1960 record 4–6 (2–5 Big 8) | ||
Head coach Bill Jennings (4th year) | ||
The 1960 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska and member of the Big Eight Conference in the 1960 college football season. The team was coached by Bill Jennings and played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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Before the season
The mixed fortunes of Nebraska football under coach Jennings were a continuing source of uncertainty. In the three previous years of his tenure, two distinct faces of the program appeared depending often upon who the opponent was. Stunning victories over favored teams were frequently followed or preceded by demoralizing losses to underperforming or average conference foes. Jennings had record clear losing records in all three seasons, finishing last or 2nd to last in the league, yet managed to secure epic wins against powerhouse rivals such as Minnesota and Pittsburgh, and even snapped Oklahoma's 13-year, 74-game conference winning streak. For his fifth year, the Nebraska football schedule opened with a tough road game against #4 Texas, but was then favorable with four straight home stands, and the only other major looming threat was the final game with Oklahoma, in Norman.
After the season
Coach Jennings completed his fourth straight year of unpredictable levels of success. Despite once again pulling off unlikely upsets, against Texas and Army, and defeating Oklahoma for the program's first back-to-back wins over the Sooners since 1942, the Cornhuskers again fell flat in the conference and managed only a tie for 6th place. Although this was Coach Jennings' fourth straight losing season, he still managed to accumulate slightly improved records, with 6-19-0 (.240) in the Big 8 and 12-28-0 (.300) overall. The Cornhuskers now stood at 152-77-12 (.656) all time in conference, and slipped to 363-217-34 (.619) overall, a record tenth straight year of decline. Still, despite owning the third-worst career coaching in the history of the program among coaches with more than one year at the helm, the university opted to keep Jennings aboard for 1961.