1957 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team
|
1 |
2 |
Total |
| Nebraska |
|
|
0 |
| • Army
|
|
|
42 |
|
-
Date: October 19
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Location: Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska
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Game attendance: 37,582
|
|
1 |
2 |
Total |
| • Kansas
|
|
|
14 |
| Nebraska |
|
|
12 |
-
Date: November 2
-
Location: Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska
-
Game attendance: 29,987
|
-
Date: November 9
-
Location: Clyde Williams Field • Ames, Iowa
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Game attendance: 6,083
|
The 1957 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska and member of the Big 7 Conference in the 1957 college football season. The team was coached by Bill Jennings and played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
New Head Coach Jennings had only been on the Nebraska football staff for one year, as Backfield Coach, before ascending to the top spot. With three new assistants on staff, he faced a very difficult 1957 schedule. A home opener against Washington State would be followed by three straight road games, one of which was against longtime nemesis Pittsburgh. Upon the return to Lincoln there would be one more nonconference game against always-tough Syracuse, the first meeting of these teams since 1929. Now in its 16th year, the long stretch of Nebraska futility would be difficult to halt against this slate.
These teams had only met one time prior, a 21-20 defeat of the Cornhuskers in Lincoln in 1920. The Cougars brought with them a reputation as an outstanding passing offense, and true to form used their game plan to roll up points by air faster than Nebraska could respond by ground. The Bill Jennings era opened with a loss.
In the first meeting of these teams, the Black Knights of West Point utterly obliterated the Cornhuskers in front of a relatively small Michie Stadium crowd. No matter which way they turned, by air or ground, all of Nebraska's attempts to at least avoid the shutout were thwarted. Army went on to finish the season ranked #18 by the AP Poll.
The Cornhuskers traveled to Manhattan for the first Big 7 contest of the season, again in front of a sparse crowd. While the Cornhuskers managed only two touchdowns on the day, the hapless Wildcats were unable to move the ball enough to score more than once. Nebraska had notched the first win of the year and improved to 32-7-2 in the Kansas State series to date, but there was little time to celebrate. The difficult road trip to Pittsburgh, now ranked #20 by the AP Poll, was next up.
For the second time of the season, Nebraska was dealt a punishing road game shutout defeat, this time at the hands of bitter rival Pittsburgh. The Panthers, who nearly always seemed to have Nebraska's number, improved to 15-3-3 over the Cornhuskers all time with their sixth straight win in the series. Nebraska had now stumbled out to a 1-3 start thanks in part to the grueling schedule, and the situation was not looking like it would improve.
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Wikipedia
