Puneet Varma (Editor)

1918 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

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Conference
  
Big Eight Conference

Home stadium
  
Nebraska Field

1918 record
  
2–3–1 (0–0 MVIAA)

1918 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Head coach
  
William G. Kline (1st year)

The 1918 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska in the 1918 college football season. The team was coached by William G. Kline and played their home games at Nebraska Field in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Contents

Before the season

The 1918 season was one of severe upheaval not just at Nebraska, but all over the United States, in every way. World War I was reaching full swing, calling away many thousands of men to fight for their country, including of course many college football players. The United States government limited cross country travel during this time, which limited the number of teams that could be met for games, and as a result only six games would be completed this year. Amidst these unsteady times, the 1918 flu pandemic was gripping the world and taking many times more lives than the casualties of the great war in progress in Europe. It was against this backdrop that a new head coach arrived, to try to guide the Cornhuskers through the storm. The role of the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association was rolled back for 1918, and no designated conference games were held, no standings recorded, and no champion crowned. Only three starters from the previous year were back, since many others (including Nebraska's Captain-elect) were training for battle or already overseas at war.

After the season

Perhaps it was due to the ever-shifting rosters and loose approach to allowing personnel to play who were not normally permitted to do so, as caused by the war and flu epidemic, but a glance at the official roster for the 1918 season lists two players by last name only: "Kline" and "Schissler". A review of the season's coaching staff perhaps reveals who these semi-anonymous players were.

Coach Kline finished the abbreviated season 2-3-1 (.417), but under the difficult circumstances of the time this was as good an outcome as might have otherwise been expected. With the end of the war, a return to normalcy for 1919 was anticipated. The program's overall record slipped with the losses to 166-54-12 (.741).

References

1918 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team Wikipedia