Conference Big Seven Conference Home stadium Memorial Stadium | 1951 record 2–8 (2–4 Big 7) | |
Head coach Bill Glassford (3rd year) Offensive scheme T formation / Spread offense | ||
The 1951 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska and member of the Big 7 Conference in the 1951 college football season. The team was coached by Bill Glassford and played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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Before the season
Coach Glassford's third year at the helm commenced with hopeful expectations after the turnaround season of 1950 that produced Nebraska's first winning record in ten years. The Cornhuskers had finished out the previous season ranked #17 by the AP Poll, following a competitive 35-49 loss to the national champion Oklahoma Sooners, and it looked like the train was finally back on the tracks in Lincoln. Returning for 1951 was the entire coaching staff of the previous season, and the AP shined favorably on Nebraska by introducing the Cornhuskers at #12 to open the 1951 slate.
After the season
The brief successful fire seen in Nebraska's 1950 8-2 season was just as quickly darkened when the 1951 campaign fell flat. Although the season eventually would be recorded as a dismal 2-8-0 after being revised because of the Kansas State forfeit, this was of no meaningful improvement over the original 1-8-1 end-of-season tally, and was significantly worse than coach Glassford's initial 5-4 record in his first year. One bright spot looking to the future was the return of future NFL draft picks Bobby Reynolds and Ed Hussman, both set to play for one more year.
The disappointing close to 1951 brought coach Glassford's career record down to 9-9-0 (.500) in the Big 7, and dropped his previously winning overall record to 12-15-1 (.446). The Nebraska program endured another hit to its legacy by slipping to 328-163-32 (.658) all time and 129-46-11 (.723) in conference play.