The 1952 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska and member of the Big 7 Conference in the 1952 college football season. The team was coached by Bill Glassford and played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Before the season
Coach Glassford's fourth year at the helm of the Nebraska football program began with a great deal of uncertainty about the future. Lauded after his first two seasons showed dramatic improvement over the string of losing seasons prior to his arrival, the 1951 campaign was a story of a slide backwards, with only one on-field victory recorded during the entire season. A new offense was installed midseason in 1951, styled after the spread offensive look that TCU utilized to great success to defeat Nebraska in the season opener. The offseason provided a chance for the Cornhuskers to refine the new scheme, and 1952 opened with hopes that the previous season would be soon forgotten.
Schedule
Roster
Coaching staff
Game summaries
South Dakota
South Dakota was the first team to see Nebraska since the spread had been formally and completely installed, and the Coyotes were bowled over by a scoring explosion and defensive stand that wrapped up the day with a commanding 46-0 shutout to start the Cornhusker season on the right foot. The Coyotes managed only 4 first downs for the night, compared with 29 for the Nebraska squad, and were dominated in passing yardage 118-0. The score would have been much more damaging if not for the 120 penalty yards accumulated by the Cornhuskers, fully twice as many as assessed against South Dakota. The Coyotes had now failed to get a win against Nebraska in their previous thirteen attempts, their only past success being the first meeting of the teams back in 1899.
Oregon
Nebraska made the long journey to Eugene to face off against the Oregon Ducks for the first time, in a rare night time game. Oregon was favored, and had a daunting aerial attack plan that put the Cornhusker defense to the test by rolling up 134 yards to Nebraska's 32 by air. However, faced with a Nebraska rushing onslaught of 280 yards that dwarfed the 75 managed by the Ducks, Oregon was unable to step the string of points rolled off by the Cornhusker machine. Memories of 1951 were fading fast, as Nebraska was quickly off to a good 2-0 start.
Iowa State
The Cornhuskers recorded their second shutout of the season in three games against Iowa State despite an uninspired outing that brought in only 16 points for the day. Much like the Ducks, Iowa State attempted to get yards by air, throwing for 124 yards and easily out-passing Nebraska's 39, but the ground game ruled the day again as the Cornhusker rushing yardage steamrolled the Cyclone total by 351-85. The second shutout of the season marked the best Nebraska batch of shutouts since 1933 opened with three straight blankings. Iowa State fell to 8-37-1 against the Cornhuskers all-time.
Kansas State
Another display of Nebraska's ground domination in the face of aerial attacks was on display in Lincoln as the Kansas State team sought to end their nine-year stretch of futility against the Cornhuskers. The Wildcats outgained Nebraska in the air by 204-74, but could not come up with the points to match the statistics as the Cornhuskers outrushed Kansas State 251-73 and produced nearly twice as many points. It was a hard-fought game that resulted in numerous injuries to Nebraska players, including star HB Bobby Reynolds, who came out with a separated shoulder. The Cornhuskers improved to 30-4-2 over the Wildcats to date.
Penn State
Statistically, the Penn State contest looked like most of the others of 1952, as Nebraska outgained the Nittany Lions by ground 210-129. The first half ended scoreless thanks to a stiff defensive Cornhusker effort that turned Penn State away empty-handed from inside the 20 yard line on three drives. Penn State was the first to find success against Nebraska by air, actually producing points instead of simply winning the passing battle, as their 102-45 air advantage helped them finally punch in a touchdown in the third quarter before sealing the outcome with a late field goal. It was the first Cornhusker loss of the season as the year now stood at 4-1, which was nonetheless the best beginning os a Nebraska football season since the 6-0 start in 1933. With the loss handed down, the Cornhuskers slipped to 1-4 versus the Nittany Lions all-time.
