Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-11-24
CORNHUSEERS' HEARTS SORE
Drubbing Gotten at Minneapolis Affects
the Entire Team.
SCRUBS SCORE ON VARSITY IN PRACTICE
Booth says His Men Have Gone
stale and t. Letting All
Rest as Much RS
Possible.


The disaster which overlook Booths Corn !
huskers last Saturday in their annual !
clash with Minnesota was so overwhelm |
| ing and unexpected that the average Ne !
! braska rooter has not yet recovered from
| the shock. 1t is stll sore spot with |
| Booth, who has felt It too keenly to at |
| tempt explanations or excuses. He con- |
| fesses that his proteges played the dopiest
game Of the entire season. While giving
Minnesota full credit in the possession Of
great foot ball team, he asserts that
| Benedict and Borg were the only men on
| the entire eleven who played with any
vim or spirit The others stood up almost
! like signs, letting Minnesota get the jump
! on every down. and that under such cir
| cumstances Nebraska was lucky to come
out of II without a greater score against
II. Booth, in fact, feared a defeat all
the while, only he would not openly admit
| Il for the reason that 1t will not do for
a coach to betray his misgivings TO his
men.
! The Cornhuskers have been playing the
same quality of lifeless foot ball during
the present week in their preparations
for Doane college. which sends itst eleven
| to Nebraska field SATURDAY. TWO or three
OF the players are showing signs Of stale
ness. and Booth has not worked them in
a single practice but the slump Of the
entire varsity crowd is so wretched that
Booth now wishes that Doane was not on
! the schedule, in order that the long rest
before Thanksgiving might permit the
bunch to again get on edge in time for
| the bout with Illinois
Doane n Formidable Opponent.
| Doane has a formidable team 1t has
cleaned up every minor college in the
state by big scores and has already an
nexed the intercollegiate championship
| for Nebraska. Its aggregate weight is
greater than that of the Cornhuskers and.
IL coached in the finer points of the game,
| II is not at all improbable that Doane may
take Nebraskas measure. With such a
possibility in store Booth is not in a rosy
humor. The practice certainly has been
| ragged. On Wednesday the coach gave
/ the scrubs the ball in the center of the
field and three straight times they rushed
II down 20 within the two-yard line, while
once the varsity barely held with the ball
less than six inches from the goal Not
! to be denied, the scrubs proceeded to block
the varsity punt and a touchdown for
the second team was a result. This dis
grace installed measure Of ginger into
the varsity, and the regulars then pro-
ceeded to lug the ball on straight rushes
for ninety yards, but they fumbled on the
teu-yard line and failed of a touchdown.
Al this juncture Booth halted the prac-
tice, and the scrubs left the field victors
for the day.
The Nebraska hospital list now includes
Captain Borg, center: Benedict, quarter
back: Denslow, right end. and Johnson.
left end. Denslow has only slim chance
OF mending in time for the Thanksgiving
game and Booth is placing very little de-
pendence upon him. Johnson is out of con-
sideration for Doane, and even Benedict
and Borg are questionable. with this
quartet missing, the practice might be
expected TO be poor, but II has been so
utterly wretched to make it plain that
the slump may wreck Nebraska's chances
for the remaining games of the schedule.
Benedict's Amateur Standing.
The athletic authorities are very anxious
to locate the identity of the person who is
reputed in the Minnesota newspapers as
having written the Gopher board that
Quarterback Benedict has been a paid
coach all season at Lincoln High school.
The story is denounced in the Cornhusker
camp as an absolute falsehood and a gross
injustice to Benedict, who is admittedly
one of the cleanest athletes ever known at
Nebraska and is now playing his fourth
successive year on Booths eleven Dr.
Lees, chairman of the Nebraska board, in
tends to request of Minnesota that the
identity of Benedict's defamer be made
known. Dr. Lees. in refuting the charges
says:
Benedicts mere denial would convince
me of itself, but the Nebraska board has
positive information that the story is a
rank fabrication. Benedict began the year
by coaching Lincoln High, where ne PLAYED
before entering the state university At
that time he was n student i'm the unIver-
sity but his ability to play foot ball was
very much I'm doubt, due to an injury sus-
!. tained a year ago In the Iowa game
Finally he turned out for practice: traces
OF his injury began to disappear. and ny
, | the end of October he was regularly in
stalled on the varsity team. Even then
: he was not i'm good shape and Michigan
ran II around his end, but Booth used him
because of his ability TO punt Since then
he has occasionally given instruction. as
he did IL solely through interest I'm the high
; school from which he graduated. Benedict
is one Of the Cleanest, squarest students
who has ever represented Nebraska on the
gridiron. II is a disgrace that he should
, be thus maligned. ] only regret that there
are not more BcucdiCts in western foot
ball II there were there might he less
} occasion for revelations by way Of Collier
Weekly.
OmciRls for Hint Game.
! Manager Morrison announces that the
: officials for the Nebraska Illinois game will
, be Coach Mccormack Of Northwestern, as
umpire; Ralph Hoagland of Chicago ref.
| cree and 8. /. Maine. eX-Doane head