Colorado Buffaloes vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers, 9/7/2024, 6:35pm

Huskers 28 – Buffs 10, Attendance: 86,906

Weather: Sunny, 72; Ticket: $395 Face: $80(?) Parking: $236 (both Stubhub)

“Nebraska Nice” by Tree

The Huskers are in Lincoln. Logistically, that means a flight into Omaha which is not exactly convenient. The city(?) is reasonably appealing. We stayed in an Airbnb just outside the heart of the town. We had access to a nice walk/bike path which made for a good way to shake off the Friday night activities on Saturday morning. The Haymarket and Railyard areas have plenty of bars, but to be honest, they were a bit tame, even by old guy standards. By 11pm the bars were closing because “there is a game tomorrow.” I am guessing the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffet, would not endorse that profit strategy.

In the end, being in bed by midnight would pay dividends for the long tailgating on Saturday. It was, however, weird to see a college town shut down early on a big game weekend. We were told that Saturday night is much better, but with a tight lodging market, we were forced to crash in Omaha on Saturday. Originally, we had a crew of nine coming to this game and I had secured a house right next to campus. Lately, the Nine O’clock club has been about as reliable as Colorado’s offensive line so by the time the weekend came around, we were down to three folks. It meant a cancellation and ensuing scramble to get us something, anything in Lincoln for the weekend. In summary, Lincoln is fine, but it isn’t the star of the Nebraska experience.

Nebraska plays at Tom Osbourne Field at Memorial Stadium. It is an impressive sight as you enter Lincoln, with seating over 85,000. Built in 1923, it is an old stadium that has been renovated several times. Unfortunately, the upgrades have not worked together seamlessly. If you don’t go to the correct gate, getting around the stadium is an arduous trek through a Byzantine path of ups and downs with multiple left and rights. The stadium is a mix of bleachers and seatbacks. We paid nearly $400 each for south end zone seats so that we could see the massive video scoreboard. Unbeknownst to me, there are also smaller video boards in each corner of the stadium along with video ribbons circling the stadium. In that regard, any seat will be able to see video replays. It would have been nice to know, because until they redo the South section and widen the seats in 2026, those seats will remain tighter than two coats of paint. Our seats were compounded by the fact that the student section was immediately adjacent to our seats. We had at least one extra person sitting in our row. Thankfully, students tend to be skinny and flexible. Nebraska Nice kicked in and we all squeezed in to make it work, but I’d be lying if I said it was ideal. If I was sitting any closer to the woman next to me, I would have had to marry her.

In the end, the tight seats didn’t really matter because we ended up standing up for the whole first half anyway. As of our visit, it was the 398 consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium. Some like to point out that the run has been aided by some late large ticket buyouts when a sellout was in doubt. It is an impressive record regardless. The program is proud with five National Championships, although the last one occurred in 1997. There are several traditions associated with the program. Their defense is known as the black shirts and the fans embrace it by making a cross-bone signal (i.e. throw the bones). The signature cheer is “Go Big Red” and you will see “GBR” for short, all over Lincoln. Fan attire is pure Midwest – ripped jeans, stripped coveralls, polos and t-shirts. No guys in ties or girls in pearls here. The band was a bit of a disappointment by Big Ten standards, but the inflatable Cornhusker (think farmer) mascots made me laugh. The fans also release red helium balloons after the first score. It was cool but not as cool as the thrown tortillas at Texas Tech. Still, it was a bit of a surprise because I didn’t recall seeing anyone walking in with a red balloon. I was worried that getting my requisite souvenir cup and Runza at halftime would be a disaster given the labyrinth of stairs it took to get to my seat. However, on the advice of another helpful Husker fan, I left with about five minutes left in the first half. I managed to hit the restroom and pick up food and drink for my crew in record time. The trough toilets and an expansive set of concessions certainly helped. I was back in my seat with Runza in hand before the half even ended.

What’s a Runza? It is a bread pocket stuffed with shredded meat, onions and cabbage. It is also delicious. I strongly recommend you “Go Big Bread” if you get the chance. The souvenir cup was also a good-looking design.  It was notable that the stadium does not serve alcohol. Apparently, the campus is dry also, but you’d never know that by the tailgating. The opening entrance of the team, with flyover, was average while the light show between the third and fourth quarter was much better. Between all the flashing red lights and impressive drone display, it re-fired up the crowd. It was not that they needed it. Like I mentioned earlier, we stood for most of the game and the fans were loud, very loud.

Colorado came into this game as an underdog despite the associated hype generated by Coach Deion Sanders’ second year with the Buffs. Nebraska had been a struggling program as of late, so they were somewhat of an unknown commodity. It did not take long to see who the better team was. Nebraska won the toss but deferred. Colorado’s first drive was a three and out. Nebraska responded by going the length of the field and scoring a touchdown. The Buffs and Huskers then traded short drives. Colorado was left with their third drive starting from their own two yard-line after a beautiful 60 yard punt by Nebraska’s Brian Buschini. Shedeur Sanders (Deion’s son) was then picked off by Husker Tommi Hill and the Huskers were up by 14. It would get worse before it got better for Sanders. He spent most of the game running for his life as the Nebraska defensive line took over the game. Poor special teams didn’t help Colorado. It was 28-0 by halftime, and Nebraska cruised to victory in the second half.

This game was attended by the Nine O’clock club which meets once a year for a college football weekend. The Nine O’clock refers to some members’ inability to stay up past nine pm on Saturday night. Our trip to Nebraska garnered the nickname of “Amateur Hour” for a few notable slips. First, we overpaid on our tickets by about fifty bucks, which was mostly my fault. But to be clear, with their sellout record, discounted Nebraska tickets are a rare commodity. Bars closing at 11pm on a Friday was not a pro move by the locals. Bringing dried out cornhole bags made it look like this was our first tailgate and the Nebraska student section chanting “FU CU” was not a classy move. One of our crew drank from a random water bottle that had rolled down the stands which was another rookie stunt. It was a fitting end to the weekend when we went through airport security and one of us got flagged for having a full bottle of water in his bag. Amateur hour indeed.

None of this, in reality, detracted from what was a fantastic weekend. We had a relaxing Friday night chatting with locals and playing pool. The tailgating was possibly the best we have ever experienced, and the game atmosphere exhilarating. Nebraska has long had the reputation as a must-see venue, and it is well deserved. If you are a true college football fan, you will undoubtedly find your way to see the Cornhuskers at some point and it will be nice. Nebraska Nice.