October 13, 1923: Nebraska's Memorial Stadium Opens

October 13, 1923: Memorial Stadium opens on the campus of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. The Cornhuskers are not yet arch-rivals with the University of Oklahoma, but that's who they play in the 1st game, and they beat the Sooners 24-0. A week later, Oklahoma opened its own Memorial Stadium.

From 1909 to 1922, the 'Huskers had played at Nebraska Field. Their new stadium originally seated 31,080. In 1962, with Bob Devaney as head coach, they got good, and began a streak of selling out that lasted through the 2019 season. Due to the COVID restrictions of 2020, the NCAA recognizes the streak as still being intact as of October 13, 2022.

Because of the team's success, the stadium was expanded to 64,000 in 1967, 73,000 in 1972, 74,000 in 1999, 81,000 in 2006, and 87,000 in 2013. Subsequently, wider seats were installed, and by 2017, capacity was reduced to 85,458. Every seat is still filled, known as "The Sea of Red." The field was concerted to artificial turf in 1970, was renamed for coach Tom Osborne in 1998, and since 1999 has been FieldTurf.

Since moving in, Nebraska have won 30 Conference Championships: 1923 in the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association; in the league alternately known as the Big Six, the Big Seven and the Big Eight, in 1928, '29, '31, '32, '33, '35, '36, '37 and '40, '63, '64, '65, '66, '69, '70, '71, '72, '75, '78, '81, '82, '83, '84, '88, '91, '92, '93, '94, '95; and in 1997 and '99 in the Big Twelve. They joined the Big Ten in 2011, and have won their Division in 2013, but not the Conference. They were awarded National Championships under Devaney in 1970 and 1971; and under Osborne in 1994, 1995 and 1997.

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October 13, 1923 was a Saturday. Among the other notable college football games played that day were these:

* Notre Dame beat Army, 13-0 at Ebbets Field.

* Navy beat West Virginia Wesleyan, 26-7 at Worden Field in Annapolis, Maryland.

* Columbia beat Wesleyan University, 12-6 at Baker Field (now Wien Stadium) in Upper Manhattan.

* Rutgers beat Lehigh, 10-0 at Neilson Field in New Brunswick, New Jersey

* Princeton beat Georgetown, 17-0 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton, New Jersey.

* Harvard were held to a 6-6 tie by Middlebury College at Harvard Stadium in Boston.

* In a rivalry that would one day be known as the "Backyard Brawl," West Virginia beat the University of Pittsburgh, 13-7 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* Ohio State were held to a 23-23 tie by Colgate at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* Unusually, there were 3 North vs. South matchups on this day, all held in the North. Yale beat Georgia, 40-0 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut. Syracuse beat Alabama, 23-0 at Archbold Stadium in Syracuse, New York.

And Michigan beat Vanderbilt, 3-0 at Ferry Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Given that each was a major power in its own region, this was a major measuring stick for Southern college football, and the fact that Vandy only lost by 3 points on the road was taken as a good sign.

Game 4 of the World Series was played that day. A 6-run 2nd inning leads the New York Yankees to an 8-4 win over the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds, and ties up the Series. Bob Shawkey was the winning pitcher, and Babe Ruth went 1-for-3 with 2 walks.

Also, Dutch soccer legend Servaas "Faas" Wilkes was born on this day.