1958 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team The 1958 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska and member of the Big 7 Conference in the 1958 college football season . The team was coached by Bill Jennings and played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln , Nebraska . Before the season . Nebraska was reeling from the 1957 season that saw a new all - time low mark set when the Cornhuskers finished 1 - 9 - 0 , which was the first 1 - win season since 1899 , and the first ever 9 - loss season . Coach Jennings began the second year of his first head coaching job with few places to go but up , but led a young squad with only six seniors . The 1958 schedule was loaded with powerhouse teams from the east , every bit as difficult as the 1957 slate had been , so the task to succeed over last year would not be an easy one . Game notes . Penn State . A shocked home field crowd watched in utter amazement as the highly - ranked Nittany Lions were picked apart by the Cornhuskers . The media overwhelmingly had predicted a smashing Penn State victory , but the Nebraska team came out on fire and held Penn State off the scoreboard until the 4th quarter . A 91 - yard kickoff return by Cornhusker HB Pat Fischer made the difference in the game ' s final seven - point margin . Nebraska still lagged behind the Nittany Lions 2 - 4 all time . Purdue . In a complete turnaround of fortunes , the traveling Cornhuskers were overrun by a relentless Purdue attack and could not produce any offensive yardage of value . Two lost fumbles and an interception contributed to the lopsided loss as Nebraska was blanked under the weight of four Boilermaker touchdowns . This was the first meeting of these teams . Iowa State . Iowa State ' s bid to take a second straight game from the Cornhuskers was denied as the final minutes ticked away . Down 0 - 6 after an earlier Cyclone touchdown and blocked point after , Nebraska finally punched in a touchdown of their own shortly before time expired . The Cornhusker kick after was good , sending the Cyclones home with their 42nd loss in the 52 - game series . Kansas State . Plagued by injuries , Nebraska was unsuccessful in attempts to slow the Kansas State offensive plan . The Cornhuskers narrowly avoided the shutout only by an interception returned for a touchdown . The Wildcats enjoyed their relatively rare victory , their 8th in 42 attempts , with the knowledge that it was also marked the 200th all - time program loss suffered by the Cornhuskers . Syracuse . Following the loss to Kansas State and still not fully recovered from early season injuries , Nebraska traveled to Syracuse with third - stringers starting in some positions . The imbalance in experience showed as the Orangemen had little difficulty running away with the game in a 38 - 0 blanking of the Cornhuskers . The win moved Syracuse ahead in the series , to 5 - 4 - 0 . Colorado . The Cornhuskers were struggling to find some success on the field to show for their efforts , but faced a stiff road test when visiting # 12 Colorado in Boulder . Against expectations , Nebraska blocked two punts and capitalized on three turnovers to lead the Buffaloes for the first three quarters , putting a good scare into the crowd . However , the Cornhuskers finally gave way in the final quarter and allowed Colorado to surge ahead and take the game . It was Nebraska ' s third straight loss to the Buffaloes as their series lead slipped to just 9 - 8 - 0 . Missouri . Nebraska suffered yet another demoralizing loss as the Tigers arrived in Lincoln and handed another shutout defeat to the Cornhuskers , their third of the season . The homecoming crowd was never a factor , as the Nebraska offense never seemed to find a spark . The best Nebraska performance of the day was the kicking game , made necessary for lack of first down production . Missouri narrowed the series to 20 - 28 - 3 and kept the Missouri - Nebraska Victory Bell in Columbia . Kansas . The game was somewhat closer than the final score indicated , as Nebraska drew within five yards of a touchdown on two occasions before being turned away . The Jayhawks were not impressed by statistical victories and had little difficulty defeating the Cornhuskers by 22 points in Lawrence , though their series record was still far behind Nebraska at 15 - 46 - 3 . It was Nebraska ' s fifth straight loss , which would ' ve tied the program ' s all - time loss streak record had it not just been broken by the seven - game skid set in the previous year . Pittsburgh . The downtrodden Cornhuskers , now 2 - 6 and watching their season slip away into disappointment , had every reason to just lay down in front of # 14 Pittsburgh . For some reason , the Panthers held a commanding dominance over Nebraska year in and year out , owning the series at 15 - 3 - 3 heading into this game . Perhaps it was this circumstance that might have caused the Panthers to overlook the Cornhuskers , but once on the field it was the Pittsburgh players suddenly on their heels . The Cornhuskers played a stellar contest , holding the lead through the entire game and not allowing the Panthers to get their single touchdown until the fourth quarter on a long pass completion . Though dominated by their fellow conference opponents this year , the Cornhuskers were now 2 - 2 in nonconference play against major eastern teams , and the rare win against the rival Panthers was savored by all . Oklahoma . If Pittsburgh allowed themselves to overlook and then get stunned by Nebraska , the # 4 Sooners took note and ensured the same fate did not befall their team in the annual Nebraska - Oklahoma game . By the end of the first quarter , Oklahoma already had put in three touchdowns , and they never looked back . The Cornhuskers avoided the shutout only by returning an interception 89 yards to score . The loss to Oklahoma was the 16th straight allowed by Nebraska , and was Oklahoma ' s 71st consecutive conference win . Oklahoma went on to finish # 5 in the AP Poll and then defeated Syracuse 21 - 6 in the . After the season . It wasn ' t easy to determine if 1958 was a successful season or another failure . Coach Jennings had improved over last year ' s dismal 1 - 9 - 0 outing , but only to 3 - 7 - 0 and a 6th place finish in the Big 7 . On the other hand , surprise upset wins against Syracuse and especially against Pittsburgh were remarkable bright spots on an otherwise dreary year . These two unexpected wins may have played a part in Jennings being given additional time to see if he could turn the program around . Now with two years on the job , Coach Jennings had compiled a dismal 4 - 16 - 0 ( . 200 ) career record , with an even worse 2 - 10 - 0 ( . 167 ) history within the conference . Nebraska ' s overall program record slipped for the 8th straight year , to 355 - 205 - 34 ( . 626 ) , with a Big 7 record now down to 148 - 68 - 12 ( . 689 ) .