1954 Omaha Indians football team

The 1954 Omaha Indians football team was an American football team that represented the University of Omaha (now known as the University of Nebraska Omaha) as an independent during the 1954 college football season. In their eighth year under head coach Lloyd Cardwell, the Indians compiled a perfect 10–0 record, defeated Eastern Kentucky in the 1955 Tangerine Bowl, and outscored opponents by a total of 360 to 67.^[1] The Tangerine Bowl was the first bowl game in Omaha program history.^[2]

1954 Omaha Indians football
Tangerine Bowl champion
Tangerine Bowl, W 7–6 vs. Eastern Kentucky
Conference	Independent
Record	10–0
Head coach	Lloyd Cardwell (8th season)
Captains	Rudy Rotella Emil Radik
Home stadium	University Stadium
Seasons ← 1953 1955 →

1954 Midwestern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Omaha			–					10	–	0	–	0
No. 4 Notre Dame			–					9	–	1	–	0
Wabash			–					7	–	1	–	1
Cincinnati			–					8	–	2	–	0
Youngstown			–					7	–	2	–	0
Washington University			–					6	–	3	–	0
Carthage			–					5	–	3	–	0
Dayton			–					5	–	5	–	0
Michigan Tech			–					3	–	4	–	0
Marquette			–					3	–	5	–	1
Wayne			–					3	–	5	–	1
John Carroll			–					3	–	5	–	0
Rose Poly			–					2	–	5	–	0
Drake			–					2	–	7	–	0
Xavier			–					2	–	8	–	0
Baldwin–Wallace			–					1	–	8	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Omaha tailback Bill Engelhardt was the national total offense champion among small college players with 1,645 yards. He tallied 584 rushing yards on 134 carries and 1,061 passing yards (56 of 109 passing) during the regular season. He also scored 88 points on 13 touchdowns and 10 extra points.^[3] Engelhardt also tallied 151 yards and scored all seven Omaha points in the Tangerine Bowl.^[4]

The team played its home games at University Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska.^[5]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 18	at Fort Hays	Hays, KS	W 27–19		[6]
September 25	at Morningside	Public Schools Stadium Sioux City, IA	W 45–0		[7][8]
October 2	Washburn	University Stadium Omaha, NE	W 27–6	2,500	[9]
October 9	Bradley	University Stadium Omaha, NE (Centennial Day)	W 39–0	3,500	[10]
October 16	at Emporia State	Welch Stadium Emporia, KS	W 38–6		[11]
October 23	St. Ambrose	University Stadium Omaha, NE	W 35–14	5,500	[12]
October 30	at Northern Illinois State	Glidden Field DeKalb, IL	W 26–7	4,000	[13]
November 6	Wayne	University Stadium Omaha, NE	W 59–7	6,100	[14]
November 11	Doane	University Stadium Omaha, NE (Armistice Day)	W 57–2	3,200	[15]
January 1, 1955	vs. Eastern Kentucky	Tangerine Bowl Orlando, FL (Tangerine Bowl)	W 7–6	12,759	[4][16]
Homecoming