Editing Nebraska Cornhuskers (section)

==Nickname==
The University of Nebraska did not have a nickname or mascot during its early decades, though many were used unofficially. NU's first football team wore gold and black and became known as the "Old Gold Knights," but it is unclear if the term was used contemporarily.<ref name=Johnston/> In 1892, the ''[[The Daily Nebraskan|The Hesperian Student]]'' (later ''The Daily Nebraskan'') urged the adoption of new colors due to the number of universities – specifically [[Western Interstate University Football Association|WIUFA]] rivals [[Iowa Hawkeyes football|Iowa]] and [[Missouri Tigers football|Missouri]] – already using gold or yellow, and selected scarlet and cream as they were considered "bright and attractive."<ref name=Johnston>{{cite web|url=https://www.cornnation.com/2023/5/8/23715499/nebraska-nickname-bugeaters-rattlesnake-boys-cornhuskers|title=How Did Nebraska Get Its Name? - Uncovering the Fascinating History Of Bugeaters To Cornhuskers|author=Jon Johnston|website=Corn Nation|date=8 May 2023|access-date=26 April 2025}}</ref> Throughout the 1890s the team may have gone by "Antelopes" and "Rattlesnake Boys," but the most well-known of Nebraska's early nicknames is "Bugeaters," a reference to the state's meager food supply during an [[Droughts_in_the_United_States#19th_Century|1870s drought]] when farmers purportedly resorted to eating bugs.<ref name=Christopherson/> Many Nebraskans appreciated the rugged characterization despite its negative connotations.<ref name=Christopherson/><ref name=SehnertBooth>{{cite web|url=https://www.mccookgazette.com/story/1664052.html|title=Bummy Booth and the first Cornhuskers|author=Walt Sehnert|website=[[McCook Gazette]]|date=13 September 2010|access-date=13 January 2025}}</ref>

The first documented use of "Cornhuskers" appeared in the March 17, 1894 issue of ''[[The Sporting News]]'', in reference to a [[Western League (1885–1900)|Western League]] baseball team from [[Sioux City, Iowa|Sioux City]] that later became the [[Chicago White Sox]].<ref name=Johnston/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.threadsofourgame.com/1894-sioux-city-ia/|title=1894 Sioux City IA (Sioux Citys, Cornhuskers) – Western League|website=Threads of Our Game|access-date=26 April 2025}}</ref> Six months later, the term appeared in ''The Hesperian Student'' ("We have met the corn huskers and they are ours!"); it was used as a derisive reference to [[Iowa Hawkeyes football|Iowa]] and not as an athletic nickname.<ref name=SehnertBooth/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=StxilVkWZ-MC&q=We+Have+Met+The+Cornhuskers+And+They+Are+Ours&pg=PA17|title=Nebraska Cornhusker Football|publisher=[[Arcadia Publishing]]|author=Mark Fricke|year=2005|page=17|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026181003/https://books.google.com/books?id=StxilVkWZ-MC&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17|archive-date=26 October 2016|df=mdy-all|isbn=9780738534374}}</ref> ''[[Lincoln Journal Star|Nebraska State Journal]]'' (later the ''Lincoln Journal Star'') sportswriter and state native [[Cy Sherman]] hated the Bugeaters moniker and began using "Cornhuskers," which wasn't applied to Nebraska until Sherman did so in 1899.<ref name=SehnertBooth/> It caught on quickly and was adopted by the university in 1900, and later by the state of [[Nebraska]] itself, which became "[[List of U.S. state and territory nicknames|The Cornhusker State]]" in 1946.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huskernews.com/vnews/display.v/ART/1999/01/01/380d0d7a3|title=Husker Press Box – The Beginning Of The Huskers|author=Mark Fricke|website=Husker News|date=11 May 2008|access-date=8 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511164744/http://www.huskernews.com/vnews/display.v/ART/1999/01/01/380d0d7a3|archive-date=11 May 2008|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Sherman is known as "the father of the Cornhuskers" and later founded college football's [[AP poll]].<ref name=Christopherson>{{cite web|url=http://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/football/deep-red-the-story-behind-the-name-cornhuskers/article_2fa80a93-6d8f-5800-8223-772a759ff5a0.html|title=Deep Red: The story behind the name 'Cornhuskers'|author=Brian Christopherson|publisher=[[Lincoln Journal Star]]|date=20 June 2009|access-date=26 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026181432/http://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/football/deep-red-the-story-behind-the-name-cornhuskers/article_2fa80a93-6d8f-5800-8223-772a759ff5a0.html|archive-date=26 October 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref>