However, a large number of starters had graduated or otherwise left after 1937, and the depth chart established for 1938 was made up mainly of underclassmen, especially sophomores, making for a young and inexperienced team.
Iowa State celebrated snapping the longest winning streak the Cornhuskers had ever held over another team at 15 straight, and it was the first 0-2 start to a Nebraska season since 1924.
Nebraska fought to keep it a one-possession game after an early Sooner score, and held almost until the end, when Oklahoma secured another touchdown and put the outcome out of reach.
The Tigers, sensing the vulnerability of a Nebraska team with four straight winless games, was still set back when the Huskers scored first, but a touchdown to pull ahead by four by halftime served to encourage Missouri.
[8][11] Under the weight of only the second five-winless season start in Cornhusker football history, which had last happened in 1919, the Nebraska squad took the field against the Jayhawks in Lawrence.
[8][12] The struggling Cornhuskers had suffered a long string of disappointments at the hands of the Panthers, and Nebraska was glad to have home-field advantage when facing Pitt under the circumstances.
[8][12] Nebraska's spirits had been lifted somewhat by the shutout delivered to Iowa last week, and so entered the annual Kansas State game intent on closing the season with a win.
[8][14] Coach Jones' second season was without a doubt a surprising disappointment, though the annual university yearbook praised the student body and football fans in particular for standing behind the team through the rough experience.