A trip down memory lane
Nebraska at Iowa
October 12, 1946
New beginnings.
A new era.
That's what college football faced in 1946.
The wars in Europe and the Pacific had ended in the summer of 1945, and with peace in place young men came home to resume their lives. For some young men, their lives included a return to college football. Of the close to 60 players on the 1946 Hawkeye roster, over 50 of them were returning from military service. The ages on the roster varied with 18 year old freshman Quentin Kaisershot playing with 26 year old Henry Miller. According to an Associated Press article coaches didn't know what to expect from the former GIs. These men were returning from combat and drill instructors, could a football practice or a coach's pep talk move them?
The Nebraska roster was similar with a player as young as 17 and as old as 27 years old.
The Hawkeyes and the Huskers both saw their fortunes drop during the war. Nebraska went 8-17 during that time and Iowa was 4-20-1. Their rosters were stocked with men too young for service or men with 4-F draft classifications.
Iowa and Nebraska met three times during the war with Iowa winning 33-13 in 1943 and 27-6 in 1944. The Huskers won the 1945 game 13-6. The rivalry is Iowa's second oldest, following only the Minnesota rivalry. Going into the 1946 game, Iowa's record against the visitors was 10-21-3.
This game was the 35th played in the series between the Hawkeyes from the Big 9 and the Cornhuskers from the Big 6. Returning to Iowa was Ironmen coach, Dr. Eddie Anderson, while Nebraska welcomed Bernie Masterson, the former quarterback for Nebraska and also the Chicago Bears. Masterson's Bears teams featured Red Grange and Bronko Nagurski.
Pre-game reports out of Iowa City stated the Hawkeyes were installing some new plays for this game. The new plays were to be passing plays from the T formation featuring Emlen Tunnell's arm.
30,500 fans arrived at Iowa Stadium to watch these long time rivals square off.
Iowa came out with an early surprise, but it wasn't the promised new passing plays, in fact Iowa ran its base offense the whole game. No, the surprise was that Dr. Eddie Anderson started his second string backfield. Instead of King, Tunnell, Smith, and Hoerner, it was McKinstry, Sullivan, Fechter, and Bartells.
The backups did well… for awhile. Eight minutes into the game it was a scoreless tie. Then Bartells fumbled at his own 29-yard line. Seven plays later Novak bolted in from the six-yard line and Nebraska owned a 7-0 lead.
As Iowa took the ball to start the second quarter, Anderson put in his starters and things started to move. Tunnell hit Smith for a long pass down to the Nebraska 36-yard line.
Then that duo hit the ground and took turns ravaging the smaller Husker line (Iowa held a 21 pound per man advantage) for short gains. Iowa looked certain to score, but a Smith fumble at the Husker nine ended that foray.
But the game had changed for the better for the home boys. Iowa held Nebraska to one yard in three tries and after a short punt Iowa found itself at the Husker 32-yard line.
Tunnell took the direct snap and ran nine yards with it. He then passed to Headington for five yards. Headington then took to the ground for seven and two plays later Tunnell found pay dirt. The score was now knotted at 7-7.
Nebraska took the kickoff and started from its own 20-yard line. On their first play Mooney bobbled a pitch into the air and Lou King caught it on the dead run and took it 17 yards for the score. Iowa now led 14-7.
Both teams moved the ball the rest of the half, but no one could score.
Midway through the third period Iowa came close to scoring. Tunnell faced fourth down at the Husker 40 and he found Headington streaking down the sideline. Headington looked like he was bound for glory, but he was stripped of the ball and Nebraska recovered at their own five-yard line.
The game settled into a defensive struggle until late in the game when Iowa put together a short drive capped off by Sullivan's tally from five yards out.
That's where the score would stay, 21-7.
The game was really an even affair. Iowa earned two more first downs (11-9) than Nebraska. Iowa would rush for 197 yards and pass for another 62. Nebraska ground out 128 yards at picked up 22 more through the air. Both teams had trouble holding on to the ball with five turnovers apiece.
In related football news, the Big Nine and Pacific Coast Conference were discussing a possible bowl alliance with Pasadena's Rose Bowl. The deal would set up a five-year schedule where the respective conference winners would play each year at the Rose Bowl.
Passions on this issue were pretty high as some league schools felt that a bowl game would interfere with a university's educational purpose. Others, like Gazette columnist Tait Cummins felt football was already a big business and if such arrangements were indeed inevitable the league should strike the best bargain they could.
Names of note include future Hall of Famer Emlen Tunnell, future major league baseball player Jack Dittmer, as well as Lou King (future Amana Refrigeration boss?) and Rex Ploen (related to Kenny Ploen of Clinton?) of Shelby.
Iowa's starting lineup:
LE – 45 Harold Shoener 6-3 200
LT – 58 James Shoaf 6-4 240
LG – 39 Russell Benda 5-10 205
C – 41 Richard Laster 6-2 210
RG – 35 David Day 6-2 200
RT – 66 James Cozad 6-3 200
RE – 46 Herb Shoener 6-3 205
QB – 12 Louis King 6-1 178
LHB – 32 Emlen Tunnell 6-1 185
RHB – 22 Bob Smith 6-1 185
FB – 27 Dick Hoerner 6-3 212