1954 record 6–5 (4–2 Big 7) | ||
Head coach Bill Glassford (6th year) | ||
The 1954 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska and member of the Big 7 Conference in the 1954 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
At the conclusion of the previous season, coach Glassford's third losing season in five years, sentiment was strong for a change in leadership. However, while Glassford survived the strife, Athletic Director George Clark did resign his position. Clark had previously led the Nebraska football team, in 1945 and then again in 1948, before ascending to the position of Athletic Director. Another former Nebraska football coach, Adolph J. Lewandowski (1943–1944), was named as acting AD in his stead. Lewandowski eventually helped select Bill Orwig as the new permanent Athletic Director, a position he would hold through 1960. Glassford was kept on under Orwig, but the pressure was building for the Nebraska football program to regain its footing and build consistency going forward.
After the season
Although the season did not exactly end on a high note, the winning record and first bowl game appearance since 1941 was more than enough to allow coach Glassford to retain his position and quiet the voices hoping for him to be replaced. For the sixth season in a row since taking over at Nebraska, Glassford had alternated winning and losing seasons, so even with the runner-up league finish and post season appearance, there was still no form of confidence that the winning performance could be maintained. Glassford's second place Big 7 record of 4-2 was enough to push his overall conference record back to the winning side, at 18-17-1 (.514), though his overall record was still lagging at 26-30-3 (.466). Nebraska's program all-time league percentage improved slightly to 138-54-12 (.706), while the overall record slipped to 342-178-34 (.648).