Conference Big Eight Conference Head coach Fred Dawson (3rd year) | 1923 record 4–2–2 (3–0–2 MVIAA) Home stadium Memorial Stadium | |
The 1923 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska in the 1923 college football season. The team was coached by Fred Dawson and played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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Before the season
Coach Dawson returned for his third season with two conference championships to his credit and a new home playing field following the completion of Memorial Stadium, but it was a hard start to the season. The most pronounced change was the absence of Jack Best, the team's trainer of the previous 32 seasons dating to the beginning of the program, who had died shortly after the end of the 1922 season. The first team on the schedule was not the typical tune-up patsy scrimmage of most seasons past, as coach Dawson had arranged an opening battle on the road against Illinois in order to infuse his team with a heavy dose of experience early in the year. Making things additionally rough to start the year, only nine starters from last season's title team were returning to play for the Cornhuskers.
After the season
After two very successful seasons, coach Dawson's third year experienced a setback in the program's record, but still came away with several successes. Although Nebraska tied two conference games, they were also unbeaten in conference play and had one less tie game than Kansas, which handed Dawson his third consecutive league title. Bigger than that was the defeat of Notre Dame in Lincoln. Notre Dame was now undefeated for two seasons in a row - except for the two losses handed down to them by the Cornhuskers. Coach Dawson's career record suffered from the relatively weak showing on the year, falling to 18-4-2 (.792) as the program's overall record slipped to 192-64-17 (.734). Nebraska's conference record also fell slightly, despite taking home the title again, to 35-3-4 (.881).