Progressivism, a set of ideals championing bureaucracy, science, and management, set the tone of early 20th century America. A genuine belief that everything, from urban poverty to transportation, could be improved with rational thought permeated much of the country. New inventions and ideas were spreading across the nation promising efficiency and improvement to all. At the same time Immigration and migration continued, bringing new Americans to places like Nebraska to farm, as well as concentrating populations in the slums of ever growing urban areas. The plight of the urban poor was the fodder of "muckraking" journalists and authors. Child labor, food safety, temperance, preservation, and women's suffrage movements all gathered steam as progressive ideas, to match the new inventions and bureaucratic systems that symbolized the progressive ideal.
Perhaps in the spirit of a new century with new ideas, the Nebraska football team abandoned its previous monikers of "Old Gold Knights," "Antelopes," "Rattlesnake Boys" and the grittier "Bugeaters" for the apt title "Cornhuskers" dubbed by Lincoln Journal sports writer Cy Sherman in 1900. In addition to the new name, Nebraska acquired a new Coach. Walter "Bummy" Booth led his new team to a strong first season with seven wins, two ties and a single loss. The mighty Minnesota Gophers burrowed under Nebraska's rows of Cornhuskers, leaving the team with its lone defeat that year.
Prior to the fateful game, Nebraska's Populist orator William Jennings Bryan put politics aside for the day. He instructed the crowd gathered in Lincoln that, "Nothing but football is in order this day" and that "You Nebraska can conquer!" Despite Bryan's encouragement, Nebraska lost by eight points, 20-12. The 1902 and 1903 teams, however, went undefeated, beating Colorado, Grinnell, Missouri, Haskell, Kansas, Knox, Northwestern and new found rival Minnesota.
The 1902 Minnesota game at first seemed destined to be an equal match between the two teams. But at the last minute, Nebraska's star JohnnyBender brought the ball within scoring distance of the Gopher endzone. A Minnesota penalty advanced the Huskers to the 10-yard line where Bender, aided by Maurice Benedict, pushed through, leaving only six inches to go. On the last down (there were only three and touchdowns were worth five points, one point for goals) Bender carried the ball around the Minnesota line, Benedict kicked for the goal and Nebraska had its first victory over the Gophers.
While Bender and Benedict were the big players against Minnesota, Coach Booth was heralded as their great leader-and was appropriately treated to a spontaneous parade upon returning to Nebraska. Booth, who led the team during his tenure of five years, with 53 wins out of 62 games a .85 success rate, set a new record and standard for the significance of football at the University. For taking the team to such heights he was paid more than any professor on campus at the time, nearly $2,000 a year.
Booth's early undefeated seasons came at a cost as well. He had set standards even he couldn't match in following years.
Confidence in his ability to produce champion teams wavered. Unable to repeat his early success, he retired in 1905. Nebraskans found a suitable replacement for Booth in 1907 when the school hired W.C. "King" Cole. Cole was an able leader who held a 25-8-3 record over four seasons. He even set the all time highest score for Nebraska during a game against Haskell with a 117-0 shutout. But big wins over minor schools were hollow victories in many fan's eyes. Cole rarely scheduled Nebraska to play better competitive teams. During his tenure the Huskers never played Northwestern or Michigan and when they met rival Minnesota they lost twice and barely tied once. In 1910, when the Valley Conference mandated full-time coaches, Cole retired to pursue law school. Nebraska went searching for a coach who could commit fully to the team, schedule games with tough competitors and produce victorious results.
