Table Of Content

m BIG RED RIVALS FAREWELL TO AC ONFERENCE BIG RED RIVALS FAREWELL TO AC ONFERENCE Editor Dan Sullivan Designer Christine Zueck Lead writer Michael Kelly Executive Editor Mike Reilly President and Publisher Terry Kroeger All 119hts lt'Servt'd No p.11t of this book mdy ~reproduced, stored rn J ret11CVJI system. or uJnsmrued rn any form or by .iny me.ins. elecuon1C, mechanical. photocopying. H!cord1n9 or otherwise. without p11or consent of the pubhsher, Qm,)h,1 World Herald Co. Copyrrght ' 20 tO Omaha World HcrJld Co 1314 Oougl,1s St. Omaha,NE68102 F1r\t p.1perb.1ck ccht1011 ISON: 978 0 61 S 41 175 0 Printed by Walsworth Publishing Co. M.ircel11w,MO « Nebraska's Hcfln Rohrig (25) looks for yards in a 13 7v ictory over Oklahoma in 1939. Rohrig later served as the Big Ten'ss upervisor or olficials. On the cover: Johnny Rodgers' punt return for a touchdown ag.1inst Oklahoma in 1971. Title page: Nebraska rans cheer the Huskers at the 2009 Big 12 ch.1mp1onship game in Arlington, Texas. - .. ' ~.. . I . . Nebraska takes the field for the 2008 Kansas State game at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION TEXAS 3 302 LEE BARFKNECHT CONFERENCE SERIES BEGAN: 1996 :: SCORECARD: TEXAS 10 WINS, NEBRASKA 4 WINS AH ISTORY 4 TEXAS TECH A REVIEW OF NU'SC ONFERENCE TIES 314 »CONFERENCE SERIES BEGAWN:l~~9~EXAS TECH 4 WINS »SCORECARD: NEBRASKA 7 • KANSAS 8 »CONFERENCE SERIESSBKEAG9A1N~~~~7 KANSAS 23 WINS. 3 TIES BAYLOR »SCORECARD: NEBRA • 320 e »CONFERENCE SERIES BEGAN: 1996 »SCORECARD: NEBRASKA 11 WINS, BAYLOR 1W IN - 9o't:!~J~ rE~ BEGA~:.::~·IOWASTATE17 40 ! WINS. 1T IEl »SCORECARD: NEBRASKA 86" • ~ ~l:.~2~ ~!IESBEGASN~~~~l ~ 68 MISSOURI 36 WINS, 3 TIES ONE LASTTIME » SCORECARD: NEBRASKA 6 • 332 NEBRASKA'SF INAL SEASON IN THE BIG 12 KANSAS STATE 108 LEAVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD »CONFERENCE SERIES BEGAN~~~~3 KANSAS STATE 15 WINS, 2T IES 349 ,, SCORECARD: NEBRASKA 78 • TOM SHATEL @ OKLAHOMA BEST OF THE BEST 144 350 ALL·TIME BIG EIGHT/BIG 12 FOOTBALL TEAM »CONFERENCE SERIES BEGAN5:~;~~ NEBRASKA 38 WINS. 3 TIES ,, SCORECARD: OKLAHOMA 4 • 0 LASTING IMPRESSIONS 355 COLORADO 230 THE RIVALRIES IN PHOTOS »CONFERENCE SERIES BEGA9N~~~~8 COLORADO 18 WINS, 2TIES »SCORECARD: NEBRASKA 4 • e CREDITS AND INDEX 379 OKLAHOMA STATE 276 ,, CONFERENCE SERIES BEGAN: ~~~O OKLAHOMA STATE5 WINS, 1 TIE >> SCORECARD: NEBRASKA 37 W • BIG RED RIVALS 1 FOREWARD LEE BARFKNECHT DEAR COLLEGE FOOTBALL FANS, Barring some odd calamity, Nebraska's move to the Big Ten • Dan McCarney's 'Tm going to bury this mess in enough whipped Conference in 2011 should be as successful as projected when cream" brand of positive thinking that led Iowa State to five bowl it was announced in June 2010. games in six years during the 2000s after the school had gone to only four bowls previously. The school gains massive benefits academically, nails down long-term security athletically and shields itself forever from dealing • Kansas"'This is what a college campus should look like" view from with Texas on the Longhorns' terms. Talk about a win, win, win. Campanile Hill above Memorial Stadium. That's something Nebras kans may never see again, after playing KU in football 117 times. Yet there are losses to calculate, too. Not financial or physical, but emotional. • Missouri's "Hey, let's hire this guy" philosophy, which led to five coaching changes in 21 years after the Tigers compiled more Only the oldest people on the planet would be able to recall victories in the 1960s than any other Big Eight school. Nebraska not being in the Big Eight (or its precursors) or the Lee Barfknecht Big 12 Conference. • Oklahoma State's "Where the heck did they find that guy" roster of little-hyped but highly talented players from Walt Garrison to Leslie hos 36 years ofm emories from NU was one of five original members of what was known as the O'Neal to Barry Sanders. attending or covering Big Eight Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association, which formed in 1907. The others were Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Washington As for memories of the four Texas schools that joined in 1996, well, and Big 12 football games. University of St. Louis. let's just say the primary one is that of a forced marriage that few from the old Big Eight found fulfilling. In 1928, at a meeting in Lincoln, six state institutions - Nebraska, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma and Iowa State - reorga Our hope is that the following pages of stories and photos from nized into the Big Six. Colorado made it the Big Seven in 1947 and The World-Herald archives help you recall the past fondly and began play a year later. Oklahoma State made it the Big Eight in prepare you for the new world that lies ahead. 1957 and began playing conference football in 1960. Now, pass me a tissue. Better make it the whole box. That's a lot of history to let go of - and tons of memories to process in the short time left. Memories, such as: Sincerely, • Barry Switzer's "We gotcha again" grin after another episode of Sooner Magic that put Oklahoma closer to one of its seven national championships. • Bill Snyder's "How dare you" stare after a Kansas State mistake, something the coaching veteran wouldn't tolerate while turning the Wildcats from the nation's worst program into a regular bowl «Husker fan Ron Freiburger participant. (left) and friend Jack Land, an Oklahoma fan, have different • Ralphie the live buffalo's "I'm more out of control than you want perspectives on the 2009 game to believe" romp around Colorado's Folsom Field twice a game. Ask in Lincoln. Kansas running back l.T. Levine, a victim of a Ralphie pancake block. BIG RED RIVALS 3 TIMELINE 1890-1919 CONFERENCE CHRONICLE 1890s 1900s 1910s • Nebraska, Iowa, • Nebraska fans got their first Kansas, Missouri and taste of conference dominance Washington Univer with the arrival of coach Ewald sity of St. Louis formed 0. "Jumbo" Stiehm (pronounced the Missouri Valley "steam") in 1911. The "Stiehm Intercollegiate Athletic Rollers" won or shared five Mis Association in 1907. souri Valley titles, at one time Two months after the putting together a 34-game initial meeting, Iowa unbeaten streak. State and Drake were • Stiehm's five seasons of suc admitted. cess - he left for Indiana in 1915 • The Cornhuskers - boosted Nebraskans' pride in began play in the their team and spurred talk of quitting the Valley for the Missouri Valley in 1907 bigger and more prestigious Western Conference. under coach W.C. "King" •The most famous of the Huskers during this period was Cole, defeating Kansas halfback Guy Chamberlin, whose career earned him in Lawrence 16-6. spots in the college and pro football halls of fame. After Conference games Chamberlin led Nebraska were added against to a 35·0 victory over Iowa and Iowa State in Kansas to claim a Valley 1908 and Kansas State title in 1914, a reporter • Nebraska's earliest affiliation was with the Western in 1913. Iowa retained wrote, "If you can imagine Inter-State University Foot Ball Association, along with its membership in the a piano-mover doing the Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. League play, which took place Western Conference, hundred in 10 seconds, from 1892 through 1897, was marked by disputes over later called the Big you might have some idea scoring and objections to Nebraska and Iowa including Ten, and competed as of how this man Cham African-American players on their squads. Above is the a Valley member only berlin looked:" 1894 Nebraska team. through 1910. Later Val ley additions were Grin • Missouri Valley play was nell in 1919, Oklahoma suspended in 1918 be· in 1920 and Oklahoma cause of World War I, and A&M in 1925. Nebraska competed as an independent during the 1919 and 1920 seasons. TIMELINE 1920-1949 1920s 1930s 1940s •The Corn huskers rejoined the Valley in 1921, win • Conference play continued through World War II, ning three straight titles under coach Fred Dawson, although controversy arose over whether schools should with the third coming in their new home, Memorial allow the use of military recruits from nearby bases. "The Stadium. While conference titles were nice, fans (Nebraska) athletic board is considering laying down seemed more interested in big-time nonconference some ground rules regarding participation with teams opponents like Illinois, with Red Grange, and Knute loaded with naval trainees. Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa State Rockne's Notre Dame, featuring the Four Horsemen. and possibly Minnesota would be affected by such a rul Both powerhouses lost to NU teams featuring All ing;'The World-Herald reported. American Ed Weir. •The conference was shaken in 1946 by news that the University of Chicago had announced its withdrawal from the Big Ten and that Nebraska and Iowa State - along with independents Notre Dame, Michigan State, Pitts • Nebraska won six conference titles in the 1930s. burgh and Marquette - were mentioned in news reports with Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Missouri as possible replacements. picking up one each. By the end of the decade, the • Nebraska officials hedged their bets on the possibil- Cornhuskers had won or shared first place 20 times ity of joining the prestigious Big Ten. "The University of during the combined 30 seasons of Big Six and Mis Nebraska would feel complimented for an opportunity to souri Valley play. join so fine a conference as the Big Ten;· said acting Ath letic Director A.J. Lewandowski. "Such an invitation would have careful consideration by the university's athletic board." He added, "But we are very happy in the Big Six:' John Bentley, NU's longtime sports information director, • A student publication marked Jumbo Stiehm's wrote in a World-Herald column, 'There has been both death in 1923 with this: "For Stiehm, it was not thought and talk about Nebraska's changes whenever enough that Nebraska have a good team; he early this perennial question pops up. Committees have been established the ideal for which Nebraskans would formed, but none was ever able to report progress:· strive - never to suffer defeat. He jerked the blindfold of timidity from Corn husker eyes." It is the standard • An invitation didn't arrive for Nebraska. The Big Ten in by which Nebraskans still judge their football team. stead added Michigan State, closing its membership until the addition of Penn State in 1990. •The pull of big-time football in the 1920s eventual ly led Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas. Kansas • Big Seven football was born in 1948 with the entry of State and Iowa State to form the Big Six in 1928. the University of Colorado. Nebraska had played the Buffs leaving behind Valley rivals Drake, Grinnell, Okla six times earlier, the series beginning with a road trip to homa A&M (later Oklahoma State) and Washington Boulder in 1898. University of St. Louis. • In 1928, Nebraska claimed the first Big Six title with a 5-0 record under Ernest Bearg. capping the season with an 8-0 Thanksgiving Day win over Kansas State. BIG RED RIVALS 5