Walter C. Booth

Walter Cowles "Bummy" Booth (December 7, 1874 – April 5, 1944) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from 1900 to 1905, compiling a record of 46–8–1. Booth led Nebraska to a perfect, shutout season in 1902. His teams achieved the longest winning streak in Nebraska football history with 27 victories including exhibition games, and the second longest with 24 victories excluding exhibition games. That streak remained unbroken until the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers extended their winning streak to 26 games.[1]

Walter C. Booth
Biographical details
Born(1874-12-07)December 7, 1874
DiedApril 5, 1944(1944-04-05) (aged 69)
New York, New York
Playing career
1899–1899Princeton
Position(s)Center
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1900–1905Nebraska
Head coaching record
Overall46–8–1

Coaching career

Booth turned Nebraska into an independent football powerhouse in the Midwest after coming off its first losing season in 1899. Alonzo Edwin Branch had left the program in 1899 making a spot for Booth to take over. The 1900 Nebraska football team would be the first to be officially called the Cornhuskers and had a record of 6–1–1, not counting two exhibition games. Every game that year was a shutout until the last game of the season with a 20–21 loss to Minnesota.

The 1901 Nebraska football team came out and had a 6–2 record with several shutouts, including a 51–0 game against rival Missouri and ending the season with a three-game winning streak.

The program had Nebraska's best season ever when in 1902 the team went undefeated, untied and unscored upon for a perfect 9–0 record, excluding an exhibition against Lincoln High School with a score of 27–0. The team was led by John R. Bender and Charles Borg and had a 12-game winning streak.

In 1903 Nebraska continued its winning streak with a 10–0 record, not counting the 23–6 exhibition game victory over Lincoln High school) season. The winning streak was now 22 games (24 with exhibition games). One newspaper stated that "Nebraska occupies a unique position in western football, too strong to find fearful competitors, the Cornhuskers can almost weep with Alexander the Great because they have no more teams to conquer" during this season.

The 1904 Nebraska Cornhuskers team would win their first two games and one exhibition game before losing to Colorado to end a 24-game winning streak, 27 including exhibition games. This streak remained a school record until the 1994 Nebraska Cornhuskers team have a 26-game winning streak before losing to Arizona State in 1996. The 1904 team would end the season with a 7-3 record, not counting two victory exhibition games).

Booths final season was in 1905 with an 8–2 record, not counting one exhibition victory. The university's student newspaper stated that Booth "raised Nebraska from a second-rate team among those of the Missouri Valley to a position where even the leaders of the Conference look upon her as an opponent to be feared" in 1905.

Booth's final record was 46–8–1 for a .845 winning percentage, a school record until Ewald O. Stiehm surpassed it with a 35–5–3 (.913) record from 1911 to 1915.[2]

Later life and death

Booth work in the insurance business for many years with Big Bill Edwards, his former Princeton teammate, as a partner. Booth died on April 5, 1944, at Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan.[3]

Head coaching record

Exhibition games are not counted

Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Nebraska Cornhuskers (Independent) (1900–1905)
1900 Nebraska 6–1–1
1901 Nebraska 6–2
1902 Nebraska 9–0
1903 Nebraska 10–0
1904 Nebraska 7–3
1905 Nebraska 8–2
Nebraska: 46–8–1
Total:46–8–1

References
  1. "Walter C. "Bummy" Booth Records by Year". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved December 1, 2007.
  2. http://www.huskersnside.com//pdf5/40179.pdf?ATCLID=2722&SPSID=8&SPID=22&DB_OEM_ID=100
  3. "Watler Cowles Booth; Services for ex-grid star". New York Daily News. April 7, 1944. p. 22. Retrieved March 4, 2019 – via Newspapers.com .
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