Worst team ever? Anyone have feedback on 1940's teams?

[HuskerTrucker]

I was sitting wondering if this was the worst team that Nebraska has ever come up with....record wise, probably not. In the 1940's (before my time, btw...) there were some really bad teams....or teams with bad records anyway. Probably the worst decade in Husker history.

1941 4-5

1942 3-7

1943 2-6

1444 2-6

1945 4-5

1946 3-6

1947 2-7

1948 2-8

1949 4-5

One argument that could be made during the 1940's was that there was a war. One game was even canceled due to travel restrictions because of the war. But everyone in the country was dealing with the same conditions of being in a time of war, so that argument could easily be dismissed. But because the country was at war, people may have been more accepting of having a losing team at the time.

If you consider the attitude of the coaching staff, players and fans, I would have to argue that this was probably the worst team....but then I wasn't around to see the teams in the 1940's especially that 1948 team (can you imagine the outcry if we would have been 2-8 this year?)...and at that time I don't think the winning tradition was instilled, and expectations were lower.

I believe that in the future, if we have a bad season, it will be more likely compared to the 2007 season, maybe just because it is fresher in our memories. It would be really interesting to get input and see what the feelings were of the fans back in the 40's when the records weren't so great. Any old timers out there that could give some feedback to the rest of us, I am sure it would be interesting and appreciated.

 

[Bleeding Husker Red]

We had some good years prior to the 40's . We were good enough in the VERY old days to get the invitation to the 1915 Rose Bowl, although it wound up we couldn't arrange transportation so Brown University went instead. In those days Coach Stiehm won 91% of his games here. By the way, Fielding Yost (of Michigan fame) coached here back then too. We had a good program.

The only real EXTENDED down period we've had are the 40s and 50s. Other than that NU has always beed a winner overall.

 

[Bleeding Husker Red]

Here you go...worst Husker team ever. 1898 under Coach Edwin Branch. 1 win, 7 losses , 1 tie.

Edwin Branch 1899 1 7 1 0.167

http://www.huskerpedia.com/coaches.html

 

[HuskerTrucker]

I expected some bad years when I started looking back...but when I saw what the 40's were like...I was totally flabbergasted. Next time we have a couple of bad years and people are complaining...and worrying, I am going to bring up the 40's as evidence that you can come back from anything if you want.

 

[HuskerTrucker]

Here you go...worst Husker team ever. 1898 under Coach Edwin Branch. 1 win, 7 losses , 1 tie.

Edwin Branch 1899 1 7 1 0.167

http://www.huskerpedia.com/coaches.html

At least they were never shut completely out...lol. I think the 40's had to be the low point in our history as far as wins and losses go, for a decade anyway. Can you imagine the revolt of the fans if they went 1-7-1 for a season? Even BC couldn't do that...

 

[Spartness]

On the other hand, there were some horrible teams in the 1950s. Granted there were three teams with winning records and one ending with a 500 record. The 1950 team had sophomore Bobby Reynolds -- NU's first 1000-yard-plus rusher -- and NU had a 6-2-1 record. The 1954 team went 6-5 and went to the Orange Bowl, but only because OU wasn't allowed to go two years in a row because of some goofy conference rule. But in 1951, NU went 2-8. To make matters worse, one of the two victories was by forfeit -- KSU. These were Bill Glassford's teams. Glassford also had a 3-6-1 record in 1953. But he did have a 5-4-1 record in 1952 and 5-5 in 1955. Pete Elliotts's only season in 1956 resulted in 4-6.

Of course things got worse when Bill Jennings took over (Some Husker fans like to compare Bill Callahan to him.). In his first season in 1957, he went 1-9. Things didn't get much better after that. And of course you know the history. He got fired after the 1961 season and Bob Devaney took over. So overall, the 1950s weren't much better.

 

[hack]

enemy of the state: bill jennings.

he came in with the way bo pelini is viewed now: an up-and-coming assistance from a successful football program (the wilkinson era sooners) who was a talented recruiter. at the end of five years, he had alienated himself from the his school, his players and an entire state.

jennings once said, "I don't think this state can ever be great in anything... our football team is about as good as anything we're trying to do."

feel the love for the big red, baby!

and by all accounts, he was reputed to be as much a tool as callahan.

statistically, the team might not have bee the worst but emotionally the cornhuskers hit rock bottom with jennings.

 

[Bleeding Husker Red]

Of course things got worse when Bill Jennings took over (Some Husker fans like to compare Bill Callahan to him.). In his first season in 1957, he went 1-9. Things didn't get much better after that. And of course you know the history. He got fired after the 1961 season and Bob Devaney took over. So overall, the 1950s weren't much better.

oops..overlooked Jennings in '57. My bad....

 

[HuskerTrucker]

enemy of the state: bill jennings.

he came in with the way bo pelini is viewed now: an up-and-coming assistance from a successful football program (the wilkinson era sooners) who was a talented recruiter. at the end of five years, he had alienated himself from the his school, his players and an entire state.

jennings once said, "I don't think this state can ever be great in anything... our football team is about as good as anything we're trying to do."

feel the love for the big red, baby!

and by all accounts, he was reputed to be as much a tool as callahan.

statistically, the team might not have bee the worst but emotionally the cornhuskers hit rock bottom with jennings.

Well, I suppose it is nice to know in a way that there were other hard times that we overcame...that were maybe worse than what we see now. I know it is going to happen, in a couple of years someone is actually going to come in and say how good things were under BC, and that he got a raw deal and didn't get a chance to fully implement his program (they will forget that it was also too complicated and we couldn't understand since we were only sand hillbillies)...

I think the thing that keeps Nebraska coming back, is probably because victory is like the taste of blood, once you get the taste of it, you yearn to get it back again. That being said, I still say that we have the most loyal and devoted fans, yet we show good sportsmanship and try to win the right ways, which there are a lot of other programs that can't say that.

:hellloooo