DAILY NEBRASKA N
THE
NEBRASKA FINISHES SUCCESSFUL
SEASON AGAINST BIG TEAMS
t
Final Game Beached with Only
Defeat By Michigan
VALLEY TITLE COMES EASY
Last Year's Defeat By Notre
Dame Avenged 7 to 0
Has the Nebraska 1917 football sea
son been a success?
At the first glance at the result of
the season's games, with a 20-to-0
Michigan defeat rudely protruding It
self from among the other scores. It
would seem that the season has not
been a success. But when the ob
server stops to consider the fact that
the other games on the schedule, all
of which are on the winning side of
the ledger, are "big' games, the real
ization comes that after all the Corn
tuskers have had a season this year
that has been unequaled in the past.
At the start of the season the Ne
braskans took on Wesleyan univer
sity, a team which for years has occu
pied a place near the middle or toward
the end of the schedule. The Metho
dists were shifted to the opening game
this year for the simple reason that
there was no room for them in the
later stages of the season, when strong
teams were the only opponents of the
Cornhuskers.
Wesleyan Game Reveals Strength
The Wesleyan game revealed the
fact that Nebraska was to have a
powerful ' offense with a strong de
fense. It took the Cornhusker ma
chine a little while to get started in
this game, but after it got under way
there was no stopping it. The entire
backfield, Dobson, Cook, Otoupalik and
Schellenberg showed too much speed
for the Methodists, and with the line
preventing any gains on the part of
the enemy and opening great holes for
the backs to plunge through, the score
easily mounted to the total of 100.
The Defeat of Iowa
On the following week the Huskers
were scheduled to meet the Iowa
Haweyes, a team that for several
years hi occupied a place as one of
the main games of the season, near
the close of the schedule. In shifting
Iowa to the second game of the sche
dule this year Coach Stewart was only
making room for stronger teams to
be taken on in the place usually occu
pied by the Haweyes. The lowans
came to Nebraska with a small but
speedy team and intent on surprising
the Cornhuskers if possible. They
had won a victory over Simpson col
lege the week before by a small score
and hoped to use that as a blind to
their real power.
Nebraska, however, was prepared
for the best Iowa had and, after the
first few minutes had an easy time
going through and around the. Hawk
eyes. Iowa opened the game with two
brilliant forward passes that put them
far into Cornhusker territory, but here
they were stopped and a drop kick by
Captain Davis was blocked. From
that time on the Cornhusker attack
was irresistable and gains were made
almost at will.
One weakness in the Nebrsaka ma
chine developed in this game which
if not corrected threatened to result
disasterously In the Notre Dame game
on the next Saturday. That weakness
was the very apparent tendency on
the part of the younger members of
the. Nebraska team to let up to a
noticeable extent after they had es
tablished a small lead. This tendency
made Itself most apparent in the third
quarter of the Iowa game when the
Hawkeyea practically outplayed the
HuBkers for a short time.
Revenge on Notre Dame
The Notre Dame battle, the next
week, which has come to be one of
the traditional Nebraska encounters
although It has been on the schedule
only three years, found the Cornhusk
ers at their best It was almost a
perfect game that the Huskers put up
that day, if there Is such a thing as a
perfect game. Even the most severe
critic could ask for nothing more on
tfce defense than was shown by the
Coraiaskers. The fact that the Hosi
ers were allowed to make only one
first down during the entire sixty
minutes of play speaks well of the
Hosker stonewall of that day.
Although the Nebraska offense pro
duced only one score, it aiso failed to
v uncover any open attack. A thlrty
Tard return of a punt by cook, a fifteen-yard
gain on a triple pass and
two line smashes by Otoupalik put the
pigskin over the line and allowed the
Huskers from that time on to play a
defensive game. It was a brilliant
game despite the low score, as the
Huskers made eleven first downs to
Notre Dame's one and gained many
times as many yards as the Hoosiers
did.
The Season's Lone Defeat
The next week saw the disasterous
Michigan trip and game. Although
nothing is detracted from the strength
of the Wolverines, it must be ad
mitted, has been admitted, in fact by
Coach Yost, that had the game been
played on a dry field the result would
have been different. No apology is
needed of the way the Huskers played
in this game. Those who saw the
battle say they have never seen a Ne
braska team fight harder nor against
greater odds than the Huskers did
that day. Michigan had been practic
ing in the rain and mud for tnree
weeks before the Nebraska game, had
played two regular games under simi
lar conditions and were prepared with
extra-lone: mud-cleats to stand up on
the slippery ground. On the other-
hand the Nebraskans had not had a
wet ball In their hands auring the en
tire season, and although mud-cleats
were worn by some of the men they
were not long enough to reach to solid
ground on the soggy Michigan grid
iron. The Nebraskans started out with a
rush and had Dobson launched on a
trip toward the goal twice In the first
few minutes only to have him slip
and fall while trying to side-step a
man that would have been easily elud
ed had the runner been able to keep
to his feet. With the ball on the fif
teen-yard line three downs were all
that were needed to make nine yards.
On the fourth down Schellenberg
went through for four yrads and what
would have been first down, but the
tackle that stopped him knocked the
hall out of his crasp and then came
the disasterous run for a touchdown.
Twice during the succeeding periodj
of the game McMahon, the Husker
speeder, was on his way to the goal
with no one but the quarterback to
ston him. but each time, because of
his inability to change his direction
on the slippery field, he was forced
out to the sidelines and stopped.
Fifty-two Points Against Missouri
The Missouri frame, which came two
weeks after the Michigan battle, found
the Cornhuskers again ready to play
in their best form. The show-me
team, however, showed such little real
football that the Nebrsakans had an
easy time running up fifty-two points
without using anything but straight
footbalL The Tigers were weakened
in this game, but no worse than the
Nebraskans who were minus the serv
ices of four third-year men. KosiUky,
Shaw, Otoupalik and RiddelL At times
during the battle there were only
three men on the Husker team that
were not playing their first year of
football for Nebraska. .
It was at a critical point in this
game, when through two fifteen-yard
penalties in succession the Missouri
ans were out on the Nebraska six-
vard line, that Cornhusker supporters
were shown that they had a real de
fense comnosed of youngsters. In
four downs the Missourians had
gained three yards and the ball went
over to the Cornhuskers and was punt
ed out of danger.
The Championship Game
When the Kansas game came
around every team in the valley had
been defeated except the Cornhuskers
and the Jayhawks. It was confidently
expected in the Kansas camp that
when the smoke of battle had cleared
away after that game the champion
ship would rest there, undisputed.
That was what it looked like during
the first half of the encounter, when
the Kansans scored a field goal and
gained a few more yards than the
Huskers did. It has become known
since that game that between halves
the Jayhawk fighters agreed to score
three touchdowns In the last two peri
ods. However, soon after the second
half opened the Cornhuskers took
things into their own hands and be
ginning with a 'punt caught on their
own twenty-yard line scored two
touchdowns without losing possession
of the balL
A new form of offense was uncov
ered In this game, or rather a new
Instrument of offense, when Hubka
who bad been playing end and tackle
throughout the year was shifted to the
backfield and with Dobson succeeded
in ramming big holes In the Jayhawk
line. One of the humorous Incidents
of the season has been the writeups
in Kansas papers since this game, de
claring that the "star Kansas ends,
Laslett and Lonberg" bad stopped
every end ran started by the Huskers.
As a matter of fact not a single end
run was called for by Cook in this
game, with the exception of two by
Dobson, from punt formation and on
each he made at least five yards.
Today the season will ' be closed
when the Cornhuskers have met one
of the strongest teams cf the east.
Victory in this game is hoped for but
little expected. But If defeat should
come, can anyone say that the season
has not been a success?
One of the most notable facts of the
season is that the Nebraskans have
been playing all their games without
the services of Ted RIddell, one of the
greatest ends Nebraska has ever pro
duced and who was expected to star
this year.
'
' J. Xmw-
"i. I "
lH '
"Fall In"
Fellows!
Your duty to your mother, to "her" and yourself
calls you to meet this National Thanksgiving Day
with a smile-"
'Jashion
L Ml ft l
es
Tailored atJZshionVbrk. "Rochester. N. Y.
Will Bring the Smile
q THESE TAILORS have produced for
us this season a limited number of pat
terns of styles which are proving im
mensely popular with College Fellows.
q The styles are straight up, clean cut develop
ments, which make an immediate and definite
appeal to the young man who feels the necessity
of getting along who knows that proper clothes
are a positive help.
f May we show you these confidence jQC ft CMA
producing Clothes Ready to Pat on v lU
Tilgl at FmRm fA
Daylinitrs"tore
Soldiers Play on Stagg Field
Official consent to the use of Stagg
field, which was to have been the
scene of the Chicago-Michigan foot
b .11 game, has been given to the
Camp Grant and Camp Custer teams.
As originally planned, Chicago and
Michigan were to hold their annual
battle there, but the authorities of
each university cancelled the date in
spite of great opposition from the ath
letic boards and student bodies of both
universities. Many felt that the
greater part of the proceeds, which
were to have gone to war charities.
would be thus lost, but the civilian
committee in charge of the game say
that the receipts will not suffer any de
cided decrease.
John L. Clark, '05, Harvard Law '09.
lawyer In New York, Is In the Platts
burg, New York, training camp.
N. M. Cronln, '04, Minnesota Law.
'08, commissioned captain at the first
Fort SnellLag Training Camp. Is cap
tain of Company C, 350th Infantry,
Camp Dodge, Iowa.
Raymond A. Smith, '14, Law 'IS,
practicing law at Council Bluffs, has
been selected aa second tejJ
Company A. in the new i!
regiment being organized In w
Second Lieutenant A. C Sen
Company It. BLh Battalion. 65
pot Brigade, Camp 7ch
writes: "l am enrolling la ' I tt
claes being organized for occc
tie Y. 11 a A. Such cIitre b
for officers and enlisted men.
tag organized all over camp.
Y. M. C. A. Is dotag ereat yor
In furnishing entertainment, ra
tion ana educational advantage
the Ken."