The 1918 season didn't begin until October and the second game wasn't played until November due to an imposed 5-week layoff due to the Spanish Flu pandemic. The season was already with limited rosters, due to many players serving the country during WWI combined with the pandemic. It was the first season freshman were allowed to participate in the varsity games due to the shortage of players.
The U.S. government limited travel in 1918, so Nebraska was forced to play a regional schedule and several games were cancelled -- including West Virginia, Syracuse, Missouri, and Northwestern. This resulted in four games scheduled: Iowa, Omaha Balloon, Kansas, and Camp Dodge. However, the war ended on November 11, and Nebraska tacked on two more games: Notre Dame (originally scheduled, cancelled, then rescheduled) and a charity game against Washington University in St. Louis. Nebraska was a part of the Missouri Valley conference at this time, but the conference determined there would be no designated conference games, no standings recorded, and no champion crowned. The six-game schedule was the fewest since 1897. Nebraska finished the season 2-3-1.
There's plenty of good reading from each game on the HuskerMax seasons page (thanks to Joe Hudson). https://www.huskermax.com/allgames/1910s.html. Also, more can be found at the Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_Nebraska_Cornhuskers_football_team
The 1918 sports world was quite limited. As it was, there was not yet an NBA or NFL in 1918 -- college football and baseball were the primary two team sports in our country. As shown above, the college football season was impacted by both the war and the flu. Most games across the country were cancelled, but many teams added local military organizations to the schedule to fill in some of the gaps (Nebraska played two: Omaha Balloon and Camp Dodge). Even the Rose Bowl (the only bowl game of that time) featured the Mare Island Marines vs Great Lakes Navy. At least 18 college football teams never participated in the 1918 season.
The baseball season was shortened by a month at the end, but the 1918 World Series went on as planned, pitting the Boston Red Sox against the Chicago Cubs. The final game was played in Boston on September 11. But that game helped to trigger a second wave of the Spanish flu in the U.S. with Boston as the epicenter.
High school games were commonly cancelled in 1918. The NHL's Stanley Cup was never played.
More reading here: https://sports.yahoo.com/coronaviru...-the-1918-spanish-flu-pandemic-184042838.html
The U.S. government limited travel in 1918, so Nebraska was forced to play a regional schedule and several games were cancelled -- including West Virginia, Syracuse, Missouri, and Northwestern. This resulted in four games scheduled: Iowa, Omaha Balloon, Kansas, and Camp Dodge. However, the war ended on November 11, and Nebraska tacked on two more games: Notre Dame (originally scheduled, cancelled, then rescheduled) and a charity game against Washington University in St. Louis. Nebraska was a part of the Missouri Valley conference at this time, but the conference determined there would be no designated conference games, no standings recorded, and no champion crowned. The six-game schedule was the fewest since 1897. Nebraska finished the season 2-3-1.
There's plenty of good reading from each game on the HuskerMax seasons page (thanks to Joe Hudson). https://www.huskermax.com/allgames/1910s.html. Also, more can be found at the Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_Nebraska_Cornhuskers_football_team
The 1918 sports world was quite limited. As it was, there was not yet an NBA or NFL in 1918 -- college football and baseball were the primary two team sports in our country. As shown above, the college football season was impacted by both the war and the flu. Most games across the country were cancelled, but many teams added local military organizations to the schedule to fill in some of the gaps (Nebraska played two: Omaha Balloon and Camp Dodge). Even the Rose Bowl (the only bowl game of that time) featured the Mare Island Marines vs Great Lakes Navy. At least 18 college football teams never participated in the 1918 season.
The baseball season was shortened by a month at the end, but the 1918 World Series went on as planned, pitting the Boston Red Sox against the Chicago Cubs. The final game was played in Boston on September 11. But that game helped to trigger a second wave of the Spanish flu in the U.S. with Boston as the epicenter.
High school games were commonly cancelled in 1918. The NHL's Stanley Cup was never played.
More reading here: https://sports.yahoo.com/coronaviru...-the-1918-spanish-flu-pandemic-184042838.html
Last edited:
Kind of wish I could have been there to see it happen. 
