1946 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team The 1946 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska and member of the Big 6 Conference in the 1946 college football season . The team was coached by Bernie Masterson and played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln , Nebraska . Before the season . After the unexpected departure of head coach George Clark after just one year , Nebraska athletic director and former head coach Adolph J . Lewandowski hired Bernie Masterson , considered well - learned in running the T formation offense popular at the time . Masterson retained only one of Clark ' s assistant coaches , yet brought back former Nebraska head football coach Glenn Presnell as an assistant with his new staff . After the remarkable turnaround of Nebraska ' s fortunes in 1945 , the Cornhuskers looked to continue their climb up from the depths of the war years . Game notes . Minnesota . It was another in a long string of disappointing losses as Nebraska once again was overmatched and outplayed by longtime nemesis Minnesota in Minneapolis . The Cornhuskers managed a single touchdown to avoid the shutout , but found that implementing coach Masterson ' s schemes would be a work in progress . It was the sixth win in a row in the series for the Golden Gophers , as they extended their mastery over Nebraska to 22 - 4 - 2 . Kansas State . Every player on the Nebraska roster saw playing time as the Cornhuskers easily bounced the Wildcats in the Lincoln home opener . Kansas State never found the scoreboard while also failing to prevent Nebraska from putting points up in all four quarters . It was Nebraska ' s fourth straight win over the Wildcats as they improved to 25 - 4 - 2 all time . Iowa . Iowa brought the Cornhuskers to Iowa City for Nebraska ' s second non - conference game of the year , and dealt a blow to the Cornhuskers with the help of repeated Nebraska miscues . Although Iowa allowed the first points of the game to be scored by Nebraska , the rest of the day belonged to the Hawkeyes . The Cornhuskers could have made it a game , but fumbles and stalled drives were too much to overcome , and their series lead slipped to 24 - 11 - 3 . Kansas . In front of a Kansas homecoming crowd in Lawrence , the Cornhuskers played a back and forth game against the Jayhawks , but once holding the lead , kept their advantage to the end and locked in their 40th all - time decision over the disappointed home team . A late fourth quarter touchdown allowed Kansas to narrow the final margin , but could not prevent the Cornhuskers from securing their second series win in a row and improving to 40 - 10 - 3 all time . Indiana . Reigning Big 9 champion Indiana arrived in Lincoln to provide Nebraska ' s second major challenge of the season . By halftime the Cornhuskers had not yet scored and lagged by 14 points , but halved the gap shortly after the break . The Hoosiers were not seriously threatened by the lone Nebraska score as they subsequently rolled off another thirteen points to pull away and improve to 6 - 3 - 2 over the Cornhuskers , their sixth straight win in the series . Indiana went on to finish the season 6 - 3 and ranked 20th by the AP Poll , Missouri . Missouri was the target for the 1946 Nebraska homecoming fray , and an impressive contest was held by both squads as they battled up and down the field . Missouri initially succeeded while the Cornhuskers struggled to create progress , but with just seconds left in the first half Missouri allowed a score that denied them the first half shutout . The conversion kick after went wide , and the one missed point would ultimately decide the game . Nebraska was driving late with under five minutes to go but finally went three and out , and the Tigers then ran the clock out to escape with the one point win . Nebraska ' s hold on the series overall remained strong at 24 - 13 - 3 . Iowa State . The Cyclones were dominated by an effective attack by ground and air at Memorial Stadium , and also by several of their own miscues . With points scored in all four quarters by the Cornhuskers , Iowa State simply fell before the onslaught and never overcame the momentum to avoid a shutout defeat . Nebraska ' s ownership of the series advanced to 31 - 8 - 1 . Oklahoma . For the first time in five years , Nebraska had a chance at the Big 6 championship , as both squads entered their last Big 6 game with 3 - 1 league records . Oklahoma , however , was highly favored , and ranked # 18 upon the arrival of the Cornhuskers in Norman . At first , the Cornhuskers made it a game , keeping up with the Sooners at 6 - 7 , but Oklahoma quickly shut down all further Nebraska efforts and ran away with the game to hand Nebraska their 30th Big 6 league loss of all time . Oklahoma clinched the Big 6 title , went on to finish the season 7 - 3 overall , and earned a final # 14 ranking from the AP Poll . UCLA . This was the first time Nebraska had met UCLA on the field , and the Bruins marked the event by handing down the first shutout loss of the season to the Cornhusker squad . Nebraska made several key defensive plays to slow UCLA ' s offensive machine , but it was impossible to turn away all attacks and the undefeated Bruins eventually put in eighteen points on the day . UCLA finished 1946 at 10 - 0 , ranked # 4 , and participated in the 1947 Rose Bowl , losing the decision 45 - 14 to Illinois . After the season . Coach Masterson ' s first season did not measure up to expectations , though some of the disappointments could be attributed to the installation of yet another new coach ' s schemes , as Masterson was the fifth head coach at Nebraska in just the past ten years . The brief ray of hope for a resurgence under previous coach Clark ' s one year in 1945 seemed dimmer , but there was still reason to hope . Masterson ' s first year team moved Nebraska backwards overall , to 312 - 133 - 31 ( . 688 ) , but improved the league record slightly to 116 - 30 - 11 ( . 774 ) .