBt bo admitted that the
Cornhuskers of 1908 aro a powerful
team; it must bo said that thoy aro
equal to any team in tho Missouri
valloy. Their record will stand aB
ono of thq best any Nobraska team
ovor made. It will tako a great team
to make its equal.
