Nebraska Cornhuskers Deliver the Royal Treatment (1911)

[Ed. 9/24/2023 With a return to Lincoln, Nebraska afoot, a repost. This was originally published in mgoblog’s HTTV 2011 as part of a blow-by-blow of the entire 1911 season through the reporting of The Michigan Daily.]

1911 Season | Week 8 vs. Nebraska (Lincoln) | November 25, 1911

With the great Penn win in the bank, Michigan looked ahead to the trip to face Nebraska.

On Fielding H. Yost’s Mind: Certainly, Yost’s thoughts were on returning to Lincoln where he was head coach of the Cornhuskers in 1898. He led the team to an 8-3 record but moved on to Kansas following that season. And he kept moving, heading further west to coach at Stanford and San Jose State before ending up in Ann Arbor in 1901. In 1905 Yost crushed the Huskers 31-0 in Ann Arbor, near the conclusion of his five-year Point-A-Minute reign of terror.

Early in the week, The Daily reported that Nebraska would treat the Michigan team and band to “a hearty reception” in Lincoln and they requested copies of all Michigan’s favorite songs (which were gathered up and sent on Monday the week of the game). The trip out west would take a couple of days and the team headed to Chicago on Thursday and arrived in Lincoln Friday morning.

The Game: The Nebraska governor delivered an “exhibition kick-off” before the game, I assume a form of the old baseball honorary first pitch—something that I’d love to see return. (Imagine a mildly pickled Mike Wallace lining up and giving the pigskin a boot).

Michigan’s captain Conklin “saved the day” for the Wolverines, scoring U-M’s only touchdown by converting a blocked punt in the third quarter. After an exchange of punts, Nebraska tied the score and the game ended in a 6-6 deadlock.

The Daily added its maize-and-blue spin on the event reporting, “Outweighed, outlucked, and often outplayed, the Wolverines gave an exhibition of gameness and hard fighting that has never been seen in the west and won even the plaudits of the most loyal Cornhusker.”

In a generous extension of courtesy, the Nebraska folks invited the entire Michigan contingent: we’re talking faculty, alumni, and students, to their Cornhuskers banquet.

“We were treated royally,” reported one attendee.

Off the Field:

• It was reported that Nebraska also considered using “moving pictures” to cover the Michigan game as a means to advertise their school to folks around the country. I’m not sure if this was ever done or if a copy exists.

• A prevalent undercurrent during Michigan’s time as an independent involved the goings on in the Western conference and whether the Wolverines might return. And if other schools might follow U-M and break B1G ties. In 1911 Minnesota signaled that they might be interested in getting the Wolverines back on the schedule, and the Daily speculated on the potential domino effect: “If Minnesota has offered a contract, the minute that Michigan accepts [Chicago’s] Stagg and his conference go up in a cloud of inglorious smoke.”
• Western alumni groups tried to push for a Thanksgiving game at Colorado after the Nebraska game. The idea was Michigan wouldn’t come home from Lincoln—they’d just travel to Denver.   The U-M administration squashed the idea.
• On the train ride home from Lincoln, Captain Conklin went through the process of determining who on the team earned an ‘M’ letter, apparently a duty left to the captain each season. Those not earning the coveted M were issued a not-so-coveted ‘R’ as in “reserve.”
• On Tuesday of the following week, the team assembled for its annual postseason meeting and “Bottles” Thomson was selected as captain of the 1912 squad.   The team also gathered for the 1911 team photo which features captain Conklin cradling a painted pigskin that reads, “Michigan 11, Penn 9”.

With another football season gone and several months (until Yost and crew returned to Whitmore Lake for summer camp) a Daily writer informed the students of the obvious: “the dull season of athletics has hit the university.”

Word.