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Missouri–Nebraska football rivalry

Missouri–Nebraska football rivalry
Missouri Tigers
Nebraska Cornhuskers
SportFootball
First meetingNovember 5, 1892
Nebraska, 1–0 (forfeit)
Latest meetingOctober 30, 2010
TrophyVictory Bell
Statistics
Meetings total104
All-time seriesNebraska leads, 65–36–3[1]
Largest victoryNebraska, 62–0 (1972)
Current win streakNebraska, 2
Map
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
220km
137miles
Nebraska
Missouri
Locations of Missouri and Nebraska

The Missouri–Nebraska football rivalry was an American college football rivalry between the Missouri Tigers and Nebraska Cornhuskers.[2][3] For over 100 years, the teams met annually as members of the WIUFA, Big Eight, and Big 12. The Missouri–Nebraska Bell (often referred to as the Victory Bell) was presented to the winner from 1927 until NU joined the Big Ten in 2010, ending its series with MU.

History

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Missouri and Nebraska were founding members of the Western Interstate University Football Association in 1892 and first met on November 5 of the same year, a 1–0 forfeit win for Nebraska in Omaha after the Tigers refused to play against African-American George Flippin.[4] Flippin later joked "I was so good I beat the University of Missouri all by myself."[4] MU agreed to face Flippin and NU in 1893 and 1894, winning both games.

The teams joined the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (later the Big Eight Conference) in 1907 but did not begin playing annually until 1922, the first of eighty-eight consecutive seasons the Tigers and Cornhuskers met. Nebraska controlled the series until the late 1930s, when Missouri began a stretch of nineteen victories in twenty-five games that lasted until NU hired Bob Devaney in 1962.

Devaney turned Nebraska into a national powerhouse throughout the 1960s, but the Cornhuskers did not immediately gain control of the series against the Tigers. Missouri's 16–7 1962 victory in Lincoln was the first game of Nebraska's NCAA-record sellout streak.[5] NU won the next four games against MU, but the Tigers responded with three consecutive victories and shared the Big Eight title with Nebraska in 1969, the program's most recent conference championship.

Missouri defeated Devaney's successor Tom Osborne in four of his first six seasons, including Osborne's first loss as a head coach in 1973, with Nebraska ranked in the national top five in each matchup. In the last of these, a 1978 upset of No. 2 Nebraska behind four James Wilder touchdowns, Missouri was led by Warren Powers, a former Devaney and Osborne assistant who served as MU's head coach for seven seasons.[6]

Missouri's 1978 upset was its last victory over Osborne, who coached until 1997. Nebraska's twenty-four-game win streak in the series, which continued for six years after Osborne's retirement, came with an average margin of victory of 24.6 points.[1]

Big 12 era

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In 1996, Missouri and Nebraska were placed in the Big 12 North Division when the Big Eight merged with four Texas schools of the Southwest.[7] In the second Big 12 game between MU and NU, top-ranked Nebraska survived an upset bid after a bizarre, game-tying touchdown as time expired that became known as the "Flea Kicker."[8][9] Nebraska won in overtime, later claiming its third national championship in four years.

Missouri upset No. 10 Nebraska in 2003 to end the streak at twenty-four, with observers suggesting the rivalry had returned to a level of intensity felt prior to the late 1980s.[10] After another victory over NU in 2005, Missouri students paraded Faurot Field's goalposts around Columbia, a campus tradition dating to 1971.[11] Twenty fans were arrested on trespassing charges and the university installed collapsible goalposts in 2006, hoping to avoid future incidents.[11]

The teams met on October 30, 2010, a 31–17 Nebraska victory over sixth-ranked Missouri, in their last meeting as conference opponents. Nebraska joined the Big Ten Conference the 2011 season, placing the Cornhuskers and Tigers in separate conferences for the first time since 1920.[12] Missouri sought entry to the Big Ten as well, but was denied and instead joined the Southeastern Conference in 2012.[13] No future meetings are scheduled.

Victory Bell

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In 1892, a bell was stolen from a Seward, Nebraska church by members of the University of Nebraska's Delta Tau Delta and Phi Delta Theta. It served as a prize for the winner of athletic and scholastic competitions between the fraternities, but led to a dispute over which owned the bell.[14] In 1926, Missouri athletic director Chester D. Brewer suggested a trophy be established for the annual football game against Nebraska; NU administration accepted and repurposed the bell, which was named the Missouri–Nebraska Bell with 'M' and 'N' engraved on opposite sides.[15] More commonly referred to as the Victory Bell, it was exchanged between the Innocents Society at Nebraska and the QEBH society at Missouri.

The Victory Bell has been housed at Nebraska's Wick Alumni Center since the series ended in 2010, with a commemorative bell at the University of Missouri.[16]

Game results

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Missouri victoriesNebraska victoriesTie games
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
1 November 5, 1892 Omaha Nebraska 1–0†
2 November 11, 1893 Kansas City Missouri 30–18
3 November 3, 1894 Kansas City Missouri 18–14
4 November 2, 1895 Omaha Nebraska 12–10
5 October 26, 1896 Columbia Nebraska 8–4
6 October 30, 1897 Lincoln Nebraska 41–0
7 October 24, 1898 Columbia Nebraska 47–6
8 October 21, 1899 Lincoln Missouri 11–0
9 November 5, 1900 Columbia Nebraska 12–0
10 November 9, 1901 Omaha Nebraska 51–0
11 October 25, 1902 St. Joseph Nebraska 12–0
12 October 28, 1911 Lincoln Nebraska 34–0
13 November 2, 1912 Columbia Nebraska 7–0
14 November 10, 1917 Lincoln Nebraska 52–0
15 November 8, 1919 Columbia Nebraska 12–5
16 October 21, 1922 Lincoln Nebraska 48–0
17 October 27, 1923 Columbia Tie7–7
18 November 1, 1924 Lincoln Nebraska 14–6
19 October 10, 1925 Columbia Missouri 9–6
20 October 9, 1926 Lincoln Missouri 14–7
21 October 8, 1927 Columbia Missouri 7–6
22 October 27, 1928 Lincoln Nebraska 24–0
23 October 26, 1929 Columbia Tie7–7
24 November 15, 1930 Lincoln Tie0–0
25 October 31, 1931 Columbia Nebraska 10–7
26 November 24, 1932 Lincoln Nebraska 21–6
27 November 4, 1933 Columbia Nebraska 26–0
28 November 24, 1934 Lincoln Nebraska 13–6
29 November 2, 1935 Columbia Nebraska 19–6
30 October 31, 1936 Lincoln #11 Nebraska 20–0
31 October 23, 1937 Columbia #8 Nebraska 7–0
32 October 29, 1938 Lincoln Missouri 13–10
33 November 4, 1939 Columbia Missouri 27–13
34 October 26, 1940 Lincoln #18 Nebraska 20–7
35 October 25, 1941 Columbia Missouri 6–0
36 November 7, 1942 Lincoln Missouri 26–6
37 October 30, 1943 Columbia Missouri 54–20
38 October 28, 1944 Lincoln Nebraska 24–20
39 October 27, 1945 Columbia Missouri 19–0
40 November 2, 1946 Lincoln Missouri 21–20
41 November 1, 1947 Columbia Missouri 47–6
42 November 20, 1948 Lincoln Missouri 33–6
43 October 29, 1949 Columbia #16 Missouri 21–20
44 November 4, 1950 Lincoln Nebraska 40–34
45 October 27, 1951 Columbia Missouri 35–19
46 November 1, 1952 Lincoln Missouri 10–6
47 October 24, 1953 Columbia Missouri 23–7
48 October 30, 1954 Lincoln Nebraska 25–19
49 October 22, 1955 Columbia Nebraska 18–12
50 November 3, 1956 Lincoln Nebraska 15–14
51 October 26, 1957 Columbia Missouri 14–13
52 November 1, 1958 Lincoln Missouri 31–0
53 October 24, 1959 Columbia Missouri 9–0
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
54 October 29, 1960 Lincoln #5 Missouri 28–0
55 October 28, 1961 Columbia Missouri 10–0
56 November 3, 1962 Lincoln Missouri 16–7
57 November 2, 1963 Columbia Nebraska 13–12
58 October 31, 1964 Lincoln #5 Nebraska 9–0
59 October 30, 1965 Columbia #3 Nebraska 16–14
60 October 29, 1966 Lincoln #8 Nebraska 35–0
61 November 18, 1967 Columbia Missouri 10–7
62 October 19, 1968 Lincoln #20 Missouri 16–14
63 October 11, 1969 Columbia #7 Missouri 17–7
64 October 10, 1970 Lincoln #6 Nebraska 21–7
65 October 9, 1971 Columbia #1 Nebraska 36–0
66 October 14, 1972 Lincoln #6 Nebraska 62–0
67 October 13, 1973 Columbia #12 Missouri 13–12
68 October 12, 1974 Lincoln Missouri 21–10
69 November 1, 1975 Columbia #3 Nebraska 30–7
70 October 23, 1976 Lincoln #17 Missouri 34–24
71 November 5, 1977 Columbia #11 Nebraska 21–10
72 November 18, 1978 Lincoln Missouri 35–31
73 November 3, 1979 Columbia #2 Nebraska 23–20
74 November 1, 1980 Lincoln #8 Nebraska 38–16
75 October 24, 1981 Columbia #15 Nebraska 6–0
76 October 23, 1982 Lincoln #5 Nebraska 23–19
77 October 15, 1983 Columbia #1 Nebraska 34–13
78 October 13, 1984 Lincoln #6 Nebraska 33–23
79 October 19, 1985 Columbia #7 Nebraska 28–20
80 October 18, 1986 Lincoln #3 Nebraska 48–17
81 October 31, 1987 Columbia #2 Nebraska 42–7
82 October 29, 1988 Lincoln #5 Nebraska 26–18
83 October 14, 1989 Columbia #4 Nebraska 50–7
84 October 13, 1990 Lincoln #7 Nebraska 69–21
85 October 26, 1991 Lincoln #9 Nebraska 63–6
86 October 24, 1992 Columbia #8 Nebraska 34–24
87 October 23, 1993 Lincoln #5 Nebraska 49–7
88 October 22, 1994 Columbia #3 Nebraska 42–7
89 October 14, 1995 Lincoln #2 Nebraska 57–0
90 November 9, 1996 Lincoln #5 Nebraska 51–7
91 November 8, 1997 Columbia #1 Nebraska 45–38OT
92 October 24, 1998 Lincoln #7 Nebraska 20–13
93 September 25, 1999 Columbia #6 Nebraska 40–10
94 September 30, 2000 Lincoln #1 Nebraska 42–24
95 September 29, 2001 Columbia #4 Nebraska 36–3
96 October 12, 2002 Lincoln Nebraska 24–13
97 October 11, 2003 Columbia Missouri 41–24
98 October 30, 2004 Lincoln Nebraska 24–3
99 October 22, 2005 Columbia Missouri 41–24
100 November 4, 2006 Lincoln Nebraska 34–20
101 October 6, 2007 Columbia #17 Missouri 41–6
102 October 4, 2008 Lincoln #4 Missouri 52–17
103 October 8, 2009 Columbia #21 Nebraska 27–12
104 October 30, 2010 Lincoln #14 Nebraska 31–17
Series: Nebraska leads 65–36–3[1]
† Missouri forfeit

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Missouri Tigers vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers football series history". Winsipedia.
  2. ^ Tom Shatel. "Mizzou rivalry ready to boil over". Omaha World-Herald. Archived from the original on September 14, 2012.
  3. ^ Tim Griffin (October 9, 2009). "Rivalry appears strong between Missouri and Nebraska". ESPN.
  4. ^ a b Cindy Lange-Kubick (February 10, 2019). "Breaking a racial barrier on a football field in Lincoln". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  5. ^ Kale Searcy (September 20, 2024). "1962 Husker game starts the sellout streak in Memorial Stadium". KETV. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  6. ^ Bill Connelly; Robert Stanley (May 6, 2016). "Missouri's 20 biggest wins, No. 11: Tigers 35, Nebraska 31 (1978)". Rock M Nation. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  7. ^ "'Everybody's looking for TV sets': The oral history of the formation of the Big 12 Conference". Sports Illustrated. August 16, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  8. ^ Ivan Maisel (November 12, 1997). "Hallowed Be His Name". CNN/SI. Archived from the original on January 23, 2001. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
  9. ^ Bill Connelly (November 8, 2017). "20 years ago right now, the Flea Kicker game kicked off". Rock M Nation. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  10. ^ "Historic rivalry between Missouri, Nebraska revived". The Daily Nebraskan. June 15, 2006. Archived from the original on June 27, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
  11. ^ a b "Missouri wants to stop toppling of goal posts". USA Today. October 25, 2005. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  12. ^ Leslie Reed. "Huskers' Big Ten move official". Omaha World-Herald. Archived from the original on June 14, 2010. Retrieved June 11, 2010.
  13. ^ Mike Dyce (July 27, 2015). "Oklahoma, Kansas tried to join Big 10". Fansided. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  14. ^ Knoll, Robert. "Prairie University."
  15. ^ Aaron Musfeldt (March 31, 2011). "Big Ten Countdown: 92 - The Nebraska-Missouri Victory Bell". Corn Nation. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  16. ^ Zach Pluhacek. "The final Battle for the Bell?". HuskerExtra. Archived from the original on October 30, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2010.