1892 Nebraska Bugeaters football team

The 1892 Nebraska Bugeaters football team represented the University of Nebraska in the 1892 college football season. The team had no head coach, though Omaha lawyer J. S. Williams led the team for one game, and played home games at Lincoln Park, in Lincoln, Nebraska. They competed as members of the Western Interstate University Football Association.

1892 Nebraska Bugeaters football
ConferenceWestern Interstate University Football Association
Record2–2–1 (1–1–1 WIUFA)
Head coach
  • J. S. Williams (1st season)
Home stadiumLincoln Park
Seasons
← 1891
1893 →
1892 Western Interstate University Football Association standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Kansas $ 3 0 0 7 1 0
Nebraska 1 1 1 2 2 1
Missouri 1 2 0 1 2 0
Iowa 0 2 1 3 2 1
  • $ – Conference champion

This was Nebraska's first season as a member of an athletic conference, joining Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri in the newly formed WIUFA.[1][2]

Nebraska played without a permanent head coach for the third straight season, upsetting many program supporters. The university's newspaper opined "We are thoroughly disgusted with the cheap-John plan of amateur coaches". By the beginning of the 1893 season, Nebraska hired its first paid football coach.[2]

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 24Illinois*
W 6–0800
October 28at Denver AC*Denver, COL 4–18
November 5vs. MissouriOmaha, NE (rivalry)W 1–0 (forfeit)
November 123:00 p.m.Kansas
L 0–12600[3][4]
November 243:00 p.m.vs. IowaOmaha, NE (rivalry)T 10–101,000+
  • *Non-conference game

Coaching staff

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Coach Position First year Alma mater
J. S. Williams Head coach (unofficial) 1892
Jack Best Trainer 1890 Nebraska
Charles Thomas Assistant coach 1892 Michigan
C. D. Chandler Manager 1892

Roster

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  • Anderson, Arthur C
  • Barkley, James QB
  • Barnes PLAYER
  • Chandler, Charles T
  • Church, R.D. E
  • Flippin, George HB
  • Hopewell, Isaac C
  • Howe T
  • Hyde, Frederick G
  • Johnston, James HB
  • Jones, Albin G
  • Lord, Harrison T
  • Mosher, Bradley FB
  • Nusz, Chauncy FB
  • Oliver FB
  • Pace, Eugene QB
  • Porterfield, James T
  • Raymond PLAYER
  • Sinclair T
  • Skiles, Charles E
  • Stockton, William T
  • White, Jacob FB
  • Yont, Alonzo FB
  • Yont, Jesse E

Starters

Game summaries

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Illinois

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Illinois at Nebraska
1 2Total
Illinois 0 0 0
Nebraska 6 0 6
  • Date: October 24
  • Location: Lincoln Park, Lincoln, NE
  • Game attendance: 800

George Flippin, Nebraska's first black player and only the fifth black athlete at a predominantly white college, recovered a late fumble and later scored the game's only points to give the Bugeaters a 6–0 win.

Historical sources disagree on who coached Nebraska in this game. Some suggest J. S. Williams coached this game and quit after, while others show a different coach recorded only as "Mr. Baldwin" was expected to coach against Illinois but ultimately did not, and therefore Williams arrived sometime after this game.[2][1][5]

This was the first game in which Nebraska appeared in scarlet and cream, which would later become the university's official colors.

At Denver Athletic Club

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Nebraska at Denver AC
1 2Total
Nebraska 4
Denver AC 18

Although Nebraska faced an out-of-state team for the first time in 1891, this was NU's first game played outside the state of Nebraska. The Bugeaters were badly outmatched by the professional-grade Denver Athletic Club, managing only a late touchdown to avoid a shutout loss.[1][5]

Missouri

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Missouri vs. Nebraska
1 2Total
Missouri 0
Nebraska 1

This was set to be Nebraska's first-ever conference game, but the University of Missouri squad refused to play due to the presence of African American George Flippin on NU's roster. The game was ruled a forfeit and the score officially recorded as 1–0. Afterward, the WIUFA established a rule preventing member teams from refusing to play scheduled matches.[1][5]

Official University of Missouri records list the score of this game as a 6–0 forfeit Nebraska victory.[6]

Kansas

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Kansas at Nebraska
1 2Total
Kansas 12
Nebraska 0
  • Date: November 12
  • Location: Lincoln Park, Lincoln, NE
  • Game attendance: 600

Despite being only the second conference game for both teams, the WIUFA's brief conference slate made this the de facto conference championship game. The Bugeaters escaped early Jayhawks scoring opportunities, but were unable to do anything on offense as Kansas eventually wore Nebraska down to claim the first WIUFA football title.

This was the first of what would become the longest continuous annual series between any two college football teams, as Kansas and Nebraska would meet every year from 1891 through 2010. The annual series ended in 2011 when Nebraska joined the Big Ten Conference.

Iowa

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Iowa vs. Nebraska
1 2Total
Iowa 10 0 10
Nebraska 4 6 10
  • Date: November 24
  • Location: Omaha, NE
  • Game attendance: 1,000+
  • Game weather: Cold sleet

Halfback George Flippin opened the game with a 40-yard run around the right end, which was followed by a Bugeater touchdown. Iowa responded with two touchdowns before halftime to pull ahead 10–4. Flippin scored to open the second half, and a successful extra kick tied the game at 10, when it was called on account of darkness, becoming the first tie in Nebraska history.[1][5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Husker Press Box - 1892 Game Recaps". University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletics Department. Retrieved November 5, 2009.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ a b c "Nebraska Football In The 1890s" (PDF). LA84 Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 13, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  3. ^ "To Kick The Leather". Daily Nebraska State Journal. Lincoln, Nebraska. November 12, 1892. p. 7. Retrieved October 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com  .
  4. ^ "Kansans Call Play Ball". Daily Nebraska State Journal. Lincoln, Nebraska. November 13, 1892. p. 6. Retrieved October 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com  .
  5. ^ a b c d "1890s". HuskerMax. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  6. ^ "Western Inter-State UniversityFoot Ball Association anomalies". HuskerMax. Retrieved November 10, 2009.