1919 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team The 1919 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska in the 1919 college football season . The team was coached by Henry Schulte and played their home games at Nebraska Field in Lincoln , Nebraska . Before the season . After the disarray of the 1918 season , 1919 looked like it could be defined as the ultimate rebuilding year , for all college teams . Nebraska ' s previous coach , hurriedly installed last year as an interim leader in the upheaveal , was now replaced with the program ' s 15th leader in 29 years , continuing a pattern of frequent turnover at the top . The new coach was the result of a new athletic director , who also opted to withdraw Nebraska from the Missouri Valley conference , ending 13 years of league affiliation and resulting in the Cornhusker football program operating as an independent for the first time since 1906 . The schedule for 1919 was a demanding one , with resurgent Iowa , Notre Dame , Minnesota and Syracuse looming on the horizon , the result of planning by the leadership to pit the Cornhuskers against the best challengers available . Game notes . Iowa . Nebraska stumbled in their season opener , just three weeks after beginning practice , when one of the best Iowa teams to date trounced the Cornhuskers in Iowa City . Nebraska ' s captain left the game early because of injury , and the team subsequently began to crumble , committing errors and losing momentum . Despite the win over Nebraska , the Hawkeyes still trailed in the series 6 - 12 - 3 . Notre Dame . For only the third time in program history , Nebraska dropped three games in a row with the Defeat delivered by Notre dame . Both previous 3 - loss events occurred in the 1899 season . George Gipp shined in his third appearance against Nebraska , never allowing the Cornhuskers closer than 1 point from the Notre Dame score at halftime before pulling away . Knute Rockne led his Notre Dame squad to victory despite the best laid plans of Nebraska coach Schulte to scheme around the larger Notre Dame players . Minnesota . Minnesota had managed to avoid the Cornhuskers for eight years , ever since their nine - game winning streak had been snapped by the 1913 Nebraska squad . The defenses kept the scoreboard mostly quiet , but Minnesota found their way through first . Having missed the kick after , the Gophers were given a scare later on when the Cornhuskers also found the end zone , but Nebraska also failed to convert . Eventually time ran out on the 6 - 6 tie , though the Cornhuskers left many points on the field due to miscues and fumbles , thus giving a lucky break to Minnesota who escaped the meeting with a draw instead of a loss , though the Gophers still held a commanding lead in the series , 10 - 2 - 2 . Oklahoma . The Cornhusker squad struggled to find heart and momentum after the disappointing results of the first three games , still without a win at the end of October . As a result , Nebraska came out flat against Oklahoma , allowing the Sooners to stay in the game and hold the Cornhuskers from getting much done . The outcome was a tie , the second of the season , leaving the spirit of the Nebraska squad near collapse with the 0 - 2 - 2 season to date . This was only the second time Oklahoma and Nebraska had met on the field , with Nebraska still barely ahead 1 - 0 - 1 all time . Iowa State . The loss to Iowa State as Nebraska returned to Lincoln was the darkest day in the 1919 schedule . Unable to come up with any points at all on their own home field , The players and fans of the Cornhuskers and the Cyclones were all surprised that Iowa State would escape the Cornhuskers with just 3 points affording them the win . Nebraska had now gone five games without a win , tying the program ' s all - time winless mark set in 1899 . Iowa State still was under Nebraska ' s thumb in their overall series , lagging 4 - 12 - 1 . Missouri . With five starters out and the string of disappointment behind them , the Nebraska football squad did not have high hopes when traveling to Columbia . Much to the surprise of the team and the fans , however , the Cornhusker machine began to function again , and Nebraska managed to scratch out a 12 - 5 finish to secure the season ' s first victory , moving the Cornhuskers farther up in the series to 12 - 3 . Kansas . With new - found faith and purpose , Nebraska came together to dominate the Kansas team for the 1919 homecoming game in Lincoln . The Cornhuskers succeeded in controlling nearly every aspect of the game on their way to the win and advancing their series lead to 17 - 9 . Kansas coach Leon McCarty later said of the Cornhuskers : " Nebraska was the best drilled team I ever saw . Schulte has certainly produced a winner . " The season ' s fortunes seemed entirely reversed from just a few weeks prior . Syracuse . Nebraska ' s turnaround from the sad season start was completed in glory as the Cornhuskers defeated Eastern champion Syracuse on Thanksgiving to close the season . The poor weather conditions and snow - covered field were blamed for the low scoring , but the game was not often in doubt as the plays from scrimmage were on the Syracuse side of the field for almost all of the game . The win capped an emotional season and avenged the Nebraska loss from the only other meeting between these teams in 1917 . After the season . Coach Schulte ' s first season , which started under so much uncertainty before diving into the abyss , turned around and ended on a surprisingly high note of optimism after the three emotional wins were secured to close the season . For the long - term picture , however , the 3 - 3 - 2 ( . 500 ) regular season hurt the program ' s record , dropping it to 166 - 54 - 12 ( . 741 ) , the biggest percentage drop since the 6 - 4 - 0 season of 1906 . With the rebuilding now out of the way , eyes turned to the hoped - for renewal expected in 1920 .