1952 record 5–4–1 (3–2–1 Big 7) | ||
Head coach Bill Glassford (4th year) | ||
The 1952 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska and member of the Big 7 Conference in the 1952 college football season. The team was coached by Bill Glassford and played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Contents
Before the season
Coach Glassford's fourth year at the helm of the Nebraska football program began with a great deal of uncertainty about the future. Lauded after his first two seasons showed dramatic improvement over the string of losing seasons prior to his arrival, the 1951 campaign was a story of a slide backwards, with only one on-field victory recorded during the entire season. A new offense was installed midseason in 1951, styled after the spread offensive look that TCU utilized to great success to defeat Nebraska in the season opener. The offseason provided a chance for the Cornhuskers to refine the new scheme, and 1952 opened with hopes that the previous season would be soon forgotten.
After the season
The season opened strong with four wins a row, the best commencement of a football season in Nebraska in nearly twenty years. Injuries began to take their toll, however, and the new spread offense was less foreign to opposing teams who began to figure out how to defend against it, particularly since Nebraska remained predominantly a ground-based rushing team. As a result, the bright start to the season faded as the Cornhuskers closed out 1952 at 1-4-1. Coach Glassford's 1952 campaign total still helped push his conference record to a barely winning percentage of 12-11-1 (.521) but his overall record was still on the wrong side, at 17-19-2 (.474). The Nebraska football program's conference and overall records both slipped slightly, as the 3-2-1 Big 7 results brought the league record to 132-48-12 (.719) and the program's all-time percentage now stood at 333-167-33 (.656).