1921 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team The 1921 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska in the 1921 college football season . The team was coached by Fred Dawson and played their home games at Nebraska Field in Lincoln , Nebraska . Before the season . Former head coach Schulte stepped down to focus on coaching other sports at Nebraska , but remained involved with the team as the lineman coach . New head coach Dawson arrived from Princeton , inheriting a team that had eighteen lettermen returning , the highest number ever for the program to date . Nebraska also rejoined the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association after a two - year stint as an independent , so the high number of returning starters raised aspirations for a conference title . A new league rule was enacted that restricted preseason practices to the two weeks prior to the first game , so much work was to be done after the summer break to be ready . Game notes . Nebraska Wesleyan . Nebraska Wesleyan arrived in Lincoln as Nebraska ' s tune up game , and nearly every player on the roster found time in the game as the Cornhuskers rolled to an easy shutout victory , as Nebraska ' s goal was never threatened . This was the last game between these teams , ending the 5th - oldest active series in Nebraska ' s history to that date , all eight games Nebraska victories dating back to 1896 . Haskell . For the second game in a row , Nebraska brought to a close a historic series . Nebraska ' s run of games with Haskell was the 7th oldest active series , dating to 1901 . Much like the previous game , Nebraska was never seriously threatened and posted another shutout win , bringing the Haskell series to a close with a 7 - 2 record . Notre Dame . Nebraska ' s first ever trip to South Bend , after six straight games against Notre Dame in Lincoln , continued what had become one of the marquee games of the west . The game was all about Nebraska ' s stingy defense and inept offense . Time after time , the Cornhuskers turned away serious goal line threats , while also failing to find the scoreboard due to fumbles , incompletions and interceptions . Knute Rockne changed his plan for the second half , to ensure Nebraska remained scoreless and banking on eventually finding points with low - risk plays , much like the previous year ' s game . Chet A . Wynne was among the Notre Dame players who contributed to their one successful scoring drive , and with those points the game was decided . Nebraska fell further behind in the series , to 2 - 4 - 1 . Oklahoma . The Cornhuskers bounced right back from the bitter loss in South Bend by blanking the reigning conference champion Oklahoma Sooners in Lincoln , in Nebraska ' s first conference game since returning to the league . The win moved the Cornhuskers to 2 - 0 - 1 against Oklahoma to date . Pittsburgh . Nebraska traveled to Pennysylvania for their first ever contest with Pittsburgh , known in the east as a strong team to be feared . The Cornhuskers were undaunted , taking a halftime lead and ultimately holding the Panthers scoreless for the entire game . Building on the exposure started by the 1920 victory over Rutgers the previous year , Nebraska solidified their reputation as a western powerhouse to the football fans of the east . Kansas . The Cornhuskers easily handled the Jayhawks at the homecoming game , never seriously threatened during the course of the game as Nebraska recorded their fifth shutout over their previous six games , and improved over Kansas 18 - 9 - 1 all time . Iowa State . Iowa State fired the first shot of the game , putting up an early field goal to take a 3 - 0 lead , but that was last time the Cyclones would speak . The Cornhuskers ruined Iowa State ' s homecoming game by rolling up 35 unanswered points , finishing conference play unbeaten , and improving their dominating lead over Iowa State 13 - 4 - 1 . Colorado Ag . Nebraska finished the 1921 season with force , flattening the Colorado Ag football squad . Though the Aggies managed a 4th quarter score , Nebraska ' s 70 points were the most they had scored against any opponent since their 100 - 0 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan in 1917 . Colorado Ag was now down 0 - 2 against Nebraska to date . After the season . Coach Dawson ' s first season was a clear success , with all games won except for the hard - fought Notre Dame loss , and an undisputed league championship secured in Nebraska ' s return to league play . The program ' s overall record improved to 181 - 61 - 15 ( . 733 ) , while the conference record was improved to 27 - 3 - 2 ( . 875 ) .