#72 Nebraska

Lincoln, NE

Memorial Stadium

September 7, 2024

Nebraska 28 - Colorado 10 (ESPN Recap)

Nebraska is in Stage 2 of returning its program to national relevance and the glory days of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Stage 1 was recruiting a 5-star QB, which they miraculously pulled off with #15 Dylan Raiola. Stage 2 is to play awesome defense, beat teams they are better than, and protect the football…something they haven’t been able to do for about 15 years but did in this game. This team is going to ruin someone’s Big Ten season this year, win ~9 games, and in two years be a CFP threat once they portal and recruit some better WRs and RBs.

The weekend started with a great flight to Omaha from Fort Lauderdale on Thursday night. Stayed west of downtown Omaha in the Valley and was lucky enough to consume a bunch of Chef George cooking Friday and Saturday. Steve laid out the red carpet as a host for my weekend and made it quite special.

Nebraska as a state is Husker Nation. They are not playing games with their allegiance and dedication to the university’s athletic program…and it doesn’t stop and start with the football program. On the drive from Omaha to Lincoln on Saturday, one of the Omaha natives in the car with me was streaming Huskers Women’s Volleyball. Let me remind you that Texas and Michigan were playing football at the same time and he chose to watch women’s volleyball. It’s real fandom.

Upon reaching Memorial Stadium, there was lots of tailgating…but it was spread out across lots of lots and hard to reach various areas due to credentials being required for tailgating in some lots. Minimal cornhole, but solid set ups (including some Coach Prime Blenders on the roast pig).

The pre-game festivities for Nebraska are elite and can go toe to toe with all the big programs. I was surprised by how modern the gameday operations were and how packed the stadium was way before kickoff.

When Nebraska scored its first TD on the opening offensive possession, one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen happened after when about 1,000 red balloons were let go into the sky. The video looks like AI.

The Huskers were ready for Coach Prime, Shedeur, and Travis Hunter on this night, getting out to a 14-0 Q1 lead which included an awesome pick 6 from the 3-yard line and -2 yards for Colorado for Q1. Colorado had negative two yards for the quarter. The 1H ended with a near flawless performance from Nebraska, other than a missed FG to start Q2. It was very loud and very fun to be at the 398th consecutive sellout at the stadium.

The takeaways from the game are:

Dylan Raiola is really good and already better than Shedeur

Travis Hunter was the best player on the field and caught 10 balls while breaking up or making the tackle on another 7 or 8 plays.

Nebraska defense owned the line and had 10 TFLs and 6 sacks plus 2 takeaways.

The only sore spot for Nebraska in the game was ST (missed FG, blocked punt, and gave up a lot of return yardage on KOs and Punts).

Of course the t-shirt gun was being pulled by a green John Deere piece of farm equipment.

Easily covered the -7 for the game and 1H TTO 16.5, while dropping the full game O57.0 thanks to continued defensive dominance by Nebraska and the offense going full conservative mode in 2H (two punts from +40 or better).

There was a drone show between Q3 and Q4, but the most impressive part of the experience to me was the fan engagement and volume on EVERY offensive snap for Colorado. I’ve never been anywhere that was louder on FIRST down than Memorial Stadium. They were loud for every snap CU came at them with, not just 3rd and 4th downs. The complaint about the stadium is it is fully dry…no alcohol sales anywhere.

Not sure why the student section rushed the field as 7-point home favorites against an unranked opponent, but I always am happy to see it.

Lil Red still the man.

On the drive back from Lincoln to Omaha, we listened to AM radio post games and I was struck by one of the prizes being offered for a phone-in contest: Sapp Brothers giving away "1,000 gallons of red diesel fuel." Talk about a negative externality that will not get me to even call in to try and win! I wouldn’t even know where to sell that fuel if I won it. Nebraska is a different world for me in that regard, but I also hear you can do quite well pumping gas in that part of the country.

Notre Dame took a home L to NIU today and Texas became the favorites to win it all. On to Oklahoma St @ Tulsa next weekend for #73!