I’ve lived in Nebraska for 12 years now, but just attended my first Husker game this past Saturday. The game was with the University of Kansas, who last year beat the huskers 40 to 15. This year the odds makers put Nebraska ahead by 20 points.
I took our exchange student, Shawn (Cho-Sing Wong), with me. Shawn is from Hong Kong and had never seen an American football game … only World Cup football (soccer). He had gone to our local high school game the night before and it made no sense to him, so it was up to me to explain things to him.
We arrive at the game about 45 minutes before kickoff. The weather is a perfect 75 degrees with beautifully setting sunlit sky. Our seats are about as far from the playing field as one can get … five rows from the top tier in the Northeast corner of the bowl. No matter, the experience of being with 84,000 plus fans make up for seeing only tiny ants on the field. Witnessing a Husker game is like going to a revival meeting without the tent. Everyone knows the routine. Everyone is excited. It is a ritual they all look forward to (I use they because I had no idea what to expect). We watch the stadium fill to capacity with red shirted fans. Every seat is filled.
About 15 minutes before kickoff both Herbie Husker mascots (the old Pilsbury Boy like one and the new macho one) come out onto the field to work the crowd. For several rounds they get one half of the stadium to out shout the other with “Go big red”. Soon the huge marching band comes out and fills the field with musicians and blares the stadium with crisp drum and trumpet sounds. After their show the band forms a phalanx for the players to enter the field. Next comes the national anthem. Even this is made special with a fly-over by one of the airbase recon planes (I was disappointed to learn that at the previous home game they had two stealth fighters fly over).
The fans are ready. The crowd holds a sustained roar for the Kansas kickoff to Nebraska. The kicker blasts one into the end zone so the Huskers start at the twenty. Two plays later they are in the end zone, whereupon thousands of red and white helium balloons are released by fans all over the stadium. By the time I get my camera ready to take a picture the balloons are just dots in the sky. Everyone else, of course, knows that balloons are always released after the first touchdown.
Minutes later Big Red scores another touchdown, followed shortly thereafter by a touchback. Late in the quarter Kansas struggles to get a field goal. In the second quarter Kansas overcomes their jitters and starts playing tough. Each play I explain to Shawn what is going on. Soon he is cheering like a rabid Husker fan. We are getting into it.
Kansas proves tough for the remainder of the game and it turns into a real thriller. At the end of regulation play it is tied up at 32 points each. Nebraska finally wins in overtime. A good time was had by all.
