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 12–20 loss to Minnesota.