Creighton Football

1913-1930

A crowd of 500 gathered around a field one cold December morning in 1891 anxiously waiting to view a game only a few had seen before – football. Omaha Medical College, now University of Nebraska Medical Center, faced off against Creighton University’s Hillsiders, renamed the Bluejays in 1924. Creighton’s hastily assembled ragtag group of boys had never participated in a football game before and came to their match wearing only sweatpants and T-shirts. The Hillsiders fought hard that day and walked off the muddy field sore and bruised, but victorious. The Creightonian, the university’s newspaper, reported that the final score was 12-0. Creighton’s victory launched a football program that lasted until World War II, during which many students felt compelled to join the war effort. Despite the promise of a temporary hiatus, an official football program never returned to Creighton’s campus.

Creighton players kept the tradition of their first muddy game alive and well. Fields in the 1930s and 1940s had no turf, subjecting the players to the sludgy conditions left behind by rainy days in Eastern Nebraska. John “Johnny” Knolla is likely the player featured here as an Omaha World-Herald article named Knolla as #35 playing halfback.

Behind what is now the Hixson Lied Science Complex, construction of Creighton Stadium broke ground in 1924. The project proved to be quite the endeavor and Creighton took out a loan to finance the stadium. University students assisted in a fundraising campaign which encouraged locals to donate $1 to “Buy a Bag of Cement for Creighton Stadium.” The Omaha World-Herald reported that contractors would begin their work once 100,000 bags were sold. The stadium opened in November 1925, with 15,000 seats available for spectators.

The field boasted a brand-new lighting system that allowed fans to clearly watch players wrestle each other to the endzone during late games. The track around the stadium also benefited from the addition of lights, as it allowed the school to host more track meets on the field. The stadium hosted more than football and track, as graduation ceremonies, rodeos, marching band practices and Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) drills took place on the grounds.

Maurice “Skip” Palrang worked with Creighton’s football team as head coach from 1940-1942. Palrang gave up his position as head coach during the program’s pause when most able-bodied men on campus joined the war effort working in local factories or fighting overseas. Since Creighton never reinstated its football program, Palrang found a new home coaching the football and basketball teams at Father Flanagan’s Boys Town in Omaha. Today, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln honors Coach Palrang with an award given to coaches who have a significant impact on high school football.

Homecoming represents a big celebration for any football team, Creighton being no exception. This photo depicts Coach Palrang presenting a Creighton cheerleader with a wreath during the homecoming game’s halftime. Tickets for these games in the 1940s ran for $11.50 each, or $250 today. Season tickets were slightly cheaper at $6.50 for the season, or $130.66 today.

Creighton played against Tulsa’s Golden Hurricanes during a home game in 1939. The Tulsa players burst onto the field at Creighton Stadium through a paper painted with an oil rig. The game ended with a score of 21-14 in Tulsa’s favor. The Bluejays bounced back at their next game, beating the Drake Bulldogs 7-0. They lost to Tulsa for the final time in 1942. This was the last football game played by

Creighton University had also suspended basketball during World War II, with plans to reinstate both sports at a later date. Due to the costs, the university could only bring back one sport. Basketball returned to Creighton University’s campus. Creighton Stadium, however, remained for 20 more years before being demolished in 1966, erasing the last visible remnant of this era. Today, the Eppley Building, Criss Complex and a parking lot are located where the stadium once stood.

Playing in the Missouri Valley Conference, Creighton faced off against teams such as St. Louis University’s Billikens, their sister school, and the Drake Bulldogs. Despite the post-war optimism of bringing Creighton football back, fans' hopes were dashed when Creighton officially pulled out of the Missouri Valley Conference in 1948.