Name-a-Day Calendar, May 10: Nebraska Cornhuskers

Page 185 of 365

Chosen in: 1900

Chosen by: Lincoln Star sports editor Cy Sherman

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The University of Nebraska was established in 1869 and began playing football in 1890. Its first teams were known by many nicknames—Antelopes, Bugeaters, and Rattlesnake Boys among them—but they were most commonly known as the Old Gold Knights. Then, in 1892, the university declared scarlet and cream as its official colors, rendering that nickname nonsensical.

At that time, the school pivoted to using “Bugeaters” as its primary nickname. The origin of this moniker is debated; some sources say it was a nod to the bug-eating bullbats¹ that could be found flying all over Nebraska, while others say it stemmed from a joke that Nebraska’s people were so tough that they would eat bugs to survive. Either way, the nickname was used for nearly a decade.

In 1899, the Bugeaters had an uncharacteristically bad season: they went 1-7-1. This was their first losing season in program history, and it was (perhaps not coincidentally) around this time that some people began to see “Bugeaters” as a somewhat odious nickname. Among these people were Lincoln Star² sports editor Charles “Cy” Sherman, who figured that the silver lining of such a horrendous season was that it provided an opportunity to start from scratch.

The official story behind the “Cornhuskers” nickname is that it was originally used derogatorily after the Bugeaters upset Iowa at some point in the 1890s,³ but Sherman liked it so much that it became his nickname of choice for the team after the 1899 season. Some sources also say that Iowa’s team had been called the Cornhuskers by outsiders on some occasions, but their community preferred to be called the Hawkeyes, so it never caught on. Regardless, Sherman began calling the Nebraska team the Cornhuskers in 1900 and the rest is history.

Nebraska’s mascot is Herbie Husker, a costumed farmer who was first conceived of in 1974 and whose aesthetic was conveniently just updated last month.

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1. “Bullbat” is another name for the common nighthawk. It’s native to pretty much all of North America.

2. This paper combined with the Lincoln Journal in 1995 to form the modern Lincoln Journal Star.

3. Accounts don’t say when exactly this happened, but Nebraska beat Iowa in 1893, 1894, 1895, and 1897. Iowa wasn’t significantly better than Nebraska in any of these years, so it must not have been a very big upset.