Nebraska 24
Oklahoma 0

Oct. 13, 1923 • 2 p.m. Central
Memorial Stadium •Lincoln, NE
1st2nd3rd4th F 
Oklahoma00000
Nebraska0371424

1923 Nebraska-Oklahoma football action photo blue jerseys first Memorial Stadium gameThe World-Herald staff photographer portrays Meyers and Herb Desitz mussing up a Sooner who bravely attempted to smash the Husker defense. The striped jerseys are worn by the Oklahomans, the Huskers donning blue, as the Sooner colors are a shade of red, almost like Nebraska’s. · Omaha World-Herald · Newspapers.com

Second quarter
NU: Herb Dewitz 30 field goal
Third quarter
NU: Dave Noble 4 run (Herb Dewitz kick)
Fourth quarter
NU: Douglas Myers 93 fumble return (Rufus Dewitz kick)
NU: Noble 4 run (R. Dewitz kick)

                       OU       NU
First downs ........... 8       19
Total yards ......... 141      350
Rushing yards ........ 41      350
Passing yards ....... 100        0
  Comp-Att ......... 8-20     0-10
Yards penalized ...... 20       50

Attendance: 15,000 (est.)

              Lineups
Nebraska       Pos.       Oklahoma
Rhodes ........ LE ....... Hickman 
Weir .......... LT ........ Penick
Berquist ...... LG ...... Thompson
Hutchison .....  C ...... Hartford
McGlasson ..... RG ........ Bowles
Bassett ....... RT ......... White
Myers ......... RE ......... Price
R. Dewitz ..... QB ....... Johnson
H. Dewitz ..... LH ...Hammert (c.)
Noble (a.c.)... RH ..... Hendricks
Locke ......... FB ....... Bristow

Substitutions: Nebraska—Hubka for
McGlasson, Halbersleben for Bassett, Hart- 
man for H. Dewitz, Wostoupal for Hutchison,
Hendrickson for McGlasson, Halbersleben
for Berquist, Bloodgood for Locke, McAl-
lister for Myers, Cameron for Rhodes, 
Hill for Weir. Oklahoma—Wilcox for Thomp-
son, McFadden for Hartford, Brockman for
Bowles, Guffy for Penick, Maris for Price,
Brockman for White.
  Officials—Ira Carrithers, Illinois uni-
versity, referee; Clyde Williams, Iowa uni-
versity, umpire; Gus Graham, Michigan uni-
versity, headlinesman.
 
Herb Dewitz
DEWITZ
Dave Noble
NOBLE
Herb Dewitz scored the first points in Memorial Stadium history when his second-quarter field goal give the Cornhuskers a 3-0 lead. Dave Noble scored the first touchdown on a third-quarter run. No Husker other than Noble scored an offensive touchdown in the stadium until the season’s final game, against Kansas State.

Commentary

“Fifteen thousand spectators, the greatest gathering at an opening game in Cornhusker history, witnessed the Sooners’ defeat. The verdict was general that when the upper balconies and stadium walls are completed and a grass gridiron provides the proper setting in the middle of the bowl, football at Nebraska will become a spectacle, rather than a game—a spectacle which will so appeal to followers of the pigskin sport as to regularly pack the stadium at all important contests of the home schedules.”

– Cy Sherman,
Lincoln Star
 

“The Cornhuskers, fighting every minute, battled in the face of odds which had doped the Sooners to stand an excellent chance of dethroning the Valley champions. … The Husker is never out until the count of ten has been sounded and the green Nebraska line proceeded to out-play and out-smart the Oklahoma forwards and the Husker backs turned loose a resistless attack which smashed its way to two touchdowns and kept the play for the most part in the enemy’s territory.”

– Gregg McBride,
Omaha World-Herald
 

 

Coverage

Recap

Huskers blank Sooners in debut of new stadium

In the inaugural game at Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium, a 93-yard fumble return by Douglas Myers midway through the second half took the air out of an Oklahoma rally as the Cornhuskers posted a 24-0 win over the Sooners.

OU had driven 50 yards, mostly via passing, and was threatening to slice into the Huskers’ 10-0 lead when Myers made the pivotal play.

Earlier, Herb Dewitz scored the first points in Memorial Stadium history, placekicking a second-quarter field goal as his brother Rufus provided the hold, giving Nebraska a 3-0 lead. Dave Noble scored the first touchdown, a four-yard run in the third quarter that gave the Cornhuskers their 10-0 advantage.

Trailing 24-0, the Sooners nearly scored late in the game when they got the ball at the Nebraska 2-yard line after a bad NU punt. But a one-yard gain was followed by a 10-yard loss on a bad snap and then an interception by Rufus Dewitz.

NOTES
  • Nebraska wore blue jerseys out of courtesy to the visiting red-and-white-clad Sooners.
  • The Cornhuskers were without their captain and punter, Verne Lewellen, who was sidelined by an infected knee.

    • Herb Dewitz
    DEWITZ

  • Herb Dewitz scored the first points in Memorial Stadium history when his second-quarter field goal gave the Cornhuskers a 3-0 lead. Dave Noble scored the first touchdown on a third-quarter run. No Husker other than Noble scored an offensive touchdown in the stadium until the season’s final game, against Kansas State.

    • Dave Noble
    NOBLE

  • The game was played on dirt, as grass had yet to be installed.
  • The Sooners’ starter at left guard, James Thompson, was a member of the lower house of the Oklahoma Legislature.
  • Oklahoma remained winless in five tries against Nebraska. The Sooners would not get their first win in Lincoln until 1943.

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